finishing undergrad in five?

[tiv01]

Hi Everyone,

Is it looked down upon by admissions if it takes five years to finish undergrad? I'm thinking of slowing down on the science courses I've been taking to get a higher gpa since my grades aren't improving if i'm taking two per semester. Is it okay to finish in five years? What do you think?
My other question is: What is weighted more, your science gpa or overall gpa? I'm looking at the MSAR and some schools list the average science gpas of the entering class while some list overall. This is confusing me.

thanks alot!
tiv01

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[exigente chica]

I'm not sure exaclty how most school look at people who take 5 intead of 4. I think that it shouldn't make a big difference, if you have good reasons and decided to pick up and extra major/minor or study abroad. Just make sure if you get asked why you needed the extra year, you are able to articulate your reasons well. Make sure your grades go up, though.
Have fun!

 

[Bikini Princess]

Hey this is for you:

My understanding is that science gpa and reg. gpa are about equal in weight at most schools, although it's possible the science gpa may be a slightly more important selection criteria at some schools.

 

[altaskier]

There is no problem with finishing in 5. I actually think it is better to finish in 5. Don't worry about it. Medical schools don't really care.


Good Luck

 

[LizardKing]

I think your Science GPA is pretty key. Anyway, you won't have problems with the whole 5 year thing. Take up another minor and you can turn it into a huge positive on your app.

So no problems really. Use the extra time to work and volunteer too.

 

[Trowa]

Hey,
It took me five years to do undergrad myself. I too was worried about the five year thing since most of my friends finsihed in four years. I spent the last year working on my thesis (the research was taking way longer) and just took some more science classes. Anyway, I asked one of my interviewers if taking five years could be a disadvantage. He said that it does not matter and he did not even notice. From what it sounded like, it seemed that as long as you are doing something productive with your time, whether to do more research or improve your application through classes. Don't worry about it, I would definitely focus on other parts of your application rather then the five year thing. Good-luck!

David

 

[tiv01]

Thanks for your replies! The 7 year college icon is great, I want a poster of that! You're all so helpful on this forum! And here I was worrying my head off cause I thought it would look bad to take extra time in college.

I was actually thinking of studying abroad too, but let's see if I can pull that off. I need to concentrate on my science classes from now on.

What do you think of taking science courses over the summer? Perhaps that will help me too.

thanks,
tiv01