Five years to graduate?

[Integra96]

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Just wondering if taking 5 years to graduate negatively impacts one's chances of acceptance and, if so, how much?

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[verbalassasin]

It should not depending on the major. If you are a bio/chem/physics major, in most schools in cali it takes about 5-6 years to finish that curriculum. But if you are a fine arts major something in that category maybe I would look at you like why did it take so long. Like they say, take your time and do it right.

Holla

 

[premed]

I think that graduating in 5 years does not negatively impact your application process. I graduated in 4 by taking 4 classes every quarter, but I have friends who took 3 classes a quarter and graduated in 5. Since they took 3 classes per quarter, they did better in their courses than I did and currently they have alot of interviews whereas I don't have a single one. If money is not an issue (it was a big factor for me), and you do well in your courses, I don't think taking 5 years will hurt you at all.

 

[king_robert12]

No, I've never heard of anyone being penalized for graduating in 5 years. It took me five years to finish and I got in. Good luck!

 

[mamaMD]

It will take me 5 years to graduate so I hope it's not looked down upon!

I'm a mother (my kids are 2 and 5 yrs) and go to school full time and I am also homeschooling my oldest so I am doing *all* I can do and I think they will see that. I am getting great grades to!

Marilyn

 

[oldtimer]

I think this depends. People make up adcoms and they bring their biases. If it took you 5 years, then expect to be asked why it took you so long.

 

[Sharkfan]

The topic of my fifth year came up in my interviews, but a big part of that could have been because I included a brief explanation in my personal statement. I never detected any ill-feelings; it was more like "So tell me about this fifth year?" in a politely inquiring way. Oh, and I had a really good reason and have been accepted. No worries people! 😀

 

[DaveOT]

My school only has a 25% graduation rate after four years. With an extra year, that rises to about 70%. However, that's partially due to the fact that we have a large engineering school with many students who do co-ops.

 

[Ernham]

As long as you are taking 14+ credits a semester, it really shouldn't matter.

 

[Spitting Camel]

Originally posted by Ernham
As long as you are taking 14+ credits a semester, it really shouldn't matter.

Um, I've taken 9 and 12 and been just fine. And this is graduating in 4 years. Take however long you need. 5 is sometimes considered normal. Go at your own pace.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by Ernham
As long as you are taking 14+ credits a semester, it really shouldn't matter.

This is complete garbage. People who are part-time students routinely take less than 13 units/semester (13 is the minimum for full-time enrollment at my school) and many students who were part-time have already been admitted to medical school and thousands more this year will also be admitted. People who say things like, "If you drop below 14 units in any given semester...that will hurt your chances of admission" generally have no clue what they're talking about. The number of units you took/semester has little to no bearing on admissions...what matters are the GRADES YOU EARNED in the courses you took. Taking 17 credits and maintaining a 3.0 GPA will not look nearly as good as taking 13 units and maintaining a 3.9 GPA.

 

[Ernham]

Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
This is complete garbage. People who are part-time students routinely take less than 13 units/semester (13 is the minimum for full-time enrollment at my school) and many students who were part-time have already been admitted to medical school and thousands more this year will also be admitted. People who say things like, "If you drop below 14 units in any given semester...that will hurt your chances of admission" generally have no clue what they're talking about. The number of units you took/semester has little to no bearing on admissions...what matters are the GRADES YOU EARNED in the courses you took. Taking 17 credits and maintaining a 3.0 GPA will not look nearly as good as taking 13 units and maintaining a 3.9 GPA.

No one mentioned anything about part-time, so stick a sock in it. If he was part-time, he would have mentioned such, don't you think? You seem to be the one that has no clue what they are talking about if you don't think adcoms note whether or not you are taking a decent amount of credits per semester.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by Ernham
No one mentioned anything about part-time, so stick a sock in it. If he was part-time, he would have mentioned such, don't you think? You seem to be the one that has no clue what they are talking about if you don't think adcoms note whether or not you are taking a decent amount of credits per semester.

Uhh...if they do ..it's a VERY minor factor in admissions. Aren't the cumulative and BCPM GPA, MCAT, essays, LORs, and extra-curricular activities much more important than the amount of credits they took each semester? Isn't a student's 4 years of clinical experience (volunteering at a hospital, shadowing, etc) more important than one semester where he took <14 credits? In addition, if they DO take into account this negligible factor...they'd have to look at the AVERAGE number of credits you took/semester over your undergraduate career. For example, if someone took 16 credits/semester for EVERY semester in their undergraduate career and then decided to take 13 credits in their senior year (because they've already satisfied all graduation requirements)...it would still average out to a decent amount of units. If this even is a factor in admission...it's a MINOR factor.

 

[jlee9531]

at least in cali...not sure about colleges in general but the avg time for a student to graduate is over the "traditional" 4 years.

 

[Suey]

Originally posted by jlee9531
at least in cali...not sure about colleges in general but the avg time for a student to graduate is over the "traditional" 4 years.

Yeah, I never understood why it takes longer for us Cali people to graduate. Can someone please explain that to me?

 

[Integra96]

I don't think most people graduate in 4 years at my school, either. Actually, most people don't graduate. 😱

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by Suey
Yeah, I never understood why it takes longer for us Cali people to graduate. Can someone please explain that to me?

we want to enjoy our college experience 😉

plus i know many people like to double major...
work while they go to school...
spend a lot of with research...
do honors, thesis and want to take extra time....

get married, have babies etc...

lots of reasons.

we just chill like that arent we? 😀

 

[Texas1111]

To the OP,
five years is fine, no worries there.
when I graduated college in May, it would be my 7th year in college.
I started out part-time at a community college, one class/semester.
Really, no one ever asked me about it in any interviews, and my first choice school accepted me.
I think a good GPA is more important than however many years it takes to finish.

Good luck to ya.

 

[mamaMD]

I think for the majority of people it takes them more than 4 years to graduate. Most people I know never graduate and those who do take anywhere from 5-7 years for the reasons listed above: babies, marriages, jobs, research, etc

I just think it is the norm anymore.

Marilyn

 

[Spitting Camel]

Originally posted by mamaMD
I think for the majority of people it takes them more than 4 years to graduate. Most people I know never graduate and those who do take anywhere from 5-7 years for the reasons listed above: babies, marriages, jobs, research, etc

I just think it is the norm anymore.

Marilyn

I think the norm is still 4 years, but it is the non-traditional route that gets "publicized" dutring the admissions process.

 

[Jillianrae]

There's nothing wrong with spending an extra year getting your degree. I not only took 5 years to get my degree (I wanted to minor in 2 subjects not related to my major), but I did my first two years at a community college. I was accepted to medical school during my first application cycle. This is despite being younger-than-average and a really big AMCAS screw-up.

Don't let anyone tell you that you're not going to be accepted if you don't finish in 4 years. They don't know what they're talking about. That being said, some schools may ask why it took you the extra year. Give your answer some though before you go into interviews.