<p>All of the students that I’ve known who didn’t graduate in four years was because they either changed their major or had a scheduling issue. My one friend had a required capstone class that his advisor told him was offered spring semester to he went to sign up and found out it was changed to fall. So he had to stick around for one class. He worked full time and put himself through college.</p>
<p>I had one friend that changed from marketing to biology after three years (he was on the five year plan to begin with)… Then after his fourth year he changed to psychology… And after his fifth year when he realized how long it would take him to graduate he decided to switch back to marketing and graduated in seven.</p>
<p>We laughed because he should have been a senior when I was a freshman and he graduated with me.</p>
<p>At Univ of Rochester, they have a Take 5 program so that a student can study an area outside their major during the 5th year tuition free. Don’t know if my son will want to do that but it is nice to know it is there.</p>
<p>I believe there are some other schools with a similar type of offering</p>
<p>S1 and friends were pretty good students. Only two guys out of his large circle of friends took 5 years. All but one at state u’s.<br>
S2 and friends were more “joe average”. Some changed majors. Some had to retake classes. Some just partied too much and went to class too little. S2 graduated in four years(with a couple of summer sch. classes thrown in) but many of his friends (all at state u’s) took a full five years.</p>
<p>I really hope it doesn’t take 5 years. I can handle a summer session, maybe two. I do know it’s a typical uni in that if you take 15 credit hours each semester you can be done in 4…but he just went through orientation and they were recommending 12. He signed on for 14 following the department recommended flow chart. His APs only placed him but don’t add credit. Both my older two had APs that counted for gen ed credits so it will be an interesting 4 years. I think unis DO need to pay attention to the 4 year plan. College is too expensive to become a 5 year plan for a BA or BS.</p>
<p>Momof, he can add more credits later. 14 is ok to start. Have him look at his classes and try to slot them out and make a vague plan. As he gets to know the teachers and the work load he can alter it. You only need to average 15. If he has a crazy intensive semester, he could do 12. If he has easier classes or geneds, he could take 18. I took two semesters with 12 and six with 18 using this strategy. And I was much busier in my 12 credit semesters then in my 18 credit semesters!!</p>
<p>There is a big difference between schools and grad rate was one of the main criteria we used for selecting a school. My son was interested in CS / Engineering and considered Cal Poly where only 25% graduate in 4 years and Colgate where 85% graduate in 4 years. He decided to attend Trinity University where 68% graduate in 4 years. AP credits and the schools policy regarding AP credits can make a big difference in graduation rates. Also look at schools with a liberal arts or common curriculum core. For instance at Trinity you can study the liberal arts but also business, engineering, computer science, neuroscience, etc., but they use a common curriculum. With a common curriculum it allows students to take a range of classes for their first two years and then decide what to major in. At Trinity one of the CS majors did not take her first computer science class until her sophomore year as a science elective. She discovered she really enjoyed it and decided to make it her major. She ended up graduating in 4 years. This is extremely difficult to do at a large state school.</p>
<p>I agree with you Fender. And my oldest ‘did that’, he had a semester or two that were difficult so he took twelve and he had a semester or two that were easy and he took 18. I leave that up to the kids other than vague recommendations about balance with regard to classes. While graduation rates are somewhat informative, it really depends on the kid. The 4 year graduation rates were abysmal at my oldest son’s college, but he did it in 4 and was on the successful side of the statistics. I don’t really pay too much attention to graduation rates. While I’m concerned at a big uni for this last kid because he’s the first one to go to a big uni, we’re full pay, so if it doesn’t work and he’s not happy he was accepted at a couple smaller colleges that might take him on as a transfer if push comes to shove. But I also try not to put the chicken before the egg at least out loud around my kids.</p>
<p>We are doing the 4 years + 3 summers option. This allows lower course load during the year (electives and gen-ed’s in summer) and summer classes have nicer scholarship money, plus we’re paying the rent for 12 months, so… End result is 4 years but summers included, taking 15 credits a semester vs 18 (architecture). Makes quite a difference in GPA :)</p>
<p>Actually acute and chronic health issues affect more college students than one might expect. Our friend’s child had an operation for appendicitis, several have had very bad mono (one chronic), broken bones, death of loved ones. These all can make it tougher to graduate when expected. Of course, some kids still manage to graduate in 4 years, but it can require an extra term (or two).</p>
<p>Working while attending school can also cause the student to take longer. H worked his way thru school and took 7 years. </p>
<p>We didn’t pay a great deal of attention to 4 or 6 year graduation rates. We assumed our kids would do their best to get their degrees in 4 years and they did their best.</p>
<p>Okay I have a question that sorta relates to this thread. If it will take me more than 4 years to graduate, will financial aid cover for me after that 4 years? I’ll be going to an expensive private school if that matters.</p>
<p>Some merit scholarships are very specific in the number of years they will cover. Some private universities will only give institutional need based aid for four years. You will need to check YOUR college list to see each schools policy…as they vary.</p>
<p>Private schools will not cover more than 4 years, if you are recieving aid.
Oldest attended a 100% need met school.
Failed spring final of a critical class needed for graduation. ( illness & death of a close friend combined with a tough courseload didnt work out)
Her upcoming course load was too large to retake a class of that difficulty.
Even if she only retook that class & we paid out of pocket- that would have counted as her 4th year.
So she came home, retook the class with her schools blessing at a local college, and returned the next year to graduate.
I am very proud of her tenacity, and maturity in making that work for her.
It was also a case of having her within 500 miles of home paid off. Her college was close enough that she was able to keep in touch during her year off, which made it much easier for her.</p>
<p>NYU undergrad gives institutional financial aid for a max of 4 years. If you take more that 4 years, you will received any entitlement federal/state aid, but you will not receive NYU funds.</p>
<p>Giterdone- my D attended a prep school which did not have AP courses(the top private schools in the area generally dont), additionally, her college rarely allows AP courses to be used for credit although it occasionally will allow students to place into a higher level course, foreign language for example, but the same distribution requirement will still exist.
Although that is after proficency is demonstrated and not because of a test score.</p>
<p>^that is the exception rather than rule. AP wouldn’t exist if not for earning college credit. </p>
<p>I’ve heard of colleges with high test score standards (5 on an AP subject test) for earning credit, but I’ve not ever heard of colleges disallowing AP credits all together.</p>
<p>Harvard University permits students to satisfy its language credit and place out of some introductory courses with the tests. Stanford University allows students to receive elective credits for high AP exam scores.</p>
<p>Cornell University allows limited credits and placement out of introductory courses.</p>
<p>Yale University awards “acceleration credits” for high test scores, allowing students to advance to intermediate courses and potentially graduate early. Princeton University allows placement out of language and some introductory science and economics classes. Using these credits, Princeton students can graduate in three or three and a half years, but most choose to graduate in four years.</p>
<p>In 2012, 3,300 colleges and universities in the U.S. awarded credit, placement and special consideration in the admissions process to AP test-takers.</p>
<p>One of my kids actually didn’t have to take two English lit classes in college because he got a five on the AP exam. That was what HIS school did.</p>
<p>The other kid had AP credits that the school graciously accepted…but they were completely useless as they did not fulfill core course requirements…and we’re not allowed to be used instead of courses required for her majors. She ended up just having a bunch of extra credits when she graduated.</p>
<p>YMMV with regard to AP scores…and their actual benefits…depending on the school.</p>
<p>Didn’t I read somewhere that Dartmouth isn’t accepting AP scores for credit at all anymore? And I don’t think they are the only college with this policy.</p>
<p>Note: Harvard still does not give credit hours/units for AP coursework. You will still need 32 courses to graduate. At best, you don’t have to take a language course or you can get advanced placement into an upper level class. However, if you are a full IB diploma candidate, and you achieve a minimum (very high) score, you can elect to treat that as 8 courses for graduation. But then you must graduate in three rather than four years. At least that was true five years ago.</p>
