<p>I read in some places that it normally takes many people 6 years to graduate from GaTech. Is that true and if yes then what are the reasons behind it?</p>
<p>Georgia Tech graduates 81% of freshman (which is actually really high for an engineering school). Of those graduates:</p>
<ul>
<li>40% graduate in 4 years or less</li>
<li>89% graduate in 5 years or less</li>
<li>99% graduate in 6 years or less</li>
<li>100% graduate in 7 years or less
The average time to graduate is 4.5 years.<br>
Source: <a href=“http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/graduationretention-rates[/url]”>http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/graduationretention-rates</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Why does it take 4.5 years on average? Engineering degrees (anywhere) are longer degrees. They’re usually 130-140 hours while a liberal arts degree is usually 120 hours. So that typically adds a semester to an engineering student’s college career (and that’s not unique to GT - you’ll see it at any engineering college). The extra half semester is avoidable, however, if you come in with AP credit or take 16-17 hour semesters instead of the standard 15 hours.</p>
<p>Why does it take some people longer than 4.5 years? If you co-op (alternate work/school each semester), you’re pretty much on a 5 year plan. But it’s not really 5 years because mixed into those 5 years is a year of work (where you don’t pay tuition and receive a very good salary). So you’re only paying for 4 years of college over 5 years. </p>
<p>What about the 6 and 7 year graduates? The vast majority of undergraduate are full-time, but there are some part-time students who take 6 or 7 years. Again, that’s not really 6 or 7 years since those students pay a fraction of tuition and take a fraction of the classes at a time. </p>
<p>Of course, there are also the students who take full-time courses, don’t co-op, and still take 5 or 6 (or even 7) years. These students probably changed majors once or twice, probably failed classes and had to retake them, and probably registered for reduced load semesters (10-12 hours). Sometimes these student fail out of GT, go to Georgia Southern for a year, then apply for readmission. It happens, but it’s by no means common and it’s 100% avoidable.</p>
<p>In short, every major at GT can be done in 4 years if you come in knowing your intended major and have a good work ethic.</p>
<p>@ CFB53B thanks for your very detailed reply. you’ve indicated a lot of things that i didn’t know before. i’ll take that into consideration.</p>