<p>Does it matter whether you graduate in 4 years? Or is having a degree in the end the most important thing?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Well obviously it costs more to go for longer and you can’t always get financial aid beyond four years. Other than that I don’t think it matters.</p>
<p>Employers will likely ask why you did not complete your degree in 4 years. If your transcript shows a lot of dropped classes with a W, it will hurt, even if you have a high GPA after 5 years.</p>
<p>This would be especially true for the best employers.</p>
<p>I think average is 5-6 years but I’m personally pressing on 4 years, my good scholarships only last for 4 years and I have intentions on attending graduate school where there is more work to complete.</p>
<p>If you only intend to have one major, there should be no reason to stay in undergrad for more than four years. (Some people graduate in 3 by taking summer quarters.) But if you want to double major in majors which don’t have many classes in common, you might need to take 5 years. Future employers/grad schools will understand that.</p>
<p>One advantage to graduating earlier as opposed to later is the money factor. Not only will you be paying for less years of schooling, you will (hopefully) be in the workforce making money. So, the money advantage is two-fold in that sense.</p>
<p>It depends on the major. Some harder majors like engineering might be easier to do in 5 years.</p>
<p>Thanks. How about a double major in Applied Math and Econ?</p>
<p>That should be douable in four years, I am majroign in political science and economics.</p>
<p>of the things you can spend your time worrying about, this has got to be one of the items way down on the list. First off, on your resume people typically only list their college graduation date. So employers wouldn’t know from the resume how long it took you in college for their 1st screening. I suppose they could ask for official transcripts that would show it (or to bring an unofficial copy to your interviews) but I don’t think thats common, either.</p>
<p>If you want to take 5 years and can afford it, then go ahead and do it.</p>
<p>I think it ultimately depends on why it takes you longer to graduate, and that’s something that will probably be reflected on your resume and transcript.</p>
<p>For example, if you have a bunch of Ws and had to take longer to finish the curriculum, that’s the kind of thing that doesn’t look so good. However, it’s probably much less of a big deal if you’re pursuing multiple majors, or if classes that are taking up your credit hours are things that maybe aren’t directly in your curriculum but give you useful skills like computer applications. I also think it’s probably understandable if it takes longer due to major changes. </p>
<p>I doubt it’s ultimately a big deal. Most people don’t graduate in four years. I think your degree combined with your GPA and whatever experiences you have from college on your resume are much more important to the overall package.</p>
<p>You’d probably wanna earn some money before you have grandchildren.</p>
<p>I think you ought to get a Bachelors Degree by your fifth year max. Anything further may look bad to future employers and your parents. $$$$</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Disagree. The BEST employers aren’t going to care whether it took some four, five, and even six years to graduate. Most employers would take someone with a 4.0, work experience and extraccuriculars in their field of study that took 5-6 years to graduate (presumably in a marketable field) than someone who rushed to finish in 3-4 years, got a 2.5, and has little to no work experience in their field of study.</p>
<p>In reality, your resume will say:</p>
<p>Education: Bachelors in XXX, from YYY University, with the YEAR of graduation (2011).</p>
<p>Nobody thumbing through resumes is going to be calculating how long it took you to get your degree.</p>
<p>In all honesty, no one will care if you take 5 years or whatever to graduate. Most people won’t even KNOW. </p>
<p>Employers have bigger things to care about than useless stuff like that - I think any reasonable person would hire a person with a 3.8 who took 5 years to graduate but is a leader, a team player, has a lot of work experience with an impressive degree and interests than a 4.0 who graduated in 2.5 years but is an absolute robot with no personality/humanity.</p>
<p>I also think a lot of people do take 5 years or more to graduate anyways. So I don’t even think it’s that weird or really shows much. Lots of times people change their major and have to take a whole bunch of extra classes so it takes more time. Or they do a double major. I feel like employers will really not care at all.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. For my school I get Financial Aid for up to 5 years anyways, so that will help.</p>