Graduate in five years?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>So it is halfway through the first semester of sophomore year and I am already exhausted. I’m a sophomore in mechanical engineering; while I was blown away by the change from high school to college, I thought it was a good thing because I was learning so much. Although I expected a big jump from freshman to sophomore year, this is starting to get a little bit ridiculous. I feel like there simply isn’t enough time in a week to learn everything. Each subject on its own would be manageable, or even just three or four of them. </p>

<p>I understand that most people can handle it. Frankly, I just feel uncomfortable trying to manage all of this, and I like being comfortable as opposed to uncomfortable. Some of the engineers here will probably think I’m weaksauce for wanting more time for each subject and not just drilling through them all, but honestly, I want to have some time to stop and enjoy the college life once in a while. There has been almost none of that this semester. </p>

<p>So what if I took five years to graduate instead of four? What I’m really interested in is going to graduate school. So if I split up my classes into five years, I would fill each semester with research, so that I could better control my workload. Then would having all that research experience help in a graduate school application for going into research? Would the fact that I took five years matter in a situation like that? I guess that’s what I’m wondering. </p>

<p>I know it’s weird, but I like to relax so much. I have a passion for learning, and I want to be able to enjoy that, not feel overwhelmed by it.</p>

<p>tldr;
I’m feeling uncomfortable with my workload. Would taking five years to graduate harm chances of being accepted to graduate schools? I plan to do research each semester.</p>

2

<p>Well, if you’re planning to research every semester it will make things even more stressful for you.</p>

<p>But I think that is the way to go if you are serious about doing a PhD at a top-20 school.</p>

<p>I don’t think they care if you took an extra year to graduate.</p>

3

<p>In engineering it is very common for students to take 5 years to graduate, and there is nothing wrong with that.</p>

<p>However, I must ask, how many hours are you currently taking that is overwhelming you? </p>

<p>I will add too, that most grad-schools don’t care if you take extra time to fulfill a degree.</p>

4

<p>It’s sounding good so far. I think I’m taking 19 credits; thermo, statics, E&M, physics lab, calcIII, intro to mechanical engineering, and honors colloquium II. Intro to ME is actually the most work of of these. And I usually work about eight hours a week as a TA for the freshman Engineering Solutions class. </p>

<p>I’m not trying to get pity; I know plenty of people take on larger workloads than me and can manage. So often I hear people talking about how all the work is hell. I like doing work, but I’d prefer it not to be hell.</p>