<p>Hello. I am a rising sophomore at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. I am a computer science major and mathematics minor. I am wondering does taking a fifth year to complete a bachelors degree look bad for graduate school admissions. I am trying to attend a top graduate school in computer science (currently I am at an NSF REU program for the summer, doing some file system and database research. I also have a 3.44 cumulative GPA in case you are wondering; I know I have to move it to a 3.8 or higher soon.). At my school, a majority of engineering majors do not graduate in 4 years because of lack of course offerings, the amount of units needed to complete the degree on time, and priority registration (your registration is based on your last name). My progress at Cal Poly is going very well, but in order for me to graduate on time with my minor, I'll be left with 5 extra courses (taken either in the summer, or I'll have to take some quarters with 5 full courses each quarter; not an easy feat at my school).</p>
<p>What is smarter: trying to graduate as quickly as possible, or spending an extra year to get great grades, more research opportunities, and have some more time to work on senior project/grad school apps/etc.?</p>