@ReminiscingDad, my son falls in the category of chomping at the bit. He had initially thought he would go to work directly after graduation and go to grad school later. A friend (graduate of Michigan engineering) said his girlfriend did the 5 year option at Michigan and he was so sorry he didn’t have that option available to him as his gpa wasn’t strong enough to qualify. He’s been working and trying to do Masters at night and it’s taking a lot longer than 2 years, so he said if you qualify for getting it done in one extra year, you should def go for it. My son spoke to several professors at Maryland (they really are terrific at Maryland and very happy to help students), and some recommended he go elsewhere since he should have no prob getting in to top tier, while others said it depended on what he wanted to ultimately do with that degree. At the end of the day, he only wants the degree for work, not research nor academia. His employer said they could care less about where the degree is from as long as he gets it. So, ultimately, he decided to take advantage of the 5 year plan. He loves the research he was doing at Maryland and the prof he’s working with, so he is happy to continue it, if that helps to know.