I want to double major in biology and neuroscience, as well as minoring in computer science, at pretty much all of the schools I’m applying to. Along with distribution requirements and other courses I want to take, this looks like it’s going to take 5 years instead of 4. Is it bad to go into college planning to take an extra year to graduate? Should I cut down on the things I want to do?
Not as long as you can afford it. It’s not uncommon for students to need an extra semester or year, especially depending on major.
No, it’s not bad at all.
It’s not bad, but can be expensive - Cost of attendance plus salary lost for that 5th year.
Not at all. Whether or not you think it is worth the money is up to you.
If your goal is graduate or professional school, it won’t be frowned upon provided that the reason is not because you frequently withdrew form classes or you were always just taking minimum credits.
However, some public universities have restrictions on the number of extra semesters or credits beyond the usual number needed to graduate. This is presumably because they are enrolled to capacity, so they do not want students to stay longer than needed and causing overcrowding (for classes, etc.).
Also be aware that some scholarships and financial aid may only be good for four years (or eight semesters or twelve quarters), so the cost of any extra semesters or quarters could be significantly higher than for those in the the first four years’ worth.
Look carefully on these considerations before committing to a school.
How much will it cost? Going to a community college then transfering isn’t a bad idea.
As the posters above have said, there’s nothing inherently wrong with taking an extra year, but I do wonder about your plan. A double major in biology and neuroscience doesn’t really make sense, as neuroscience is, certainly at the undergraduate level, a subset of biology at most schools (or at least overlaps extremely heavily with it).
Moreover, lots of high school seniors plan to do X number of majors and Y number of minors before they get to college, but often realize when they begin their studies that it’s either unfeasible or unnecessary. Don’t worry about double majors and minors until you actually get to college and get a feel for the workload and a better idea of the potential benefits and detriments of doing so. Then you can decide whether or not a second major or a minor is right and/or necessary for you. Oftentimes, it’s wiser to simply major in one thing and take electives in the other areas that interest you–there’s usually no need to major or minor in those additional areas.