<p>I've heard that it's pretty common to take more than four years to graduate from GT. Is this true? If so, what is the reason for it?</p>
<p>Yes, this is true. The reason is that the co-op program is so popular. The co-op program requires that you spend a few semesters working instead of taking classes, so you graduate in more like 5-6 years. However, if you take classes during fall/spring each year, and are looking to complete a single major, it is easy to graduate in 4 years. The registrar site even has a sample 4-year plan for each major, outlining what classes to take to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>If it’s because of co-ops, then that makes total sense. As far as I know, any co-op program anywhere makes you take longer to graduate. I just want to make sure it’s not because people have trouble getting the classes they need to graduate.</p>
<p>It’s mostly the co-op program. I’m on track to graduate in three years (I’ve taken classes every Summer). However, I’m going to co-op which will probably delay my graduation another year or two.</p>
<p>So many people stay one extra fall semester to get in one more football season with friends, etc. People who want to get out in four tend to be able to, especially if you bring in 10-15 hours of AP credit.</p>
<p>The Co-op program is one reason, but also consider that most majors at Tech are 135-140 hours, which is 15-20 hours more than a “traditional” 120 hour BA/BS degree. If you come in as a freshman and start out light your first semester (12 hours or so) and you don’t have plenty of AP credits, you’re looking at 4.5 - 5 years to graduate. And that doesn’t even take into account “losing credits” because you change majors.</p>
<p>To graduate in 4 years (8 semesters) from Tech, you need to come in with some AP courses, a good idea of your major (no switching), and a plan that allows you to hit the ground running. It’s certainly not impossible to do (about half of all Tech graduates graduate in 4 years) but it’s something you need to plan for.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech has some official stats on this [url=<a href=“http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/graduationretention-rates]here[/url”>http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/graduationretention-rates]here[/url</a>].</p>
<p>Indeed, the four-year rates are not high; they’ve hovered around 30% since 2000. Note, however, that an additional year makes a big difference for many students. The five-year rates are more than double the four-year rates. As others have mentioned, almost all of the engineering majors require more than 122 hours to graduate. Several are even 132 hours and have numerous lab requirements. No doubt that there are some four-year ChBE or BME graduates, but many do need a fifth-year to get out.</p>
<p>The 4 year graduation rate is about 35%, but the 6 year graduation rate is around 70%. So about half of all people that graduate do it in 4 years.</p>
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<p>The first part of this statement is absolutely false. It is possible to graduate from each major within 4 years without taking too many credit hours per semester (I think you can do 4 years for any major with no more than 16 credits in a given semester, but don’t quote me on that) WITHOUT AP credit.</p>
<p>Second and third part are partially true. If you start off as a management major, for example, and spend your first two semesters taking management classes, then yes, if you switch to chemical engineering or something you will need to take more than 4 years. However if you switch within engineering, for example, your first semester would have been similar, and you could likely graduate within 4 years anyway.</p>
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<p>8 semesters at 16 hours/semester is 128 hours. There are some majors at Tech that are 128 or less hours (I think the new ME curriculum is 128 exactly) but most of the popular majors are a little more. But even then, a few 17 hour semesters really aren’t that bad if you mostly fill the hours with electives.</p>
<p>My comment wasn’t meant to be a definitive analysis of the potential graduation scenarios, rather a subjective opinion based on what I’ve generally seen. Usually, people who don’t have AP credits and need to take all of the GT series (all three Calcs and both physics, etc) end up having to take a light semester somewhere (usually in their sophomore year) otherwise they’ll have an extremely difficult semester.</p>
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<p>Engineer to engineer in the first semester is probably fine, but most people don’t switch that early. They switch after they’ve taken an engineering course (which then becomes “wasted” if it can’t be applied to the new major). But even if you go engineer to engineer in the first semester, it’s not always guaranteed that you’ll be even. For example, switching from ME to ChE (two very closely tied majors) could cause you to be behind if you didn’t take Chem I in your first semester. Then you’ve pushed the Intro Chem -> Inorganic -> Ochem -> Pchem sequence.</p>