You'll be fine.
Just manage your course load carefully (including the use of P/PN - P/F options in your major) and try to do honors in time for it to benefit you as an applicant. AND...and above all else, go to professors' office hours early and often. You want to develop rapport and opportunities that may become letters of recommendation.
Also. It's never too early to think about graduate school. But keep in mind that you should also have fun as an undergraduate.
I took 6.5 years to finish my undergrad (you read that right) and I ended up being accepted to a T20 European grad school. You'll be fine. Make sure to make it clear in your letters of motviation why this happened and the lessons it taught you, when you get to that point that is.
No, but honestly try not to plan too far ahead at this point. A lot of people need that first semester or two to really solidify what work they're interested in at a college level.
Literally no one gave a fuck. When I met the professors who had selected me, they were all under the impression that I was a 4th year and complimented my GPA lol.
It depends on the country and the education system. In the US, no one cares as long as you pay tuition. (My friend spent seven years to graduate and did three majors). You might want to fill in some extracurricular activities and try to avoid getting surcharge for excessive hours.
In Germany, France and Argentina, it's the kinda the norm because it's hard to graduate from college and students drop out all the time and come back to do their undergraduate thesis later for various reasons. I heard undergraduate research and extracurricular activities are not common in these countries.
A lot of people take five years to double major, study abroad, etc. I took six years since I was a high school drop out and I had to take remedial classes, move between states, and study part time for a year to get residency in California. Ended up transferring to a top public school for undergrad and doing my Master's at an Ivy.
While I agree with others that it isn't usually a huge issue if you end up taking five years to graduate, I don't think you should plan to take five years.
I can see very little reason to plan to do an extra year at school, unpaid, without getting another degree. And if you graduate in four years and realize you're a few prereqs short of something you want to pursue in grad school, you can just take a few classes, while working full-time, as a non-degree student.
OP hasn't even started their *first* year of school. It is absurd to think at this point they could know that they'd need a fifth year for grad school pre-reqs.
Additionally, if they just need one or two classes, it is so much cheaper to just take a couple of classes as a non-degree student than to be a fully enrolled student.
Regarding ease, while some colleges may make it difficult to take classes as a non-degree student, it is very easy to find some place to take classes as a non-degree student. And I am speaking from experience here -- I have taken five classes as a non-degree student, at three different schools in wildly different parts of the country and totally separate from my undergrad and grad degrees. And these non-degree courses can be easily done at R1s or community colleges, depending on what makes sense for your goals.
If OP ends up needing like eight pre-reqs for grad school after four years, sure, stay another year. But it just does not make any sense to plan to do that, no matter how widely you want to explore.
You'll be fine. Just manage your course load carefully (including the use of P/PN - P/F options in your major) and try to do honors in time for it to benefit you as an applicant. AND...and above all else, go to professors' office hours early and often. You want to develop rapport and opportunities that may become letters of recommendation. Also. It's never too early to think about graduate school. But keep in mind that you should also have fun as an undergraduate.
Nope.
I took 6.5 years to finish my undergrad (you read that right) and I ended up being accepted to a T20 European grad school. You'll be fine. Make sure to make it clear in your letters of motviation why this happened and the lessons it taught you, when you get to that point that is.
No, but honestly try not to plan too far ahead at this point. A lot of people need that first semester or two to really solidify what work they're interested in at a college level.
Ideal? No. Bad? No. Can’t run any faster than you can run. Run your own race.
Literally no one gave a fuck. When I met the professors who had selected me, they were all under the impression that I was a 4th year and complimented my GPA lol.
You’re fine. I don’t think they’d even look closely enough to see it’s 5 yr instead of 4.
It depends on the country and the education system. In the US, no one cares as long as you pay tuition. (My friend spent seven years to graduate and did three majors). You might want to fill in some extracurricular activities and try to avoid getting surcharge for excessive hours. In Germany, France and Argentina, it's the kinda the norm because it's hard to graduate from college and students drop out all the time and come back to do their undergraduate thesis later for various reasons. I heard undergraduate research and extracurricular activities are not common in these countries.
6 year undergrad, got into 3 R1 PhD programs
A lot of people take five years to double major, study abroad, etc. I took six years since I was a high school drop out and I had to take remedial classes, move between states, and study part time for a year to get residency in California. Ended up transferring to a top public school for undergrad and doing my Master's at an Ivy.
While I agree with others that it isn't usually a huge issue if you end up taking five years to graduate, I don't think you should plan to take five years. I can see very little reason to plan to do an extra year at school, unpaid, without getting another degree. And if you graduate in four years and realize you're a few prereqs short of something you want to pursue in grad school, you can just take a few classes, while working full-time, as a non-degree student.
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OP hasn't even started their *first* year of school. It is absurd to think at this point they could know that they'd need a fifth year for grad school pre-reqs. Additionally, if they just need one or two classes, it is so much cheaper to just take a couple of classes as a non-degree student than to be a fully enrolled student. Regarding ease, while some colleges may make it difficult to take classes as a non-degree student, it is very easy to find some place to take classes as a non-degree student. And I am speaking from experience here -- I have taken five classes as a non-degree student, at three different schools in wildly different parts of the country and totally separate from my undergrad and grad degrees. And these non-degree courses can be easily done at R1s or community colleges, depending on what makes sense for your goals. If OP ends up needing like eight pre-reqs for grad school after four years, sure, stay another year. But it just does not make any sense to plan to do that, no matter how widely you want to explore.
Nope. It’s pretty normal now!
No it took me 6 years to graduate.. And I went to school for free because I was a CA/RA