Ask HN: How bad does taking an extra semester to graduate college look?

[weril]

I'm especially curious about how it looks to employers, but if any of you have thoughts as to how it looks to grad schools, law schools, etc, that information would also be appreciated.

I think I have a good reason for taking an extra semester, but I'm afraid that there would be times where I wouldn't get to state it.

[bitshepherd]

Nobody cares how long you went to college, where you went to college (okay, some people DO care about that), or even what your GPA was when you graduated.

Here's what employers do care about in my experience: if you went to school, did you graduate? can you do the job at hand? even if you don't have all of the skills, can you learn without handholding?

If you take an extra semester to get a degree, big deal. The end result is that you're a college graduate, not that you took 4 years and a semester. Anyone that gives you a hard time about something that trivial is not someone you want to be working with or for. If a prospective or current employer does give you flak, let that be a signal to cut ties and move on.

[brudgers]

If it matters to someone other than as a question of genuine curiosity, then you don't want to work for them because they are looking backward for fault instead of forward for possibility.

Anyone who uses it to differentiate between two otherwise equal candidates is just using it as a proxy for something else about which they are biased so you weren't getting the job anyway.

[lugg]

Nobody cares, if anyone does ask: just say you started mid year and it threw out course prerequisites to the point it was easier to take an easier workload spread over an extra semester.

Source, I did this. Nobody cares.

[davismwfl]

I think you'd be hard pressed for an employer to notice unless you said something.

Remember interviewing is about selling yourself and learning about the company. In the end, basically, just do your best not to wear your insecurities on the outside where a potential employer can see them. We all have some, don't lie if asked, just don't broadcast them either.

[malandrew]

No one cares. You're resume doesn't need that level of specificity. Year started and year ended are sufficient. In fact, you can probably only put the year you completed your degree and not the year started and no one would notice or care. The only time people care about dates is when there are large recent unexplained gaps and there is nothing on a resume to indicate what constructive/productive activity (professional or educational) you were doing at the time.

[theGREENsuit]

I took an extra semester and never had it come up in an interview. I never thought of it as something I should hide, either. My resume simply lists the school and what my major was. Even if it did come up, I'd simply say I took an extra semester to allow for better focus on my studies in my final year. As others have already pointed out, it's what you can do that gets you the job, not how long it took you to earn your degree.

[greenyoda]

If I were hiring someone, I wouldn't think this was a big deal. Lots of people take more than four years to graduate from college for various reasons, e.g., financial or health problems.

Here are some stats:

http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/state/#state=ny&secto...

[saluki]

Few people graduate exactly on time in four years.

Changing majors, took a semester off, took extra classes, internship etc, lighter class load while working.

When listing your degree I would just show the year you graduated not a start/end date, just show the year.

No one should be concerned about this, I wouldn't expect the question but if you're worried just have a positive answer ready.

Good luck with your interviews.

[some_furry]

What exactly is an extra semester? :P

Graduated is graduated. 2015 is sufficient information on a resume. If anyone asks (e.g. 2011-2016), you started later (2012) because took a semester off between high school and college to [volunteer/save money/something that says you are a great person] (select appropriate).

Nobody cares though.

[calcsam]

Not at all. No employer forces to list your starting year on your resume, anyway. Grad schools might be different.

[brianwawok]

Also if you are set to graduate May of 2015 but you graduate Dec of 2015 instead.. you still graduated in 2015.. so on the .0001% chance someone cared, just put 2011-2015 for years attended and it is both truthful and shows "4 years"

[cjensen]

I wouldn't care.

Also, it is very bad form to ask since the answer provides no additional legitimate information, but could be seen as a probe into your health or age.

[rubyfan]

To an employer it shouldn't matter even a little bit. After your first job no one will really ever care about what you did in college.

[larrykubin]

No one cares. I took 5 extra semesters myself and am doing just fine.

[MichaelCrawford]

I took seven extra years. That didn't cause me any trouble. The only reason I graduated at all was that I grew weary of interviewers asking me why I never graduated.