<p>September 2006: Start undergrad.
September 2010: Withdrawal under extenuating circumstances (5 W notations).
September 2012: Return to school and finish undergrad and graduate in June 2013.</p>
<p>How would professional/grad school adcoms as well as employers view this, assuming that the gap time is spent productively?</p>
<p>Employers wouldn’t care. I’ll let others address the grad school issue. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>Some employers do care about “gaps” in a resume, so make sure that yours includes constructive activities between September 2010 and September 2012.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I doubt anyone would care. I’m sure there are lots of other people in your prospective employer’s organization who left college at one point and went back and finished later.</p>
<p>Gaps in a resume do matter, whether it’s education or employment, but most employers will listen as to why.</p>
<p>If this is a story of dedication, perseverence, and overcoming adversity, who could hold that against an applicant?</p>
<p>I have a friend who took 7 years for undergrad. It was going to take him 5 years b/c he only did 12 credits per semester (while working full time through college) and in his 4th year he decided to change his major. A year later, he decided to change it again. At the end of that year, he realized he was going to be there forever so he switched back to his original major and finished it up. Makes pretty good money too so I don’t think those extra 2 years have hurt him.</p>
<p>You have two choices. Just put in your graduation date and don’t talk about what you did in the gap years or (preferable IMO) include work or whatever experience you had in the gap time. You don’t have to highlight that you took a break. Education and Work Experience are on separate parts of the resume.</p>
<p>^^Agree with Mathmom; whether you plodded along continuously but slowly or took breaks between full semesters, your graduation date is what matters. Education part of resume shows student from start date to graduation date.
If you had gainful employment, internships, etc. they would go under Experience section of resume.</p>
<p>With the cost of education today, lots of people do not take the traditional route to college. Heck, colleges report their graduation rates as of six years after matriculation, so that is an indicator of averages. </p>
<p>My mother used to say, “You don’t have to tell everything you know.” That works here. Lots of people start and stop. The important thing is to finish.</p>
<p>Heck, Sarah Palin went to four different schools before finally getting a bachelor’s degree and look at her.;)</p>
<p>My brother took 9 years to finish undergrad, due to a combination of changing majors (more than twice!), lack of urgency/drive and having to work to pay for school as he went. He did not have anything impressive in any of his “gaps.” He had no problem getting into grad school, and is now a university professor.</p>
<p>As for employers, it depends on the story. I did notice (and root out) gaps in resumes when I was interviewing job candidates, and wanted to know why and what was being done during those periods. Whether it mattered depended on the answers to my questions.</p>
<p>If I were an employer, I would admire a kid who got his act together and went back to finish, especially if he did well when he returned to school. People I know who have done this have done very well in the job market.</p>
<p>^My brother hired a woman who had a two year gap in her resume who had spent it living off an inheritance and playing World of War Craft (or some other equivalent). Needless to say while he was nervous about how she would turn out, she’s apparently been a great employee. She aced their test (tech company) and convinced them she was ready to buckle down to work.</p>
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<p>Wouldn’t you just put your terminal degree year and major on a resume?</p>
<p>I teach resume writing, and my advice in general is to put graduation date only.</p>
<p>If the gap time was spent working/volunteering/doing something productive, that will show up on the resume anyway, right?</p>
<p>It took me 22 years to finish my BS. Not everyone gets through in four years, employers know this and, frankly, I don’t think seven years is all that long considering the economy. People who have to pay their own way often take five plus years. </p>
<p>I would just put my graduation date and go from there. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Dh went to school on the 12 year plan. When he (finally) got his bachelors degree, he had no trouble getting a very good job in his high demand field…and has had a successful career since then.</p>
<p>I took 7 years to complete my BA after attending 3 schools and working mostly full time during college. It took another 3 years to complete 2 teaching credentials. I was hired immediately as a special education/deaf education teacher.</p>
<p>OP, I think you’ll be just fine and I wish you well!</p>
<p>No one cares how long it takes to get a college degree they only care if you actually got the degree. On your resume put the year you graduate and that’s all you need. Most people don’t put a “beginning date and an ending date” for colleges. They either just put a year they graduated or a statement like "was graduated June 19xx or May 20xx</p>
<p>Thank you for all the posts.</p>
<p>If I try, I can return to school this coming September 2011, but the reason I am reluctant to do so is because I want to focus solely on working on my problems, thinking about what direction to choose (eg. whether to continue in the premed track and apply to med school or not) and also learning what I want using resources like Great Courses, books and audiobooks.
I’m trying to come up with pros and cons of each choice so that I can make a better decision. I’d appreciate some feedback on these lists.</p>
<p>Return in September 2011:
Pros:
-Graduate next year.</p>
<p>Cons:
-I will have privileges as undergrad (eg. free bus pass, working as a teaching assistant, great volunteer/job opportunities in undergrad) only until June 2011.</p>
<p>Return in September 2012:
Pros:
-I will have more space and time to think things through and learn things and increase my chance of solving more of my problems, as well as choosing a right direction for me.
-I will maintain privileges of being an undergrad for a longer time.</p>
<p>Cons:
-My graduation will be delayed. => Earning income is delayed.
-My parents might be concerned, at least initially.
-Not a very common route so I might have to lie to strangers/acquaintances telling them I am still in school, at least until when I return to school in September 2012.</p>
<p>Note: In fact, I don’t really feel like returning at all because I find undergrad education to be not worthwhile but rather highly overpriced for its value. But I guess I have no choice but to do one more year to get my degree because these days, undergrad degree is like the norm/minimum that the society expects of you.</p>
<p>Law schools have the LSAC that recomputes college GPAs. If the W would have resulted in “F’s,” the GPA would be much less than otherwise. If the W’s indicate nothing, I don’t think it matters. You would have to call the LSAC to find out what the effect would be.</p>