UC Berkeley vs Lewis & Clark vs Hampshire

ucsd_ucla_dad
Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:18:06 +0000

^^ That’s weird about not getting a class for 2 years and it even pre-dates the current economic impact. If that’s all that was holding up graduation it seems very odd to me that she couldn’t work something out between her, an academic advisor, and whichever profs were applicable. There usually is some flexibility, especially for a class needed to be able to get the degree.

There are several reasons for extending beyond 4 years besides not getting classes -


One is pursuing a rigorous schedule-filling major together with a tough minor (think of something like CS major and Chem minor).
One takes a light load - i.e only 3 courses per quarter for a number of quarters. There are a fair number of students who seem to do this purposely even when they have an easier major.
One changes their major a time or two (or three) and has to catch up on prereq classes for their final chosen major.
One refuses to take the 8am or Friday classes or classes from certain profs (when multiple profs teach a course).
Some students seem to stretch it out at a UC - “because they can” - i.e. the UC is affordable enough (compared to a full pay private) to be able to stay longer and perhaps take different classes or the lighter load if one wishes.


There are plenty of students who take longer than 4 years but many times it’s due to reasons other than ‘not getting classes’.