Asklemmy

Some people graduate in 3 years, some in 4, some in 5+. It really is different for everyone. Unless it is exceedingly financially difficult to afford these two additional classes, you’ll probably be okay.

It's super common.

Suse I'm on my fourth year and don't even have my associates you're fine

I graduated in 6 years with a bachelor's. It took my mom 20 years to get her bachelor's (not continuously). You're fine.

People graduate from Bachelor's wayy older than you. I was meant to go to uni when I was 18 then had a medical emergency, then a combo of surgeries and incarceration stopped me from going for several years after that, and I'm currently just working but may try to go to uni once I have more money. There are plenty of students who start an undergrad degree when they're your age or older. People who start when they are 18 have various personal emergencies that mean they have to delay their education. You will be entirely fine.

I spent three years miserable on the mechanical engineering track that was colloquially known as "pre-business" before I ended up with an MIS degree at 23 after a hard pivot and an extra year and change of classes. I'd be hard pressed to say I'm 'happy' today, but the degree has afforded me the ability to live quasi-comfortably on my own.

I’m graduating a year later too.

Nah. It’s a bump in the road. You’re doing great.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Sanders?wprov=sfla1

Nah. It's fine. I ended up taking an extra year to get my BSME. Nobody has ever once questioned that on my resume. Luckily, a few of my friends continued on to graduate studies, so I still knew a few people that last year.

I never finished college, likely due to ADD.
Check for mental issues if you suspect anything remotely of that sort.
I only discovered the severity of it in my early forties.

Literally does not matter. There's always going to be someone smarter, harder-working, or more privileged than you. The sooner you accept that and take ownership of your own experience without comparing yourself to others, the better off you'll be.

At the end of your life, you are the one that has to die.

Fuck everyone else. This is your life.

I took 7 1/2 years. Everyone moves at different speeds. Comparison is the thief of joy.

I started college ten years ago and still haven't graduated. You're doing fine

On the contrary, you just bought yourself seven months while the economy is deteriorating and job market is nosediving. Consider yourself lucky, and pray that the top brass can stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

It's a great time to do a masters and Ph.D if you are interested. This has echoes of '08 and 20 when it comes to uncertainty and potential layoffs.

No one knows when you entered college. You could have taken a year off between hs and college. No one will know that you had to retake classes either. You’re over thinking it. You’re not the last person to do it, you don’t know where everywhere else is at.

It doesn't matter beyond the FOMO.

Chances are, no one will remember or care in a decade.

Assuming you are USAmerican?

Unfortunately, chances are also just a bit better than a coin flip you'll be able to find a decent job anyway, so, it also doesn't matter in that sense.

41% of recent grads are underemployed, 6% are unemployed, you thus have a 53% chance of finding a job that utilizes your degree.

... Assuming the economy does not get worse.

... Which it will.

Sorry man, happened to me as well. I graduated right out into the Great Recession... and now we're looking at a 2nd Great Depression.

Good luck.

I can guarantee you it's not a big deal. Don't beat yourself over it.

Dude (Dudess?). You are so young. This doesn't matter in a long run.

This stuff is SO insignificant in the context of the rest of your life. It took me like 5 or 6 years and 3 different colleges (1 of them twice) to get my degree. It was a waste of money, and has had no impact on where I am now in life; which is actually in a pretty good place. That said, I completely understand how this seems like the be all end all of your world right now. Just realize that that is because of your age, and that will virtually vanish as you progress through life and gain perspective. I also completely understand that all of that probably won’t make you feel any better right now.

I graduated when I was 30. Not a problem! (That was 30 years ago)

In my late forties and I couldn't tell you what year I graduated. I know I fucked up so bad freshman year I had to switch from an Ivy League to an okay school with zero credit to my name, and lost a whole year, I know I got to 90% done with three different minors I ended up hating and dropping. I know I'm successful and happy in my career.
It doesn't matter a bit.
Also, you're struggling BUT doing it. That's way more impressive than cruising through college.

Don't worry about this at all, this is actually a great opportunity.

You have a full year where you are a very competitive intern/research applicant because most of your schooling is behind you.

Not only that, but you can probably take an internship in the spring or fall semester when everyone else is in school. You can get some really primo internships. University of Waterloo is a school you probably never heard of but you find their students in all the big tech companies in the spring and fall because the school pushes them to take a semester off(I think). It's a great strategy.

Don't compare yourself with others - comparison is the thief of joy. And those people who have graduated are probably trying to get jobs right now. Have you seen the current job market? It's fucking insane. I don't know that it'll be any better in 7 months but I wouldn't want to be looking for a job right now. Enjoy your reprieve.

I started uni at 20, changed my degree halfway through, moved to another city and now I'm gonna graduate at 29 🙃

Don't worry about that stuff, you're still very young and have a lot of time ahead of you to figure stuff out
(and now I'm sounding like I'm 40)

Your old classmates who flunked during the last two years probably didn't post about it on social media. It's not reflective of reality, just all curation.

Trust me, you're doing fine. My bachelor took five years to finish, and plenty of people I've talked to have had similar situations.

In 10 years you won’t even thing about this.

Just like I don’t remember which of my friends got their drivers license a few months ago before me.

It seems like a high deal now because you’re in the middle of it, but as someone’s few decades out, it’s not going to matter at all. Now that you’re an adult you’re going to meet people of all different ages and different places in their lives.

And most of it end up being because of things out of their control:

They have a physical illness or injury that slows down an aspect of their life.

They suddenly have to care for a parent, or sibling or child.

Jobs are suddenly available or not available, you might have to move cities, or across countries.

Everyone is doing things at their own pace. There is no reason to compare your journey against anyone else, because there are so many factors that got you where you are, and so many that will get your where you’re going, comparisons are worthless.

One of the worst things we do as a culture is setting arbitrary milestones and then shaming ourselves or others for missing them.

Are you expecting to graduate? You’re better off than many who didn’t finish at all. You stumbled, you’re moving forward. You’re going to be fine.

It's pretty normal. I took 6 years. I was having a good time.

It doesn't matter. You're there to learn, it's not a social club. If it takes you a little longer to learn it, then so be it.

I started college at 16, and completed my first degree at 39. Don't feel bad, the timeline works differently for different people.

Well I just graduated and it took 5 1/2 years, granted I took a year off for covid, but I think I’m doing fine, plus if my experience is anything to go by when your slightly older you take things more seriously which can be beneficial— don’t sweat it!

Once you've got a job in your chosen career, 99% of situations don't give any shit about what happened before that.

I'm a junior who's 21 years old I've been planning it out and it looks like ima have to take an extra year. You're fine my guy

No

Colleges in fact often conspire to try to delay your graduation to fleece you. Don't take it as a personal failing

I don't know a single person who graduated "on time". This may differ from country to country, but here the nominal times are just waaaay unrealistic. I'm sure it's possible, but at least for me I would've missed many opportunities, and I'm glad I took the time.

Not something to sweat buddy, just use the term to improve your GPA if you can. GPA is also pretty meaningless if you don't intend to pursue more education, but a higher one will leave that door open.

No it's not. You graduate when you graduate.

I got my first degree when I was 23, first school I got accepted was marketing and sales and I hated it there, took me 4 years before I got kicked out (I had to go to military between years 3-4, somehow administration didn't register that and got a whole year of missing classes lol). After that I went to new school and graduated in 2 years and last year I got my second degree in my mid 30s. No one cares about your graduation (except parents probably), just take your time.

Short answer: no. You can even study two other degrees and be fine if age is your only concern.

I feel like everyone thinks they're behind in life in general. It's a really messed up mind set society puts us in.

It might feel like a big thing now but you'll be fine. I went to get my GED once and failed the test, I thought it was the end of the world. Turns out none of it mattered and I ended up doing pretty well for myself.

I failed a class in college. It was impossible to make the credits up due to scheduling conflicts/the tight nature of my curriculum’s scheduling. I had to miss my graduation in the spring, and go back to school in the fall for one semester for one class.

I am now a C-suite executive at a mid sized engineering firm.

Don’t worry about it at all. Take the extra time to breathe, get other things in your life in order, and hell-maybe just have a little fun too. You’ll be fine.

This might feel bad, but honestly you're still killing it. I graduated at like 30 after grinding out years and years of CC. You have great prospects, just stay focused

I had to retake one of my university units over the summer after failing the final exam. It was the most embarrassed I think I’ve been to tell my parents, as I’d always been pretty solid with schoolwork.

In the end everything ended up perfectly fine, parents didn’t give a shit (I was an adult after all) and it made no difference to my future career prospects at all.

I'd be pretty hard-pressed to name any of my friends who graduated "on time"

I'm well into my 30s now, a couple of my friends are still working on degrees or just graduated.

Changing majors, bullshit scheduling nonsense, life

Shit, there was a whole fucking pandemic that fucked up a year or two of your high school years, it's pretty damn amazing that anyone your age is graduating even roughly on-time as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe it'll throw a bit of a monkey wrench into your social life because you gotta skip out on a couple things because you have class. That's life as an adult, we all got scheduling conflicts all the time.

Otherwise, it's never gonna matter. You'll have a degree, that's the only "important" thing about graduating. Unless you're looking to get into some highly-specialized, super-competitive field, no one gives a shit how long it took you to graduate, how your gpa stacked up against the rest of your class, etc. It's like the old joke "What do you call the person who graduated at the bottom of their class in medical school? You call them 'Doctor.'"

If you're like me, when you were in high school, wasn't it really important what grade someone was in? Like you're a junior, you're not going to hang out with some FRESHMAN, right?

But then, when you got to college, there was this sudden shift, and now it doesn't really matter what year someone is in? I remember that feeling, like "oh, we're all just college students, who cares if I started a year before someone else."

If you can relate to that experience, feeling that shift of "oh, turns out that didn't really matter" then I promise you have another one coming soon, when you get out of college and get a job and go "oh, who cares when someone graduated college, even if they started at the same time. We're all just doing our thing now."

It took me 7 years to get a 2 year degree. I work with one of my best friends who got his masters in that same time. We're both successful and excell at what we do. It does suck that you have to wait to be done, but one silver lining is you may have a better job market since you won't be graduating with the vast majority of college students competing for the same spots.