Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 21:53     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:This is a revived thread from the summer. OP what did your kid decide to do?


We put our foot down and told him we weren’t going to pay for him to go to a no-name college and flush his future down the toilet. Sometimes you’ve just got to be firm with your kid.

Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 21:52     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Late. Many kids take 5 years, particularly at large universities.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 21:48     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:He should wait for the flagship unless they are similar options like VA Tech and UVA. Sure some kids will take 5 years to graduate anyway due to inability to get all their courses in or doing a 3+2 or whatever.


+1. And I want to underscore that advising at community colleges in VA is poor BUT the requirements for four year transfer is all in writing and very clear - students have to
Pay attention!!!!



+1.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 21:41     Subject: Re:Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:... all else fixed, I would be more likely to hire the student who graduated late from a reputable college - especially if there was a reasonable explanation as to why.


+1 and I am a hiring manager in STEM.


The OP said her son didn’t care about getting a good job.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 20:57     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:Everyone takes a different path, and all the flagship now advertise their 6 year graduation rates [read, most don't graduate in 4 years].

Once you graduate from college, you don't put your HS on your resume, so no one will ever know that he graduated a year later than his peers


I’m not even sure graduating college on time is a thing. I was the only one of my group of friends to graduate in 4 years. I also took classes in the summer.

Some changed majors and thus needed different classes, some kids had rough semesters for various reasons so had to retake classes. Many kids I went to high school with went to college part-time and so took longer.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 20:52     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:He should wait for the flagship unless they are similar options like VA Tech and UVA. Sure some kids will take 5 years to graduate anyway due to inability to get all their courses in or doing a 3+2 or whatever.


+1. And I want to underscore that advising at community colleges in VA is poor BUT the requirements for four year transfer is all in writing and very clear - students have to
Pay attention!!!!
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 20:47     Subject: Re:Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely ON TIME.

Employers will notice if you graduate late. It’s a bad look.

Maybe, but all else fixed, I would be more likely to hire the student who graduated late from a reputable college especially if there was a reasonable explanation as to why. It's a bad look to be from a mediocre college too.


Most people graduate from mediocre colleges, so graduating from such a college actually wouldn’t look bad. On the other hand, most people DO NOT take longer than 4 years to graduate from college.

The bottom line is that most applicants for a job are people who graduated from a mediocre college in 4 years or less, so the OP’s son will be in good company if that ends up being his path.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 08:53     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
This is such a no-brainer. NOBODY cares if u took 5 years to graduate. It’s not at all rare or disgraceful to do so.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 08:05     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
This is a revived thread from the summer. OP what did your kid decide to do?
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 08:02     Subject: Re:Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely ON TIME.

Employers will notice if you graduate late. It’s a bad look.


They won’t know! He will have his cc graduation date and then, two years later, his college graduation date. They will never know he spent three years at cc.

I know because I did it - mine was because some prerequisite classes filled up before I could register and then weren’t offered until the following fall, but it’s fairly similar.

Op, “because I will be embarrassed” is a dumb reason to do anything. Help your teen realize that.


This. No one’s high school is on their resume. Employers aren’t going to know what exactly your graduated high school, nor are they going to be doing the mental math with your age. They really don’t care either way, whether it took 4 or 6 yrs to graduate. People take longer for many reasons. One huge one is college is expensive and many kids have to work while attending school.
Anonymous
Post 11/21/2025 07:52     Subject: Re:Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:... all else fixed, I would be more likely to hire the student who graduated late from a reputable college - especially if there was a reasonable explanation as to why.


+1 and I am a hiring manager in STEM.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 22:22     Subject: Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Better school, five years

Tell him plenty of his friends will take an extra semester or two and that it doesn't matter anyway
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 22:15     Subject: Re:Graduating late from a good college vs graduating on time from a mediocre college?
Anonymous wrote:Definitely ON TIME.

Employers will notice if you graduate late. It’s a bad look.

Maybe, but all else fixed, I would be more likely to hire the student who graduated late from a reputable college especially if there was a reasonable explanation as to why. It's a bad look to be from a mediocre college too.