Man, you don't have to yell.

Taking a fifth year is common throughout all programs and departments--you didn't have to justify it to us (or yourself), and it's not a big deal at all. Here's a step-by-step procedure on how it works:

1. When SOLAR opens, don't register for courses you don't want to yet.
2. Enjoy your reduced courseload.

You can do anything you would in a fourth year in a fifth year. To the best of my knowledge, a fifth year does not affect graduate/professional applications, although it's always best to check with the department of whatever you're applying to if you want to be sure.

Jesus Christ, you need to change your font size.

What you plan to do sounds like a horrible idea. A lot of us are able to work, be heavily involved in extracurriculars while completing our degrees in the allotted amount of time. If you are going to professional school, often you need to take a full course load in order for that year to qualify. Even if your GPA counts for that year, they would prefer to take the person who took a full course load and balanced their ECs.

Professional and graduate schools are 2 years minimum (PT, OT, MSc, etc.), Dentistry/Optometry are 4 years, Med is 3-4 years + 2-5 years for residency. PhDs are 4+ years. If you get into professional/graduate school, by the time you are near the end it definitely won't be "short".

Enjoy it while you can.

I can't even remember all the times I have personally posted this (and I know many others have as well) on these forums. "Graduate/professional school" tells us absolutely nothing. It's different for different disciplines, and amongst the disciplines, it depends on the individual school. It's up to YOU to do the research to find out how your decisions will affect your future.

As others have already said, in some cases, it most certainly will hinder your chances of being accepted. In other cases, it won't matter at all. You need to do the research and decide if the pros outweigh the cons.

I disagree that it's "a horrible idea". I don't know enough about your situation to make that judgment call - it's up to you to decide if it's a good or bad idea based on what you want out of life.

Just keep in mind it is highly likely you'll be asked by the grad/professional program for your reason for taking the extra year to complete your studies, and I think your explanation and rationale are pretty weak from what you wrote in your OP.

So make sure you prepare a better answer when the time comes (either in the application forms or the interviews or both - it'll come up for sure). If other people are reasonably capable of doing in 4-years what took you 5-years to accomplish - then you're going to have a tough time talking yourself up to grad/professional programs.

Originally Posted by PockyWarrior

Just keep in mind it is highly likely you'll be asked by the grad/professional program for your reason for taking the extra year to complete your studies, and I think your explanation and rationale are pretty weak from what you wrote in your OP.

So make sure you prepare a better answer when the time comes (either in the application forms or the interviews or both - it'll come up for sure). If other people are reasonably capable of doing in 4-years what took you 5-years to accomplish - then you're going to have a tough time talking yourself up to grad/professional programs.

Actually, not all professional programs take this into account. Any program that uses MMI for their type of interview most certainly won't ask it (or any other personal question) during the interview, and some programs don't care what your reasoning is even if you include it somewhere in the application form. They know their program is rigorous and they want to see that you are capable of doing well academically with a full course load.

So many different schools and programs all have their own way of looking at it. You really can't make any generalizations.

Originally Posted by starfish

Actually, not all professional programs take this into account. Any program that uses MMI for their type of interview most certainly won't ask it (or any other personal question) during the interview, and some programs don't care what your reasoning is even if you include it somewhere in the application form. They know their program is rigorous and they want to see that you are capable of doing well academically with a full course load.

So many different schools and programs all have their own way of looking at it. You really can't make any generalizations.

Even at schools that have an MMI interview there is still a file review that takes place. During that process, not finishing a 4 year program in 4 years without a legitimate reasons could raise red flags and prevent the OP from getting an interview. If I were interviewing the OP and they gave me their reasoning, I wouldn't be impressed. :\

If you really want to do a victory lap here, finish your degree in the 4 years. Then depending on your courses you might be able to complete a second undergraduate degree in a year or do a one year masters (the global health program here is popular). Or you could be one of those people who ends up working full-time at McMaster for a year. Those might be better options.

Lois,

Everyone has different reasons for pursuing an extra year. For some it's for athletic commitments, family emergencies, or personal crises. I'd rather not spill my guts online into all the deeper reasons of why a "5th year" is better suited for me. Some people want to be done and flee university as fast as possible. Whereas, some can stay in the same university for 10 years+ doing their undergrad, Master's, and PhD. Everyone is different. Everyone has different future aspirations. But for me personally, there is no rush.

Nobody cares if you finished your program in 4 years and barely got anything out of it in terms of life experiences and people skills. It's about the person in a holistic, versatile view. Admissions officers would rather take the matured, 5th year student who was passionate and made a significant impact in 1-3 campus activities/clubs than a student who graduated in 4 years with the same grades, but limited learnt experiences. I want to get more out of my undergrad career and pursue grandeur things during and after undergrad. Clearly, not everyone has the same ambitions and goals, which is totally understandable.

That being said, with all due respect, I've never heard of the one-year Global Health program, but it seems really interesting! Is it a part of the Health Sciences program, Faculty of Science, or Health and aging? (Not too sure....) It'd be great if you could expand, thanks.

P.S. I apologize for the overt font in my first post, haha.

Originally Posted by Lois

Even at schools that have an MMI interview there is still a file review that takes place. During that process, not finishing a 4 year program in 4 years without a legitimate reasons could raise red flags and prevent the OP from getting an interview. If I were interviewing the OP and they gave me their reasoning, I wouldn't be impressed. :\

That's more or less what I meant - I was responding to a post that said they'll ask you about your reasons for doing an extra year during interviews. It won't happen for sure if it's MMI (not too sure how other types of admissions interviews are structured). Some schools won't even bother looking at your reasons if it's included in the application (in the "file review"). In some cases, it's simply a yes/no thing with respect to whether or not you were able to complete at least one academic year with a full course load at get decent grades. Other schools have a points system where you get extra points for taking a full course load the whole way through. Other schools allow you to drop your lower marks if you took a full course load.

Originally Posted by Bigmacfatpack

Nobody cares if you finished your program in 4 years and barely got anything out of it in terms of life experiences and people skills. It's about the person in a holistic, versatile view. Admissions officers would rather take the matured, 5th year student who was passionate and made a significant impact in 1-3 campus activities/clubs than a student who graduated in 4 years with the same grades, but limited learnt experiences. I want to get more out of my undergrad career and pursue grandeur things during and after undergrad. Clearly, not everyone has the same ambitions and goals, which is totally understandable.

Actually, some people DO care if you couldn't finish your program in four years. Admissions isn't always about the person in a "holistic, versatile view". There are generally specific criteria that are equally applied to everyone. This is especially true of professional schools (grad schools are much less stringent).
In addition, PLENTY of people finish their program in four years and get a LOT out of it in terms of life experiences and people skills. People don't look at an applicant who took 5 years and automatically think "wow, they must be so much more well-rounded".

That's part of the reason I said earlier to do your research - don't make such important decisions based off of incorrect assumptions and false information.

There are plenty of people who decide to extend their programs. I'm not sure about kin but I know its quite common in eng. Usually a third of the people in my program decide to extend to 5 years and some profs even recommend it. I've talked to many profs about this and they say that grad schools don't care if you extend (almost always) and that getting good grades is much more important. There are plenty of reasons why people decide to extend like extracurriculars, job, adding a minor, health reasons, or just to get better grades.

That being said, it might be a problem if you're looking to apply to med school. Some med schools want you to have a full course load or give you a higher score if you have taken a full course load. All schools are different any you should check out the requirements for the professional/grad schools you're looking to get into.

Anyway good luck with whatever you choose

That's what I meant the whole time. Taking a "gap" year for more experential learning and further involvement/enhancement of the extra curriculars I'm already involved in.

Originally Posted by Bigmacfatpack

That's what I meant the whole time. Taking a "gap" year for more experential learning and further involvement/enhancement of the extra curriculars I'm already involved in.

A "gap" year implies you aren't in school at all. Extending your program to 5 years doesn't count as a gap year.

It's very common in engineering to extend the degree to five years, but they have a heavier workload and generally take different paths after graduation. They're competing with a bunch of people in similar situations as themselves. You can't really compare an engineer trying to get into grad school with a life sciences/kin student trying to get into med school, or even grad school. They're different situations altogether.

Like I said before, I don't have enough information to judge whether or not extending the degree is a good choice for you, but you seem to be pretty dead set on taking the extra year. What concerns me is that you seem to be making the decision based off of a lot of false assumptions and information, and that's *never* a good idea.

Star, it sounds like the OP has special snowflake syndrome and isn't interested in listening to any answers to his last question aside from "no this will absolutely have no effect on grad/professional schools".

Anyways, OP, hopefully you do your research.

Originally Posted by starfish

A "gap" year implies you aren't in school at all. Extending your program to 5 years doesn't count as a gap year.

It's very common in engineering to extend the degree to five years, but they have a heavier workload and generally take different paths after graduation. They're competing with a bunch of people in similar situations as themselves. You can't really compare an engineer trying to get into grad school with a life sciences/kin student trying to get into med school, or even grad school. They're different situations altogether.

Like I said before, I don't have enough information to judge whether or not extending the degree is a good choice for you, but you seem to be pretty dead set on taking the extra year. What concerns me is that you seem to be making the decision based off of a lot of false assumptions and information, and that's *never* a good idea.

Just to be clear, I am not extending my undergrad because I have mundane grades/bad marks. I'm also not planning on taking Med school (you just made a false assumption right there!)


And folks, I was simply asking what the process of taking an extra year as an undergraduate Kin student was like. And as I have stated before, everyone has their different reasons for being in university, what they want to get out of their experiences, and we all have different goals, aspirations, and plans for post-grad. My decisions are still being made, but I think I'm leaning towards a M.Sc degree, or a "gap year" for employment, not sure as of yet. I have been doing some research for the different grad/professional school requirements/talking to profs/talking to Academic Dean of Science to try to gain more insight.