Took an extra year to do my Masters. Should I explain this on my personal statement?

[jp02]

I also have three gap years. How much weight would a grad committee put on these factors? Is it worth taking up precious space to explain myself in depth, or is a sentence of 'family and economic' factors enough?

[ritapita]

All my apps have wanted to know how I used my time in between degrees...much like an employment app in a way, where they wanted timeline via employment/education history.  I am pretty certain you will have the same.  Plus you most likely will provide your CV.  I would say it depends on what you did with those 'gap years'.  More and more students are non-traditional and I have found that at least in the my fields, they like people with real world experience.  Did you use those years doing something related to your academic work?  Also, I would say an extra year on your masters is probably not an issue...especially if it was a two year masters that you did in three years.  There are many three year masters programs out there. Unless they are personally familiar with your masters program, they probably wont notice the difference on your transcripts.  Their main concern is grades and types of courses. If you took an extra year because you were redoing classes or catching up on incomplete classes, that would not be a great scenario, but if its because you have a life besides school, particularly a family and if you are funding yourself, I don't think it would be an issue.  Remember, your statements should not highlight anything negative, its all about presenting the positive, so I wouldn't say anything about it unless you need to explain some grades due to illness or something.  Make yourself out to be the trooper that you are...funding yourself through a graduate program while caring for family, or whatever the situation is.  Also, make the best case out of your gap.  Gaps are not uncommon, but try to make that time relate to the program you are applying to.....' after graduating with my masters in X, I spent several years working in the industry, gaining experience Y, which provided me with a thorough working knowledge of yada yada that has provided me with a strong foundation for application to your program....'  You get the idea.