Taking an extra year to finish masters

[dancedementia]

Hey all,

I'm currently in a lockstep cohort program for my masters (everyone in my graduating class takes the exact same courses in the exact same sequence with the exact same professors). Unfortunately, due to financial hardship I am not able to continue paying the full-time tuition. There is an option to drop to part-time status and thus take an extra year to graduate. When applying for PhD programs, will this be a red flag to them? I am not taking an extra year because of academics or because I screwed around too much (my GPA is perfect and my professors can vouch for my situation). I know I can explain it in my application, but at first glance, will they throw judgement on me for taking 3 years to finish instead of 2?

[eeee1923]

It will not really matter. Keep a strong GPA, get strong GRE scores, and strong LORs and it won't really matter if you took a little longer to finish. 

[rising_star]

It's really not going to matter. People take 3 years for all sorts of reasons (had a baby, got a full-time job, research project didn't go as plans, etc.). Don't worry too much about it!

[farflung]

Hey all,

I'm currently in a lockstep cohort program for my masters (everyone in my graduating class takes the exact same courses in the exact same sequence with the exact same professors). Unfortunately, due to financial hardship I am not able to continue paying the full-time tuition. There is an option to drop to part-time status and thus take an extra year to graduate. When applying for PhD programs, will this be a red flag to them? I am not taking an extra year because of academics or because I screwed around too much (my GPA is perfect and my professors can vouch for my situation). I know I can explain it in my application, but at first glance, will they throw judgement on me for taking 3 years to finish instead of 2?

Don't be discouraged -- financial hardship (or any other kind of hardship) is a totally legitimate reason to delay graduation a year. In their letters of rec to PhD programs, your professors will be able to vouch for how you overcame difficult circumstances (CRUCIAL to doctoral programs) while maintaining a high level of commitment to your academic work. Besides, PhD programs may never know it took you 3 years rather than 2, except if they really scrutinize your transcript. Date degree was granted is far more important than date degree was started. 

[dancedementia]

Thanks everyone - this was very reassuring