Extra Innings

While this week marks the beginning of graduating seniors' official Countdown to Commencement, some fourth year students will be on their way to falling into the category that their peers have affectionately - or tauntingly - referred to as "super seniors."

Perhaps adding extra years to a college career was once something to be embarrassed about. These days many students say they view the process of finding a major and making a career choice more important than graduating in the expected period of time.

"If midway through their education a student decides 'I've decided to go to Law school' and now they have to take more courses or they suddenly decided to go into a graduate program their date of graduation will be affected," said Christa Greenberg, the academic advisor for the Psychology Department. "It depends on when they have this revelation and whether or not it will help them. It's all relative to the student and their interest."

When Terik Gaines, a fifth-year student and a management information systems major, entered his fourth year as an engineering major and noticed he was not progressing in a manner he thought was acceptable, he decided to change his major.

Many students might think deciding on a new major at a point when others are looking to finish school would be undergraduate career suicide. Gaines sees things differently.

According to Gaines, getting into his new major was a decision he made to end a series of bad decisions that plagued him during his semesters as an engineering major.

Now, he said, he is making the right choices and on his way out of UB with the grades and into a career he wants.

"I'm really headstrong so I'm definitely getting into my studies, I'm not trying to slack off," he said. "Now I know that when I get out of school I can get a job that I really like."

For some, finding a suitable major that will lead to a career in which they can find pleasure and excel takes precedent over graduating in four years.

According to Greenberg, most students who stay for extra semesters make a strategic decision to do so.

"There are students who are staying on to take advantage of research opportunities at the university," she said. "They're double majoring and adding minors. It's not that they couldn't graduate, they're staying to enhance their graduate school or professional school applications by doing research and internships."

And staying they are - Of the 2,722 students who entered the university in 1997, the most recent year of statistics compiled by the Office of Institutional Analysis, 895 students graduated in four years, while 656 graduated in 5 or 6 years. A total of 1,551 graduated.

Orly Keren, a senior psychology major, said students who initially enroll in four-year programs and end up staying for extra years most often do so for reasons that vary from the psychological to academic.

"It could be that students would rather take less credits each semester to get a higher GPA," she said, "or simply because students want to take longer to get into the real world."

Postponing entering "the real world" might be some student's reason for putting off graduation, but others have to deal with real world issues due to financial difficulties while they are in school.

"In order to avoid the tuition, they have to now go to work so they might be taking a lighter course load," said Greenberg. "Some students are finding that they have to lighten their load and take less credit hours therefore lengthening their stay."

Some believe the current state of the job market is also having an impact of the prolonged stay at school.

"The economy is doing poorly, so what's the point of graduating? To be unemployed?" asked Keren.

It might be true that some career fields may be difficult to break into but the job market does not look bleak for everyone.

For some students who initially enroll in programs where they are expected to remain longer than four years, a lengthy stay does not seem daunting and the anticipation of the reward is encouraging.

Students enrolled in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences do not spend all six years as undergraduates but instead complete two years of prerequisites and enter the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to do their graduate studies in the Doctor of Pharmacy, or Pharm.D., Program.

While completing six years of study in the same institution might leave a little to be desired in the way of variation, at the end of the Pharm.D. Program students are all but assured to they enter a job market that is clamoring for pharmacists.

"The career opportunities for pharmacy students are huge in terms of the number of places they can go and the number of jobs they can have," said Wayne Anderson, dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. "They can go anywhere they want and the starting salaries are very high."

While students who enroll in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences work toward the guaranteed pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, others hoping to join more competitive career fields try to create their own pot of gold with extra years and extra programs to make themselves attractive to future employers.

"If someone decided to take another year and add another major it's understood," said Justin McDowell, a junior communication major. "Sometimes you end up getting into something better than intended. Take your time and pursue your goal."