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Subject: Who else started college later?

Written By: Brian06 on 09/10/12 at 2:29 pm

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: CatwomanofV on 09/10/12 at 3:04 pm

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: loki 13 on 09/10/12 at 3:56 pm

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Brian06 on 09/10/12 at 4:04 pm

Yeah I'm still not exactly sure about my major, though I still lean towards something computer science related like I always have. It's ok that I don't know yet since I just started though it would be nice if I declared a major before next semester. Ideally I'd like to get a 2 year degree in the computer science field that would allow me to get a fairly decent job while still being transferable into a 4 year degree.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Brian06 on 09/10/12 at 4:10 pm

It's funny I did kinda poorly on the Math placement test, and Math was always my strength but after you don't do it for a while you forget all the little rules and formulas, etc. So I'm kinda in a pretty basic Algebra class to start and it all came back to me like the 2nd day in class like I had never been out of school lol. ;D

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: CatwomanofV on 09/10/12 at 4:16 pm

Funny you asked this question now because I am seriously considering going for a degree in
engineering.

When I was in high school I was offered a semi scholarship (Academic) to Trenton State for engineering
but I turned it down to go to work and raise a family. Now at 50, it is the one thing I regret not doing.
I'm just trying to figure out if I can justify the cost of a degree at my age since I've been doing the job
of an engineer for past 25 years without one.

Go for it.

It's funny I did kinda poorly on the Math placement test, and Math was always my strength but after you don't do it for a while you forget all the little rules and formulas, etc. So I'm kinda in a pretty basic Algebra class to start and it all came back to me like the 2nd day in class like I had never been out of school lol. ;D

When I went back to school, it was DECADES since I took a math class so I took a basic math class to start. Nothing wrong with a refresher class.

Cat

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/10/12 at 4:29 pm

I started university at age 23 and will have finished at 28. However for personal reasons i went to school until I was 22 to get my university entrance diploma, so there was not such a big gap between school life and studying. The school system is a bit different in Germany though. Typical age for starting studies is around 18-20.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: warped on 09/10/12 at 4:50 pm

Funny you asked this question now because I am seriously considering going for a degree in
engineering.

When I was in high school I was offered a semi scholarship (Academic) to Trenton State for engineering
but I turned it down to go to work and raise a family. Now at 50, it is the one thing I regret not doing.
I'm just trying to figure out if I can justify the cost of a degree at my age since I've been doing the job
of an engineer for past 25 years without one.

If your family can afford it ( financially) you returning to school and taking engineering, go ahead.

My wife went to University...about the same age Cat did when she returned. She did alright, got herself a degree.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 09/10/12 at 8:22 pm

I started college when I was 22.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Foo Bar on 09/10/12 at 11:12 pm

When I was in high school I was offered a semi scholarship (Academic) to Trenton State for engineering
but I turned it down to go to work and raise a family. Now at 50, it is the one thing I regret not doing.
I'm just trying to figure out if I can justify the cost of a degree at my age since I've been doing the job
of an engineer for past 25 years without one.

If you don't need it for career advancement (after 25 years, it doesn't sound like you do), it's probably not going to justify its cost in dollars or time. If you're financially secure enough to afford it (at age 50, you might well be, and/or your employer might be willing to foot the bill as part of your continuing education), then go for it. If it's "the one thing you regret not doing", then neither of those two things matters: life's too short to leave items on the bucket list unaccounted for.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 09/10/12 at 11:58 pm

If you don't need it for career advancement (after 25 years, it doesn't sound like you do), it's probably not going to justify its cost in dollars or time. If you're financially secure enough to afford it (at age 50, you might well be, and/or your employer might be willing to foot the bill as part of your continuing education), then go for it. If it's "the one thing you regret not doing", then neither of those two things matters: life's too short to leave items on the bucket list unaccounted for.

Brian said his college was FREE.

So go!

That's like Willy Wonka's golden ticket. That's like leftover heroin. Can't pass it up!
:)

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Foo Bar on 09/11/12 at 9:50 pm

Hi inthe00s I'm back. :) I've just started college. I'm on a pell grant and I'm actually going for free thanks to the government. It's pretty exciting being in school after 7 years actually! :o It's pretty cool and there's actually a pretty decent variety of ages in community college. I'm now 25 and I figured this is the best time to start, I'm sick of low paying jobs and I don't want to wait anymore to start school. Who else started college later the traditional age and how was your experience?

Oh yeah? You, the one who is 25? Not the person who was 50 and had been working for 25 years? YOU GO.

What MaxwellSmart said. You've got enough career time left that you'll learn useful stuff, and meet people doing cool things, and you'll get outa there without farktons of debt, so go for it.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Brian06 on 09/11/12 at 10:13 pm

Brian said his college was FREE.

So go!

That's like Willy Wonka's golden ticket. That's like leftover heroin. Can't pass it up!
:)

Yeah I know, I think I'm doing it the right way so I won't have to worry about student debt. I mean college won't guarantee me a good job either of course especially these days, but it does improve my chances and I'll get more educated too which is always good.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Foo Bar on 09/12/12 at 9:43 pm

Yeah I know, I think I'm doing it the right way so I won't have to worry about student debt. I mean college won't guarantee me a good job either of course especially these days, but it does improve my chances and I'll get more educated too which is always good.

You've got an edge over your classmates. You're not so old that you'll find it hard to pick up lots of new things quickly. But you've also got enough real-world experience to know how to manage your time effectively. You know something about what works in business, and what doesn't. You also probably know the value of networking more than anybody other than the rich kids (who get taught this stuff while growing up). A lot of life isn't about what you know, it's who you know. And you know that "who you know" is strongly determined by "who you partied/worked/hung out with in college". Those are huge advantages over people who just got out of high school.

Some of the people you'll be hanging out with will be starting businesses in their dorm rooms. Some of the people you'll be partying with will have money. Some of the people in your classes will be smarter than you. It's statistically inevitable that you'll find yourself in the same hallway, or at the same party, or working on a group project with at least one of each of these kinds of people. Depending on where you're going and what you're majoring in, it will probably happen every few weeks/months. Keep an eye out for the times that happens, and when it does, do what comes naturally.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 09/13/12 at 12:42 am

^ I always hated the prevalent attitude in my generation -- College is High School II.
It's even worse now.

Gen-X was the first in which universal college attendance was assumed. A few graduates went into the military. However, to go out and try and earn a living was not only discouraged, it was condemned and ridiculed as though it were an insult to God. So, naturally, that's what I tried to go and do. I couldn't earn a living. So I went to college and graduated with $25,000* in debts -- and I still couldn't. So? So society can suck it.
8)

Anyway, between Amherst and Campus police, they've arrested 100 students on the first weekend back.** Why? Because you have adults who still think of themselves as children. That's what happens when you deny 18 year old men and women the right to be men and women and go out and earn their bread and butter. No, you are compelled to go to college just like you were compelled to go to high school four years ago. So, what's the difference?
::)

*which grew to 40 grand all told.
** mostly alcohol and partying-related crap. Mind you, I mean arrested, not cited or summonsed, actually taken into custody.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: snozberries on 09/13/12 at 10:11 pm

Funny you asked this question now because I am seriously considering going for a degree in
engineering.

When I was in high school I was offered a semi scholarship (Academic) to Trenton State for engineering
but I turned it down to go to work and raise a family. Now at 50, it is the one thing I regret not doing.
I'm just trying to figure out if I can justify the cost of a degree at my age since I've been doing the job
of an engineer for past 25 years without one.

DO IT!!!! especially if it's a regret you didn't do it before...you will appreciate it so much more now!!!!

Even though you've been doing the job without the degree I think the degree will give you a great sense of accomplishment/closure.... Plus think of all the wisdom and experience you can impart on the young uns in class! ;)

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: snozberries on 09/13/12 at 10:19 pm

I took a semester of college right after high school at our local community college. Then I went into the service. I then took a class here & took a class there until I got out of the service. I went back full time when I was 28.

They always say that education is wasted on the young.

Cat

same here... I graduated HS in 86' got my AA in Crim Justice by 1990 I loved studying the stuff I wanted to study but detested studying the stuff I had to study to complete the degree that's why it took me 4 years to get a two year degree! ;D

I enrolled at UCSB in 1996 (I was 29) and finished the film studies requirements in 2000... I didn't get the degree until 2010 because there were a couple classes that didn't get approved from the jr college...I didn't learn this until after I walked (letter in the mail) I was pissed so I sat on it for years...finally go my degree in 2010 when I stopped being stubborn and finished the final classes .....

I really enjoyed the over all experience of going to school and there's something very satisfying about doing it as an "adult" all that little crap the "kids" stress about don't mean that much... I told an English teacher (I was about 40 at the time) that I hated the book she made us read because it was a time suck and about a hundred pages were filled with crap about some people walking thru the woods....I worded it more eloquently of course....you should've heard the gasps (others thought it but they wouldn't dare say it... the joy of actually being able to have and express an opinion! I wish I'd learned how to do it sooner! :D

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: snozberries on 09/13/12 at 10:23 pm

If your family can afford it ( financially) you returning to school and taking engineering, go ahead.

My wife went to University...about the same age Cat did when she returned. She did alright, got herself a degree.

congrats to your wife

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Inertia on 09/14/12 at 9:27 am

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: CatwomanofV on 09/14/12 at 11:24 am

I started university right after I graduated high school. Actually, I finished this year actually with a bachelor of science in advertising. I experienced so much burnout my last semester. It feels weird to not be in school anymore. This is the first time august has came around where I am not on some form of campus. I fit the more traditional student profile than non-traditional but it did take me 5 years to graduate rather than 4 because I switched my major about six times and transferred universities.

Congratulations on deciding to return to school though. ^^

I hear ya about burn-out. After I got my B.A., I went right into Grad school. It was a non-traditional school where it was mostly independent study. I think I was about half way to my M.A. when I just lost steam and really couldn't go on. I withdrew with the intent on going back and that was about 15 years ago and I still haven't gone back. :-[ I don't think I will. I have thought about it several hundred times-even to the point of contacting the school, but, at this point in my life, it is not important.

Cat

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: snozberries on 09/14/12 at 12:01 pm

I hear ya about burn-out. After I got my B.A., I went right into Grad school. It was a non-traditional school where it was mostly independent study. I think I was about half way to my M.A. when I just lost steam and really couldn't go on. I withdrew with the intent on going back and that was about 15 years ago and I still haven't gone back. :-it's so much work!

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: warped on 09/14/12 at 4:40 pm

I hear ya about burn-out. After I got my B.A., I went right into Grad school. It was a non-traditional school where it was mostly independent study. I think I was about half way to my M.A. when I just lost steam and really couldn't go on. I withdrew with the intent on going back and that was about 15 years ago and I still haven't gone back. :-[ I don't think I will. I have thought about it several hundred times-even to the point of contacting the school, but, at this point in my life, it is not important.

Cat

That's interesting. After I received my BSc, I wanted to avoid burnout coz i knew I didn't have much steam left, so I decided to pass on grad school and pass on getting my bachelor of Education, thinking I would work for a year or two, earn some money and return to school at that point. It's been 25 years since I graduated and I never went back, and probably won't go, it's not important anymore.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Foo Bar on 09/15/12 at 6:26 pm

^ I always hated the prevalent attitude in my generation -- College is High School II.
It's even worse now.

Ah, let me make one little distinction. In high school, it was about being popular as much as it was about being talented, and you don't even know that most of the people you thought were so important in high school... you'll never see or hear from again. (Note: Facebook may have changed this in the undisclosed number of years it's been for me.)

In university, that dynamic was turned around: the people you didn't think were important at all, just the people you ended up hanging out with, will turn out to be the people who determine your career direction. (And vice versa. One mail along the lines of "dudes, we all have the same job and similar skill sets, so who's hiring?" can change your life.)

I don't think that's changed with the advent of social networking. When you're in high school, you have no idea what you're going to be specializing in and doing for the rest of your life. When you're in university, you probably have at least some idea, and if you're in a STEM field, you have a very good idea what you'll be doing for the rest of your life. The people you graduate high school with are your friends. The people you graduate postsecondary education with are both friends and professional colleagues. The degree said B.Sc., "Class of 19XX", but I didn't identify with my faculty or year, I identified with my major.

So I went to college and graduated with $25,000* in debts -- and I still couldn't. So? So society can suck it.

For what it's worth, the ever-escalating cost of education, more than anything, has relegated a generation (and probably two generations) to a Hobson's choice between debt slavery and being locked out of even entry-level jobs. The waste of intellectual capital is staggering. Let's call it karmic retribution for my generation's failure to give the next one anything to which to expire -- in my day, the next generation was supposed to be aspiring towards the Orbital Hilton and Lunar Hilton, not Paris Hilton. "Per astra ad oblivia" :)

But you, 20something dude with a "free ride?" Ignore us whinging Xers! It's not a free ride, it's an investment - you'll get to learn more, you'll get to earn more, and because of that, you'll pay far more in taxes than the grant ever cost your fellow countrymen! It's the ultimate win-win situation, so go, get thee the education, get thee the contacts, and go build something cool.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 09/15/12 at 9:41 pm

Ah, let me make one little distinction. In high school, it was about being popular as much as it was about being talented, and you don't even know that most of the people you thought were so important in high school... you'll never see or hear from again. (Note: Facebook may have changed this in the undisclosed number of years it's been for me.)

In university, that dynamic was turned around: the people you didn't think were important at all, just the people you ended up hanging out with, will turn out to be the people who determine your career direction. (And vice versa. One mail along the lines of "dudes, we all have the same job and similar skill sets, so who's hiring?" can change your life.)

I don't think that's changed with the advent of social networking. When you're in high school, you have no idea what you're going to be specializing in and doing for the rest of your life. When you're in university, you probably have at least some idea, and if you're in a STEM field, you have a very good idea what you'll be doing for the rest of your life. The people you graduate high school with are your friends. The people you graduate postsecondary education with are both friends and professional colleagues. The degree said B.Sc., "Class of 19XX", but I didn't identify with my faculty or year, I identified with my major.

For what it's worth, the ever-escalating cost of education, more than anything, has relegated a generation (and probably two generations) to a Hobson's choice between debt slavery and being locked out of even entry-level jobs. The waste of intellectual capital is staggering. Let's call it karmic retribution for my generation's failure to give the next one anything to which to expire -- in my day, the next generation was supposed to be aspiring towards the Orbital Hilton and Lunar Hilton, not Paris Hilton. "Per astra ad oblivia" :)

But you, 20something dude with a "free ride?" Ignore us whinging Xers! It's not a free ride, it's an investment - you'll get to learn more, you'll get to earn more, and because of that, you'll pay far more in taxes than the grant ever cost your fellow countrymen! It's the ultimate win-win situation, so go, get thee the education, get thee the contacts, and go build something cool.

If I had a STEM brain (or a brain stem) I would have made my way to the STEM ranks. I'm sure you remember how they were saying the same thing in the eighties. The trendsetters, soothsayers, the prognosticators, and the tea leaf readers were all saying the future is in computers, high tech, and big science. What about us guys who blew our circuits on algebra? Are we just SOL? 'Fraid so, pard. That was the attitude then and it's gotten more militant thirty years later. In the eighties everybody talked about Steve Jobs and all the jobs Jobs would bring us. Nobody bothered to point out how fast Jobs was sending all the jobs to China. God love the disloyal sonofabitch. I can't.

Now the politicians and pundits get out there and talk about STEM and I just know it's a snowjob. Anything the bosses can outsource and offshore, they will. Generic You might say, "Well, I'm a mechanical engineer. They need me here." Not necessarily.

Furthermore, man cannot live on STEM alone. We need our liberal arts. Civilization dies quickly without them. We cannot reduce our consciousness to ones and zeroes. As Devo said, "a man is real, not made of steel."

They're called liberal arts for a reason. In ancient Rome, a slave was allowed to learn what are politicians are calling STEM but only free men were allowed to learn what they called grammar, logic, and rhetoric. In other words, a slave could learn to do, but not to question why we do what we do. The latter might make a slave ask why he's a slave, and we can't have that.

If your kid tells you he's majoring in philosophy, you scoff, "Well, how are you going to make a living with that?" On the other hand, when the revolution comes, the first people the new regime kills are the philosophers. Go figure.

The problem with the Roman notion of "liberal arts," of course, is the integration of mathematics and philosophy going back to the ancient Greeks. Here we are talking about the foundation of Western consciousness. Yet I never hear any of these gibbering jellybeans on the political scene say we need to change the acronym to STEMP. Hence, the STEM program is doomed to fail because it presents a faulty apartheid between sciences and humanities. STEM is just NCLB goes to college.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: belmont22 on 11/11/12 at 12:10 pm

Almost 23 and still haven't started college. I do want to go though! Definitely will next year, hopefully in the spring semester.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: snozberries on 11/11/12 at 12:12 pm

Almost 23 and still haven't started college. I do want to go though! Definitely will next year, hopefully in the spring semester.

good luck to you if you do choose to go... O0

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: belmont22 on 11/11/12 at 12:13 pm

good luck to you if you do choose to go... O0

Thank you! Yeah, I wanted to go to tech school, but they only have ITT in my city and I've heard absolutely horrible things about it, looking online at the reviews. So, I will probably have to settle for community college, as much as I hated going to community college.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: CatwomanofV on 11/11/12 at 12:19 pm

Thank you! Yeah, I wanted to go to tech school, but they only have ITT in my city and I've heard absolutely horrible things about it, looking online at the reviews. So, I will probably have to settle for community college, as much as I hated going to community college.

Nothing wrong with community colleges. I went to a few of them-the first one was right after high school where I took a semester before joining the Air Force. While I was in, I went to The Community College of the Air Force-which lets you take classes from local schools, and then I too a semester at another one after I got out of the AF before transferring to a 4 year school.

Cat

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: belmont22 on 11/11/12 at 12:20 pm

Nothing wrong with community colleges. I went to a few of them-the first one was right after high school where I took a semester before joining the Air Force. While I was in, I went to The Community College of the Air Force-which lets you take classes from local schools, and then I too a semester at another one after I got out of the AF before transferring to a 4 year school.

Cat

They're not bad, I just don't really like the style. Reminds me too much of high school, but without the good things such as being young and crushing on girls, and going to dances. It's really cheap though, and it beats being unemployed and just being at home all day.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Dagwood on 11/11/12 at 12:43 pm

I want to, but haven't yet. I am thinking of taking some accounting courses. Don't know what I would do with it but I want to be able to say I did it. Even if I just get a two year degree.

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: snozberries on 11/11/12 at 12:53 pm

I want to, but haven't yet. I am thinking of taking some accounting courses. Don't know what I would do with it but I want to be able to say I did it. Even if I just get a two year degree.

WHEN I win the lotto I will need an accountant I can trust.... I trust you so go take those classes!!! :D

Subject: Re: Who else started college later?

Written By: Dagwood on 11/11/12 at 1:21 pm

WHEN I win the lotto I will need an accountant I can trust.... I trust you so go take those classes!!! :D

Sounds good to me! :D

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