University for plus 24 years olds

[nofear88]

In the UK, most "high school" students go on to secondary education... I tried that but could nt afford it till now..

 

For those in the UK, do you think the age of 24 is too old for Uni or still young enough.

 

I am familiar with the phrase "nobody is old enough to learn anything" as said by my great grandfather of 106 years this october.

 

Im just really curious c:

[McclaudEagle]

If things don't totally work out to plan, I could still be in college when I'm 24. Personally, I don't think it's too bad to do it at that age, however, you do need to think about getting a career.

[RitualBlack]

I would say it is still young enough (not that age really matters when it comes to education). There will be people there in the same boat as you, people your age graduating and people older than you returning to further their education/career.

[Lurker101]

I'll put this in perspective for you. A friend of mine has recently finished a set of culinary courses in college, getting all of his NVQs in just about every aspect of cooking and food hygiene. He's 47 and trying for a new career as a chef.

 

Now ask us again if 24 years old is too old to go to university :wink:

[mizdarby]

Definitely not too old at 24.

A former work colleague has just undertaken a degree in history, and he has just turned 40.

[Vagrant0]

There's nothing wrong with going to University at any age. While being older might prevent you being able to connect with your peers, it allows you to bring a different perspective to class discussions, allows you to contribute life experience to course material (provided the class isn't constant lecture), and can be potentially enriching for everyone since you are exposed to their own culture and values.

 

Really, the only reason why University was left to younger persons is because younger persons usually did not have a career or bills to deal with, so would not be so burdened by living on campus in a dorm, or having to commute several hours a day in addition to their class-load and personal life. By the time you're 30, most people have a decade worth of debt, their own apartment filled furniture and other crap that couldn't possibly fit in a dorm room. Or they have a family that they have to support or play some significant role with that does not always allow for a rigorous class schedule. When you're young, you don't have to deal with any of that so can focus on education or just being stupid.

[bben46]

I dropped out of work at 31 to go back to school. Finished in 3 years with a double BS degree - BS in Computer Science and BS in Business Administration. When I was first considering going back I believed I would have to work extra hard to compete with the kids. I quickly found they had problems keeping up with me. Those few years out of school taught me several things they don't teach in school. How to learn and motivation.

 

I did have a few University credits already from an earlier attempt - fresh out of high school. Not quite enough to qualify as a Sophmore. Then they gave me 3 credit hours of Physical Education credit for 4 years in the Marine Corps. We did more PE before breakfast every day than those kids do all year to get those credits. :tongue: But the school required 3 credit hours in PE to graduate.

 

Find an adviser that is willing to work with you. Beg for every credit hour you can get. keep every document you get from the school - make a file and put them in it. I had a document granting me 4 credit hours in chemistry from my earlier attempt. The school decided that I needed to take chemistry again. When I pulled that document from my file, they decided I didn't need to take it again. The same with 2 English courses and an English language competency exam. Keeping all of those documents probably saved me from another year in school.

 

Read the school catalog - not sure about UK, but in the US that official catalog telling you what classes are required for a degree is a contract that spells out exactly what you have to do to graduate. It changes from year to year, but at the beginning of my senior year I was able to select the catalog I wanted to use from every catalog that had been in effect while I was enrolled - That saved me from having to take a couple of courses and having to wait another semester to graduate.

 

When I went back to school, I treated school as my job. I attended every class and did not use my allowed absences unless it was absolutely necessary. The first semester, I did not have a job at all. Near the end of my second semester, I took a part time job that would not interfere with my school work. When I took the job, I told my employer that school came first. Then refused to allow the job to take time away from my school work. When he threatened to fire me for refusing to work when I was supposed to be in class. I walked away from the job. The next part time job they were willing to work with my schedule.