Has anyone gone to Uni in their 30's?

nat17

Minnie, Sam and Dolly
May 30, 2002
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I am just exploring my options at the moment.

After months of soul searching I have discovered that I want to study for a Degree, so I can change careers and do a job I am naturally interested in rather than doing a job that pays a huge wage but that leaves me bored.

I have researched the degree I want to do and have looked at the costs etc and have loads of options to consider, part time, full time, distance, etc etc

I was just hoping to get any first hand experience from others though, on what they do, have done, how they found it, their pro's and con's

Is there anyone out there that wants to share?
 
um yep...I am currently in the second year of a BA (Hons) Degree in Childhood and Youth with the open university (am thinking about possibly changing the direction of the degree to a more business type degree though not sure yet).

It is fun but you do need to be a bit organised with allowing time etc, sometimes it's the getting started that is the hard bit. I have just had my last modules exam so am hoping for the results of that in december.

It isn't too bad work load wise and the support is fantastic, probably better then in a brick uni tbh!

I also work f/t, have the 5 children and make jewellery p/t too.

and to answer your question i am 32 and by no means the oldest on my degree course!
 
A very good friend went to Uni in her late thirties, made a few friends on her course of a similar age and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. She got a 1st class honours in history.
 
Oh, and LF, you have just made me hang my head in shame - full time job, five children, jewellery making - and studying for a degree. Yikes! I take my hat off to you Mrs, you rock.
 
Oh, and LF, you have just made me hang my head in shame - full time job, five children, jewellery making - and studying for a degree. Yikes! I take my hat off to you Mrs, you rock.

no i forgot to mention i also have sleep deprivation, a house in desperate need of a housekeeper and a hubby who feels neglected :ninja: (and a mother in law who this morning told me how deapreciated she felt!a:))

I am letting the jewellery take a BIG back step now though and my next module for the OU doesn't start until feb next year which allows me to get xmas out of the way without so much going on. The husband and MIL will slowly have to learn that women don't just 'cook and clean' :wink:
 
Are you sure?????

Can someone tell my lot please.!

It's a work in progress......if i manage it i'll tell you the secret recipe :tongue:

In a 'light hearted' discussion yesterday it seems my husband has 'no problem with women working as long as they do their job of cooking, childcare and cleaning as well'. :sluggish::mask: needless to say he knows my views and he has agreed begrudingly that his might need to change a little. 10yrs having a wife happy to do all three has not been good for him!!
 
i am in my 30's and also at Uni although its part time at the moment. I am also working full time as well. Once i get enough credits from this course when i will be moving into a full time degree.

Its a scary thought going back to Uni full time but i think its a step i need to make because otherwise i am stuck doing cruddy admin for all time :poop::frown:

The course i am currently doing is similar to an access course/a-levels (i didnt do A-levels at school) , and its over a 2 year period. I actually found the course by chance as i was researching into online a-levels.

To date the course is going well (i have my first maths exam on weds evening :skull:) , i have found (and am still struggling a little) it hard to balance study/play & work time out but not to the extent where i think i wont cope.
I am really enjoying the experience of being back in a class room again. I find myself getting excited being in the IC (its a library combined study area/discussion area)surrounded by students at 9pm which might make me sound weird :eek: , and have made some new friends in my class which is has helped me to feel more "at home" in Sheffield.

The maths is taxing my brain somewhat but i am enjoying learning again, and i also have a return to study class which is basically teaching you how to write essays/take notes and to compare/contrast texts.
 
I did a degree in Business Computing in my 40's - not on purpose though, I enrolled for an HND (didn't know what one was, but it was free) after I took redundancy from my job and wanted to learn more about computers. It was a bit of a shock to the system and harder work than I thought, but I enjoyed it so much I went on to do the degree. I loved learning again and being a mature student - most other people on the course were also mature, but it didn't matter whether you were young or old, we were all bound together by our desire to learn! Seriously, it was a great time.

My (four - can't beat LF lol) children were quite young at the time so when deadlines were approaching I used to work through the night when everyone else was in bed, take them to school/nursery then go to bed myself for a couple of hours until it was time to pick up the youngest. I even enjoyed those quiet hours in the dead of night and hearing the birds wake up in the morning even before it started to get light.

Of course funding is different now. I had a loan which I started to pay back as soon as I got a job and I didn't really notice it tbh, but courses probably cost a lot more now. My HND year was free because at the time the government had put funding into attracting women into IT, I even got childcare, travel and books paid for. I don't know whether such schemes still exist in these hard times and really it was very unfair on the men who were doing the same course and didn't get the same benefits.
 
Im in my 2nd year of my degree too and im 32, i work f/t, have two children and two horses! lol

Like others have said the work load isn't too bad its finding the time to fit it all in.
 
I know people who have been to uni or back to uni in their 30s or later. It is often with a particular career in mind. One woman re-trained as a midwife. Another did law. People already teaching may want to get a degree in a particular subject, e.g. maths. One of my friends did that.
You dont say what you will be doing.
 
Yes, my mum did her OU degree when me and my sister were little, she finished when I was about 10 years old, she didn’t work whilst she did her degree but she did have to deal with me and my sister!

OH is currently in his last year of a 4 year degree, he hated his job and was really good at his degree subject, he is studying full time and as he is an older independent student he gets a full grant.

He’s not yet written his dissertation and he already has two job offers :D
 
Wow, so I am not a crazy lady then!:giggle: I am 34 and wondered if I was past retraining but it sounds like a lot of people do it around my age and manage to juggle everything, given I don't have the child aspect to consider, its more finances really.

The finances would be hard, but I have been told not to look at student debt the same way as a credit card etc, and you only pay back after the course and as long as your earning, so it sounds manageable.
 
Wow, so I am not a crazy lady then!:giggle: I am 34 and wondered if I was past retraining but it sounds like a lot of people do it around my age and manage to juggle everything, given I don't have the child aspect to consider, its more finances really.

.

I am 33 now nat, so will be 35 when i finish this 2 year course and will be 39(possibly 40 :eek::eek:) when i actually graduate
 
I'm 33 and in my second year of a part time chiropractic degree. Did an access course first. Usually work full time ( currently on maternity leave) and have a horse/dog/husband. Hard work but perfectly do-able. OH has to do a bit more housework than he would like but that's tough! Coldness manage financially without a student loan, although first 2 years we had a lodger to help fund it.
 
You are never too old. Good grief, anyone graduating at 40 has at least another 25 odd years of working life ahead of them, as well as hopefully having enjoyed the whole experience.
 
These post are so inspiring, some of you are super women.

I was meant to start in September but money I was expecting did not come through and I had a lot of hassle at home so I have put it off till next year.

Atm I have three horses in at night and a part time job, now I am wondering where I would ever have found the time, I must be a whimp:frown:

I think a degree is a good idea if you have a specific career in mind. A friend of mine who is young did history and struggled to get a job. Another friend did Animal behavior in her 40's and couldn't get a job because there isn't really the demand.

What where you thinking of studying?
 
I started in my late 20s after a divorce. It seemed like it would take FOREVER. And I'd be so old when I finally got my degree! lol
A dear friend told me this:
In 6 years you will be 6 years older regardless. You can be 6 years older with a degree or 6 years older with nothing.
For some reason that really rang a bell with me.
 
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