Adult going back to collge. Anyone here?

[exitwound]

I'm a 31 year independent adult who wants to return to school. I attended college from 1995-2001, but due to sickness, never finished. I had completed somewhere around 90-100 of my 130 credits. However, I do not want to return to the same field of study that I was in.

Credits don't expire, correct? Only their involvement and applicability towards the major can (majors change, sciences change etc)?

I have a few thousands in savings but nothing else.

Have any of you returned to school to finish an undergraduate degree? What are the order of steps I'd have to take (loans, admissions, etc)? How does it all work? I was a naive little teenager at the time so my parents took care of it all.

Any overviews might be great. There's little online I can find with specifics.

Thanks!

[MBAtarga]

I recommend you contact admissions for the college you plan to attend. They will be able to answer your questions.

[masraum]

It's not that big a deal. Depending upon your majoy, it could be difficult to find some of your classes at night, you may have to attend day classes. Some form of engineering for instance may make it difficult to get night classes.

Another good place to get some info would be the website of the college that you plan to attend, but you'll eventually end up talking to admissions, so you may as well start there.

[mattdavis11]

I went back at 31, also for undergrad. As aforementioned, you need to contact the admissions office of the university you plan to attend. You might as well contact the registrars office of the former institutions of higher education and request official transcripts. They might cost $5-10 per.

Next, I would begin the process of getting financial aid. Go here http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and get started, it's all online. This application will open up all the avenues you will need for financial aid, Grants, subsidized Stafford loans, regular Stafford loans, etc.. The private lenders will also be mailing you constantly. The site will allow you to go back at any time and make changes to your profile, like for instance entering the college code if you are still weighing your decision on which one to attend. You still have time to get everything thing in, but the sooner the better.

College is a guarantee on your future, and it's so easy, it's silly. During my twenties, my mantra was that it's just a piece of paper. I saw the quality that walked out of the universities, and quite frankly was unimpressed. I went back because it was a goal I set for myself a long time ago, and I saw the shelf life slipping past. I did it for myself, and so should you.

[cantdrv55]

Look for a school that will take your credits because not all will. Look for programs for adult or working professional learners. You may have to complete all of your lower division courses before you get accepted to a university. Some schools will allow you to write essays for credit (experiential essays that would substitute for in-class learning). Beware of diploma mills. Contact admissions then file a FAFSA.

It's doable as long as this time you can commit to getting it done. I received my undergrad at 36 and I'm in school now for the MBA at 45. If you have a family, you know it is going to be difficult so make sure they are on board.

Good luck, buddy. Remember you are never too old to learn. Check out my sig.

[vash]

exitwound. i did it. i totally changed lives at 28. best decision ever. yes credits expire. schools vary. but at my university, it was 5 years. i had lingering credits, before i bailed. the grades were pathetic, but the thoughts of starting over, and taking EVERYTHING would have made me eat a bullet. imagine sitting next to a 20 year old straight out of high school hottie in ENGLISH 101? wait...bad example. i elected to keep my crappy grades, and take it from there. straight A's from there on. i still didnt dig myself out and into a great GPA, but i finished. when you are older, school is easier.

look into all the financial aid options. they are out there.

[vash]

the hardest part was being poor again.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by vash

the hardest part was being poor again.

But sitting next to 20 yr old hotties likely make it feel a whole lot better.

[exitwound]

Well, I live in State College, PA, which is built around PennState. I went there when I was younger, and it's probably the only solution at this point (moving isn't an option, really). Since it's 2 miles down the road, going back there for the IST degree would be my best choice.

What should I expect from Admissions?

[legion]

Credits don't expire, but the curriculum may have changed and some classes you took no longer count towards a given program.

130 hours? I needed 120 to graduate, which was 15 hours a semester for four years. I ended up with something like 126 after four years.

What is your focus? I'm not talking majors here. In my experience, there are two paths a person can take who goes back to college to complete a bachelor's degree.

The first group is people who simply need a degree to move forward in their career or to open doors to advancement or new jobs. These people simply need a degree--any degree. Most of the people in this boat usually get a degree in history or English. What they are looking to do is apply the maximum number of credits they already have to a degree and minimize the number of new classes they need to take.

The second group is people who are looking to re-tool for a new career. In this path, applying old credits is almost coincidental. You should be focused on finding a school that can help you line up a career in your new field. Cost is obviously a factor as well.

In my experience, you can "negotiate" with academic advisers once you are admitted. You can get sign-off on missing certain requirements and still graduate. One of my college roommates was a horticulture major. It was a very small program at my college--they only offered each course in the program once every-other year. Well, one year they scheduled two required courses at the same time. My friend was able to successfully argue for an exemption because otherwise he'd have to wait two more years to take a single course to graduate.

Good luck!

[rick-l]

I went back in my 30's and in my mid 40's, it was great.

The colleges I attended masters and PhD engineering credits expired in 5 years.

[ChkbookMechanic]

In some universities credit for classes will expire, in others they don't. In some cases if you talk to the right people they can make exceptions for classes you've taken even if the credits have "expired."

Good luck!

[cantdrv55]

Hopefully your employer has tuition reimbursement so you won't have to be poor again? Mine covered all my expenses for the undergrad and $8k/yr for masters program relevant to my field.

[exitwound]

I'm of the second group. I was a General Earth Sciences major while I was in PSU but have decided against it. I wish to retool my focus into IST (information science and tech), programming, networking etc. It's also that I know I need the diploma to get anywhere. And with the economy the way it is now, I figure if i have to spend a year or two in school, by graduation, hopefully, the world will not have ended (as the PARF suggests) and I'll be able to get something started, at which time moving might be considered plausible. For right now, moving is not an option, which leaves PSU as the obvious choice, especially since I was already there for a few years.

I'm currently unemployed. That makes it even more fun!

[vash]

do it...sound plan.

[artplumber]

Don't just sit next to the hotties.

[RPKESQ]

I have gone back to school several times to complete different degrees. If money is tight, try a community college to complete any "core" courses the cheap way. Most community colleges in the state where your state college is located will have transferable credits. Don't forget the on-line degree path. You have to be very disciplined, but it is easy to fit into a work schedule. I completed three masters so I have a lot of adult time in college. In my opinion, learning should never stop.

[therotman]

I'm 31 and back in school right now. I attended two other colleges during the same time you did. My admissions office considers my math classes to have "expired" if I was to pursue a math degree or use them as prerequisites for upper level math classes. I am not doing either so all my old math credits transfer. The classes I am taking are all online right now but I did have a public speech class last quarter I attended during the day.

I have a wife, two kids, a night job and too much money in the bank for financial aid. Why didn't I finish this earlier before all these things?

Oh yah, I snowboarded, wake boarded and partied every day instead. damn that was fun!

[Dave L]

My wife has applied for and it looks like she is going to get into a Dental Hygiene program. Tuition is $4000 for the first semester plus we will have to put the kids into an afterschool program. I have no idea how we are going to do it.

[t951]

Does anyone else find it funny (if not a bit ironic) that he misspelled college in the thread title?