I'm going to University at 30 and I'm terrified.

SuperBanana · Jul 3, 2018

I'm 29 now and e-mailed the Uni yesterday. I got a reply giving all the info and telling me what to send them back. I'm a high school drop out since my childhood was full of severe depression and a very abusive alcoholic in my family making it impossible to study. However, I've grown up now and matured a lot. I work as a manager at a retail store but with 30 looming closer and closer I realized I want a better job. It pays ok but the hours suck, the work is hard, and the days are long. I can't still be here when I hit 40.

I decided to do a Diploma of Business and then a Bachelor degree of Business afterwards. Both online through their website. I wanted to do the diploma first since it eases you into the degree and I don't want to overwhelm myself.

I'm fucking terrified though. After over 10 years of not studying I now have to do an online test to show I can join the Uni. I have NO idea what to expect. It's an English and Maths test and while I think I'll do fine in English the Maths from my high school years I have forgotten. At my job and in my personal life I use Maths all the time but I use a calculator for a lot of it and much of it is working our roster hours, inventory stocks, and other things like that.. If they give me hard mathematical equations I might freeze like a deer in headlights or simply forget how to work it out without someone helping refresh me and failing an entry test would be the worst possible outcome I could imagine.

How anyone gone back to study after so many years? How did you find it? I feel completely out of my depth but I really want to improve myself and my life.

Clockwork · Jul 3, 2018

I'm 38 and returning to school in September after last attending in 2001.

It's no biggie.

I was worried about math but I had to do placement testing again since it had been so long and I did alright. Don't have to do any remedial classes...

AxeVince · Jul 3, 2018

I do not think a Business degree would give you high level equations to solve. That would be quite weird as you would not use them. Statistics on the other end, might be on order.

I have met multiple people during Uni that came back to school after 4-5 years and they had to work hard just to "relearn how to learn" as they lost the fact they were used to learn stuff from books and sitting around listening to a professor but apart from that were very happy to be there.

CrankyJay · Jul 3, 2018

Have you considered hiring a tutor or something?

If you can understand the basics I think you can pick it up. I got a D in calc 2 my freshman year of college and didn't re-take it until senior year. I had similar fears as you but I ended up getting an A. You just have to put in the work.

lilojigsaw · Jul 3, 2018

If you get hard math equations and are having a hard time learning them go to Youtube. There are awesome videos explaining basically every math equation known to man it several different ways.

Droidian · Jul 3, 2018

You're doing great and it's perfectly normal to feel the way you do at 29. You're an inspiration and shouldn't be afraid to go through with your goals. You won't regret it that's for sure.

I was 29 when I started to panick working at a fast food chain and did Uber for a month. I made it my goal to get a career by the time I was 30. My prayers were answered and I landed a great job working as a temp and got offered a permanent position by my 30th bday.

My goal now is to go to school even though I have no clue what to do. I just want to learn something that will help me out career wise.

Zing · Jul 3, 2018

From someone who went back to university in his 30s, expect to feel completely out of place. You will be surrounded by 19-year-olds who barely care about being there and just want to get that diploma with as little effort as possible.

Don't expect to actually learn much and there is a LOT of overhead and wasted time, especially if you are commuting.

Clockwork · Jul 3, 2018

AxeVince said:
I do not think a Business degree would give you high level equations to solve. That would be quite weird as you would not use them. Statistics on the other end, might be on order.

I have met multiple people during Uni that came back to school after 4-5 years and they had to work hard just to "relearn how to learn" as they lost the fact they were used to learn stuff from books and sitting around listening to a professor but apart from that were very happy to be there.

College Algebra and then Statistics are really the only required math courses for a business degree.

真棒! · Jul 3, 2018

FWIW, there's a lot more non traditional students nowadays so don't think age is a big factor.

Mr Jones · Jul 3, 2018

Dude, I'm filling out paperwork to go back to get my Bachelors. I'm in my 40s.

You'll do fine.

Sub Level · Jul 3, 2018

I would be terrified too if I had to pay textbook prices.

Luckily you use maths (plural) so you're probably not American which means you likely won't be crippled by debt for a decade after you leave Uni.

SuperBanana · Jul 3, 2018

Zing said:
From someone who went back to university in his 30s, expect to feel completely out of place. You will be surrounded by 19-year-olds who barely care about being there and just want to get that diploma with as little effort as possible.

Don't expect to actually learn much and there is a LOT of overhead and wasted time, especially if you are commuting.

It's all online so thankfully I won't be surrounded by 19 year olds. I don't even go in for the test. That's online too. They said it's shaped so you can fast track it or slow it to a halt. I work full time so I'd do part time.

AxeVince said:
I do not think a Business degree would give you high level equations to solve. That would be quite weird as you would not use them. Statistics on the other end, might be on order.

I have met multiple people during Uni that came back to school after 4-5 years and they had to work hard just to "relearn how to learn" as they lost the fact they were used to learn stuff from books and sitting around listening to a professor but apart from that were very happy to be there.

My sister has done university grade statistics so she might give me a hand learning up before I take it.

ResetGreyWolf · Jul 3, 2018

I studied an education in IT and there were certainly numerous people aged 30+, both in my bachelors and masters. It's no big deal tbh, at universities age loses all meaning.

Imperfected · Jul 3, 2018

I went back to school at 30. The hardest part is remembering half the students around you are still basically children and you have to step back and let them make mistakes/say stupid things. That's part of their college experience.

It's kind of nice when you get to senior year and those same kids are like, "I'm so embarrassed of the person I was freshman year", though.

Deleted member 1086 · Jul 3, 2018

I'm terrified of this as well, I'm over 30 and have a GI bill from my time in the Navy to use, but the prospect of going to school after more than 12 years scares the crap out of me.

vacantseas · Jul 3, 2018

Hey, better late than never. You'll be fine!

Rover · Jul 3, 2018

The plus side is that you usually have a lot more mental clarity and confidence as a student when you're older. Especially when, as more of an adult, you can do things independently at your own pace. Personally, I think I've done so much better at school and learning as I've gotten older. Just stay motivated and hungry to learn.

Ramala · Jul 3, 2018

You're gonna love it.

ameleco · Jul 3, 2018

Is there any way to know what type of math would be on there? If it's similar to the ACT/SAT/GRE, there's always khanacademy/other yoututbe videos to learn from and prepare.

Kraid · Jul 3, 2018

I got my B.S. in 2016 at the spry young age of 34. I was out of school for 8 years before I went back. I took all my classes but 2 online (if I didn't take these classes on campus I wouldn't have been able to graduate for another year). It was a rewarding experience. I carried a 3.4 GPA in my time back, which was slightly higher than the 1.6 I had when I re-enrolled, heh.

I'm thinking about going back and doing my MBA since work will pay for it. I found a decent program. I just need to muster up the energy to apply.

SuperBanana · Jul 3, 2018

ameleco said:
Is there any way to know what type of math would be on there? If it's similar to the ACT/SAT/GRE, there's always khanacademy/other yoututbe videos to learn from and prepare.

I actually e-mailed them and asked if it's the basics or will I need to refresh up first. The start of the Diploma is literally the bare basics of business and introducing what it is and how to do it so I feel like it can't be super complex. Someone I know does Business Accounting and said the Maths is a bit hard but that's also accounting. I'm not majoring in that.

bangai-o · Jul 3, 2018

Imperfected said:
I went back to school at 30. The hardest part is remembering half the students around you are still basically children and you have to step back and let them make mistakes/say stupid things. That's part of their college experience.

I remember during my senior year I had to take a freshman geography class that somehow slipped through my graduation path. The "kids" there were pretty dumb. I came to an understanding of why junior and senior males always go looking for freshman girls.

ameleco · Jul 3, 2018

SuperBanana said:
I actually e-mailed them and asked if it's the basics or will I need to refresh up first. The start of the Diploma is literally the bare basics of business and introducing what it is and how to do it so I feel like it can't be super complex. Someone I know does Business Accounting and said the Maths is a bit hard but that's also accounting. I'm not majoring in that.

Ah great! I'm sure you'll do great then!

Hobbesian Thudercat · Jul 3, 2018

Going back to school is the best. If I could get paid a livable wage just to learn things I'd be in heaven.

Stop thinking about your age and just enjoy the experience. There's way more people like you out there than you think.

Imperfected · Jul 3, 2018

bangai-o said:
I remember during my senior year I had to take a freshman geography class that somehow slipped through my graduation path. The "kids" there were pretty dumb. I came to an understanding of why junior and senior males always go looking for freshman girls.

For me it was things like having friends say they wanted to buy a guitar with scholarship money and learn to play, and me thinking, "You aren't going to learn much. You're going to eat ramen for a month to afford it, embarrass yourself trying to look cool on the quad, annoy the girl you're interested in and sell it to a pawn shop before you graduate."

But you don't say any of that; you let 'em do it. That's part of the whole college deal, is doing these dumb things to find out how reality works (the stuff that looks cool in movies doesn't work in real life), how to manage money, etc.

Clockwork · Jul 3, 2018

SuperBanana said:
I actually e-mailed them and asked if it's the basics or will I need to refresh up first. The start of the Diploma is literally the bare basics of business and introducing what it is and how to do it so I feel like it can't be super complex. Someone I know does Business Accounting and said the Maths is a bit hard but that's also accounting. I'm not majoring in that.

They don't have any placement exams? When I originally attended they used my ACT's and then had their own placement testing for core competency (Math/English/Foreign Language).

In preparation for going back this fall I had to redo the placement testing. I scored out of the English requirement and was right where I needed to be for math.

low-G · Jul 3, 2018

I was in a similar situation OP. I stated college after 30 and it's super easy. I thought it was gonna be some major strain too. Maybe if I had gone to MIT...

I got a pro tip from my first college math prof. Just sit down and relax and tell yourself it's ok to relax and take your time on even a single problem.

Zing said:
From someone who went back to university in his 30s, expect to feel completely out of place. You will be surrounded by 19-year-olds who barely care about being there and just want to get that diploma with as little effort as possible.

Don't expect to actually learn much and there is a LOT of overhead and wasted time, especially if you are commuting.

SuperBanana said:
It's all online so thankfully I won't be surrounded by 19 year olds. I don't even go in for the test. That's online too. They said it's shaped so you can fast track it or slow it to a halt. I work full time so I'd do part time.

My sister has done university grade statistics so she might give me a hand learning up before I take it.

Probably varies from school to school and degree, and maybe because I look about 10 years younger than I am, but I had no problems at all relating to most of my younger classmates.

There are only a handful of slackers, but a lot with good dedication - some of them are harder workers than me.

Gunslinger · Jul 3, 2018

Give it a try. I was like you too TC. I fooled around too much in life and I was 26 with just a hs degree, and working a dead end retail job. Just decided to change things around like you. Went back to school got degree in CS and now I work for a fortune 500 company that's ranked in the top 20s as an engineer and make more money than most people who was "serious" when I was young. So you never know my friend. Just keep it up. If I can do it anyone can. Many time people dismiss us as dumb or stupid but we are just as good as those "serious" student if not better when we want to be. Give it a shot my friend.

TitanicFall · Jul 3, 2018

Well I wasn't as old as you, but went back at 24. I went to college from 18-21, but couldn't figure out what I wanted to do so I stopped. Did retail for 3 years and had enough so I went back to school with more focus. My college experience was much better then second time around. I don't think your age will be a factor. However there's usually that one person in class who's just about as old as the professor or older that likes to tell stories about things that happened back in their day. Don't be that person.

arkon · Jul 3, 2018

I knew people who were returning to university at 35 years old and above, so don't worry too much about that. If you are worried about the skills required to complete a degree after not studying for ages then you might want to consider looking into access courses or degrees with a foundation year. I did one when I decided to go back to university to do a different degree than the one I initially picked (and one which I didn't have the A levels to get onto otherwise) and it was a great experience. Lots of people on the course were returning after years away from study so there was a real variety of skill sets. They covered all the basics you needed for further degree courses inlcuding the maths skills needed. Although that was more tailored to science degrees

offshore · Jul 3, 2018

I think Uni makes more sense at that kind of age anyway; you're more mature and probably have a better understanding of what you want to do. A lot of students, like me, go uni around their teens/early twenties, then completely fall out of love with whatever they studied, rendering it a waste of time. And as it happened, when I was 19 at uni, someone on my course was 32 and no-one thought anything of it.

I'd love to go back to Uni, but even at 31 now, I still don't know what I'd want to do. I'm so useless. lol.

z1ggy · Jul 3, 2018

Good luck bro, im going back next year

Im about to be 37!

Siggy-P · Jul 3, 2018

AxeVince said:
I do not think a Business degree would give you high level equations to solve. That would be quite weird as you would not use them. Statistics on the other end, might be on order.

I have met multiple people during Uni that came back to school after 4-5 years and they had to work hard just to "relearn how to learn" as they lost the fact they were used to learn stuff from books and sitting around listening to a professor but apart from that were very happy to be there.

I had a business related course and they make you learn economics and financing. Accounting as well if you so choose it (I did).

But it's pretty much just GCSCE/ high school grade maths. My Uni offered courses for people who struggled with it as not everyone was up to the same level.

To the OP, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I had plenty of people nearing 25-30 in my Uni course, you'll be fine. The inly real issue is that they're probably gonna wanna go out drinking and skiving off lectures more than you do.

Heckler456 · Jul 3, 2018

I'm going back in September at 28 years old. Fulltime though. Definitely terrified, although mostly about being surrounded by people a decade younger than me.

Good luck to you! I'm sure we'll have made the right decision in the end.

Officer Big Mac · Jul 3, 2018

I was the same way. Retail was going to kill me. If not in short term then in long term when I was old. You're doing the right thing thinking about your future.

JeTmAn · Jul 3, 2018

30 is quite young for a returning learner. Just commit to studying until you understand the material, don't be afraid or ashamed to ask for help. You'll do fine.

ryul2 · Jul 3, 2018

you're there to improve yourself. Stop thinking about your age because it's not important. I just started going back to school after dealing with many years of untreated ADHD/depression (i'm getting treatment for it now) so it's been really rough for me. It might seem like you're the oldest person there, but who cares.

Hesemonni · Jul 3, 2018

I was 34 when I went back to Uni to finish up my studies. Don't sweat OP, you'll be just fine. University has plenty of people of all ages so there's nothing to worry about.

lmcfigs · Jul 3, 2018

In my PhD program everyone was around 22, but we had a guy in his 50's taking the class. Nobody cared - and most of us assumed he was way more qualified and intelligent than us. If you're already a professional - getting back to class can't be that hard.

Pickman · Jul 3, 2018

33 and I'm looking to start in the fall. I feel ya dude.

PantherLotus · Jul 3, 2018

The fact that you're scared tells me you'll do very well, tbh. You're older, you've learned how to learn which is the (actual) purpose of going to school. Now you know what it takes.

You should have supreme confidence in your ability. I think your real nerves are around the amount of time you now know it's going to take.

Go get 'em.

Limit · Jul 3, 2018

Khan academy is a pretty decent source for brushing up on math. I would start there. You will need to work harder than students who didn't need to break from school because of any multitude for reasons. But time and effort is all that's stopping you from getting good results. Speaking from personal experience.

Saganator · Jul 3, 2018

I'm 34 and thinking about going back to school. What are the chances of my credits from like 2003 transferring? I don't expect all of them to transfer but it would be nice if my English and History classes did.

geomon · Jul 3, 2018

Good luck man. I dread going back to school too.

BlackAdder · Jul 3, 2018

I went back to a local tech college at 31 and then moved on to UW Madison for my bachelor's. I think being older is an advantage. I was just able to focus on my work. Many times people thought I was a grad student and since there were plenty of them around I didn't feel too out of place.

ryul2 · Jul 3, 2018

Saganator said:
I'm 34 and thinking about going back to school. What are the chances of my credits from like 2003 transferring? I don't expect all of them to transfer but it would be nice if my English and History classes did.

only way to know is to get a copy of your official transcript (can be ordered through the school you went to for a nominal fee) and ask for the place you want them transferred to for an evaluation on if you can get any of the credits transferred. You should contact the student advising at wherever you want the credits transferred for specific instructions regarding this.

Stinkles · Jul 3, 2018

Make sure to practice the Triple-Lindy.

dead souls · Jul 3, 2018

There were plenty of non-traditional students when I did my undergrad. There's nothing to worry about at all on that front.

Poeton · Jul 3, 2018

I was 27 when I started taking classes at my local community college, I was 30 when I transferred to university, and I was 34 when I graduated.

I had to take 7 math classes before I could transfer. You are afraid, good, you won't waste what opportunities you're given on this journey. Make no mistake you are on a journey, embrace it.

Lucky241 · Jul 3, 2018

I went to grad school at 30. I was scared too of being the old fuck. Rather instead I ended being the same age as 90% of the class.

Only downside, studying was way harder at the older age. At 21 I could crack a book and memorize 6 chapters in a hour to ace the test. At 30 it would take me 3 hours to learn one chapter.

I'm going to University at 30 and I'm terrified.

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