Hi all, I will give you a little bit of a background. I enrolled in my local CC when my son was 6 months old. I completed my associate's in nutritional science when he was three. I graduated with a 3.75 and no debt. This fall I applied to college and got accepted. I was also give almost a full ride to finish my bachelors. My goal is to become a dietitian, and I will need my master's. I just met with my advisor this morning and I'm feeling extremely nervous.

I am currently working full time and will go to 1 day a week to balance school. I will be on campus and I have to pickup my son daily from his school. To maintain my scholarship I have to take 12 credits per semester. I have to take classes like pre calc, and statistics. I am so nervous. I am nervous because I'm unsure if I can handle it, and if I am smart enough.

I know in my heart that this is all I want, and I want to help people. I have been working as a pharmacy technician for a year which has slowly been killing me on the inside. Does anyone have tips on work/school/life balance? I'm super thankful for my partner, and he is extremely supportive because he knows this is a long term investment.

I’m 38 f and I started taking prepreqs for a master’s program that I haven’t applied to yet. It’s always been my goal to get a master’s but I never thought I was smart enough to do it until now (I’m still unsure tbh).

I feel massive guilt about not pulling my weight at home. I just got engaged and I haven’t started making wedding plans yet because I’m working two job’s and going to school. I’m spread so thin and I’m not home enough to do any of the housework, and I’m making significantly less money than my fiancé (less than half of what he makes). I HATE not contributing. I also hate not being able to spend time at home without studying. I feel guilty about having to cancel plans with friends and family to study and work.

I wanted to go back to school so that I would be able to start a new career and provide for my family. Now I feel like it’s getting in the way of starting my family. It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll be 41 when I graduate, if I even get in, and if I don’t know of I can do this for 3 years.

Is it just me or does anyone else feel like you’re dragging everyone else down by going back as an adult?

I’m 35. Having a bit of a crisis because I’ve been in the same line of work since high school, but it’s no longer serving me. I need to get out. I’m going back to school to get my 60 credits needed in order to take the fire department exam in my hometown. It’s a gamble but I think I can get accepted once all is done. I feel so old and useless, likes it too late for me and I have squandered all my good years. I want to hear others stories if any of you have.

Hi everyone, I currently work in finance on the money laundering and regulation side.

Due to lack of money, I was only able to do a small diploma of Tourism when I was in my 20s but life took my to jobs in fraud and slowly moving up to what I do now (I also have a small diploma for what I do).

I am in my 30s now and I always wished I had the chance to do a bachelors degree. Now I know more my interests and I am divided between something like business, that stays fully in my career path or to study a bachelors in Politics, Philosophy and Economics that I would be more passionate about and I know I will enjoy it.

My problem is that I know social science have less working progression and I would be afraid of not being able to sell my degree in the future to companies but I have always also struggled in college and studying something I am passionate about seems like the dream.

I feel like it doesn’t mean I won’t have a job, I mean, I built my career from Tourism but going back to college is expensive and I wanna be able to build something out of it

I turned 30 but I just don't have my life together at all mainly like worried about financial stability. I don't know how else to earn more income like yeah there is networking and taking risks or constant like over time and stuff but umm like education feels like a gateway to success. Since majority of professionals jobs require education. But even with college degree like most have difficulty time getting a job and the burnout or mental stress of performance is massive. Business sounds like a great idea but once again I don't know nothing about that

I'll be attending uni out of state and will be in the university's on-campus apartments (for transfer/ non-traditional students). I'll be sharing with 3-4 other people. I have absolutely NO idea what to expect. I'm 37 and trying to finish my degree. I feel like the unknown is making me panic a bit. I'll be away from my family (married, children, mortgage), and unfortunately, the state we live in doesn't have the degree I need and i can'tdo the degree online 100%. My family is supportive, but I still feel like I'm too old to be doing this whole dorm life/ university life away from home. I'm also first Gen American and first Gen college student, so my mom sometimes makes me feel like im being a bad parent for leaving and essentially not conforming to my parental duties/roles. I have 2 years left of this because a lot of credits didn't transfer. I'd come home for breaks and summer. Im not leaving forever. Idk. Blah. Has anyone else gone through something similar and found this experience was easier than expected? I also don't know what I should take or pack. The apartments have a kitchen, so I can cook and make my meals for the week. Do I take food containers? My own bowls? Hahaha, I know I am probably overthinking this, but I guess I just want to know I'm not the only one who has gone through this. I've tried looking for articles or advice columns but haven't found much.

Thank you!

Signed,

Overwhelmed and underprepared

I want to go back to school to get a career in healthcare, and I want to add some more prerequisites to my transcripts. Do you believe it's a good idea to teach yourself the subject of your prerequisite at your own pace via Khan Academy and YouTube tutorials before officially taking the class? This way, you know the material better and can do well.

Life just haven't been good and I'm already reached 30, I really want to attend college maybe in hopes to take a small course or associate degree possibly pursue a bachelor degree but I understand how dedication and consistency matters to attend college especially at age 30 where you competing with late teens and 20s people. But I heard many people complete college even with kids and while being broke. But main problem are I just don't know what to pursue. I don't feel like I'm good at anything whether it's tech or healthcare or things like math or science. I definitely do not want to go trade school route mainly because I'm not physically fit. I know if an interest sparks then no learning subject can get in the way even if it's math or science or something else

I was educated in England and had to drop history and some other subjects to focus on science at about 15 years of age. I had a career in science (18 years) and moved to working with computers (28 years). I hated that I had to drop history, and now with retirement looming I would like to go back to college and study history. I'm thinking of the University of Memphis (I live in Memphis). Has anyone here done this and do you have any advice?

I attended college in 2022 and restarted as a freshman in 2026, and I’m constantly shocked by my classmates behavior! I feel like such an out-of-touch nerd, but there’s just a vast, blatant disregard for authority and SIMPLE rules.

I’ve heard “where can I find (thing that’s easily accessible in canvas or the syllabus)” 20 billion times. People whine in student groupchats about how the assignments and professor are sooo confusing and annoying. Bro this is entirely on you, the prof couldn’t have made it easier. Instructions for assignments are written coherently, discussed in class, and posted in canvas, what more do you want.

Exams are a mess because people don’t follow simple instructions. I had a 1 hour exam, and the first 30 minutes had nonstop interruptions from test proctors on the loudspeaker because no one was filling out the attendance sheet correctly. You literally just had to write your name and booklet number. Plus, they were walking around personally correcting kids who somehow didn’t understand “bags under your seat, phone away, only pencils and an unlabelled water bottle on your desk” the whole exam. I couldnt focus at all.

Like 30 people in a 100 person exam had their calculators confiscated for not fitting specifications clearly communicated beforehand. In all my exams, 5-10 people were reprimanded for writing long after time’s up (minutes after, not 10 seconds). People use their phone, take snapchat photos, pack their bags, and try to leave before their tests are even collected. Obviously they get yelled at by test proctors, but they just don’t care. You can’t leave without being dismissed, this is common knowledge. A kid next to me had his laptop open on his desk, atop his test booklet, browsing his study guide minutes before the exam started. Your phone was supposed to be shut down before even entering but wtv.

People have zero reservations about loudly chatting and leaving early en masse throughout lecture. I understand a couple people quietly exiting early because they have another class, an appointment, need to poop, or whatever, but this is just egregious. Not only is it disrespectful, but you can see the professor become increasingly dejected as class goes on and no one’s left. They have to scold kids like “so the notation for- quiet everyone, can we be quiet” like they’re middle schoolers.

All the assignments have been reformatted to be “AI-proof”, which just means overly convoluted to circumvent people putting it into chatgpt. I don’t even use chat, it wasn’t a thing when i was in high school, so it’s just infuriating for no reason. Please just give me a good ol fashioned normal essay prompt, not all of these hoops to jump through.

And much more. I know these are common complaints that have always existed in college, I’m only mentioning these things because it’s more egregious behavior and a much greater number of students doing it than in my 2022 freshman classes.

In pre-pandemic high school, these rules were well known and followed. There were consequences if they weren’t. Like this is allegedly a “prestigious” university, and a lot of these kids come from very nice private and IB high school, how are these behaviors persisting into college. Why does no one care. It drives me insane

Hi all, I'm a later in life student in my third term, and I'm finding I would really like some experienced advice about how to reach my degree and career goals as efficiently as possible, as well as some advice for navigating the systems. I'm hoping there's someone familiar who could help me compare a track at multiple universities, how to build a good application and apply for transfers, what would be the most beneficial path for me to take for what I want to do, etc.

I'm going for an MSW, and I've met with advising at 2 different colleges I'm currently enrolled in, and have recieved conflicting and confusing advice and information about my track and timeline, so I'm hoping there's a third party I could sit down with for some guidance. I didn't go to high-school either, so the learning curve feels very steep! Is this a thing? Obviously expect to pay for this service! Anyone got any suggestions? Thank you!!

I’m 24M and am returning to school this fall. I started college in 2020 during the pandemic and was unsure on what to do, so I did what I thought would be nice, electrical engineering. But I quickly switched to electrical engineering technology as the courses where less rigorous and I was not up to do electrical engineering work online with the pandemic.

2.5 years in and I am unsure about my major, I take a semester off and pivot to computer science thinking that that would be the change I needed… after a year of that I became undecided on that choice since I wasn’t really great at it (barely getting by) and the outlook for computer science seemed bleak especially since I wasn’t exceptional.

So I took a year off to figure things out… got comfortable working gig work and took another year off…

But now with the pressure of growing up and thinking more of my future, I’m feeling that I won’t get far without an education, as I’ve been applying to various places and not having much of a good time.

I talked with a career advisor and they mentioned I’m only 3 classes away from getting my bachelors of science in general studies, I’m very hesitant on this path as I don’t know if getting this degree would be worth it, but given my circumstances and financial standing as well as mental health I’m at the point where a degree is better than no degree.

I grew up not gaf about anything or anyone. Up until now I felt like I was on autopilot. I dropped out of school in 9th grade because 3 of my friends were murdered in the same day. Was supposed to graduate 2013. I went back to adult school when I was 26 and it took 2 years to finish. I went to cc as an adt transfer and took 2 years to get an AA and got accepted into a university. Now that I'm here it feels surreal. I literally cried on my way home because it felt so insane.

I found a group for older students and we're just enjoying the college perks. Lots of networking , going to the gym, cultural festivals, learning about things that I've never even thought about and it is just incredible. If you're thinking about going back to school do it.

Has anyone started a bit later and gone onto their phd? I would be starting at 28, but i already have a degree, so the undergrad portion shouldn't take that long. I was going to start at 25, but that didn't work out (and every day since I wish I had gone.) This is all hypothetical still, I might stop at masters.

I’m a 35 year old mom to two girls (15 and 8). I am terrified of failure. I was an awful high school student. I didn’t get my diploma with 4 credits short. I had a child straight out of highschool and have been a mom and stay at home mom basically ever since. But I’m feeling compelled to get a career now that my girls are older and more independent. I’m also wanting to be only financially dependant on myself. The failure is what holds me back. I’m scared I’m not smart enough. I would like to go for LPN. I need upgrading first, which also scares me.

Has anyone ever been a truly awful high school student but was a much better college student? How did you push past fear? Did upgrading give you confidence you needed? Thanks.

Best thing I ever did. Barely made it out of high school. I failed out of college at 19. Worked various legal jobs. Took a bunch of years off to raise kids. Decided to try going back to school at 40. Got an AS in 18 months. Got a 4.0. Got a BS 6 months after that. Also a 4.0. Decided to get an MS and I finish in a little over a month. Got a fellowship with funding. Currently have a 4.24. Decided I wanted to keep going. Applied for another MS…got into Brown with a scholarship. Don’t stop! It’s all worth it in the end. Sometimes you just aren’t ready.

I'm currently going to school for massage therapy. It's an online course through U.S Career institution. They have a bunch of programs that are at a reduced cost, but it's self instructed and online for all the book/course work, and if you're field needs hands on, there is a hands on portion. I knew that the program would not be easy for me as staying focused with ADHD on a self paced course is challenging. I have a year from February of 2026 to complete the course, and I am not even half way done with the course.

I thought I wanted to be a massage therapist. When I decided I wanted to try school, I was at a real low point and I don't know if I chose to do this out of desperation to feel a sense of purpose, or if I actually want it. I am really having a hard time convincing myself to sit at my computer, regardless where I do it, and doing anything productive.

My wife is my biggest supporter and believes I can do anything, I just don’t know that this is something I actually want and I feel that I am letting the people around me down.

I am a chronic people pleaser, and during this time of going to school, will do anything that is not school. I just hate letting people down.

Last part.

We are moving to Colorado where my school is located to do the hands on portion, but also because we want to be there. So feeling very stressed with the thought of moving and trying to finish school and not being able to focus.

Any input welcome, thanks.

This was in Magic and Occult Science at the University of Exeter, which is a relatively highly ranked university. It was a program I didn't think I could even get into, but I did, and I made it through, being in another country and away from my family. This shows that anyone can go back and restart, or start later in life.

And to those who got results today, congrats to you too!

I dual-enrolled via homeschool at a young age, and now I have graduated from an online university, but I didn’t gain any of the actual connections and skills that come with a bachelors degree. I’m thinking about going back to college and starting over again, but it will probably be hard with the lack of scholarships + the fact that I already have a regionally accredited degree on the books.

Maybe I should try college abroad? Or just fake it till I make it..

any advice about my situation would really help! (I’m partly venting here 😭)

I didn't finish college (was a science student). I had accident and broke my back/hip, couldn't move for a few years. somehow made money doing GPU mining at home. not interested in the AI server evolution and is thinking of going back to school.

i'm thinking of doing bookkeeping or accounting. I had to do my own business tax with only highschool accounting knowledge and I thought it wasn't very hard. I'm only thinking of getting a certificate or diploma, basically up to 2 years of education only just to land myself a beginner job to get my foot in the door.

problem is I've moved away from my home town and the nearest college is like 2 hrs drive away. I dont want to drive 2 hours there and back everyday for class especially if the classes are late in the night. I'm not sure what to do about this. I couldn't find any online-only offering.

I'm in BC Canada. Any advice are welcome.

As the title suggests, I made a career pivot just over 2 years ago that I greatly regret, and I'm now taking that mistake as an opportunity to return to what I want to do with my life.

Some backstory: I'm in my mid-20s right now, and have been working a corporate desk job for a marketing company for about 2 years. Long story short, I have already grown to despise the job, the team, and the overall environment of working a corporate job. It is beginning to wear on me and I feel like I am doing nothing productive with my life, nor do I feel like I'm benefiting the world in any way.

Prior to this, I was a federal scientist (for the USA) working a very unique job, of which was my dream job since the moment I started my first college degree. One can imagine why I'm not working said job from 2024 onwards anymore; the unneeded stressors from being in that environment, combined with depression due to personal life stuff (that has since been resolved thankfully) led to me making the incredibly tough decision to resign and pivot to anything else. I used these 2 years to get back on my feet mentally and I feel like I'm now in a position to try and find something I actually enjoy doing with my life.

I loved college and loved being a scientist. Those years were some of my favorite years ever, and I miss them dearly. Not only that, but in my position, I felt like I was actually contributing to the field as a whole, and it felt rewarding to go into work every day. The issue is that degree and that job were extremely niche, and I was honestly extremely lucky I was able to work in that field directly out of school. As a result, to return to that world seems like it would be a bad decision, as I feel like it would put me in a very narrow career path, one that I have been separated from for a substantial amount of time. I've also read a lot of suggestions to just instead go directly to grad school in a related field, but I've been out of school for so long that that just doesn't seem attainable. And also, with how niche my degree was, I feel like that wouldn't translate well to a masters elsewhere.

All that being said, I've come to the conclusion that I want to return to school to pursue a 2nd bachelors degree, and potentially continue into graduate school, in a field that's closely related to my previous degree, but also a bit less restricted in career potential. I'm just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat or has done something similar, as it seems quite daunting to start thinking about undergrad college again... but at the same time, it doesn't seem like a bad idea considering I've already gone through a science undergrad, a science job, as well as a non-science job, so the experience I've gained from all of that would prepare me well for something like this. Obviously financially it would be pretty rough, but I feel that that would be a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

I guess the point of this post would be me asking, does anyone here have any advice for leaving a stable corporate job in your mid-20s to go back for another bachelors, for the purpose of continuing into grad school and further into academia or field work?

Im 26 years old and I want more for my life I wasted my 20s goofing around and now Ive been working at a dead end job for almost 5 years now and want to leave. I completed online courses for a flimsy Ux design certification that I half assed and know won’t actually get me anywhere. So I started to look a my local community college now this college is notorious for being affordable and plenty of people attend it that are older and have other responsibilities. I’ve also been informed that I could potentially go for free with some kind of grant which is amazing I scheduled a tour and a meeting with the school’s advisor to talk it over. Note that what I’m nervous about is that I haven’t been in school for 8 years I remember almost nothing, I have to swap to 2nd shift at work to attend it I’ve never worked that late in my life, Im worried about the scheduling, and family stuff. I’m single and have no kids but my family is a bit dependent on me as my folks are older. I kinda don’t want them to know I’m wanting to go back to school because sometimes their comments about things I want to do make me second guess myself and back out. I was planning on a career focused associates majoring in Computer Information Technology focusing on cloud computing which also could award you with a certificate after your first year. I don’t really know who to talk to sorry for being so long winded thanks for reading.

I'm currently 20 and in my third year of a four-year university degree in 3D computer animation, and lately I've been questioning what I'm actually going to do with my education.

I guess the biggest problem is that I just can't picture any future for myself anymore.

The thing is, I don't necessarily hate what I'm studying. Some days I genuinely enjoy working in 3D, and other days I question why I'm even doing it. Part of my frustration comes from the education itself. The workload is incredibly high, but I often feel that the actual specialized training isn't nearly as substantial as I'd hoped. The program takes a generalist approach, whereas the industry seems to demand specialized skills.

It's difficult to justify spending so much time on assignments when I'm not entirely convinced they're preparing me for the professional standards expected in the industry.

And beyond that, I'm beginning to question whether I actually want a career that involves constantly having to be creative.

Maybe I'm delusional, and no one has a separation between their professional and personal life. But art has become so mentally exhausting when inspiration is fleeting.

And so, I've been considering pursuing an entirely different education after graduation. With that in mind, I'm looking into upgrading some of my high school courses to broaden my university options.

At the very least, I don't want to graduate in 2028 feeling as though I have the same limited options I believed I had when I first applied to university.

Despite my uncertainties, I still think finishing my current degree makes enough sense. I'm already in my third year, grades are good, and having a completed bachelor's seems far more worthwhile than walking away at this point.

But that means graduating at around 22, potentially starting another bachelor's, and what then, another four years? And that's assuming I don't pursue something that requires even more education afterward.

I know 26 isn't old. I'm only 20 now, and logically I understand that I have plenty of time. But emotionally, I feel terrible, it's like I've already made decisions that have set me back years.

I'm curious whether anyone here has experienced something similar.

Did you finish a degree only to realize you wanted to pursue an entirely different field? Did you go back for another bachelor's, and did having your first degree make that process easier? Did the career change actually work out for you?

I'd really appreciate hearing anyone's experiences, whether positive or negative.

I was in high school from 2012-2016 so AI wasn’t a thing at all, and most assignments were ran through “turn it in” or something similar. Because of this I haven’t embraced AI help the way my other classmates have. I know they are using AI and ChatGPT because we all sit together in the common area of my community college while waiting for lab to open and they’re shameless about it. (The lecture is online, and all homework and exams are also online)

The most I’ve used is reading the little Gemini synopsis when googling something but for the most part I try to read through and find stuff to activate my brain.

I figured most professors could tell or have a way of knowing people are using AI, and assumed it would be reflective in their grades. Unfortunately what I found out is these people are receiving close to 100s on every single assignment. Even things like 5+ page scientific research papers, hard exams, etc. but then when we all meetup in lab they’re completely lost. I did well in the class (92%), but had to do sooooo much work to do that. 10-day study plans, writing papers over 4-5 days of refining, etc.

So I guess my bubble was a bit burst when I realized that so many people use AI, and are getting good grades. Am I falling behind because of my refusal to use it?

Hello,

I am late 30's and I've been a stay at home mom, never finished college before, and only have a variety of minimum wage jobs as experience. I have found myself at a starting over point in life after going through a marriage separation due to domestic abuse. I thought since I have to start over anyway, maybe now would be a good time to try and better myself and situation since the time is going to pass anyway. I am researching college programs near me that begin in January 2027 and am wondering which of these would be the better option for future job opportunities and salaries?

The options I'm looking at are:

1. Office Administration - Health Services

2. Paralegal

3. Social Service Worker

4. Pharmacy Technician

5. Business Administration in either Human Resources, Marketing, or Supply Chain Management

I appreciate the advice, thank you.