I represent a growing portion of the general college population - "non-traditional students."

Non-traditional is usually defined by someone who is at least 24 years old OR who is self-supporting (has a job, no mommy and daddy money).

I attended college for 1 year after high school, basically against my will, and dropped out having earned credit for only 4 classes.

At the age of 30, I decided (on my own) that I wanted to go back. I currently have 6 classes remaining until I will graduate with a B.A. in Public Policy & Law from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

If you think it's impossible, it's not. If you're trying to do it yourself, go for it. Ask away!

I'm in the same boat, almost exactly. Turning 34 this year, will graduate in December. But the education will continue! I commend you sir, definitely was a tough decision at this stage in life.

Awesome Vincent! Nice work.

Will no doubt have many questions I’m posting to sub for now and start off with a couple personal questions.

1. Do you have a family?
2. Did you continue to work full time while going to school?

I’m sure I’ll have more. Literally perfect timing for this thread. I’m stuck trying to figure out what to do next (28 years old, need a career change badly for my mindset and livelihood). Thanks in advanced.

I'm a bit older (50 last b-day) and am seriously considering going back to school for a nursing degree. I have a BA in Political Science (lolz), working full-time since before I graduated, in IT. I make pretty good money, but I'm very tired of the 8-5+, on-call 1/2 the time (luckily not too demanding in the current gig, but previous job was more like 24/7) day-in/day-out. Thinking healthcare ain't going anywhere, especially as the population ages, whereas my current job could be replaced by a computer or off-shore before I know it. Daughter just graduated from college, and is now putting herself thru a Master's degree. (Go her!)

My biggest concern is the whole lack of a paycheck for 2+ years. I've got a mortgage that isn't going anywhere, a car payment and a wife who can't make nearly enough to support us both. How did you do it?

1. Do you have a family?
I have a wife and 2 cats...no kids yet.

2. Did you continue to work full time while going to school?
Yes. I worked anywhere between 20 and 50 hours a week, depending on my class schedule. When possible, I took as many night classes as I could. However, for some of my major classes, I had to take a day or 2 off each week. I had a very understanding employer and am very grateful for that.

I’m stuck trying to figure out what to do next (28 years old, need a career change badly for my mindset and livelihood) And this was me!

My biggest concern is the whole lack of a paycheck for 2+ years. I've got a mortgage that isn't going anywhere, a car payment and a wife who can't make nearly enough to support us both. How did you do it?

I attended part-time (2-3 classes per semester, plus some summer classes and a January term class) so I could still work. I also took as many night classes as possible.

I could not have done this without savings or a steady paycheck (even if it was very light some weeks). This made me realize the importance of a cushion in life. I am fearful that there are SO MANY people in this country with no cushion, and that is a huge barrier to accomplishing anything.

I live modestly. My car had been paid off before I started going back to school. I did have savings that I depleted. My wife works and we split all of our bills right down the middle. We rent a condo and it's $1250 ($625/month for each of us).

To pay for tuition, I split it up various ways. I paid some out of pocket. I took some loans. I did get some grants, but not much. I also qualified for the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and then the Lifelong Learning Credit, which was $2000 a year. Who said the government doesn't help everyone? And my parents graciously paid for 1 class per year. I also had an understanding employer who allowed me to go to him and tell him what days I needed off.

I also built up some school experience and transferrable credits at a community college before transferring to a 4-year school to finish my degree. This saved me a TON of money and allowed me to "learn how to learn." I am a huge proponent of CC's now, after admittedly looking down upon them at one point. I am currently at an "elite, private, northeast, liberal arts institute," and the workload and price difference between CC and Trinity College is worlds apart. But I absolutely needed the CC to get there...it was critical.

This is pretty common these days. Hell, I'm back at college for my 4th time, right now, working on a second graduate degree.

Finished my Bachelor's at 33, and my MA at 39. I am considerably older now...

Who are you taking to Homecoming?

So many opportunities in Crypto! With years in IT maybe you just need to find a new job?

I truly wish I had gone into programming 40 years ago. Hard to imagine where I might be now.

I really like the Cardano project and the vision of Charles Hoskinson. Take a look at his engineering company here https://iohk.io/careers/

I think going back sooner than later is critical. I dropped out after 2 years, and took courses here and there. After enough time in the 'real world', the thought of having to do homework is just so .. alien. I would have liked to have finished, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference in my career. At that point, it was more just a self-satisfaction type of thing, and my hatred of homework won out in the end.

Isn't Trinity a decent school? Did you get in just from getting A's at a CC, and being willing to pay private school tuition?

This will likely be me in two years. I'll check back.

From experience I can say that grades aren't necessarily what get you into good schools.

In this context, what is a professional program? Transfer students have different, entry requirements than hs students.

why not learn to code instead?

Doctor of Pharmacy.

That's just another undergrad that is meaningless without extra postgrad work, I think. Not exactly the same, but kind of like people who say they are pre-med or pre-law. None of it means **** until you finish another few years of school.

Sorry to pollute your thread, Foxxy. Wasn't intentional so I'll just spoiler all the detracting nonsense.

This whole thread is about going back to complete undergrad, which is why I was confused when you wrote professional degree from an undergrad program.

You didn't clarify things here by the way.

You're a literalist. Getting into college is getting into college, it isn't all based on grades. Lot of assumptions made on your part and in that case I'm outtie.

Actually, for transferring into most good public universities it is almost all based on previous college grades, which is why I was curious of his experience at a good private university. So go beat off on your Pikachu cards Alwaysfolding and stop responding.

im wondering why you differentiate between phd and drs after calling out the undergrad part? one side actually has innovation while the other is working on mastering the craft. not to be rude to your version of "doctors", but maybe i missed something.

op, thanks for posting. i need to do this soon too, just trying to get everything else straightened out first. the grind gets old!