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A Guide for Adults Going to College

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Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#51

Post by ddoolin »

sjg007 wrote: post #35
ddoolin wrote: post #24

I really want to go back to finish school. I'm 28 and dropped out at the end of my 3rd year with 97 credits because I had a baby on the way in another country. I've been working as a software engineer ever since. I did try one semester at a CC shortly after but my job was too demanding on top of parenting a wee lad and I took a slate of all Fs, sadly, since I missed the withdrawal date. Now I have the time, funds, an…

Your application essay is probably where you would talk about why you want the opportunity to finish your degree and what benefit you will bring to the institution. Highlighting appropriate adult behaviors like "taking responsibility" for you child etc... Your real world experience will definitely help you.

Thanks! I hope so. I think I have a really interesting story to tell and very solid work credentials so maybe that can win some minds.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#52

Post by azhenley »

ddoolin wrote: post #47
azhenley wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be surprised at what admissions might think. Stuff happens and people (including admissions) know that. In your application you are even given the chance to explain that sort of thing (it makes for a more interesting story if you ask me!) My advice would be to also reach out to the department admin and or department chair of the department you are interested in (CS at USC?) with a brief email. Even try to a…

Thanks for your advice. I'm not stranger to that kind of course of action since people are more understanding when you get a chance to speak to them candidly/truthfully. That said, can speaking to the dept. heads help my admission (do depts approve applications themselves?) Either way it'd give me an excuse to go check out the facilities so I may just do that. I wish I could afford USC but I've used up most of my gra…

Internal recommendations can help a lot. In some schools/departments, there is a departmental committee that has a say in the admissions process.

The UC schools and Cal State are all very fine universities. Good luck!

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#53

Post by zigzaggy »

mrfusion wrote: post #34
zigzaggy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All very good questions. I’m at the Senior Manager level in my profession, trying to switch to entry / junior level in IT security. I have solid experience and great references, and I get calls from clients and recruiters constantly for work in my current field. But I get practically no responses when I submit myself for positions in the new field. I tracked one recruiter down recently and she basically told me she’s…

Can you find an in between job. Maybe it does what you do now mostly but has some aspect of what you want to switch to?

Good idea, that’s possible. The challenge has been finding that job opening, and then getting it.

Maybe I should go to the companies where I know that position exists and proactively bid on a position, rather than waiting for one to open up.

Thanks for the idea!

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#54

Post by malmsteen »

uberman wrote: post #41
porphyrogene wrote: post #26

It is never too late for education. It is always too early for crippling debt that exceeds your proven earning potential. None of this advice touches on the lost principle of not putting one's future on layaway. Student load debt forgiveness is a death sentence for American politicians yet there are millions of us waiting for a miracle.

This is an important comment and having worked extensively in this space, I would like to expound on it. The "best" college educations typically take 4 to 10 years to reach a break even point. Some degrees can result in a net loss of lifetime income. The older you get, typically the less monetary sense a degree makes. Couple this with an open admissions degree from a for profit college and you are likely on thin ice.…

laughing in french

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#55

Post by chooseaname »

reificator wrote: post #32
nostromo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My significant other just got a job as a captain at a major airline. At 30 he was one of the youngest people hired in his cohort. In aviation experienced captains with lots of fly time and safe and timely arrivals are seen as assets. It's quite a contrast to what we hear about in tech.

I'm still young but this has always been my question as well. When is tech going to grow up and recognize experience as an asset? Beyond of course putting "10 years of Julia 1.0 experience" as a requirement to be hired in a junior level position.

As soon as older people and younger people learn to have respect for one another. I mean, what other answer is there? If tech doesn't want older people then they don't have respect for what older people bring to the table. Why is that? Could be older people are less flexible? Less willing to change? I don't know. Specifics probably aren't important. It comes down to respect.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#56

Post by kamarg »

xyzzyz wrote: post #33
sjg007 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will happen if you vote blue. The first wave of it was 10 year of payments and then debt forgiveness.

That will push college prices even higher.

Can you explain why that is to me? I would think that if the expected return on college loans drops significantly, fewer large loans would be given out that can be passed on to universities which would see less demand for their product and would need to lower their prices accordingly.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#57

Post by StevePerkins »

porphyrogene wrote: post #37
sjg007 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will happen if you vote blue. The first wave of it was 10 year of payments and then debt forgiveness.

> It will happen if you vote blue. Unfortunately it is a matter of voting blue enough, not just blue. In some areas politicians, even Democrats, regularly relate to their constituents by bashing "East cost liberal elites" despite having degrees from Ivy League schools. If Doug Jones had said that a liberal arts education is valuable for developing into a well-rounded citizen his race would have ended then and there.

I have a college degree. I hope for my kids to take the path of earning college degrees. I think that college is great in the abstract. I also think that until we sort out our health care system in this country (USA), a career in the trades is a very frightening prospect.

Even so, this comment is very interesting to me.

I frequently see on Hacker News the sentiment that modern higher education is a bubble. That if we don't actively encourage young people to consider a life in the skilled trades, we should at least be teaching respect for those who do.

But at the same time, it's hard to ignore the open derision toward non-college grads.

I mean, in this particular example, why SHOULD non-college grads support a politician's promises to subsidize colleges, at the expense of other more direct interests? There are obvious cultural/tribal resentments in play, as you're talking about transferring wealth from one class to another class which openly looks down upon the first. But even separating emotion from it, it's hard to criticize strawmen for opposing policy that might well reasonably be seen as voting against their own interests.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#60

Post by dver »

Mid 50's here. As my kids are hitting college age I'm starting to get the itch to go back and complete my degree. My company has a facility near Cal Poly, where I went, and I drive by on my way in and out of town when I go onsite. Really don't know what to expect, figure I'll just wander on campus and stop by the admin building and see what they have to say. I'll bring my old student ID with me, just in case.
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