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Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
21–30 of 36 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#22Lots of military members go to college well into their 20s on the GI bill
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#23[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#24No, 20 is not nowhere near too old. But, I'm not really sure about value of difference in top 1 vs top 10... But, personally I would consider the degree more if that is different. Will the new one be more interesting?
Pretty much. My main problem is with socializing - will I be able to socialize with the 18 year olds I'll be living with?
I'm 35 and I hang out with 18 year olds because they're about the same maturity and energy levels. People my age are always complaining about new tech and talking about retirement.
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#25I have done 2 degrees science when I was 18 and then electronic engineering when I was 25. I work as a software engineer now and it has never been an issue (I am now 37).
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#26The first question is easy. No.
As far as should you abandon 2 years of credits to switch from a top ten school to the number one school…I just can’t imagine the benefit outweighing the cost. Starting your career 2 years earlier is probably going to be of more value.
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#27I wouldn't throw away two years of work to get a degree from a #1 college vs a #10 college. Might be a better use of time to finish at the #10 college and try to get admitted for a masters degree at #1 college if in two more years you still want to stay for two more years.
I don't know which country you're talking about, but I'd be really surprised if nothing transfered between two top universities in the US, so I'm kind of surprised that would be the case anywhere else.
As others have said, the age isn't really a big deal though. If you had something else going on, and were just starting college at 20, no problem.
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#28No, 20 is not nowhere near too old. But, I'm not really sure about value of difference in top 1 vs top 10... But, personally I would consider the degree more if that is different. Will the new one be more interesting?
Pretty much. My main problem is with socializing - will I be able to socialize with the 18 year olds I'll be living with?
Last year was weird, but did you have trouble socializing with 3rd years last year when you were a freshman? Did you have trouble socializing with seniors this year?
Sure, an 18 year old has 10% less life experience than a 20 year old, but as an 40 year old, I can say almost all of you youngin's haven't got much life experience at all, 90% of nothing is nothing. ;p
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#29It's not too late, but it may be too expensive to transfer, and if you have to retake all the classes, you might get bored. It doesn't sound like a good idea to transfer to me, but if you attach a lot of importance to going to the "best" school, then do that.
Money isn't an issue. Thanks for the advice though - do you think employers or postgrad admissions officers will look upon it negatively though?
If none of your credits transfer, would you even tell employers about your two wasted years?
Graduate studies, maybe you have to tell them, but if your top school data is good, why should they care?
Although if you get bored and do poorly because taking the same two years again is repetitive and maybe demotivating, that wouldn't look good.
Re: Ask HN: Is 20 too late to go to college?
#30No credits transfer from a "top ten" college to "the best"?
This made no sense to me (especially because who agrees on "the best" college) but then I realized you probably aren't talking about the US.
So I doubt advice from Americans who have no clue what schools you are talking about will be helpful.
Is accreditation a thing for these schools like in the US? I would expect that accredited schools in the US would allow transferring credits, especially those in the "top ten" however defined.