Going back to school for older adults

“Mapleleaf, going back to school for me was a mixed bag. I was happy for the opportunity (especially since my boss was buying), but I was also apprehensive. My employer has high expectations,but so far so good. I will finish my required stuff next semester. But I will prolly continue as I was told I would still have my costs covered. Cant beat free I geuss, but It'd sure be nice to be done finally.”

“When I go back I am going to finish my degree totally online! Of course I don't know what I want to be when I grow up...so I will wait a little longer. And I just started a business so another reason it will have to wait a little longer.

Good luck to all going back. I believe in you!”

“Mapleleaf, going back to school for me was a mixed bag. I was happy for the opportunity (especially since my boss was buying), but I was also apprehensive. My employer has high expectations,but so far so good. I will finish my required stuff next semester. But I will prolly continue as I was told I would still have my costs covered. Cant beat free I geuss, but It'd sure be nice to be done finally.”

“I know of two students who took 15 years to graduate because they didn't want to take more than one class per quarter...but they did it (when you only take one class per quarter sometimes you have to skip a quarter until the right class comes around).

As Limpy said, maintain your status as a student in good standing so they can't change your curriculum contract.

I went back to school from age 35-39 (M.S.) and again from 47-53 (Ed.D.). You can do it!”

“Phil, I went back to school for paralegal studies and came out with a 4.0 when I was approaching my mid forties. Man, if only I would have gotten those grades when I first went to college...


Oh, well! Hindsight.”

“LOL@ tree! I just got my transcripts from my undergrad days....cripes, I walked away thinking my grades were better than they were. Although I do remember being quite proud of my first D - I had never, ever gotten a D before. Anyway, I think that part of being an undergrad when your 18-21 and away from your paretns is having fun, not necesarily getting the absolute best grades. THat GPA is important to get the first job, but it hasn't gotten me anywhere else yet in life. I wish I had stayed at school an extra semester or two and had a little more fun.

BTW, I just sent my transcripts last week to the program I'm hoping to get into for my teaching certificate/masters. Keep your fingers crossed taht it all works out. If it does, I'm quitting my job, selling my condo and moving two hours away before next June. :)))”

“I stuck with it for a VERY LONG time to finish my PhD, working on it part-time. Looks like it's beginning to pay off--2 interviews down this wee and three more scheduled this week and it's only Tuesday. (And real soon I will qualify to be a member of AARP! =:-0”

“You hit the nail on the head, SG! I guess I was more preoccupied with the females in the class than with the class itself. Nature of the beast back then...”

“Took me 12 years to finish, but I was only going seriously the last 6.

I never took a full-time load of classes.”

“stumprider - Good luck with the interviews! Would you prefer academia, gov't, or private work?”

“I start school(1 class)next Tuesday the last class I took was 11 years ago.”

“Thanks for the well wishes. I'd prefer academia, but with the current job market I may have to do something interim--also may help me hone some skills.”

“stumprider - OK. Academia's been good to me, but there was some luck involved (or divine providence...depending on your perspective). Getting a tenure-track appointment in the CSU is going to be very difficult while we are in the budget crisis.”

“It makes me feel better to read about all of you who went part-time and stuck it out to graduation day. Sometimes I feel like it will never happen, but I just keep trudging along. Right now, I am just not willing to give up the time w/ Newergirl. Plus, come on, who can honestly go to school full-time and work full-time. You'd burn up in no time.”

“I'm glad I went back to school or I would still be driving a hack or doing manual labor as a ranch hand in some small hole in Montana. Continuing my education made a drastic improvement in my lifestyle.”

“newgirl - Good point. You HAVE to stay balanced and make sure your kids don't suffer. Being a single parent going to school is the biggest challenge I can think of.

I earned two degrees as single full-time student and two degrees as a "married w/kids" part-time student. I got the first part-time degree when my kids were young. The second one after they were out of high school (except Debi). My wife covered for me on the first part-time degree almost to the point of resentment. Part of the problem was that I was not as fully prepared for the curriculum as I should have been and was in denial about it (engineer competing with mathematicians to be a statistician -- four years of mathematical statistics). I had to work harder and longer to compensate and it took more time than I anticipated.

In my part-time degree I was very qualified and it was not hard.

I remember one engineering student who was a young single mom completely on her own. I got to know her because she worked in my department office part-time. She struggled but got her Aerospace Engineering degree and a good job. She said it was worth it and it would allow her to raise her daughter the way she wanted. I bring her up because she wasn't particularly gifted, just persistent.”

“This is a great thread! Thanks to every started it and to those who keep it going. I have anodder question:

I have a two tech cert in TV and Video Production. I have worked in the educational field for almost ten years now, however, the last 5 (going on six) have been in Theater Management and the first 5 were in TV Production. I have taught Summer and night school for a couple of years in TV. The question is, will a college give me any credit for my past years experiance? I'm toying with the idea of going back to get my degree in Facilties Managment (I figured a strong point for me after ten years), but I will be attending a local community college and working on my pre-reqs first, then make a final choice on what I wanna do when I grow up. Any thoughts?”

“well i am hoping to try to do the same thing.
i volunteer and im hoping that with the time i put in at the aquarium that my prof. might have mercy on me and give me a couple of extra credits. thats why i got excited about the animal hospital being built there so maybe i can do my intership there since i am already a volunteer there.”

“umm LQ is this kinda what you were asking?

or did i confuse things?”

“Phil can probably answer laqtis' question better than anybody, but my experience has been that colleges are loathe to give credit for something that they didn't charge tuition.”

“umm are you saying the Phil is better them me bit??

are ya
are ya?


put up your ducks!!!


just teasing, yes Phil will be able to answer him. but hey I tried!”

“mapes - yep. just trying to gage some responses and actually trying to get things done here at work. Thanks!

I would mind paying fer it or "testing out" shall we say. I'd like to just get it done as quick as I can.”

“Took me about 10 yrs to finish mine, now I'll be starting a new job next week that'll finially pay me what I'm worth. I always said I'd have to leave this beautiful state of Maine to make any kind of money. BTW, I'm not going that far, just to the next state, New Hampsire. You see the manufacturing industry has been dwindling in Maine, so I'll have to go away for awhile.”

“Phil, persistent is the key I guess. I go to school for the same reason as the woman you knew . . . so that I can raise Newergirl how I'd like. I'm not money motivated, but it would be nice to pay the bills w/out worry and have a real home, w/ a bit of savings for her education. I know it will be worth it. I try to stay balanced though. She is young and thinks I am a princess and these yrs will pass, I have to savor them.”

“laqtis - At most "major universities" there are four ways to get credit for a course:

1. Take the course

2. Take an equivalent course somewhere else "articulation agreement" or a petition approved by qualified faculty)

3. Challenge the course if you have previous experience (at our university it costs $5/unit and you have to take a final exam in the course in question and get a C or better. For some courses they may ask you to write a paper or do a project to demostrate your proficiency). This is common for such courses as Computer Aided Drafting and manufacturing processes where the student may already be skilled.

4. AP credit (Advanced Placement test) - Limited and mainly for for high school honors students.

That being said, there are accredited "degree completion" programs and technical schools that do give credit for life experience where you can take some inexpensive tests that will give you credit. They are usually for General Education classes. Here is an example from one university's website: "A minimum of 54 transferable semester units at an accredited college/post-secondary institution or in combination with a maximum of 30 units through official AP, CLEP, DANTES or ACTFL testing."

Obviously schools prefer you take their classes and some officials will really give you a hard time if you challenge a class.

I challenged statistics in my doctoral program because I already had a Masters Degree in statistics and had been teaching it for 12 years. They didn't even bother to give me the challenge exam...I knew more than the instructor.”

“#2. should read: Take an equivalent course somewhere else and transfer it over. (Requires and "articulation agreement" or approved petition by a qualified faculty member).

Let me add: This is fairly routine for general education courses. More problematic for major and upper division courses.”

“Even more choices....

I went and spoke with a counselor yesturday afternoon and was told that I can either go to Brooklyn this semester and transfer to Hunter next semester

or

wait and transfer to Hunter next semester

or (and this is very cool)

start/wait regarding this semester BUT...apply for their independant studies bachelors program for next semester. This way I would be eligible to take classes at any of the CUNY schools, have independent studies/field work count towards credits, design my own program with my own mentor, and basically have full control over my returning education.

Interesting stuff huh?”

“Cool Twinks! I hope it plays out for you under Optinary #3! Thats awesome. I talked to my counselor who had some fine ideas for me as well. I hope it shapes up for me the way she laid it out. She is trying to get me into Berea College in the not too distant future! If accepted....I'd be able to complete my degree and another personal goal simultaneously. I'll be able to work in the hospital there, go to school and fulfill a committment to Appalachian outreach at the same time. My heart is in Appalachia... mountain folks.. like where I come from. When she found out I wanted to be involved in rural medicine.... she jumped right on it to help me. Not sexy enough for most nurses. LOL They wanna be where the $$$ is. I want to be where my heart is.
This education thing is da bomb!”

“Congrats Dana and kudos for following your heart and not the money train with regards to rural medicine!

Yeah, I'm hoping option 3 works out too. I think as a returning student it would best suit my goals. Plus, I did independent study the last time around for several classes and loved it! It is most exciting to be able to put your schooled knowledge to use in the "real" world and be able to get credits for it.”

“I agree on the putting it to practice in the real world. I love clinicals for nursing but hate the class room stuff. Unless I am up and doing its hard. I love labs or anything where I am involved. Otherwise....... its get out the ritalin tranquilizer gun so I can sit still and concentrate. I hope I don't get sent to the principals office. LMAO.......”

“Praise the Lord, Mapleleaf! I wish you only the best and much success!”

“I just about died today when I went to buy my books for one 4 credit Anat & Physiology I class. $249 including one book reduced for being used.”

“Today I would like to discuss self-sabotage in the face of success.

I realized yesturday that I was terrified at the prospect of going back to school. I think subconciously I was afraid of failure.

Anyone else have this experience in their life?

It's interesting how sometimes when we begin to achieve that which we desire - we back away becuase perhaps the thought of success is more frightening than failure?

Okay. I'm really excited about school again. Am looking atcourse descriptions and hope that I can take a Geology course this semester!

Woohooo!!”

“Im just upset that as of Aug 30th I will not have any more Sat. :(

school starts Sat Aug 30th.”

“DANG, Lyndy!! i'm telling you guys, look online for someone selling the book you need. school bookstores are major ripoffs!”

“I like going to school. I tell my wife that and she about kills me.

You should be excited and nervous. You are mature and excited about learning.

I can hook you up by email to some of my older students who returned to finish school. They are some of my best friends now.”

“I have until Sept 15 to return the books if I can't find them cheaper. The coolest purchase was my dissecting kit. A scalpel with two blades and goggles (I'm assuming they are for when the thing to be dissected starts spurting formaldehyde). My kids were like "You aren't going to dissect any pets are you?". So I told them about my roommate in college who was a Biology major. She was sick and had to make up some dissection over a weekend. I came into my dorm cluster to find her dissecting a cat in the common room. My kids were horrified. I said that I didn't like it either but how else does someone who is going to be a veterinarian or doctor or nurse learn about how to fix problems if they have never done the work before. My kids actually understood that. Hey, they are not babies anymore. I told them that there were many medical careers that didn't require them to actually cut people open and they should keep an open mind.”

“OH VERY COOL - I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN I TOO GET TO DISSECT THINGS - IT SHOULD BE FUN IF NOT STINKY!”

“Im sorry but nowhere did it say that I would be dissecting anything.
I have BIG issues with this new news!!!”

“News?

Sorry Mapleleaf. Maybe there is a non-dissecting veterinarian program.”

“dissection? yeck! How could anybody do such a nasty thing. ;-)”

“thats right. and i will keep that happy thought thank you very much :)”

“Maple, you're going to do some vet medicine thing, right? YEah, there will be plenty of dissection with that. That's how you need to learn how things should work normally. Just think, I'm gonna be teaching high school kids how to disect things!

My Saturday class starts this weekend. Yeah, its a bummer giving up your Saturdays, isn't it?”

“very true SG :(”

“Looks like you have your days open! Why don't you do it then!”

“Pathman, let me guess: You stopped in the middle of a dissection to post that.”

“dissecting stuff is fun!!

in junior high i was in a science magnet program and the only thing we didn't get to dissect was a human.

for some reason even in anatomy and kinesiology classes in college - i still never got to do that. :(


yeah its a bit gross and smells bad - but getting to look from the outside in is awesome!

maple - get used to it cause its going to happen - but remember that its all part of learning to help animals in the end :)”

“well it seems that i do not start class until Sept 2nd
i think i got confused becasue they are 2 different classes.
so 1 class starts Sept 2nd
the other starts Sept 6th.”

“avoid the confusion - think in terms of weeks....so, classes start the week of the 2nd. one class on tuesday, the other on saturday. the syllabi will be based on weeks of the semester anyway, so mark those in your calendar.”

“1 class is Tue and thur 5:45 to 9:05
the other is Sat from 9:15am to 3:30”