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Starting university at 20 and graduating at 24?

Hello,

I'd like to know what people think about my situation. I live in Scotland and last year I left school but took a gap year to reapply. Anyway, I have changed my mind about my firm university choice due to the location as well as the course, and I am now considering going to college for a year in order to get into a better/RG university and a different course. Since my birthday is in April, I would be starting next september at the age of 20 and graduating at 24.
Is this common? Should I pick age over prestige/more opportunities and just keep going? And lastly, would graduating at 24 harm my career?

Thanks in advance :smile:

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Makes no difference.
21 24 30 any age. It really doesn't matter. Sooo many people go to uni in their 20s it's literally a normal thing.


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No one is going to care about your age.
Reply 4
You're literally doing exactly what I plan to do. I left school in June 2015, have since taken a year out and I am hopefully starting a college course this August. I'm hoping to attend uni as of next year, making me 20 at the start of my course at 24 at its conclusion.

Dw about it, loads of people do the same.
No one will care. you'll be surprised at how many people start uni at 20. I did. I am currently ending my first year and wont be graduating until i turn 23 then doing a masters which will then be 24.

hell, i know people who will be finishing at 31!
Reply 6
Original post by Merfie
You're literally doing exactly what I plan to do. I left school in June 2015, have since taken a year out and I am hopefully starting a college course this August. I'm hoping to attend uni as of next year, making me 20 at the start of my course at 24 at its conclusion.

Dw about it, loads of people do the same.


Oh cool. What are you planning to study?
Original post by tdan22
Hello,

I'd like to know what people think about my situation. I live in Scotland and last year I left school but took a gap year to reapply. Anyway, I have changed my mind about my firm university choice due to the location as well as the course, and I am now considering going to college for a year in order to get into a better/RG university and a different course. Since my birthday is in April, I would be starting next september at the age of 20 and graduating at 24.
Is this common? Should I pick age over prestige/more opportunities and just keep going? And lastly, would graduating at 24 harm my career?

Thanks in advance :smile:


The age thing is fine (Ill be graduating at 24) but is prestige really worth a year of your life? prestige has little role to play when applying for most jobs (exception is finance and law), if you can get into the course you want to do this cycle I see no point in not doing that tbh (unless of course you want to go from like a rank 50 or lower to like oxford but I doubt it as thats a very large ask academically improving wise)
Iam 20, my best friends are 27 and 18. We are all freshers

:smile:-
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Reply 9
Original post by madmadmax321
The age thing is fine (Ill be graduating at 24) but is prestige really worth a year of your life? prestige has little role to play when applying for most jobs (exception is finance and law), if you can get into the course you want to do this cycle I see no point in not doing that tbh (unless of course you want to go from like a rank 50 or lower to like oxford but I doubt it as thats a very large ask academically improving wise)


Thanks a lot for the advice. I feel like it is important, in my case. I mean, one of the potential university I could go to has the second-best department for what I want to study.

Is location an important factor in your opinion?
Reply 10
Original post by Jay018
No one will care. you'll be surprised at how many people start uni at 20. I did. I am currently ending my first year and wont be graduating until i turn 23 then doing a masters which will then be 24.

hell, i know people who will be finishing at 31!


Thanks for the reassurance! Would you say it's pretty normal to graduate between 21-25?
Reply 11
I'll graduate at age 27, then again i'm doing a PhD
Original post by tdan22
Thanks a lot for the advice. I feel like it is important, in my case. I mean, one of the potential university I could go to has the second-best department for what I want to study.

Is location an important factor in your opinion?


Subject league tables are even more meaningless than regular league tables,

which subject are you thinking of applying for and which uni is it at? I mean chances are if oxford and cambridge offer the subject and its not one of those places then its not the second best department :smile:

an important factor in what?
Original post by tdan22
Thanks for the reassurance! Would you say it's pretty normal to graduate between 21-25?


i would say that it is. you get such a huge age range at university. but i feel it is becoming more normal for people to graduate that little bit older. But then again it will differ from course to course, but a general consensus will show that most gradutate that little bit older than what was once the norm.
Original post by Merfie
You're literally doing exactly what I plan to do. I left school in June 2015, have since taken a year out and I am hopefully starting a college course this August. I'm hoping to attend uni as of next year, making me 20 at the start of my course at 24 at its conclusion.

Dw about it, loads of people do the same.


I agree. I'm the same too but I was thinking of taking two years which would mean I'd be 21 when I start, then going to a degree for 3 years which means me finishing at 24 years old.
I'm currently at college on an access course with a bunch of mature students like myself (21), most of the class are older than 25 and plan to go to uni this year or next. I myself am planning on applying for uni for next year so I'll technically be starting my degree at 23 and graduating when I'm around 26/27. Age shouldn't be a problem, and many universities take mature students into special consideration. My friend told me once that one of her class mates was in her late 60s when she graduated! Which is a huge wake up call that it's never too late! :wink:
Really, no one cares AT ALL. You have nothing to worry about. Even if people did care (which trust me, there's not even a 1% chance that they will), live your life how you want to live it. Hell, start uni at 50 if you want. Don't care about it it's mainly for the education anyway.
Reply 17
Original post by tdan22
Oh cool. What are you planning to study?


Hopefully Primary Education and History at Edinburgh. If not, straight Ed will do. Yourself?
Reply 18
Sorry to but in but I desperately need help/adive as I really don t know if I want to take a gap year but I ve already accepted an offer for uni in September. Anyone got any advice??? Should I travel then reapply for uni next year? I m 18 so not sure what to do althought I do know I definitely want to go to uni and I know what I want to study, I just don t know if I want to see the world first.
Reply 19
Original post by ffidev
Sorry to but in but I desperately need help/adive as I really don t know if I want to take a gap year but I ve already accepted an offer for uni in September. Anyone got any advice??? Should I travel then reapply for uni next year? I m 18 so not sure what to do althought I do know I definitely want to go to uni and I know what I want to study, I just don t know if I want to see the world first.


Contact your offer and ask to postpone for a year.

To the OP, I will be starting uni at 32 in September. Hush, child! :tongue:

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