Really considering uni - Am I too old? don't know where to start...

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i'm starting uni at 21! although i've already been and left once. But from my one year of university I can safely say that age will make no difference at all, there's so many people of all different ages, my course ranged from 18-50's(roughly, i never actually asked their age :tongue:

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But at 21 especially, the gap between that and 18/19 is nothing and you'll no doubt socialise with people of that age in exactly the same way as if you were that age yourself. It's an unnoticeable gap, I doubt anyone would even know unless you told them your age!

Reply 21

F Ellen

Well I'm 25 and starting in September. I've chatted to a few people who will be on my course, many are in their mid-late thirties and older. So if you're too old, we better get our zimmer frames out!

Check out the mature students section.

Reply 22

McMurdo

Original post by CountMancula

Currently stuck in a routine job that I really don't like. If I could hit rewind I would go back to my college days and really study hard and apply to university. Obviously, that's not an option lol.

I feel like I've missed out not going to uni - just for the experience itself. Would it be a waste of time me going? I achieved average grades at college and since then just been "going with flow" with no real ambition in life.

I have no idea what career I want, which is obviously making me wonder whether uni would be a waste of time as I wouldn't know what to study. I am 21 years old, and the longer I leave it, the worse it well get. Is say 21/22 too old to migle in halls with 18 year olds? How common is it for someone to start University in their 20's?

Just after some advice and opinions. Running low of confidence at the moment!

Cheers.

What possible difference could there be between being 18 at uni or 22? It's such a tiny difference that it wouldn't have the slightest impact on your time there. There's virtually no difference - not even just in terms of age - in terms of maturity either. 18-23 are all part of the same bracket, and you probably won't be able to even tell apart the 18 year-olds from the early twenties until you ask them. Also, as others have said, the majority of students by far ARE over 18. I'd wager almost half of the first years are people who took one/two gap years...then you can take into account the 2nd and third year students who are older anyway...then you can take into account the students who are in their late twenties, thirties, fourties etc. At 22, you'll be pretty much the average age there :smile:

Reply 23

F Ellen

Original post by RB1990

The only worry I have now is that I'll be 25 when I graduate, and that seems SO old hahaha I know it's not, but still...

I won't take offence at that. :eviltongue:

Reply 24

fifi*

Do it! I started when I was 20 and it was no different, most people i met were 18 - 23. And why shouldn't you increase your prospects by going to uni even if you aren't 18?? I don't see an upper age limit when it comes to considering uni. I intend to do another degree in my late 20s!!

So really, no one gives a toss how old you are in uni, the main thing is if you get on with everyone. I know someone who got rejected for medicine at 19, reapplied at 20, got rejected medicine but offered biochem, completed a 3 year degree and went straight on to a medicine degree, so they'll be graduating at 26/27.

Reply 25

hollo

Contrary to what a lot are saying on this thread, I think age IS a factor. I went to uni aged twenty having worked in my home city for a year and lived abroad for a year. There is a HUGE difference between the average 18 year old who is straight out of school and has never done anything else and someone who has had to fend for their self or work with strangers. I didn't realise this until I found myself living in halls with people who had no idea how to do the most basic tasks and was in tutorial groups with people who were too scared to speak. Obviously this isn't true of everyone but there were a lot of times when I found it somewhat daunting and frustrating. In my case I also felt that I would have enjoyed the whole university experience more had I been 18 when I'd gone - everyone I know at home said that they were surprised that I didn't enjoy it because freshers' was the best year of their lives; I always argue that being 18 was the best year of my life and it was just because those two coincided in their cases that they loved first year so much. I also think that saying 'there are 60 year olds in my class' doesn't prove that you'll fit in any better; being in your twenties is slightly awkward as you're not a mature student as such and people won't recognise you as that, but you are more mature than most of the students. I would have found it a lot easier to have had a large age gap than having the smaller one.

Equally I think that the location makes a huge difference. I was somewhere fairly remote where most of the students were local and had gone from school to uni with their friends which meant that it was harder to meet people and that the majority of students had a little less life experience/sense of adventure than people from the same area that had moved away. I would definitely look at location and demographic as a factor in making your choice because it will make a HUGE difference to how you settle in.

Academically I think I did better as a result of being older because I took it more seriously and had already got the binge drinking and laziness out of my system and appreciated that I was going to uni to actually learn!

I flat out don't think you should go to university unless there is a course you want to study or a career that you want to qualify yourself for. If these things are lacking then you're going to feel really unmotivated a lot of the time or become very lazy! University shouldn't be something which you do to waste/fill time or because you think 'you should'.

Remember, you have your whole life to go to university. If you don't know what you want to do you can do some research and save some money up from working so you can help fund yourself when you do go. If you are studying something that interests you or leads somewhere then you will find it a much more rewarding experience. Age is only a number, it's your attitude which will make the biggest difference.

Reply 26

BexiG

I'll be 28 when I start uni... The only time it's too late to go university is when you're 6 feet under! Quit the job you don't like, go back to education if that's what you want... If you don't want to be in halls, rent private accommodation, but at 21 you're only 3 years older than the '18' year olds aka you'll get on just fine!

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