Starting University two years late?
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
(edited 2 years ago)
You will be fine. No one will ask your age and lots of people take gap years so you are only 1 year older than them.
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
As the other person said, No one cares what age you are at uni. I think it is just a hard initial hurdle to climb as you enter university with all these suspicions.
I took a gap year and then did 1 year of a course and then came off that course and then started a new one, i.e. i started the second course 2 years 'late', and no one noticed or cared and i didnt bring it up. you can fit in with anyone if u have an open mind and positive attitude, you cant get the time back so try to make the most of it
Uni courses have a mixture of ages. I saw people from fresh out of school to even some parents
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
Hi @constancelydia
I took a year out between college and university and I found this to be no problem at all. I have found that I have never felt unusually older than them or left out due to this. Anyone can go to university at any age over 18 so it is not an issue at all that you are 2 years older. There will most likely be other people in your classes who are the same age or older and are probably worried about the same thing but from my experience, it is nothing to worry about.
Hope this helped.
Kasey - ULaw Student Ambassador.
I started this year at uni at 21 and I'll be 24 when I graduate. Literally nobody cares and I don't either. Everyone is on their own unique journey in life and it's okay to not do what everybody else is doing or do things later in life. Life isn't a race.
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
I’m in the same boat too, we’ll be fine!
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
Hey!
I hope you're well
Don't feel worried about this! There will be people of all ages at university. I know here at Bradford adult learners actually make up around a third of our undergraduate community, so I'm sure at your uni there'll be people of all ages too
I wish you the best of luck with your uni experience.
Becky
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
Hi Constancelydia
Seriously don't worry about this! 2 years difference won't be noticed. I'm in my forties and there were other people my age doing the degree in my class when I returned- obviously there were many more younger than me but universities often have a good mix of ages on campus. Just go and have a great time!
All the best with it!
Nic
Student Ambassador at The University of Law
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
Honestly, you'll be fine, university is filled with students of all ages, and you'll find that when you start no one cares and everyone just gets along. To try and alleviate any concerns you may have though, our advice would be to join any Facebook fresher groups that you can find. Here you can make some connections before you start and it'll make you see that there are others in the same position as you.
Good luck!
There is no such thing as "late" when it comes to starting uni and there isn't even a "usual" age. Even among school leavers many will have taken a gap year (or two) and that's not to mention the number of mature students who started uni later for a variety of reasons at a wide range of ages. Plus, unlike school, in any given module you are not usually going to have just one group of people of all the same age, because you may have e.g. PG students taking the PG version of that which shares the UG lectures, upper year students taking a given module as an elective (within or outside of your department) plus as noted above a wide range of ages in any given cohort anyway.
I did a foundation year at one uni, then continued to first year there, then swapped to another uni and course, and so was likewise 20 when I started at the second uni. There was no essential distinction between me and any of the other freshers (or indeed, most undergraduates), since especially for the ages 18-22 more or less the students largely have similar life experiences and expectations from uni and approach things in the same way. The "actual" mature students who were in their 30s and above still did also sometimes fully engage with student life and integrate into things - the older students (i.e. older than 25 usually) that didn't chose not to because usually they already had their own friends and family etc so just saw uni as a job and the other students as their colleagues, so while they were friendly they didn't see the need to engage in all the social avenues offered as they had their own social life outside of the uni already.
I did a foundation year at one uni, then continued to first year there, then swapped to another uni and course, and so was likewise 20 when I started at the second uni. There was no essential distinction between me and any of the other freshers (or indeed, most undergraduates), since especially for the ages 18-22 more or less the students largely have similar life experiences and expectations from uni and approach things in the same way. The "actual" mature students who were in their 30s and above still did also sometimes fully engage with student life and integrate into things - the older students (i.e. older than 25 usually) that didn't chose not to because usually they already had their own friends and family etc so just saw uni as a job and the other students as their colleagues, so while they were friendly they didn't see the need to engage in all the social avenues offered as they had their own social life outside of the uni already.
Oh yeah, 20 years of age is so different mentally than a 18 year old.
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
Hi constancelydia
As others have said, you will be absolutely fine, over a third of new students are aged over 21, and your age is not going to be an issue. Speaking as an extra mature student, I go out on socials with my societies occasionally and there are no issues even though I am 58!
Best of luck
Chris
University of Hull Student Ambassador
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
SAMEE!!! But I will do a foundation first next year and then take my bachelors the year after
Original post by constancelydia
Sooo i have just decided to go to University in September 2022. I will be turning 20 in August 2022 so i will be starting 2 years later than ‘usual’ and i’m just worried i’ll feel ‘too old’ with the people i meet there. Has anyone else gone through this and could give me some reassurance?
Hi there,
I just wanted to echo what everyone has already stated - but University is very different to high school / college where age was really important! There's a wide variety of people at University in all different walks of life. So don't let the fact that you'll be starting 2 years later stop you from going to University or feeling 'too old!'. One of my friends is 27, and I'm 21 - she's like my mum and sister wrapped into one!
I hope this has eased some of your concerns, and best of luck to you!
Ana
University of Liverpool Rep.
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