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I'm kinda depressed about my age/education

Hi there

I'll be 25 this summer and I haven't applied for Bachelor's Degree yet. I have finished Secondary School when I was 20 and somehow I thought that HE wasn't so important at that time, so I started my working path. Now, almost 5 years later, I understand how HE could have changed my life if I wasn't so stupid at that time. Even worse, I'd like to study something that have no relationship with my previous work experience, so basically I just thrown away 5 years of my life. If I just continued my studies after secondary school, right now I could be a well respected manager. I want to apply for undergraduate course in UK (3 years) but as an international student without adequate entrance requirements I have to take Foundation Course first (1 Year), so basically I'll be 29 when I'll get my Bachelor's Degree and I won't have any work experience in my field. How can I be relevant with all this guys who at my current age have already started gaining working experience after their Bachelor's Degree?

I wanna cry...

p.s.: listen to your parents

Reply 1

DANdeLion5

9

Peter84

Hi there

I'll be 25 this summer and I haven't applied for Bachelor's Degree yet. I have finished Secondary School when I was 20 and somehow I thought that HE wasn't so important at that time, so I started my working path. Now, almost 5 years later, I understand how HE could have changed my life if I wasn't so stupid at that time. Even worse, I'd like to study something that have no relationship with my previous work experience, so basically I just thrown away 5 years of my life. If I just continued my studies after secondary school, right now I could be a well respected manager. I want to apply for undergraduate course in UK (3 years) but as an international student without adequate entrance requirements I have to take Foundation Course first (1 Year), so basically I'll be 29 when I'll get my Bachelor's Degree and I won't have any work experience in my field. How can I be relevant with all this guys who at my current age have already started gaining working experience after their Bachelor's Degree?

I wanna cry...

p.s.: listen to your parents

no time like the present. your not even old. It's not about age its about how good you are - get off the student room and stop looking back at what you could have done and look at what you can do NOW. theres tons of opportunities available for you and there is always new opportunities opening up - apply before its to late otherwise you'll always be regretting things and not living your life.

Reply 2

what_apples

11

There's still plenty of time!

One of my best friends at Uni was a mature student (around 25 as well, as it happens, possibly older) who had spent a long time working as a plumber/welder. I'm not even sure if he had the required A levels, so he might have needed a foundation year as well. He came out of uni with a 1st in physics with theoretical physics, then did a PhD and now has a pretty decent job with an energy company. If going into HE is what you want to do then there's nothing stopping you. You should do what you think is best for you and not worry about comparing yourself to the others around you.

Reply 3

quizster

Your past experience, regardless of what type of work it was in, WILL come in use at University. You'll find the you will be able to transfer your working skill, such as time management and prioriting workload to your studies. Don't feel as though you have wasted your work life, because you haven't, if anything, you have done the better thing, because you want to go return to studying because its something you want to do, rather than something you have been told you have to do, so if anything, that should motivate you.

Anything is possible.

You should start to think about (if you haven't already)
-What are you want to study?
-Do you want to live away?
-What skills/qualifications do you have to access university?

Reply 4

reallynotsure

Please don't ever think that its too late or give up trying to get where you want to be. I am almost 27 and start University in September. I will be 30 when I finish Uni and I still plan to then get my Masters before going out to work. I didnt go to college as I had my son at a young age, however I did go to night school a few years ago, it was full of people alot older than us who had spent their lives doing a job that they may or may not have enjoyed but they just wanted something different. And thats what drives them, the wanting something different. If you want it then go and get it!! Apply and see what happens, the foundation year is a good thing if you have been out of education, it really will give you the skills you need for a degree and thats why Unis ask people to do them.

Good luck!

Reply 5

mullings1

6

I am currently 39 will be 43 when a graduate, so don't be disheartned, i'm not. :smile:

Reply 6

ZakBrannigan

13

Peter84

Hi there

I'll be 25 this summer and I haven't applied for Bachelor's Degree yet. I have finished Secondary School when I was 20 and somehow I thought that HE wasn't so important at that time, so I started my working path. Now, almost 5 years later, I understand how HE could have changed my life if I wasn't so stupid at that time. Even worse, I'd like to study something that have no relationship with my previous work experience, so basically I just thrown away 5 years of my life. If I just continued my studies after secondary school, right now I could be a well respected manager. I want to apply for undergraduate course in UK (3 years) but as an international student without adequate entrance requirements I have to take Foundation Course first (1 Year), so basically I'll be 29 when I'll get my Bachelor's Degree and I won't have any work experience in my field. How can I be relevant with all this guys who at my current age have already started gaining working experience after their Bachelor's Degree?

I wanna cry...

p.s.: listen to your parents

Look Peter84,You never too old to study i am now 38 and have already gained a place at university subject to the required checks and i be 41 when i graduate.My advice is find out what your options are ie you already stated that you might have to take a foundation course that will prepare you for a degree and give you the essential grounding that you will need.29 isnt that old i can assure you there is plenty of mature students older than that doing foundation and degrees,so you not on your own there by a long shot,Can i ask what type of degree do you wish to do just out of interest.If i can be of any more help then let me know :yep:

Reply 7

Peter84

OP

Hey, thank you for your replies guys.

It's not like I'm gonna run away at this point, I'm already regretting for not doing HE when I was supposed to, I don't want to regret it even later. I wouldn't mind to avoid 1-Year Foundation Course though, I'm ready to sign up "I'm paying you in advance for 3years and if I won't be able to keep up after 6 months you can kick my ass out of here". But I guess there is not such contracts. :redface:

Reply 8

quizster

Don't be put off too much by the foundation year, I did a foundation year and I found it an excellent way back into education. I found it quite challenging at times, but so rewarding, and ultimately gave me a lot more confidence in my academic skills.

Reply 9

Owly

A friend of mine has done a foundation year; it was challenging at times, but useful in terms of easing back into education. It's always difficut (gosh, really?) doing something like this, but is definitely worth it. I'll be over 40 by the time I finish my degree, btw.

Reply 10

InternationalStd

Peter84

Hi there

I'll be 25 this summer and I haven't applied for Bachelor's Degree yet. I have finished Secondary School when I was 20 and somehow I thought that HE wasn't so important at that time, so I started my working path. Now, almost 5 years later, I understand how HE could have changed my life if I wasn't so stupid at that time. Even worse, I'd like to study something that have no relationship with my previous work experience, so basically I just thrown away 5 years of my life. If I just continued my studies after secondary school, right now I could be a well respected manager. I want to apply for undergraduate course in UK (3 years) but as an international student without adequate entrance requirements I have to take Foundation Course first (1 Year), so basically I'll be 29 when I'll get my Bachelor's Degree and I won't have any work experience in my field. How can I be relevant with all this guys who at my current age have already started gaining working experience after their Bachelor's Degree?

I wanna cry...

p.s.: listen to your parents

Hi!

First of all,you are NOT old,hello,I mean,we are going to work until we are 70 years old,I even want to work longer than that,maybe until I am 75. So starting your education like 40 years before you retire,is NOT old. Besides,there are many people who change their career when they are 45 or 50,what about them? They also have to start from scratch,and their former work experience,does not count much then.

And listening to parents,does not have anything to say here. I don't have one parent,many are divorsed,and the other parent struggled to keep at least some food on my table,so I can have that and clean clothes,but didn't get anything more than that.

Because that kind of live,I also "fel out" right after high-school,and I am also soon to be 25. Will be 26 when I start my studies.However,when I look back at it,I am happy that I didn't had the chance to study 5 years earlier,strangely enough,because I would have chosed something completely different from what I want to study now. And I didn't had any clue what kind of unis to choose,and what was good,what's bad,etc.

So don't worry,better to start on something good now,instead of anything,5 years earlier. Besides, this shows that people like you,me,and others in the same situation are "fighters",and don't give up,that's a lot better than those little ones,lol,who have been fed with silver spoon by their parents,and have everything set for them from day 1. We know how the real world is,but don't give up,that shows something about your personality,and this will also show in a job situation. We will wish for a challenge at the work,whilst those silver-spoon fed little ones,are gonna cry if they get a challenging job,lol :biggrin:

Reply 11

sallen

InternationalStd

Hi!

First of all,you are NOT old,hello,I mean,we are going to work until we are 70 years old,I even want to work longer than that,maybe until I am 75. So starting your education like 40 years before you retire,is NOT old. Besides,there are many people who change their career when they are 45 or 50,what about them? They also have to start from scratch,and their former work experience,does not count much then.

And listening to parents,does not have anything to say here. I don't have one parent,many are divorsed,and the other parent struggled to keep at least some food on my table,so I can have that and clean clothes,but didn't get anything more than that.

Because that kind of live,I also "fel out" right after high-school,and I am also soon to be 25. Will be 26 when I start my studies.However,when I look back at it,I am happy that I didn't had the chance to study 5 years earlier,strangely enough,because I would have chosed something completely different from what I want to study now. And I didn't had any clue what kind of unis to choose,and what was good,what's bad,etc.

So don't worry,better to start on something good now,instead of anything,5 years earlier. Besides, this shows that people like you,me,and others in the same situation are "fighters",and don't give up,that's a lot better than those little ones,lol,who have been fed with silver spoon by their parents,and have everything set for them from day 1. We know how the real world is,but don't give up,that shows something about your personality,and this will also show in a job situation. We will wish for a challenge at the work,whilst those silver-spoon fed little ones,are gonna cry if they get a challenging job,lol :biggrin:

I have to echo this. I'll be pushing 27 when I start my degree properly and get this foundation year out of the way and I'll likely need to attempt a masters to be taken seriously at the end of it, so I'll be nearing 31 by the time I'm done with it all and that's before even starting in the relevant industry. I know that in the end it will be worth it. It would have been nice to have had all of this done by the time I was 22 or something but you can't live that way wondering what if? all the time.

And yea we have a bit of the real world under our belts. I've worked some really crappy jobs and experienced those moments where you realise it's never gonna go anywhere and you won't live the life you wanted - but you can snap out of that now and take some measure of control and pursue what you want to.

I've gone from the days of sitting on a park bench with no roof over my head and no money and a hopeless future to being on the cusp of studying a fascinating subject at one of our countries best universities.

As long as you really nail down what you're happy to do for the rest of your life then the slow start will fade in the long run. You've only got the one shot at life so do what you realy want and let go of the fear or you'll just regret it later on.

Reply 12

falcieri

Peter84

Hi there

I'll be 25 this summer and I haven't applied for Bachelor's Degree yet. I have finished Secondary School when I was 20 and somehow I thought that HE wasn't so important at that time, so I started my working path. Now, almost 5 years later, I understand how HE could have changed my life if I wasn't so stupid at that time. Even worse, I'd like to study something that have no relationship with my previous work experience, so basically I just thrown away 5 years of my life. If I just continued my studies after secondary school, right now I could be a well respected manager. I want to apply for undergraduate course in UK (3 years) but as an international student without adequate entrance requirements I have to take Foundation Course first (1 Year), so basically I'll be 29 when I'll get my Bachelor's Degree and I won't have any work experience in my field. How can I be relevant with all this guys who at my current age have already started gaining working experience after their Bachelor's Degree?

I wanna cry...

p.s.: listen to your parents

Geez, I'm 35 and have wasted the last 16 years of my life as a secretary when I wanted to be a fashion designer. I'm finally going to Uni in September. Yep, should have listened to my parents, but didn't. You can't take back the years so grab it by the scruff of the neck and get stuck in. You've got a 10 year head start on me. Don't worry, you can make up for it all and have fun along the way.

Reply 13

dg2008

1

I'm almost 28 and will be 31/32 when I finally have a degree. I want to then go onto another undergrad and then masters.

I messed around with education when I was younger.

Reply 14

lucyb

Im 25 and in my first year of uni, and myself left A levels to go into full time employment, and i dont regret that one bit, because i have valuable work experience that others have not, and as a mature student i have a different prospetctive of uni and the work, I dont think i would have stayed in uni if i had gone at 18,

This way i am ready after working for the last 8 years gaining experience i can draw against while at uni.

Its a good thing.

Reply 15

falcieri

Good on you. Admissions teams do take mature students seriously. They know they have a better chance of getting students who can manage workloads, cope better with the stress and meet deadlines. They also think they'll have a mentoring effect on younger students and help to balance things. If you can show you are able to do the thing you want to study, and you have the maturity it goes a long way. I had no trouble getting onto my course. I'm looking forward to it with trepidation, but also a little worried as I will entirely surrounded by 18-21 year olds!

Reply 16

Vokes

10

By the time I get out of eductaion (if all goes to plan!) I will be cracking on to 33, with no work experience in the field prior to starting.

If you want to be able to compete with the 21 year olds, use what maturing brings. Most older students will be better at networking than a 20 year old purely down to experience, so get to every event you can and talk to people. You never know who you are going to meet after you finish. Also do some volenteer work, help out at any events they run, if theres some meanial work to be done be the one to do it or get some work experience in the holidays.
I wont deny it will be hard work playing catch up, but people love enthusiasm and it will make you stand out from 75% of the class that arent.
Being older is certainly no reason to be worried tho, if you put the work in and use what you have learnt from working elsewhere, you can easily stand a good a chance as anyone! :smile:

Reply 17

LukeSawyer85

Personally , (as you might have seen in other posts) Im Bricking it about going to uni in sept , and ill be 23, 24 in october. and staying in halls far away from where i live. I will graduate when im 26/27. sometimes i cant wait to go and then sometimes i cant picture myself at all at uni.it is mainly living in halls that im worried about, even thou i am up for going out and having a laugh. ill still feel old :[.

Im Starting to Feel a little less nervous now tho thanks to some people on here :]

Reply 18

falcieri

LukeSawyer85

Personally , (as you might have seen in other posts) Im Bricking it about going to uni in sept , and ill be 23, 24 in october. and staying in halls far away from where i live. I will graduate when im 26/27. sometimes i cant wait to go and then sometimes i cant picture myself at all at uni.it is mainly living in halls that im worried about, even thou i am up for going out and having a laugh. ill still feel old :[.

Im Starting to Feel a little less nervous now tho thanks to some people on here :]

Living in halls really depends on how social you are. I like my space. My boyfriend was still at uni and in a house share when I moved in with him last September because a student dropped out and a room happened to come up in the house he was in. Now I like my own space, and I like things to be clean. So to be quite honest I have wanted to kill my housemates pretty much since the day I moved in as they are noisy, filthy and completely unhousetrained. However, I know every experience is different and they are not all as bad as this. Also I have high standards so by comparision mine was probably a great house! For me though it's been horrendous and I can't wait to get out. We are moving into our own house June. He is working full time now and I will be self funded so hopefully we can survive. But I've lived in my own place for years, moved out when I was 18 and I'm 35 now so moving in with a bunch of 21 year old student nurses was never going to be easy. I'd never do it again, but I think halls will be a good way for you to get used to sharing your space, and getting used to the student mentality. Then when you go into a houseshare you will already know what to expect and you will probably find it a breath of fresh air. Also you are still comparitively young, so don't panic. Go with it, and think about your budget!

Reply 19

falcieri

Vokes

By the time I get out of eductaion (if all goes to plan!) I will be cracking on to 33, with no work experience in the field prior to starting.

If you want to be able to compete with the 21 year olds, use what maturing brings. Most older students will be better at networking than a 20 year old purely down to experience, so get to every event you can and talk to people. You never know who you are going to meet after you finish. Also do some volenteer work, help out at any events they run, if theres some meanial work to be done be the one to do it or get some work experience in the holidays.
I wont deny it will be hard work playing catch up, but people love enthusiasm and it will make you stand out from 75% of the class that arent.
Being older is certainly no reason to be worried tho, if you put the work in and use what you have learnt from working elsewhere, you can easily stand a good a chance as anyone! :smile:

I agree with you wholeheartedly on this. Life experience goes a long way, and it will be a real asset.

I'm kinda depressed about my age/education

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