Going (back) to uni in your 30's… Anyone else done it?

i did it 7 years ago i did a Podiatry degree and I’m from a marine electrical engineering background.

now run my own clinic and life is good, definitely the best decision of my life so far.
whilst i was studying we had 2 kids which made the degree harder but imho i would just go for it.
‘faint heart never **** a pig’ as a wise man once told me!!

i would go for it, while you have no kids or family to financially support, you might not get the opportunity if you have.

i would like to go back to uni but find the whole fees/funding a bit much as i already have a degree and 3 kids, so no chance.

I’d go if you can – it can be invigorating and precipitate a change in your life as people have said. You need to be certain of the quality of the course, though. HE is a large sector with a pretty big tail ISTM. Lapses in quality seem less of a big deal when you’re 18 (Wayhay! the lecturer’s not turned up) then when you’re 35 and more focussed.

I did, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I’d agree about making sure it’s a decent course though.

Cheers for all the comments so far.

Got to admit I’m fairly scared of committing the next few years of my life to something quite so definitely (strange really at 31, at 19 I was quite happy to!) but… The thought of actually doing the course is giving me goose bumps! I’ve not been so excited about anything in ages. The course director has all but ok’ed for me to do it part time, which I think I’ll have to do despite not being in work currently as the fees for full time, and someone with a degree already, are bloody ridiculous! I’d be staring down the barrel of £6k per year, whereas £320 a module for 15 modules over 3 years is a lot more palatable…

Think I’ll go down the admissions office at the uni tomorrow and go have a word and fill in any forms I need to!

To be honest it could well be the thing I need to kick start my life back into shape and give me something to focus on…

Oh and now I might as well say what the course is though I suspect plenty of people will change their minds as to recommending me to go for it… Course is an HND (convertible to a degree with a final year) in Electronic Music! Hey, it’s my passion (along with mountain bikes)… Only wish they did it 12 years ago when I went to uni first time round!

Course is an HND (convertible to a degree with a final year) in Electronic Music! Hey, it’s my passion (along with mountain bikes)… Only wish they did it 12 years ago when I went to uni first time round!

Similar to me then – my second effort was Music: Contemporary Performance and Production Foundation Degree, then onto the 3rd year of a Music and Media Arts Degree.

I now work for a community music education charity which is great – not easy to find work like that though especially these days. I got into it through doing lots of volunteering. Good luck!

…If you sign up for it and do it I’ll give you £50 as a start. Let us know.

..If you sign up for it and do it I’ll give you £50 as a start. Let us know.

STW generosity at its best… I can’t afford £50… but post up a photo of you on your first day and I will chuck a few quid your way too!

Go for it mboy… you won’t regret it!

mboy: don’t be put off by what I said earlier for two reasons – first, I’m not the one who actually did the degree and I don’t know the details, so this is very much second hand reporting. Second, I think my bro had higher expectations of the academic side of the course than were justified.

But maybe doing a couple of PT/evening units would be a good idea?

Started mine at 35. Loved it. Made some friends for life. Different circumstances though, as was already on decent wage & my employer gave me a day off & paid all the uni bills. Was tough 4 yrs though, as probably another 16hrs study needed to be done, usually at weekend.

Bloody good luck mate. Seriously, if I was in hour shoes I’d do it.

Crikey! (literally)

Blown away by the sentiment here guys, seriously heart warming! 🙂

Anyway, don’t give me money… I have LOTS of bike related things that will be for sale soon… Not selling anything I intend to carry on using, just got a lot of stuff I’ve not used in a while that needs a clearout…

LabMonkey, will post a pic of me on my first day for the hell of it! Maybe… 😉

konabunny, don’t worry, am doing as much research into it now as possible before committing to anything. I’m going to email the course tutor to probe about some of the content of the modules to see how much of the course might potentially be covering stuff I already know, and how much will be new to me. I’m obviously hoping for significantly more of the latter, but accept there will be some stuff where due to age and experience, I know a lot more about than the 18/19 year olds on the course will know… And I’m 95% certain now it’s going to have to be part time, due to my previous levels of higher education meaning it would be prohibitively expensive otherwise.

Interested in the DT hubbed wheels…! What hubs and what rims?

mboy: forgot to add that all my bro’s tutors were very supportive and enthusiastic about him doing the course. They realised that if he was coming back to do it, his commitment and personal experience were likely to make him a much more sure student than some 18 year old that’s just shown up out of nowhere. He has got very high marks all the way through (as did my sis in law and mother – not me, though…).

BTW I’ve done a few things and also went back to UNI at 30. I don’t think I chose the right course but I had a great time and managed the finance although I had help.

A great experience but explains my earlier comments.

I graduated this year at 39, BSc in Winemaking after 20 years in the industry. 7 years part time, though a few cranked it out in 5 or less.
Work paid for it all, which was a huge bonus.
There were a few dropouts in the first 2 years, mainly family guys who struggled to find the time.
Best thing I did was leaving uni until later, when I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Now I just have to squeeze the boss for that pay rise.

I’m either having an early mid life crisis

This, definitely this. It’s been clear that this is true for a while.

If it helps, you need to shake yourself until you’re back in touch with reality.

Go on, grab yourself by the shoulders and shake some sense into yourself…

Best of luck.

x

(I didn’t read anymore of your post btw)

Your gonna get another..

Go for it..You’ll love it/enjoy it/meet loadsa friends, yadda yadda, from me,

I think it’s one of the best things you can do in your lifetime. It frees up that staid sticking point in early/mid life that you get into, family or no family. Opens your mind to other more interesting opportunities (whether you take them or not) You’ll not feel alone for very long, the beauty of uni students is that they are quite open minded to meeting people regardless of age.

Excellent.

My lil’ Sis did this (long story) went to Cambridge to study Maths, ended up doing a Masters and is now a Head Mistress, all whilst bringing up 4 kiddo’s..
Ta da..

The wife went back to college at 27 then to uni at 29 once the kids had started school, she’s just starting her second year at uni.
I’m 31 and start a 1 year full time college course next week and then off to uni after that with a bit of luck.
It’s going to be hard as I’m now only working 20 hours a week, and I might even have to reduce that to 16, and that coupled with a student loan the wife gets is the bulk of our household income, it’s going to be tough but you need to look at the other side, in 4 years time we should both be in reasonable paid jobs, both our chosen degree courses have excellent job prospects.

I’m going to have to disagree with the majority here. I went back to uni to do film at 25 and the course was pretty dire. I ended up getting more into photography (less people needed to do a shoot) and offered to assist london photographers for free during the summer.

After a few shoots I started getting paid jobs and by the end of the summer I was only working paid jobs. I learned more from a few shoots than I did in the whole of the first year.

Second year I pissed everyone off as I started focusing more on photography and ended up shooting the fashion students 3rd year degree show.

After I left I went to work in London assisting and can honestly say that apart from one bit the course was a waste of time.

In hindsight id have been better off spending the two years assisting, than getting myself into loads more debt, and getting a qualification that does very little to increase your chances of getting a job.

If your passion was a ‘profession’ then I would say go for it, but something like music is not going to make you more employable, than offering to work for free in studios and coming up the hard way.

Im not trying to be negative about your passion, but give you a different perspective on what it is like to do a degree in something creative and then work in the industry.

Have you thought about offering to work for free to get some experience and then build your cv from this?.

Well fingers crossed, looks like I’m going back to uni part time!

Just been and chatted with the admissions dept (VERY attractive tall lady who’s probably younger than me!) who has told me exactly what I need to do, and finance department who have said I can stagger paying fees over 10 months per year, so for 4 modules per year it’ll only be £130 a month! Result… Might see if I can squeeze 5 or 6 in to finish it quicker…

Kudos100, I hear what you’re saying, but I’m taking the view you only live once… I’ve had enough of being miserable, stressed out and upset, and ill because of it! I’m gonna do something that makes me happy, for no other reason than to put a smile on my face! And I’ve not felt so enthusiastic about something in years… 😀

your post makes me smile 😀

congrats dude!

Go for it mate, if you really think you have a chance at making a career out of it and cannot get experience any other way.

I only offer my perspective as in hindsight I wish someone had said to me that I’d be better off working in the trade for free for a bit. Spending the money on supporting myself while I was building my cv, instead of on uni would have been a far better investment.

I’ve learned the hard way and am now saddled with shiteloads of debt.

Ah well, regrets and all that. Good luck I hope you find what you are looking for 🙂

Phil that’s an awesome lolcat! 😀

Kudos, in a way I know you have a point, I often think what if I’d not gone to uni at 19, done a course I found pretty pointless and dull, and just gone straight into the working world, what would have happened? Well to be honest, I’d probably not have had many of the cool experiences I had, or met the people I did, but not a lot otherwise.

So with hindsight and experience, you can be DAMNED sure that at 31 I’ll be making the most of it this time around! 😉

Seriously though, I’ve had enough of barely existing… I wanna do something I enjoy! The career prospects out the back end of it are about the last thing I’m interested in. When you leave uni at 22 with a vocational degree and no real work experience, you’re not much use to anyone. I’d be 35/36, have MANY years of work behind me, some of it relevant, plenty of it not, but also a 12 year head start musically over my peers on the course. Besides, for me this is part of completing the performer/producer link, I’m currently good at the former with next to no training or structure at the latter… For this course, your final year project is to release your own album, which will then be sold on iTunes and other download sites! Bring it on… :-p