r/BackToCollege

37 y.o registered to start summer classes in two weeks (college algebra and psych 101)

Previously have a BFA in sculpture but that’s irrelevant- i haven’t sat in a college classroom in 14 years.

I went to the bookstore yesterday to buy my books and was honestly shocked to find out my math textbook is entirely online, MathGpt.ai

Okay i’m old, shit.

Do i need a laptop for class? I have a desktop computer at home.

Hello! I'm 33 and I start college again on Monday. I originally went to the same school on campus but finances and lack of discipline got in the way. What was supposed to be one gap year, turned into 13 gap years. I finally decided to go back and finish my degree in Human Resource Management online at the same school. I enrolled a month ago and have been eagerly waiting. I love studytok so I'm excited to finally be able to study. 18 year old me would have cringed at that but I love it. The classes will appear on Canvas between now and Friday so I plan on getting started on reading over the weekend. I'm back in my hometown farm sitting for my parents so it will be nice and peaceful. My city apartment is peaceful too but still. Anyone else starting college again in their 30s?

So back in my early 20s I started college, knocked out maybe a year's worth of gen ed classes, and then dropped out. Honestly I just didn't have direction at the time and I needed to work. Bills don't wait, you know
Fast forward to now. I'm a retail supervisor, stable income, but I don't see a real future in it. I've decided I want to go into nursing. Long road I know. But I figure if I'm going to do this, I need a real plan this time and not just jump into something expensive and hope for the best
Right now I'm trying to figure out if my old credits are even still usable and whether SNHU is the smartest first step before I commit to anything. Anyone here restart after a long gap? What did you wish you knew before you re-enrolled?

Tomorrow, I will graduate with a BS at age 52!

I'm 22 trying to apply for college as an undergraduate is sat required for me to write because my high school certificate I had math A1 English B2 physics B3 and biology A1 and I'm planning to study nursing or computer science.

I had been out of school for 11 years. Decided to take some classes this semester and wow, it was hard! I got good grades but i learned nothing? It’s like my memory would hold on to things long enough to do the assignments and quizzes and then forget. I was completing a class discussion assignment earlier today that combined with one of our initial chapters and the words felt foreign to me. Like it was my first time seeing them. I used to retained info so well in my early 20s and I don’t know what happened. Any tips? I wont be taking classes next semester for personal reasons but I am truly concerned about my brain. This assignment was eye opening to me. I will say though, that for the last 6 years or so I have been speaking Spanish primarily so could that be a reason ?

I (26F) am going back to school after 7+ years! I graduated high school in 2018 and planned to go to college shortly after. Well, here I *finally* am; only a bit later than expected.

I registered for my classes today at my local two year, which transfers to a larger university. I am beyond excited to begin this journey and just wanted to share. I’m giddy and can’t seem to sit still.

Thanks for listening (-:

I’m a single mom in my late 20s and I feel completely lost right now.

I got pregnant young, had two kids, went through an abusive relationship, became a single parent, and spent most of my 20s just trying to survive and stabilize my life. While other people my age were building careers, dating, traveling, making friends, and finishing school—I was in survival mode.

It took me years to finally get my life stable enough to go back to college, and I started last year feeling really hopeful. My original goal was nursing, and I’ve also considered computer science because I know I’m capable of more than just surviving.

The problem is… I feel like I got terrible guidance.

My advisor basically discouraged me from pursuing nursing and pushed me toward just “raising my GPA” first because years ago I had dropped out of college and my GPA had fallen below a 2.0 after withdrawals and failed semesters during an extremely difficult period of my life.

So for spring, summer, and fall semesters, I focused on boosting my GPA—and I did. I brought it up to a 3.0, which I’m proud of.

But then I realized I spent three semesters taking classes that won’t really help me transfer into nursing or computer science. I should’ve been getting back into math/science prerequisites, and now I feel behind all over again.

This semester was my first time taking full in-person classes, and honestly…it’s been mentally brutal.

I’m surrounded by freshmen, and I know age shouldn’t matter, but sometimes I feel completely out of place. I try talking to people and it rarely goes anywhere. No one seems openly rude, but I definitely feel isolated.

Right now I’m in a group math project where my group members have basically ghosted me, and I may end up doing a 21-slide presentation alone. I’ve been crying daily over this.

One day my laptop died before class, and because everyone uses laptops in class, I skipped because I felt too uncomfortable asking someone for help. That probably sounds small, but it really highlighted how alone I feel there.

Outside of school, I’m also dealing with the pressure of being a single mom and needing financial stability. I’m terrified of ending up stuck in low-paying jobs forever.

And on top of that, I feel like I’ve sacrificed so much of my personal life. I haven’t dated in years. I barely have friends. I don’t have much family support. Sometimes I feel like I missed out on my entire 20s just trying to survive.

I also realized it would take me two years to complete the early childhood education degree if I did just go ahead and do that since it’s the easiest option and I think nursing or computer science would also take me 2 1/2 years so it wouldn’t be much of a difference major in reality. The only difference is, I would probably have to go in person for some of the other classes those major. I’m also just feeling like I’m getting too old to still in school now. I don’t think Financial Aid cover summer classes for me anymore and it only covers so much now that I’ve maxed out my loans so all I have is grants and I don’t even think I would be able to take five of classes this semester anymore, unless I paid for out-of-pocket, which I don’t have the money to

I worked so hard to rebuild my life, and now I feel like I’m failing anyway.

I could really use advice from people who’ve been in similar situations because I feel incredibly alone right now.

I’m seriously considering dropping out again, but this time I would never go back. I’m so sad and honestly, I know a lot of this is my fault but a lot of it isn’t.My parents didn’t give me the tools for anything in my life. I had no guidance at all pretty much, no family members, and I’m surprised I’ve even gotten as far as I could with the life that I was born into and I feel like the majority of people just don’t understand that.

Would I be insane to try to get another bachelor's in engineering or physics?

I am in my early 30s (f) and really want to go back to university and actually have a good, stable, well-paying career.

Background: I got a BA in Anthropology when I was 19. I am extremely proud of that accomplishment but I was so young and naive with no help or guidance to choose a career path. So naturally I chose what was interesting to me and did very well in college. As you can imagine, I wasn't able to find a job in that field after graduating.

Now I am older, with two young kids and a very supportive husband and would love to go back to school for something more useful. I have multiple friends with Phds in physics who have super interesting jobs and have encouraged me to look into it if I am interested at all.

I am terrified at thinking about the math those degrees require. I actually did super well in my math classes in high school receiving As (I took up to calculus). I even had a teacher tell me once that I should pursue a career in something math related. I was just young and wasn't particularly interested in math even though I was good at it. Plus high school math isn't necessarily a good indicator for university level math.

Now my concern is that it has been over 10 years since I've had to do anything math related! That's a very long time and I don't remember anything from high school. In addition to having two small children, I'm not sure this is a smart idea.

Has anyone done something similar? Am I insane? Or should I maybe pursue something that won't be so difficult.

Thank you 😅

Edit: You all have been so nice and encouraging, thank you!

Hello everyone,

Is this a no hope situation or will it hinder my progress through and through

Please, no negative energy comments but don't sugarcoat.

Thank ya'll so much!!!!

After completing the last of BS Accounting finals yesterday, I am set to walk across the stage next week with fellow classmates earning my degree at the age of 49. I didn't skim by either, I put everything I had into college and came out with a 3.88 GPA.

I worked FT throughout my classes for 48 consecutive months without a semester off, including summers. I also work 3 internships PT for 25-30hrs a week aside from my FT role and school all while holding down my family life. There were many many 70+hr work weeks and then studying.

There is an old saying, "If I can do it, so can you."

While that is encouragement to some, it is false hope to others. It takes a certain determination to set long term goals and then fulfill them. Not everyone is built the same mentally to handle the nasty parts of life and letdowns. You must commit to yourself and no one else that you will find a way to get it done.

This doesn't come without sacrifice in areas and know it will not be easy by any means. Believe in yourself regardless of others, and know you are stronger then the norm.

Congratulation to those who are joining me in graduation.

Just know, I am not done just yet.

I went started back into college in the fall. I enrolled in as a transfer program that I'm should be due to graduate Spring of next year. With that, I'm starting to look into places that I can transfer to, preferably with online options. I don't have the ability to up and move like traditional students at this stage. I'm 39, I've got a family and a job. Every single one of the universities or colleges that I could transfer to are an hour or more away from where I live and that's just not practical for a daily option (especially with current gas prices).

Online options through local colleges/universities are kind of limited for the direction that I'm looking to go (non-clinical psychology) and I'm unsure if the limited options also limit my potential. I know that psychology is one of two of my top options but my first choice has virtually no online options.

Either way, I'm feeling a little bit stuck and it's both frustrating and discouraging.

Hello everyone,

If all goes well, I will enroll in a bachelor degree for Geology at 30 years old 🙌 I am very excited about the course and what I’ll be learning, but right on the 1st semester I’ll have Math, Chemistry, Physics. I know in the US high school is a bit different, but in country we choose a general area, like Technologies, Economy, Humanities, etc. So, yes, my background is in Humanities. Which means I never had contact with Chemistry and Physics on a high school level. Some Math I did have contact with, but applied to Social Sciences. It’s been more than 10 years though. So what I’d like to ask is, after looking at the program for those courses, how can I better study and focus for those courses? What tips can you give me to better understand them when the time comes? I will most definitely have a Math tutor. I would like to more than just survive those courses, but realistically speaking I know it will be very hard to get good grades.

Thanks in advance!

Edit to add: I will be working full time, and if things keep going as they are, by shifts too (including night shift, yes), and I live about 1h30/2h away from the university.

Hey everyone! I’m 40 with no degree, working full-time and managing a household. I’m finally ready to go back to school but need something that actually fits my life.
I’m interested in IT or AI/machine learning and looking for recommendations.

I’ve heard of WGU and SNHU but I want real recent experiences, not just rankings.

Did it work for you? Was it doable? Would you recommend your school for IT or AI?

Any advice is hugely appreciated.

professional communications and presentations, public speaking and effective oral communications are my choices for my speaking gen ed. i withdrew from public speaking last semester because i just literally can't stand speaking in front of people. i'll drop out before i have to stand in front of people and talk about dumb bullshit that has nothing to do with my degree. i also have ASD but i dont even like bringing that up as an excuse. i can talk to people about things im passionate about.

any help or advice with my problem would be much appreciated, thank you! >u<

Just wanted to share with a community that might care, after dropping out of marketing school at 20 years old, almost 9 years later I’ve decided to pursue my dream of going back to school and becoming a clinical psychologist.

Anyone have any advice?

I am 32 year old man gosh darn it. Got a decent job, own place , take care of my own responsibilities. Here I am thinking Im a mature adult. Wrong! I had to do a class presentation that was worth a lot of points for my grade. Leading up to the day of the presentation I didn’t even think about it. Easy peasy , I am in class and the presentations are happening and here I am shaking like my 15 year old self. I get up there sweating and barley looked at the students. I haven’t felt that way in 13 years.

Not asking about apps or productivity systems. More interested in the behavioral stuff, the actual shifts in how people approached their time, that made a real difference once they were back in an academic environment after being out of it for a while.

The transition back is genuinely weird in ways that are hard to anticipate. You're usually juggling more than a traditional student is, your brain isn't in "school mode" anymore, and the study habits that worked at 20 don't always translate. The instinct is to treat it like a time management problem and just schedule more aggressively, but that only gets you so far.

What's more worth thinking through is the counterintuitive stuff. The things people assumed would work and didn't, and what they ended up doing instead. Did environment matter more than expected? Did studying less but more consistently outperform long sessions? Did it take a while to figure out how you actually retain information as an adult versus how you thought you did?

To be frank, a lot of the advice in this space is written for people who went straight through and never left, and it doesn't account for the mental overhead of going back when your life is already full of other responsibilities.

What actually moved things for people who were genuinely figuring it out from scratch?

43M in SoCal. I got 20 years at my current job making about $95k/yr and at 30 my pension will be topped out. I hate my job. I enjoy the work but absolutely hate dealing with customers. Sometimes I'll go home early just to avoid it. What kinda degree can a high school graduate get where I can work without having to deal with customers daily. I enjoy working with numbers, math. My only hobbies really are music and sports and lifting in my garage.. I just don't even know what's out there...what's worth it and what will be relevant... Looking for ideas!! Tia!!