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Need advice for going to college
#1
Need advice for going to college
So I am 29 with a HS diploma. I really want to college and get my undergrad and possibly law school. Am I starting too late? Does anyone here have experience going to college later in life? My plan is to have heavy semesters when my work is slow and just a few credit during my busy times. Just give me the facts of what I am being unrealistic about. And thanks!
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#2
RE: Need advice for going to college
It's not too late, I went back to college at 26.

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#3
RE: Need advice for going to college
(August 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm)Won2blv Wrote: So I am 29 with a HS diploma. I really want to college and get my undergrad and possibly law school. Am I starting too late? Does anyone here have experience going to college later in life? My plan is to have heavy semesters when my work is slow and just a few credit during my busy times. Just give me the facts of what I am being unrealistic about. And thanks!

It's not too late. I have a friend who, as a single mother in her 40s, went back to school and earned a Master's in psychology and is considering earning a PhD.
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#4
RE: Need advice for going to college
NEVER too late. My university had a special track called SOTA - Students Older Than Average. I'm given to understand it was bit more of a grind than the usual courses of study, the logic being that students in their 20s would have more life experience and maturity than their younger counterparts. It was an accelerated course, and a degree could be gotten someone more quickly.

You might check with schools you're considering and see if they have something similar.

Best of luck.

Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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#5
RE: Need advice for going to college
It's not too late at 29, but have a plan and some specific goals and benchmarks. The pursuit of a law degree is a substantial financial commitment as well as time. You're schedule is going to be full my friend.
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#6
RE: Need advice for going to college
My best friend went back to college at 38.  It took her nine years going at nights but she graduated.
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#7
RE: Need advice for going to college
It's never too late.
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#8
RE: Need advice for going to college
No its not too late to go to college. But law school is a post graduate degree (I'm assuming you are in the U.S.), so if law school is the goal you are looking at seven years. Unlike grad school, you won't be able to work your way through law school either. You'll have to borrow and borrow and borrow. And the income of lawyers is declining while the cost of law school is going up. So no I would not recommend law to a 29 year old, I worry about 19 year olds considering law.

Yes I have a JD and practiced 10 years. Yes my hubby has a JD too and has been practicing for 30 years. We've done pretty well, but it doesn't look so great for new lawyers and hasn't for a decade.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god.  If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
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#9
RE: Need advice for going to college
(August 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm)Won2blv Wrote: So I am 29 with a HS diploma. I really want to college and get my undergrad and possibly law school. Am I starting too late? Does anyone here have experience going to college later in life? My plan is to have heavy semesters when my work is slow and just a few credit during my busy times. Just give me the facts of what I am being unrealistic about. And thanks!

Obviously, you know that it's a hard endeavor, but you only have one life, and university is a great experience.  As a guy in Korea, I can tell you that a 4-year degree will allow you to teach English in Korea, making about $2000US / month + benefits (including rent).  So right away, you get a pretty fair fallback if you need to take a time out and pay some bills.

It partly depends what resources you have now.  If you have the capacity to make and save a little money, I'd seriously consider entrepreneurship + a library card as a viable alternative.

It also depends why you want to go to university.  If you want to be in a learning environment, then the right university can really open up your mind and give you access (especially post-grad) to great thinkers in your field via conventions, having professors from all over the world, etc.  If you do WELL, you have a good chance to develop a reputation, to publish papers, and to get your name known before you enter the market.  (not so much in law school, but more in things like research science)  And you will definitely find that being in a learning environment will give you new things to think about, allowing for your personal betterment in many ways.

I have an English/music/psychology degree (pick any 2, technically), and the paper opened up enough doors around the world that I was able to get a Korean wife, a life, and I'm running a successful business now using none of those things.  In my case, the degree has paid for itself tenfold.  And it could have been a degree in art history, so far as anyone in Korea really cares!

IF you want to stay near your hometown, use your diploma as a resume entry, and expect to draw a good salary, then I'm not sure whether that goal has a good chance of fulfillment.  But if you want to better yourself and hopefully open a few doors, and aren't afraid to build up some debt, then it's never wrong to chase your dreams!
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#10
RE: Need advice for going to college
(August 30, 2016 at 6:11 pm)Jenny A Wrote: No its not too late to go to college. But law school is a post graduate degree (I'm assuming you are in the U.S.), so if law school is the goal you are looking at seven years.  Unlike grad school, you won't be able to work your way through law school either. You'll have to borrow and borrow and borrow.  And the income of lawyers is declining while the cost of law school is going up.  So no I would not recommend law to a 29 year old, I worry about 19 year olds considering law.

Yes I have a JD and practiced 10 years. Yes my hubby has a JD too and has been practicing for 30 years.  We've done pretty well, but it doesn't look so great for new lawyers and hasn't for a decade.

How many credits per semester should I take on if I want to do my undergrad in less than 4 years? I have decent income at the moment. My business is busy May, June, July and December and extremely slow the other months. I know that after I get done with my undergrad I could probably put 20k a year towards law school. But I don't really want to make big bucks. I want to get involved with politics and some kind of advocacy work for either the environment or civil rights. I don't need a lot of money to be happy. I currently make 60k and feel very comfortable. Sorry for all the questions
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