If you’re 20 and thinking of going to college then you might be wondering if 20 is too old to start college.
This post will show you that 20 is not too late to start college and some things that you might want to consider.
So, is 20 too old to start college? You will only be a couple of years older than the youngest students, it will provide you with more opportunities and you have a long potential working life ahead of you to benefit from them. So, means that 20 is not too young to start college.
There are actually a number of reasons that 20 is not too old to start college. But there are some things that you should consider anyway.
It will provide you with more opportunities
The main reason that 20 is not too old to start college is that it will give you more opportunities.
Currently, there will be many jobs that you do not qualify for because you don’t have a degree. Getting a degree will help you to qualify for these jobs. If you have also been working for the past few years, in the same field, then you could actually have an advantage in getting these jobs, once you have a degree, as well.
Furthermore, over a 40-year working life bachelors degree holders are expected to make 66% more than those without a bachelors degree. Seeing as you still have a long potential working life ahead of you it should be possible for you to benefit a lot from the degree over the course of your life.
With that being said, something that you should consider is that some majors will provide better job prospects than others. Before deciding on your major it would be worthwhile to do some research to determine what the job opportunities, that it provides, are like.
You’ll have a stronger sense of purpose
Often, people will go straight into college out of high school without really thinking about why. This can cause them to find it difficult, at times, to motivate themselves to study when they’re not really sure why they are doing it.
Whereas, seeing as you have had some more time to get some real world experience, you should be able to see the value in the degree that you are getting. This should help you to find it easier to study and to enjoy your time, in college, as a student a lot more.
In addition to this, students often change their majors multiple times when they are in college. While it is ok to change major when you realize you don’t like it, doing so can make things more difficult. Changing major can cause students to have to take more classes and to take classes in a sequence that is not optimal.
Seeing as you will have had some more time to get experience and to consider what you really want to do it should be easier for you to decide on your major. This should help you to get through college more smoothly and to take your classes in the most optimal way.
You’ll be able to appreciate the classes more
Another way that you might actually have an advantage over some of the other students is that you will be able to appreciate the classes better.
This is because many students will struggle to motivate themselves to study when they do not understand why the class material is important. Whereas, you will have had some more time to get experience so it should be easier for you to see the benefit that the classes provide. This should help you to do better academically.
The youngest students won’t be much younger than you
Another thing to consider is that the students that went straight to college will only be two years younger than you. Two years is hardly a noticeable difference and people won’t care that you are two years older than them. So, if you are concerned that you might look older than everyone else then you do not need to be.
People start college much older than 20
Another thing to consider is that there are many people that start college later than at the age of 20. So, it is likely that there will be other students in your classes that are noticeably older than you are.
In 2018, a projected 12.3 million college and university students will be under age 25 and 7.6 million students will be 25 years old and over.
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
People are bad at judge how old people are
People tend to be very bad at judging how old people are. It is likely that the other students won’t be able to tell that you are older than them and many of them might actually think that they are older than you are.
In addition to this, college is a place where people are supposed to go to learn things. So, it is likely that the other students won’t actually care about your age.
Many other students take a few years off after high-school
Another thing to consider is that it is common for students not to go straight to college out of high school. So, it is likely that there will be many other students, in your year, that are the same age as you are.
Things to consider
While it is not too late to go to college at the age of 20, there are some things that you might want to consider anyway.
The major
As mentioned earlier, different majors come with different job prospects. While it is important to choose a major that interests you it is also important to choose one that will put you in a good position when you graduate.
Currently, STEM majors typically have strong job prospects especially those that deal with a lot of data such as statistics. Computer science is also one that typically gives good job opportunities upon graduating.
With that being said, there are many degrees outside of STEM that also give good job opportunities. You can see how much different degrees pay on this website. In addition, it would be worthwhile to research what the job market is like for the major that you want to pick.
The college
Another thing to consider is that different colleges have different cultures. The size, age, location, acceptance rate, cost of attendance, size of student body and type of college can also have an impact on its culture.
Before deciding on a college it would be worthwhile for you to research the culture of the college, how well it fits with your goals and how well known it is in your desired field.
The amount of spare time you’ll have
It is also important to consider how much spare time you’ll have. If you expect to be working a lot then it will be necessary for you to take measures to ensure that you are able to have the smoothest experience as possible.
Things that you could do could include:
- Taking slightly fewer classes per semester than usual.
- Planning your entire degree out early on so that you are able to identify any potential problem areas and to spread out the more difficult classes.
- Use ratemyprofessors.com to get the most highly rated professors. Make sure to schedule classes early since the classes taught by the better professors will fill up fast.
- Ensure that you study throughout the semester so that you don’t need to cram the information in at the last minute.
- Planning out the semester so that you can plan your work schedule more easily.
Community college
Another thing to think about is whether or not to go to community college and then to transfer to a 4-year college. Doing this will likely save you some money since they tend to be a lot less expensive at community colleges.
With that being said, it would also be important for you to make sure that the community college classes would transfer over into your major at the 4-year college.
Alternatives
Some job positions that require a college degree will consider candidates that have relevant experience.
If you have been working in the field that you want to be in after college then it could be the case that you already qualify for a number of those positions. It would be worthwhile for you to try interviewing at some of these positions before going to college to see if college would even be necessary for you.
