If you’re 30 years old and thinking of going to college then you might be wondering if 30 is too old to start college.
This post will show you a number of reasons that 30 is not too old to start college and some things that you might want to consider.
So, is 30 too old to start college? Many people older than 30 start college every year, it will provide you with new opportunities and you still have a reasonably long potential working life ahead of you. This means that 30 is not too old to start college.
There are actually a number of reasons that 30 is not too old to start college but there are some things that you might want to consider.
College will provide you many new opportunities
The main reason that 30 is not too late to go to college is that it will provide you with a number of new opportunities.
There will be many jobs that you don’t currently qualify for because you don’t have a college degree and not having one could be limiting your career progression. Obtaining a college degree could help you to qualify for these jobs and to go further in your career.
In addition, over a 40-year working life bachelors degree holders are expected to make 66% more than those without a bachelors degree. Seeing as you also have a long working life ahead of you it is likely that quality of life will improve after getting the degree.
However, something to consider is that different degrees provide different opportunities. Some degrees, such as those in the STEM field, will tend to give good job prospects, while, degrees in certain fields will not.
Before choosing your degree it would be worthwhile for you to research the job prospects that it comes with. You can use this website to see how well each of the different majors pay.
You’ll have a stronger sense of purpose
One way that you might actually have an advantage over the other students is that you will have a stronger sense of purpose.
Often, students will go straight to college without really thinking about why they are doing it. This can cause them to struggle to motivate themselves to study, go to class or to make the most out of college. Since you’ll likely have a stronger reason for being there it is likely that you will be able to motivate yourself to study more easily.
It is also common for students to change their majors, multiple times, throughout college. While it is ok to change majors when you realize that you don’t like it, there are some issues with doing so. Changing majors can mess up your class sequence and sometimes cause people to have to stay in college for longer.
It is more likely that you will be able to choose your major more easily and to stick with it. This should help you to take your classes in the most optimal way and to graduate on time or even sooner.
You’ll be able to appreciate the classes more
Another way in which you might actually have an advantage is that you will be able to appreciate the value of the classes more easily.
Many students will struggle to motivate themselves to study or to even show up to a class when they do not see why it is useful. Since you will have some more real-world experience it should be easier for you to see why the classes matter. This should help you to study and to do better academically.
There will be other students around your age
Another thing to consider is that there will be other students, at the college, at around a similar age as you.
It is likely that there will be many graduate students that are in their late 20’s or even early 30’s. So, it is likely that there will be other students of a similar age as you around the campus.
Additionally, it is not uncommon for people to start college in their late 20’s and early 30’s so it is likely that there will be other students, of a similar age as you, in your classes.
There will likely be students that are older than you
It is also the case that it is likely that there will be some students that are actually older than you are around the campus.
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
It is not uncommon for people to start college even when they are in their 40’s and 50’s. So if you are concerned, that you will be the only “older” one on the campus then you shouldn’t be since it is likely that there will be other students that are older than you.
With that being said, you might find that most of the students in your freshman year classes will be younger than you. However, as a mathematics major, I found that lots of my classmates in my junior and senior years were above the age of 30. So, you will likely find that more of your classmates will be older as you progress through college especially in STEM.
People are bad at judging how old people are
Another thing to consider is that people are often bad at judging how old people are. It is likely that your classmates won’t be able to tell how old you really are. It is also the case that college is a place where people are supposed to go to learn so it is unlikely that they will actually care about your age.
Things to consider
While starting college at 30 is fine, there are some things that you might want to consider anyway.
Community college
One option you have is to go to community college first and then to transfer to a 4-year university when you are done. Doing this will likely save you some money since 4-year universities tend to be a lot more expensive. You’ll also likely find that your classmates will be older since it is a popular thing for older students to do.
If you do decide to go to community college first then it would be worthwhile for you to make sure that the classes will transfer over well into your desired major at the 4-year university.
Alternatives
Another thing to think about is that it might not be necessary for you to go to college to get the job that you want.
Many of the job postings that say they require a bachelors degree will consider candidates that have a lot of relevant experience. If you have been working in the field you want to be in for a few years already then it could be the case that you already qualify for the jobs.
The amount of time you’ll have
It would also be worthwhile for you to take the time to consider the amount of spare time that you will have.
It can be difficult to juggle work with studying so, if you plan on working while going to college, it would be worthwhile for you to take as many measures as you can to avoid complications.
Things that you can do 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.
Retaking the SAT or GRE
The SAT and the GRE will expire after 5 years of taking them. Unless you have taken them in the last 5 years it will be necessary for you to take them again. If you haven’t started planning to take them already then you should since you’ll need to take them before applying to the places that you want to go.
If you plan on going to a community college first then you will likely find that they won’t need an SAT or GRE to attend but the 4-year college probably still will.
The college
The culture of the college can vary depending on a number of factors. The age, location, size of student body, acceptance rate and type of college can all have an impact on its culture.
Before enrolling in a college it would be worthwhile for you to think about what you want to get out of it and to consider the type of college that would be best for you.
The major
As mentioned earlier the major that you choose will have a big impact on the job opportunities that you will have upon graduating.
Generally, degrees in the STEM field will be among the best in terms of the job prospects that they provide. However, there are a number of other degrees in other fields that also have good job prospects. You can take a look at this website to see what each degree will typically pay.
