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Is 27 too later to go back to school and change career?

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Emerald Legend

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My initial major was psychology..the most useless major of the lot. Now I'm finding myself working odd jobs, wasting the best years of my life as punishment. There is virtually no entry level jobs for psych grads, so I am thinking of going back to school. At 27 I feel like a dinosaur staring at the giant asteroid called career, but I'm willing to gamble again. So far I've been wanting to do a Human Resources program, or Computer systems technologist program..and in between getting my degree, want become a certified bilingual in my country.

So,now my question is- is 27 too old to go back to school, and perhaps starting a career at 29/30? I have doubts because- when an employer sees my resume, s/he will see I haven't worked in the related field a good chunk of my life. Will they even hire a older person just out of college looking for a fresh start?
 
#2 ·
I have the same questions. I just turned 27, and have yet to complete my MS. I'll finish (hopefully) before 28.

I have no idea, just wanted to share that you aren't alone.

I wouldn't care too much about restarting. For me, I almost hate my alma mater. I have, for reasons tying into personal struggles, very little positive memories about them.

But at 27, you should still blend in mostly without many qualms. I would look online, however...just because college is more of a social thing if you actually "attend" IMO.
 
#3 ·
It's never too late. Go for it! It is scary to change careers when you get to be a little bit older but it is definitely doable. Best wishes to you.
 
#5 ·
Eh.... That's just a "I want to be where the rest of my age group" is thing and "what will people think if I postponed my success".. type thing. That doesn't matter.. Take as long as you want or go back to college despite what other people think. It's not a race. It's what YOU want to do with YOUR life.

I didn't take my 1-3 college years seriously.. I spent time experimenting with different fashions among other things. I was just a big dramatic attention seeker that had no determination what-so-ever.

I am hoping to move to a different state after getting my first job and move out of the nest to deter a bit of the shame of me being so lax in college and try somewhere else where I can feel like I have a little bit more experience than I did at 18.

I met someone who didn't want me to go to graduation with her because she wanted it to be HER moment and was going to be a bit annoyed if she found out I graduated at the same time as her. These people aren't your friends.

It's never too late. You've got you're entire life ahead of you.
 
#6 ·
Nope. I'm attend a community college, and there's people there in there forties. Hell, I know a kid my age (19) who has a thirty-two year old roommate. Who lives in the college dorms.

Education is for everyone. You're never to old to learn. If you're uncomfortable with the idea of being around a lot of students younger than you, you can always do online classes. Although I personally prefer live lectures myself...
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
DeductiveReasoner said:
Nope. I'm attend a community college, and there's people there in there forties. Hell, I know a kid my age (19) who has a thirty-two year old roommate. Who lives in the college dorms.

Education is for everyone. You're never to old to learn. If you're uncomfortable with the idea of being around a lot of students younger than you, you can always do online classes. Although I personally prefer live lectures myself...
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Oh no, I prefer lecture structure, and hopefully the program I'm going for will be hands-on.
 
#8 ·
Emerald Legend said:
Oh no, I prefer lecture structure, and hopefully the program I'm going for will be hands-on.
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good for you. I honestly believe people learn more from lectures than they do online. I hate it when my lecture classes end up being mostly online. It makes me think the instructor is lazy.
 
#9 ·
Emerald Legend said:
Oh no, I prefer lecture structure, and hopefully the program I'm going for will be hands-on.
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*tries to keep composed and not think about how old he's getting in relation to his fellow Gen Yers*

I think we have to consider a lot:
1) Previous debt: is the projected starting salary of said career enough to afford any debt already incured and that of which you will incur?

2) We're going to be older than those starting
Luckily, we aren't too old. We may get a few odd looks on one or two interviews, but I doubt if it's going to be an issue.

2b) We're getting older, and more is expected of us.

Are you sure you want to get another B.S.? An M.S. in counselling, LCSW, etc can lead to lucrative careers that don't stray as much from your base. As a psych major, my fear is that you will have to complete almost everything over because there's almost no overlap (mine was math; I'm going into comp sci too).

Do you not like psych? It isn't a dead-end like a Philosophy degree; it is usable, just not at the B.S. level.


3) What other financial, social, and economic stressors are present now that weren't when you started?

I'm temporarily disabled for the issues that largely caused me not to have my M.S. by now, so I am sustaining until I am able to break into the workforce again. Also, I've only been unemployed for 6 months now, so I've had some $ saved up.

Can you afford the hours of a full time student now?

4) Fuck it we're gettin older.

I think we have to just get over it. The way our gen grew up was thinking that things happen according to plan. HS-->College-->Career-->Kids-->American Dream

I have met so many people our age that don't even have many struggles and are in the same or less or a place by society's standards. At the end of the day, when we consider the average life expectancy, this is such a small part of our lives that it's going to be rendered even more inconsequential than the SATs (I bet you don't even think about those any more, for example)
 
#12 ·
When I get to a new class, and I see someone slightly older-old, I race to make sure I get a seat next to them, because I know they are there for a reason. So I wouldn't worry about the social aspect--you will be respected.

As far as the career field, I don't know much about that line of work.
 
#14 ·
Yobi said:
I just got my first F grade AND just found out that it can't be wiped off my transcript EVER. I can submit a -let me have my gpa back again thing- though.

-.- I'm so disappointed with myself.
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I used to worry about this shit. I was the 3.6+ student. But let me tell you, it really doesn't matter unless you want to go for a PhD.

I know of people with 2.7s who know make more money than 4.0ers simply because they weren't as focused on "school" itself as much as a career.
 
#15 ·
Not at all, it is never too late.

As far as psych goes, someone probably should have pointed out to you that there are indeed no jobs unless you have an advanced degree in psychology (preferably PhD, even then it is a competitive field).
 
#16 · (Edited)
FlightsOfFancy said:
I used to worry about this ****. I was the 3.6+ student. But let me tell you, it really doesn't matter unless you want to go for a PhD.

I know of people with 2.7s who know make more money than 4.0ers simply because they weren't as focused on "school" itself as much as a career.
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I just had a thought just now. Do you think the children who are dying of cancer and will die a year from now will care about your F? You grades shouldn't matter. The whole point is to help other people. How is getting rid of an F helping people? It's only helping yourself and YOUR ability to be seen differently by employers. I should consider it the same thing as when a person raises their hand for doing their homework when in fact they did not and only did it to be "seen differently by people". Usually honest people who aren't afraid to be seen as being different to other people are noticed far more than the people who raise their hands and lie.

I think something like this can help you with your "Is it too late?" dilemma as well.

Sorry. I added a bit of a motivator to my own post. X D
 
#18 ·
@Emerald Legend
Not at all, most employers even prefer psych majors especially in business, HR, specialised software design (psychology of learning and knowledge of how users may think in theory) and in customer-management programs... I won't lie, as someone that seeks to move from Computer Science to HR via internships it does annoy me how employers seek psych, business or HR graduates first when 1/3 of my degree actually covered business practises, failing to see the difference between a hobbyist psychology enthusiast and psych studies taken as a degree in business terms (even as a student I was having advanced psych conversations with people that actually studied psychology as a degree, often reading post grad level psychology in my spare time).

In short, your employability focus will need to highlight transferable skills of your last degree, job experiences, how a specialist interest relates to the job market and need to probably seek 2-4 internship opportunities over the course of re-specialising to stand you in better stead with any future employers.
 
#19 ·
No, it's never too late in my opinion. You need to think it through of course, it's not an easy decision for many reasons, but age is really the smallest issue of them all. And breaking into the job market is always hard, no matter what age. There are sadly no guarantees to find employment, but in certain fields, self-employment can also be an option.

My first degree was in a natural science. Took it to postgraduate level, worked in research for some time, HATED every minute of it. Then I studied for an M.A. (performing arts). I had always freelanced in that field anyway, but I wanted formal training and a formal qualification.
It was hard, financially and energy-wise, but I never regretted it. I absolutely love my job, gained many additional qualifications over the years and always feel I want to learn more/develop further.

Now I'm in my late thirties and study Psychology with a Counselling focus part-time. I don't intend to change jobs, I just want it as an additional string to my bow (the performance/entertainment industry it at times a bit warped ;)).

If you thought it through, go for it.
 
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#20 ·
Never too late. I'm 28 and in 2nd year of MBA. My classmates' age ranges from 23 - 37. About 30% of them are sponsored by their companies. The rest either want advancement in their fields or switch entirely to new industries. And they're paying $55000 for the 2-year program to do so. Some of them are putting their entire bank accounts on the line for this. Never too late. Just need to find out what you truly want to do in life and express this in the application process.
 
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