What are the most difficult things about going back to school at a later age?

I dropped out of high school and enlisted in 1963. Released from active duty Nov, 1967, I enrolled in a community college, then moved on to university. You have a real leg up over the kids, and certainly over me. I had to really work to master writing effective essays, but once mastered upper division became a breeze.

I returned to graduate school at 49 and earned my masters, several certifications and all but my dissertation for my doctorate by 62.

If you throw yourself into your courses and work for mastery, you’ll rock and roll. Most people are ticket punchers, do the least possible to pass tests to get a degree or certification. If you pull on the thread of the courses and directions that fascinate you, and throw yourself into it, you’ll have a lot of fun, satisfaction and faculty will bend over backwards for you.

If you ticket punch you won’t have an advantage, just be another number.

Joseph, I am 48 an I am attending National University in San Diego, I am on my third class. Draft a plan of action, and go through with it.

It has been a long time since I went back to school after leaving the service. The hardest part was listening to "Kids" who thought they had life figured out.

After retiring at age 42, I went back to college for a second bachelor's degree. I was always the anchor person in small group presentations. The younger students talked the technical details, and I some from a broader, more experienced perspective.

Now that I am in graduate school (seminary), there is a great diversity in ages and backgrounds. It reminds me of being on active duty.

I served 4 years in the Army and was 25 before I went to college for my undergraduate degree. I found that many of the professors used me as a sounding board for work because of my experiences. 18-22 year olds whine a lot and about everything. I typically tried to knock out the work without to much complaining but when I did, many of the professors would listen and change or lighten the work load.

Many of your fellow students drink the liberal Kool-Aid and will question you on your decisions to serve. Be honest and frank in your explanations. Many haven't developed their own opinions rather they regurgitate what they here. This is your opportunity to teach classmates about the military and have them make their own decisions.

Quite a few of your classmates will look up to you because of your service but will ask a lot of inappropriate questions because they don't know any better, i.e. How many people have you killed? I recommend that you answer honestly and explain that is not always appropriate to ask such questions.

It took me a dozen years to work my way through college and get my Undergraduate degree(s), so after a while I gained experience with being older than my peers-this was prior to enlisting BTW. I have since gone back to school for an MBA, and while I am probably a standard deviation above the average age, they too are older students and professional individuals. For that I am glad, because if I had to go undergrad school with today's kids, I doubt I'd last too long...or they wouldn't!

I will say that even on the graduate side of the schoolhouse, I have noticed things are different from when I was an undergrad. Obviously technology and it's integration has greatly changed since 2003, the year I graduated from college. And I have noticed some methodology changes to education. Back when I was an undergrad, while you might occasionally be doing group work, most learning and assignments were individually based. Today it's the opposite, and nearly everything is about working within a group dynamic. Such a heavy emphasis on group work is not something I am enthusiastic about, and it requires getting accustomed to. For me, that has been the most difficult.

Depending on what career you choose, if you want to stay employed your education never ends. I am in a college classroom at age 54 via continuing education. I could care less what others think because college courses in IT mean an additional 15-20,000 a year in pay. But I will pass this onto you. I took some ROTC courses after my Active Duty stint. Mixed bag there, some of the students were hopelessly naive about military service......others were OK though. Good Luck in college, your not really that old though and you will find other students your age or older.

At 24, I wasn't quite ten years older when I started college. Aside from just having got out of the Army and having lived under that mindset, the age difference made me feel quite disconnected from most of my peers. I generally felt as if I was pretty well surrounded by children most days. That aside, being further along in life helped me with the discipline to knuckle down and get my learning & work accomplished - along with having the gumption to go to class full time and work on the side.

One of my big concerns was being rusty, but I picked most everything up relatively quickly... except for math. I struggled through most of that simply because I'm not good at wrapping my mind around something I can't put my hands on.

Overall I noticed that myself and several others who were "nontraditional students" tended to fare better than our younger peers, largely due to self-discipline & more "background" knowledge & experience concerning the world at large.

I want to be too lazy but I wrote these two posts for others in the same situation.

First thing I'd say is submit your JST and VMET.

The second is to embrace being the typical older student that asks too many questions. Ask before, during, and after class. You'll get more out of it and it helps with networking.

Lastly, for now, I'd suggest you get involved with the community. Start with your local SVA chapter. If there isn't one, consider starting it.

https://jtspratley.com/blog/five-extremes-with-the-post-911-gi-bill
https://jtspratley.com/blog/from-the-military-to-college

I did put n two years of college while on active duty and was 26 when I got out after eight years. I was taking three classes at a time 4 days a week while on active duty and maintained a 3.7 GPA. I then went to college, Full time at age 26 the fall of that same year 1974. . There were other Veterans there and the school was Veteran Friendly and the Vietnam War was still going on. (I was serving in Vietnam in 1968-69) I was of course older than most of the students and had moved into a dormitory. I enjoyed the campus life a lot and made a lot of good friends. I was active in sports and was Co Captain of the Cross Country team. I assisted the Athletic Director in setting contacting and scheduled the playing season. I was the Sports editor on our yearbook in My senior year and had been writing sports article for the college newspaper. I found staff and faculty also appreciated My efforts and the Veteran's in general as according to them We were older and had more experience that most of the students and according to the staff set a good example for others to follow. I did have the colleges staff members state that and thank Me. Our senior class President was a Navy veteran that served on submarines. I did have the VA to help with my school finances put still worked a part time job as a Police Dispatcher and Special Police Officer and full time on Summer months and school vacations putting overtime. I also remained active in Civil Air Patrol, the USAF Auxiliary. and on campus never missed any college events. I tend to be very social anyway and enjoyed being around other people. I was 28 when I graduated in May of 1976 and in June the same year I was working full time on a civilian Police Department. With all that activity I also remained on the Dean's List each Semester.

I found My time at college to be enjoyable and a very positive influence and also My degree gave Me a 20% increase in my weekly pay on the Police Department under their Educational Incentive program. I did go back into an Air Force uniform after and eight year break with a reserve slot in an active duty Security Police Unit at Hanscom AFB, MA and still worked full time on the civilian Police Department. A number of the USAF People in that unit I had worked with before while all of were on active duty.