Going back to school at 26...

[Dex]

On 8/4/2017 at 8:42 AM, Bronn said:

If they are trying to send you back for engineering, and this is a stop-gap job like you say, I would strongly consider going back and letting it transition into some sort of biomedical or pharmaceutical engineering degree.

Let them foot the bill thinking they are making an investment, and then foot the bill yourself via grants/aid for the courses that make it fall under one of the other categories I mentioned.

My brother-in-law came out of college with a 4 year engineering degree (biomedical IIRC?) and landed a sweet job with GSK @ $65k a year starting. I don't even know what he makes now, 10 years or so later, but I'd guess it is at least $80-90k, and they send him to Europe all the time.

If you truly feel this job is temporary, then don't feel guilty letting them help with your career advancement. It is cutthroat, yes, but that's an easy way of getting your education/training without having to find the funding yourself.

You could also leverage your new training, once you get it, if you decide to stay where you are at for a higher salary.

On Monday I'm going to call a meeting with the R&D manager and our COO. I'm going to formally ask if they'd provide financial assistance if I go back to school.

[Lumps]

For me, going back to school at 26 was so much better for me. I took it more seriously, I understood how it would impact my life and understood just life in general so much more.

I got my undergrad at 28 just like you will and I absolutely think my mindset was much better off than when I was 20. I cared about my GPA and learning. I excelled in a classroom full of immature idiots. It was great. Even now I think of going back and know I'd do even better at 32 but alas at this age the drawback is time and one must be conscience of school dept and smart about considering the time it's take to pay off.

So the best advice I can give is if you want more than a bachelor, go straight after. You'll be fresh and still have time on your side.

[Lumps]

As far as happiness my job I have now was not obtainable without my degree and while I only make around 50k a year I was making about 11/he before that and I can't imagine growing old on that.

And I feel more confident I dedicated some time and money in my life to invest in me and have something to show for it. I worked for it and  am proud of it, this contributes to my happiness as well.

[Ja Rhule]

Go for masters in accounting...  not another bachelor.  My brother in law is 26 and going for masters in accounting after getting bachelor in biology.  Having just finance degree might be hard finding a job.

[Raskle]

On 8/3/2017 at 3:32 PM, Bronn said:

I'll be 37 in December... Should I go back or not? I've got a useless Associate's in Computer Programming I obtained 15 years ago and haven't really touched since.

I always want more money than I'm making, but have been employed and salaried for almost 15 years now. I'm pretty much halfway to retirement but omg the daily grind just isn't worth it sometimes.

I went back at 35, and am so glad I did. Went from crap jobs to a nice lifestyle/career that I enjoy. Came into this company as a regular grunt, and have worked my way up to a Asst. VP within six years, which never would have happened had I not just bit the bullet and went back. There is no such thing as too old to improve yourself, as long as you have discipline and focus, and want it that much more than the next guy.

 

EDIT: Oh, and yeah, definitely go for accounting. It's opened up a ton of doors for me, and I wouldn't suggest anything else, unless you plan to specialize in Finance itself, such as broker, etc. Accounting will cover a lot of the basics of any job out there, and has been mentioned, gives a lot of real-world information you can use on the job from day one.

[Dex]

2 hours ago, ARSEN said:

Go for masters in accounting...  not another bachelor.  My brother in law is 26 and going for masters in accounting after getting bachelor in biology.  Having just finance degree might be hard finding a job.

i only have an associates.

[Ja Rhule]

5 minutes ago, Dex said:

i only have an associates.

Ah dang, sorry. Yea, go for bachelor in accounting. Take 30 credit hours in accounting before graduating.  If you get CPA and 5 years of experience...  you'll make around 6 digits.

[Dex]

18 hours ago, ARSEN said:

Ah dang, sorry. Yea, go for bachelor in accounting. Take 30 credit hours in accounting before graduating.  If you get CPA and 5 years of experience...  you'll make around 6 digits.

Lol dude I make a little over 50k now. If I'm not making at LEAST 6 digits I'm considered poor where I live. Need it. 

[Scrumtrilescent]

No School of Hard Knocks joke yet?

[h0llywood]

Never too late to go back to school. 

I work 80 hours a week, have a family of 5, and went back to school full time and graduated at 32 years old. I'm starting law school next year and will be about 37 when I finally start practicing law. 

No such thing as too old.

Get it done!

[PhillyB]

I went back at 27 and did four years, getting a second undergrad degree and then my master's. absolutely worth it 

[davos]

Went back at 27 for a dual Masters (Landscape Architecture/Urban Design).  Paid off like crazy; cemented doing what I like and $$.  

[Pantha-kun]

19 hours ago, PhillyB said:

I went back at 27 and did four years, getting a second undergrad degree and then my master's. absolutely worth it 

How did you finance getting a 2nd Bachelors? I'm about to start my master's program in October ,but I could only get financial aid for a masters degree. Was told that I'd have to get something other than loans or pay my own way to get a 2nd bachelors. 

[Pantha-kun]

I agree with  the general consensus of the thread. Its really never too late to go back to school if you can find a way to pay for it.  I think many of us have been conditioned to be hyper aware of our age and a "social" clock in which we have to accomplish certain things in our life by certain ages, and if we don't it's too late to change and may as well stay in that position. It's pretty stressful and doesn't just apply to jobs and education like we're talking about. For example you might have family members complaining that you're single with no kids in your 30s. Its sad but most of us probably dont even realize we think we have to get certain things done by certain times , and if we fail to do it by certain age milestones alot of people get depressed and feel like they already failed and can't redeem themselves after they've gotten "too old." Or  just resign themselves to some sort of pre-determined fate that they'll have a crappy existence for most of their lives and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and you get stuck in the same borderline min-wage position for your whole adult life. 

Its also made worse by the fact that we spend so much time on social media observing other people's lives. Its possible that your facebook is just flooded with people getting great jobs, getting married, having kids, finishing degrees, and whatnot, this paints an unrealistic picture in your mind you are "behind" everyone else like its a race to see who can be the happiest and most successful person the fastest. What you don't see that much is people losing jobs, or divorcing, breaking up, usually people are more prone to share positive things in their life to the world to brag/get compliments but they'll usually keep the failures and mistakes to themselves or only tell people close to them in private. 

In reality, its never really too late to learn or too late to be successful. I have a family member that always posts these inspirational videos about successful people that had a pretty hard time in the first half or so of their life but later found motivation, meaning, happiness, or invented something cool, became famous, or something like that much later than life than is generally expected from our culture.