No way are you too old. I was an undeclared major until my junior year. I finally got fed up and went into my advisors office and basically asked her what I was closest to getting a degree in after the hodge-podge of classes I had taken. She came back with PR and Advertising, so that's what I majored in. I was never interested in it. I'm still not interested in it. It took me six years to get my first bachelors as a result. When I was 27 I began working as a counselor at a psych hospital and finally figured out that I wanted to be an RN after a couple years there, so I began taking the science pre-reqs at HCC while working full time when I was about 29. Now I'm 32 and about to move to Oklahoma for nursing school. Granted, I don't have a family. It all depends on the wife and whether she would support you in this. But the last thing you are is too old.
I studied at Texas State as vocalist, primarily, with piano as a secondary instrument. Currently, I teach elementary music (K-5) in the Austin area, and sing with the Austin Lyric Opera. Bingo. The thing that gave me the most pause when considering my options was how we would pay for it. Turns out I had to take out loans to pay, but even with the additional debt, I think it was worth it. Yikes. Out-of-state is really expensive. Again, I would only commit to that if I was absolutely sure that teaching music was for me. Fortunately, you have some teaching experience, so you should be able to make some informed decisions in this area. Map out your career: do you want to teach elementary? Jr. High? High school? College? Band? Choir? Plan on getting a Masters (absolute minimum to teach at collegiate level)? Doctorate? Once you've got the career mapped out, compare the in-state vs. out-of-state schools. Does transferring offer definite assistance in that progression. If it does, go for it.
I hate to play devil's advocate here but I've known first-handedly of a situation that didn't work out so well: my brother went back to school full-time when he was 32 because he got too tired of the field he was in. He was married and had a 4-year-old. It took him two and half years to get his MBA and the financial strain proved to be too much for his marriage (there were other factors but that was a big reason). My brother is now 36 years old, divorced, pays child care every month, and making only slightly more than what he did before his career change.
it depends on which school you get into also. if you got into harvard, then i'm sure you can make your money back really fast.
No need to feel like a tool at all. First, congrats on your wife expecting - and all the best wishes! Have you considered doing an executive MBA? I would not recommend doing the online thing, make sure that your school at least has some recognition, at least locally...doing an MBA at a school that doesn't have a good reputation is not worth it. Better reputation of the school might cost you significantly more, but will probably pay off in the long run - because a lot of what you pay for is the network you gain access to. I don't think it is too late at all. In executive MBA programs, people tend to be around that age.
I am an Enrollment Counselor at University of Phoenix and I talk with students like yourself everyday. It is a frightening thing to get back into school after you have been out for a while. My students believe that there happiness is what is ultimately important. I just enrolled a 45 year old woman today to finish up her MBA!
Thanks! I'm a piano major at UTSA; I had started out instrumental education/percussion, but they're very narrow about their degree plans and there wasn't much of a way to seriously study piano with that. I switched to vocal education/piano but at the end of this semester they told me my vocals weren't going to be up to par. Not surprising because I was never the most natural singer and only started doing that seriously three years ago. Anyway, if I'm going to still be a piano and education major, I'm going to have to transfer. Most schools will let you do it with instrumental education, especially if you have instrumental experience. I don't actually intend to pay the out-of-state tuition; I can't. I'm wondering if anyone could arrange a tuition waiver for a student they wanted in their department. I am trying to aim for smaller schools with smaller departments, in hopes that they will be more willing to work with me. At UTSA, they just run you through the mill and the older students, unless they are super super talented and performance majors, are not going to be one of their "pets". Most Texas state schools are large and seem to operate that way. I just want the degree and don't care whether the name on it is prestigious. Anyway, I really do want to transfer out of state because, and this is something they can't imagine at UTSA, I don't intend to teach in Texas. It is easier if you finish your education degree in or near the state where you intend to be. I'm legally a Texas resident now, but I'm not from there really, and trying to get back closer to family and my roots. If they can't give me a waiver or scholarship to help with out-of-state tuition, I guess I'll have to take some time off until I get residency. I could probably get a job, but that's still not great because I am too old to get behind a whole year. I still feel young, but I've got the unfortunate female limitation of only having so much time in which I can have kids. Hopefully this is what I want to do. I don't think you can really know (about anything) until you get there and see. I know it's the general direction I want to move in. I'm also hoping my piano major will allow me to work as a piano teacher/ accompanist/ church pianist or music director; that's one reason I wanted to go that route (plus I just like it). I want to allow for as many possibilities with my degree as I can, even if I have to take a few more courses. A master's or above would be great, but I don't see it happening because of age and family responsibilities. Maybe when I'm like 60. And I already have a doctorate... in another field. That always weirds them out if they end up finding out about that. But, doctorate or not, I'm still as human as anybody else and want to be able to do what I want.
Also, there is no such thing as too old to go back to school. My mom got her MLIS (Master's in Library and Information Science) at 59 and has had a successful career as a librarian ever since then. At her graduation, there was a lady getting her doctorate who was like 90 or 95.
I finally went back to school to finish the degree I started 15 years ago. When all is said and done I will have a degree in finance and accounting. Who knows, maybe a Masters will come after that.
ima_, care to share how you got yourself into a financial company even though your major was music? It is something I hope I can do as well if my science major doesn't work out for me.. im pretty interested in finance/accounting actually.
I just started in the call center and worked my way up. Where are you going? Do you also have a full time job?
I just finished my M.S. while working full time. For the last semester I had my newborn daughter to take care of, so maybe our situations are somewhat similar, ima. That last semester was tough. For me and my wife. My daughter was still not sleeping well, and I was insanely busy. My advice to you is that while going back to school is possible, enjoyable, and a good career move, discuss it with your family and PLAN. Think about how many classes you need to take and at what rate you will take them. Find out if you can take internet classes for some courses to lesson the "time away from home" load. My wife was very supportive, but she was just as glad as me when I finished.
