Hello, people I am a male age 26 and want to attend college for the first time. I graduated high school in 2002 and from there went to work at a couple a places until 2004. In 2004 from now I have been working in the same place. I went from a regular worker to a manager with many task then what a regular manager does. My job was to supervise, show leadership, give direction and make shift for the workers. I also was in charge of handling the money and checks going to the bank paying workers, hired people and train them. Manage the cost of sales, ordering inventory, do marketing such as creating fliers, newspaper ads, tv ads, and radio.
I want to know with all my experience that I have would a school of business accept me. I am willing to go to a community college also if this is the best way to go before entering a 4 year college.
Would I be able to get finical aid at my age or is it too late since many people are telling me the cut off age for finical aid is 26.
There is no “cutoff” for financial aid. I don’t know all the rules but I believe since you’re 26 you can’t be considered a dependent anymore. You can still get aid though. How were your high school grades? What kind of college do you want to go to?
By the way, Yale has a program for “special circumstance” applicants like you. Check it out here:
Thanks for the reply about finical aid. I wasn’t looking to going to Yale, but wouldn’t mine it since its an ivy league. I just don’t want to apply and get denied because it’s a waste of $75 but I do have experience in the business world then most college students as I do have an insight look to it so Yale might see me as a person who knows the ins and outs of conducting business.
Is there any other program similar to the Eli Whitney program around New York. If not maybe around the Tri-State area. So I can take a look whats best for me.
Will check tomorrow with some admission office since they are close now.
The reason I want to go now is because business/corporations are not hiring people without a college degree. I had a chance to work for Turner inc but since I didn’t have a college degree that I didn’t get the position.
For the most part, your admission to colleges will be based on your high school gpa and your SAT or ACT scores. If you haven’t taken them and your list of colleges include places that require them you need to plan to take them asap (usually by Nov or Dec this coming fall). If you did take SAT/ACT in high school, note that some places do not accept scores older than 5 years.
Your work experience will be a plus, but not enough to overcome any serious deficiencies in HS gpa or SAT scores. Meaning, if the middle 50% of say math SAT scores at a college is 500 - 600 and yours is 430… the real world business experience is not necessarily going to compensate for a low score. Colleges basically want to make certain that their accepted students are prepared for the school’s level of academic rigour, and SAT scores (and HS GPAs) are a strong indicator of such.
If your scores are not up to par, then community college followed by transfer is a very good choice.
So your first step is to figure out a list of safeties, matches and reaches that you can apply to… your “matches” are where your own HS gpa and SAT scores fall in the middle 50% of students. Your safeties are community colleges or state schools where your HS stats almost guarantee admission. You reaches are a dream school or two, though you generally need to make sure your stats are at least on their radar. Ie: if the school’s lowest quartile for math is 500 - 550 and your math score is 430, admission starts becoming very unlikely unless you are a standout in some other way.
You will qualify for financial aid (Stafford loans, etc) based on your own income level. You may want to go to the Financial Aid and Scholarship forum to ask more questions about that aspect. It is a much more active board. It can be tricky to swing college costs even with financial aid, so when you are selecting schools you need to understand if at your income and independent status that the actual overall FA package will be enough for you to afford the school. Some schools have great FA packages, others fall quite short.
I got into U Montana at age 28 with no SATs etc. and a GED from age 16 (from DC)
– It was conditional-probationary, but worth it. A super super cheap school.-Now I have a 3.94 and am looking at transfering to some really good programs.
DON"T DO COMMUNITY COLLEGE!!! You don’t have to.
I tried for a little bit when I was younger and I hated it, and it drove me away from school-lots o dummies, and hard to commit.
The real university vibe makes success so much easier–
Trust me speaking from experience
Oh and I get financial aid, a Pell grant, work study —totaling $17,900 a year (and am 2 years older)-- for a university that costs $2,900 a semester
If you are quite a few years out of college and don’t have ACT or SAT scores then schools may ask you to do a placement test such as the Compass test. I returned to school much older than 26 and as I did not complete school in the US and had no diploma to prove I had ever been to school in my home country I had to take the GED, and then take a test called the Compass test to see what level of work i was ready for. I tested into regular level classes except for math where I had to do a remedial math class to get me up to speed as it was a loooong time since I had done Algebra (I have since completed several college level math classes).
As for what sort of school, that depends on what you are ready for and what you want. I did go the community college route which worked well for me as having been out of school for so long it was a gentler start than a larger school might have been (I have a 4.0 and am in my last semester) plus I need a school within reasonable driving distance from my home. Also if you do need any remedial classes the CC route may be better for you. The other thing to think about is the cost and FA situation. If you have been working your EFC might be higher than you expect the 1st year and FA might be less than you hope for and CC might be more affordable for you. Age is not a factor for federal aid - I was eligible for financial aid and the only factor my age had was that I am, of course, an independent student and did not have to report my parent’s income.
I have a couple of schools in mind and have check them out. Right now I can’t go to any due to the Falls already started for all schools. What I did do is signed up for fafsa and filled it out with which schools I want to attend. I was only able to fill up to 5 schools. Do fafsa pay most of the finical aid, because these schools are 30k+ a semester. Well it seems most private colleges are 30k and over.
I have no applied to any community college because I visited one last week and it seems like most of the students are not college ready and I know if I apply there will be atleast 6 or 7 student in the same class bring the class down. What I saw was people playing domino’s when I entered till I left. Someone told me they are there all the time and don’t go to class. Maybe it can be just this community college.
My real concern is that if financial aid will pay all or atleast most of the 30k. I understand it has to do with what’s on my tax form and I cant afford to pay 30k. I will be going to the Spring semesters.
Also for those of you that know if Falls 2010 is open around the NY or NJ area let me know.
nyknight: You need to get much more informed on how financial aid works in a jiffy–you seem to have a lot of misconceptions. I recommend going to the “Financial Aid and Scholarship” forum here for future questions about finances. There are many more posters there and the entire forum is dedicated to this topic.
A few quick fixes:
You asked “Does fafsa pay most the financial aid?”
No. FAFSA pays NOTHING. It is just a federal formula to see what kinds of federal loans you qualify to take out. The number crunching may also have you qualify for some grants (not have to pay back) such as a Pell Grant, but those are usually under 5K.
You can send your FAFSA to more than 5 schools - not sure where, but you can log into your account and send it to additional schools.
You asked “if financial aid will pay all or at least most f the 30k”.
Probably not. Think of financial aid like a patchwork quilt of money options… scholarships from the college directly, federal student loans, federal grants, federal work-study jobs on campus, your own savings, your own income from last year, income from over the summer, etc.
If you go to the Financial Aid forum and list a few schools - with stats on your EFC and current income (note that you are 26) - people can give you a ballpark of what financial aid packages look like from those schools.
I also have a question…
I am 25 and have about half of my GE’s + transfer requirements completed at a cc. It’s been 7 years since graduating hs. It’s taking me forever to transfer due to circumstances and obligations. However, I am hoping to transfer by 2012. I have a lot of work experience and thought I would never go back to college, but just recently feel the urgency to obtain my BS in Business/Econ.
Anyhow, here’s my ques. I am hoping to transfer to UCLA and live about 20 miles. away. Would it be too much commuting and working 5days a week as an undergrad? and how long would it take to graduate. Also, what is the average age of a transfer student? Is 27 too old?
No, 27 is not too old to transfer. Schools everywhere, and definitely in California, see older students all of the time.
Be sure to look into TAP/transfer agreements between your CC and UCLA. Also look into your local CSU as a back-up plan for transfer as there is a high probability of getting into that school. (Local CSU means the one generally closest to the CCC you took the majority of your credits.)
As for the question if work plus UCLA is too much - that depends. How long does it take to commute the 20 miles? How many hours a week do you need to work? Is the work something that heavily tolls on you or are you (for example) able to do a bit of homework on the job? Is the job flexible in hours or very rigid? Are you a quick study, or do you need a lot of free time to get your homework done?
Have you ever attended school fulltime (with a solid set of classes, no fluff) while also working? How did that go?
The reality is that some small set of students can go to school fulltime and work fulltime. They have the right amount of flexibility, strong study habits (perhaps quite agile as well and able to finish study/homework faster than average), and enough other factors to pull it off. Some students, with their best diligence, can not do both school and work fulltime together. You need to assess this based on all those other prior questions.
Also check if your work schedule hours will allow for you to sign up for classes – if 80% of the classes you would need are between 9am - 2pm and you work 9am - 5pm, that will become a major problem quickly.
Also check if you can go parttime to UCLA (I don’t think you can, but don’t know for certain.)
Annikasorrensen, thanks for all the thorough responses and thoughts!
I am def. looking into THP.
It’s been so long since I’ve been out of school I guess I just don’t remember how it was and what to expect. Do you (or anyone) know how a typical first year as a junior transfer would be in terms of how many classes and units are required… and how many classes and units are required for graduation?
You must be pretty bright and a hard worker to have moved up the ladder like you have. That being said, you have not been in school for 8 years and are out of practice in studying. You might think about starting off at a CC. The advantages are that you could take classes at your own pace while maintaining some work hours if desired, would not have to take SAT’s/AP’s to transfer to a 4-yr., high school grades would not count, you can slowly get back into the routine of studying, and you would save a ton of money. There are financial resources for people going back to school and there is financial aid available at any age. Congratulations on your decision and the best of luck! I think this is a perfect time to start back to school. You are more mature, know more what you want, and ar apt to take it more seriously!
nyknight~ I definately do not try to discourage people, however I have been read your posts and I feel as though you are having trouble articulating yourself. The competition at our age for competetive schools that only have a few spots to begin with is fierce. When I first spoke with Yale, they encouraged me to begin by taking cc classes. For the 4-year schools it’s a proving ground.
To the person who said that people in cc were dummies not ready for college, does it really matter? There are all kinds but it is what you make out of your experience. I took challenging courses in my major, and I learned a lot. I am at a very competetive school this year, and I was afraid I wasn’t ready coming from a cc. Guess what, it turns out I am much better prepared than most of my classmates.
There are some problems with grandiosity and perhaps overconfidence in this thread. People on College Confidential are often ridiculous when it comes to their perception of how competitive they are. I have seen people question why they got rejected from Ivy League schools when they had a sub-par academic background, and misspelled common words when typing on CC. Do not apply to ultra-selective schools if you have trouble constructing sentences, you’re kidding yourself and wasting your money.
Really the only way to go back to school is to just do it. It sounds trite, but you’'ll consistently come up with reasons and obstacles to not go back this semester. I know I did. And personally, I’m a fan of community college. Lots of state uni’s have transfer agreements with community colleges so that the transfer process will be easy and you’ll be admitted into your major as a junior. Typically there are financial incentives as well.
And plus, community college is not intimidating and sometimes you will find the best teachers at community college. Not too mention smaller classes sizes and therefore more likely to get one on one time with the instructor.
As for financial aid, as another person said, you can get all your college education paid for by the gov if you are old enough (no one can claim you), and if you dont make very much money.
I dropped out of two colleges by the time I was 20. I went because that’s what everyone did at my school but when I got there I didn’t care or have a clue what I was doing. So I dropped out and moved to SF. In Spring 2009 at 34, I signed up for classes at a community college and have been in love with school ever since. Between the PellGrant & MassGrant & tuition waivers, school hasn’t cost me more than gas money. Now I know why I am in school and I’m rocking a killer gpa in a major I used to think I couldn’t hack and thinking about going for a masters.
You’re education is less about the brand and more about what you do with the opportunity.
As for life experience - it’s a tough sell to schools and you’ll have to justify why it’s equivalent to a course or courses and you’ll probably have to pay a life experience credit fee. Personally, I think it’s more paperwork than it’s worth especially when I’ve been lucky enough (or is that poor enough) to not have to pay for my education so far.
