28 yeard old loser trying to make something happen..

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I don't know how to start my story. I am in desperate need of an advice, guidance and insight into something I might be missing. So I'm a college dropout. I am 28 years old. I was once a most likely to succeed in high school turned into a loser of all time :( I got accepted to Yale straight out of high school with nearly perfect GPA (who doesn't have perfect GPA from high school, right? ). Following the crowd & somewhat harshly advised by my parents, I've decided that I will be a doctor. It didn't seem like a big deal, until I was hit hard with first year science. Gen chem. I never knew I could suck so much at science like this. I was okay with science back in high school, but oh man it was different. Well I barely passed the class with a C. Then o-chem & bio came along. I failed first half of O-chem twice. Passed Bio with barely C+. I was devastated. Anyways, stuck in the awe of despair and shock, I decided to withdraw from school on my third year after having declared my major. I couldn't keep going. Was sick of all the science stuff which never made any sense to me at the time or till today and I just didn't know what to do. Now that's about 6 or 7 years ago when I withdrew from school. Since then, I have been working part-time as an SAT instructor for couple years and also did an internship at a local medical center near my home in California.</p>

<p>Now I'm working full-time at some random company where I don't even know what the hell I'm doing. I'm treated like **** and I know for sure that this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. Now or later I'll have to make up my mind whether to finish my degree at Yale or get a degree at some local school near my home. This is what is really leaving me confused and vexed. I mean, I know for sure that my every cell hates science since there was not a single science class that got my interest and I know I'm unbelievably dumb at science. But I'm good at math. Not a genius status, but have been pretty good with numbers since very young. So I was thinking maybe I should become an accountant? Because it has something to do with numbers...? So I was thinking I should go to a local school and major in accounting and hopefully become a CPA. This seems like a achievable goal for me and something that at least interests me. However, I still feel like I should get a degree at Yale because a degree at Yale might mean something big? I don't know. But every time I think of going back to Yale to finish my degree with Bio major just makes me wanna kill myself. I know I will struggle just like before, and there is a high chance I might get kicked out if I continue to fail courses. Upper div courses is way harder than the lower div.. At least I realized it when I tried to take bio-chem, which really made me question my capability of doing bio as my major.</p>

<p>Anyway, what are your thoughts on this? I don't want to go back to Yale. The only reason that compels me to go back is the prestige of having a degree from Yale. I'm just worried if I had gone to some random school, people might think less of me. People might ignore me.. I know that people always tell you you shouldn't care about what other people think about you but still.. I don't wanna be looked as an unintelligent loser who went to some unnamed school.. :( But at the same time I really want to start with something that is non-science that I can be good at and I can find interest in. I want to study something that I actually could truly enjoy learning. So I am more leaning towards going to a local school and graduating with accounting degree, but I am not sure. This path might be not for me either. I just want to know if there could be something I'm missing. I just want to listen to your insight that I couldn't have thought of. I guess I'm just very insecure at the moment, so I'm being very indecisive. Can you guys please help? :(</p>

2

<p>I doubt you could go back to Yale if you wanted to after leaving so long ago. You need to regroup, probably at your local state university. Maybe take a couple of different kinds of classes – try intro accounting, and try a computer science class. It might surprise you, and a lot of people who are good at math turn out to be good at CS. Both have good job prospects, too. Put the idea of Yale completely behind you and look forward to what you can reasonably accomplish.</p>

<p>Can you afford to go back to school full time? You should meet with a counselor at your state unversity and see what can be done regarding getting admitted, transferring credits, and getting financial aid. Then make a decision whether to go back full time, or see if there is a part time option (if full time is not affordable).</p>

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<p>C’mon. Right now you have NO college degree. Dust yourself off and get moving on a degree locally.</p>

3

<p>i’d advise to get teh degree yo uthink you’ll complete and use actually. is it possible at yale to switch majors to what you want to do? contact them. </p>

4

<p>Regardless of where you end up finishing your BS, <em>forget science</em> and concentrate on the things like math and accounting. I’d also suggest you try out an economics course.</p>

<p>Try a math course and intro courses in accounting, economics, and computer science (as mentioned earlier).</p>

<p>Figure out which of those you like best and major in it. Maybe sprinkle in a history, literature, psych or sociology class here and there to make it a nicely rounded education.</p>

<p>If you stick with the BS degree path, I imagine many of your Yale credits will still apply. </p>

5

<p>Why are you so hell bent on Yale? Prestige “don’t” pay the bills. Go to the local CC, and see how many credits will transfer from Yale. Then take classes here and there, and transfer to a UC. FWIW: UC’s have a prestige factor too. </p>

<p>Do you know how many kids are here on CC planning the exact same thing that you’ve already experienced? Read all of the repetitive postings: “I need financial aid because I’m premed, above average intelligent, and plan on becoming a doctor”. Do you know how many of those kids wont become doctors? You have the advantage here in that you wont be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to find out that this is not your intended career. You already know you wont be a physician because this is not your true calling. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about taking your time through the coursework. Find your niche. CS or engineering, if you’re good at math. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Thank you all for your help…</p>

7

<p>Get some therapy to help you get your mojo back and develop your self-confidence. Then use that self-confidence to figure out what would make you happy. Right now you just seem lost and it’s hard to see how any decision you make is going to be a good one. Good luck. </p>