Best college for a non-traditional student in MA?

<p>I am considering going to college next year. I would be 25 years old if I got accepted for the Winter Semester of ’15.</p>

<p>The reasons I have decided to go now is because I feel that I haven’t learned enough for the real world and I missed out on the college experience. I wasn’t ready at 18 but feel like now is as good as ever to go...</p>

<p>My biggest concerns are (not in any particular order!):</p>

<p>Social acceptance: I’ll admit that at 25 and single I do hope to still have some sort of social life. Most of my high school friends have outgrew me and we are just at a difference place in life. I do believe that I’m a late bloomer and people have told me they were shocked when I told them my actual age. I just don’t want to feel like a creep in class...</p>

<p>Location: At 18 I was accepted into UMass Dartmouth. I’m not to thrilled about the area but I did like the school. I have been looking into the Northampton area which I really love because of the artsy vibe. I was thinking of applying to Hampshire College but I’m unsure if I’m too old to get in.</p>

<p>Education: I plan on studying towards a Liberal arts degree. I’m a musician and love music/arts to death but I just want to expand my learning. </p>

<p>If anybody is in the same location and can give me some advice I would be forever thankful! </p>

<p>I’m surprised no one ever answered this, so I’ll do what I can.</p>

<p>There are plenty of schools that admit non-traditional students as a routine matter, without any special admissions program. Especially if you are planning to attend full-time, you have abundant options. </p>

<p>Non-trad programs tend to target students who need the option to attend part-time at an institution that is typically full-time only, or students seeking admission at an institution that typically exclusively prefers traditional students. </p>

<p>An upside of these formal non-trad programs is that they give you a cohort of students in similar circumstances, which can make it easier to form a social peer group. Just be aware that the size of that cohort can vary. Some programs (e.g. Yale’s Eli Whitney Students) admit a dozen students or so annually, while others (e.g. Columbia, where the School of General Studies represents roughly 25% of the undergrad population) are more aggressive in recruiting a large cohort of non-trad students.</p>

<p>So even if you plan to attend full time, you may want to look into some of the non-trad programs in MA to give yourself more of a social community. e.g. the REAL program at Tufts, Woods College at Boston College, College of Professional Studies at Northeastern. </p>

<p>In addition, you may want to give extra weight to schools that do not have a non-trad-specific program but do actively encourage non-trad applicants and provide supporting resources for them once admitted. (e.g. Hampshire College, Lesley University) </p>

<p>Wherever you end up, best of luck on your apps and in your college career!</p>

<p>You asked for the BEST college for a non-traditional student in MA. </p>

<p>The BEST college for a non-traditional student in MA is the Harvard Extension School. </p>

<p>extension.harvard.edu</p>

<p>You can make a social life with adults. The courses and the students are very high quality. Anyone can register for courses, first come first served. To matriculate into a degree program, you need to pass expository writing and two other courses with a certain GPA. They accept transfer credits, AP and CLEP credits if you have any. </p>

<p>It by far the least expensive option, roughly $1200 per course, except of course for the cost of living in the Boston area. However, if you live with roommates, it’s not that bad. Many people take 4 courses a semester and go full-time. </p>

<p>I honestly don’t know why I neglected to mention HES in my list as I was running down the mental list of MA options. A clear oversight…thanks for filling in the gap!</p>

<p>However, I wouldn’t agree that it is “by far the least expensive option” - Woods@BC is $1688 per course, Harvard ES is $1250. A significant difference, but not “by far” significant. Meanwhile at Woods you can take courses at BC proper for $1556 per credit hour or $4668 per course, while Special Student status at Harvard College is both more expensive ($5052 per course) and more difficult to secure (requiring 12 prior credit hours in same discipline as the course you wish to take).</p>

<p>HES is without question the best bang-for-the-buck combination of Ivy credentials with low price. Their insistence on awarding the ALB instead of the AB to HES students diminishes the “bang” a bit compared to more equitable Ivy League programs at Yale/Brown/Columbia, but when you can complete the entire ALB from start to finish for less than the cost of one year at one of these other three, that slightly-softer bang is still a screaming bargain.</p>

<p>When I returned to college after 4 years in a factory, I went to a large state uni and lived off campus. There I found friends, most of whom were my age or older, among the people I worked with and among the graduate students in my major and in related fields. I also made some good friends among younger but superior students, and these are still my friends 30+ years later. There wasn’t anything creepy, as far as I was aware. The 18 and 19yos wanted nothing to do with me and, frankly, they looked to me like they weren’t yet old enough to have their licenses.</p>

<p>I went to UMass Lowell and there were a lot of older students and had a social life within the college. One of them who was also 25, lived in the dorms (which was a little weird). BUT I knew and was friends with many people who were around your age and lived off campus. </p>

<p>If you are female, Smith College has one of the best programs specifically for non-traditional students. <a href=“Ada Comstock Scholar Applicants | Smith College”>http://www.smith.edu/admission/ada.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;