I am so impressed with all of your posts, and your dedication towards earning a bachelor’s.
But since you just posted that the presence of your college fund is what started you on this current path, I am pretty sure that you can liquidate the money in your college fund and use it for non-educational purposes even if you don’t go to college, although there will be some taxes and penalties on the amount that exceeds the contributions that were made to this account. Just in case that is of any interest to you. Paging @kelsmom and @BelknapPoint for clarification and more information.
But I have every confidence that you will enjoy and get a great deal out of additional education, if that is the path that you want to pursue! Best of luck to you!
Aww I really appreciate that! Thank you for your encouragement. I’m committed to pursuing my Bachelor’s now so I definitely plan to attend school.
I think my grandparents would be extremely happy with the decision! I’m excited and extremely scared so I feel that this is a great push outside of my comfort zone.
This community has been so supportive and I can’t thank them enough. I plan to work on my applications around the winter holidays and right now I’m gathering as much information as I can so I can decide where I want to apply.
Regarding the number of applications, it really depends. 3 apps could be fine if one of them were an affordable safety that you’d be happy to attend. But if admissions results are hard to predict (which is likely in your case) and you’re going to need to compare offers, then more apps would be wise.
I’ve had a somewhat similar experience with my nephew, who moved in with me in order to start community college at 28, and should be finishing up his BA this year. He has significant learning disabilities that still haven’t been fully diagnosed, and he was never going to have a 4.0 GPA, but he loves to learn and has found caring mentors who appreciate his genuine intellectual curiosity. The trick, as others have said, is to find someplace where you can get in with your stats, that will be challenging enough to match your strengths. This is easier to accomplish at large schools, where acceptance is more-or-less automatic but the proverbial cream can rise to the top once there. It’s trickier at small schools, where the more selective schools may be a better fit but may be hard to crack, admissions-wise, and harder to find a cohort of adult-student peers. This is why schools with specific adult-learning programs (like Simmons and Bard) may end up serving you best.
You may not want to rule out larger schools out of hand. You may find that built-in community exists in small departments like philosophy, even at bigger schools.
Do you have strong references? I see this as a situation where professor references could really make the difference.
UNC Asheville is another public LAC (3200 undergrads) that is very progressive/accepting (LGBTQ+ friendly, etc.) and has a decent number of 25+ students (17% according to Niche). The area is incredibly scenic and the City of Asheville is awesome. OOS sticker price is around 40K/year. Program: Philosophy - University of North Carolina Asheville - Acalog ACMS™ I think this would be a safety for you, but it could be a very appealing one.
Your nephew sounds amazing. You must be so proud of him!
Those are really great points. I’m definitely not crossing out any schools yet. I want to go over their websites and student reviews so that I don’t miss any potential hidden gems.
I definitely think that there are multiple schools that would be a great match for me. I am now adding UNC Asheville to my list! I agree that there will be some kind of give and take at any of the schools. I think I really need to reflect on what’s most important to me because there are so many options.
Unfortunately, I’ve been out of school since the pandemic. I may have 1 professor who is willing to write a recommendation for me but at my CC most teachers forget you after a semester.
Your advice is invaluable and I really appreciate it
Hi! I wanted to give an update on my progress as a non-trad student. Hopefully I can help someone else in the middle of their college search. I ended up with a spreadsheet comparing 37 colleges and narrowed it down to 5.
The majority of schools were suggested here and I can’t thank you all enough. If anyone has questions please feel free to dm me. I found that many residential colleges secure housing for all of their students regardless of age. Schools that didn’t have the space, understandably, had to give non-traditional students lowest priority.
I made a quick list of programs that stood out to me during my search. Hopefully they can help somebody here. I mostly used the college websites or contacted res life so please double check this information for yourself The holidays are upon us and I hope to finish all of my applications before the new year
Wishing you all an enjoyable and low stress end of the year!
Programs for non-traditional students that stood out to me:
BU Metropolitan college has the evergreen program for individuals who are 58+ as well as the Prison education program for individuals who are currently incarcerated. The prison education program only offers one major in interdisciplinary studies.
UNC Asheville has the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program for those who are 65+: The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNC Asheville is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed learning community dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, leadership, community service, and research. Our goal is to enable our members to thrive in life’s second half. (65+)
Smith, St. Catherine’s University, and Wellesley both have specific housing for non trad students.
The Golden Doors Scholar program has a list of partner schools that they work with to provide full ride scholarships for undocumented students. You don’t have to attend a partner School in order to receive the scholarship but it seems like a great start in finding schools that want to encourage undocumented students to attend.
Immigrants rising also appears to have some good resources for undocumented students.
I also didn’t realize that there are quite a few schools that offer special housing for single parents. Many also provide childcare and great on campus support networks. St Catherine’s University and Smith offer such programs!
** Please note that many of these programs appear to target single mothers but I would definitely reach out regardless.
I really appreciate that! Thank you for your encouragement. I’m committed to pursuing my Bachelor’s now so I definitely plan to attend school.
The holidays are upon us and I hope to finish all of my applications before the new year