Have any of you quit the working world and gone back full-time? What was it like?

12/14/2009 1:00:55 PM

I did it for one semester before I started working again... that semester I made all A+'s but I drained my bank account

12/14/2009 2:59:35 PM

i worked for 3 years out of school before i went back, but it was mainly because my grades weren't in order. i will say that not making money sucks, but i'm trying to remind myself that i'll be making 3-4x as much when i graduate and have really good job security

12/14/2009 3:01:15 PM

It's never too late!

12/14/2009 4:10:18 PM

my mom went back at 40 to become a nurse

12/14/2009 4:18:28 PM

Money, family, and work permitting... I don't think it's ever too late.

I mean, you're talking about bettering yourself.

12/14/2009 5:25:02 PM

I'm in my first year of law school at the age of 26, 4 years out of college. I have a bunch of classmates in their 30s, some in their 40s. If you can do it, just do it.

12/14/2009 6:24:49 PM

It's only too late once the opportunity costs of going back to school start exceeding the future benefits. What kind of programs are you thinking about?

12/14/2009 10:49:05 PM

Physics

12/14/2009 10:51:38 PM

we had a lady at my law school that was 60. her son married one of her classmates. she was a retired RN and wanted to do it.

so, if she can, anyone can.

12/14/2009 11:00:41 PM

I am thinking about doing this

since I don't seem to be going anywhere so far

12/15/2009 1:39:31 AM

Go for it.

In this day and age you're really boxing yourself in if you tell yourself that you're going to have one career for the rest of your life.

12/15/2009 1:45:47 AM

I wish my mom would go to law school, so I could marry a hot, young, future lawyer

12/15/2009 11:21:32 AM

I have a friend who is 30 and is back in school full-time. He never finished his degree so after this semester he has 2 more left. But he was kind of forced into it. He got laid off from his job, and spent over a year out of work. He figured with the job market the way it is, what better time to go back and finish.

That being said, he says it's a HUGE culture shock. All of the people in his classes are almost 10 years younger than him. He's the same age as 2 of his teachers, and older than 1 of them. But, he made straight A's this semester mainly because he has WAY more focus and responsibility after coming in from the working world. He said he never realized how easy college was until he went back after working full-time for nearly a decade.

[Edited on December 15, 2009 at 1:19 PM. Reason : a]

12/15/2009 1:19:07 PM

^ this sounds like just the route I'm heading for!

12/15/2009 1:51:41 PM

^^i've heard that from just about everyone that goes back after having a "real" job.

12/16/2009 12:04:45 PM

yep, i quit undergrad two years in, took 2 years off, and came back making a straight 4.0 after being in the "real world"


From my experiences, when you leave school, you either come back making fantastic grades, or you don't ever go back.

12/16/2009 1:03:11 PM

I went to grad school for a semester while I was between jobs (I was planning on switching careers). At 25 I was probably the youngest person in my class.

I aced everything, but I'd disagree with the notion that all/most people make a 4.0 when they return. I saw some fairly lame adults there. That might be because it was UNCG, though.

12/16/2009 1:28:08 PM

i don't think it is ever too late to go back. there are people of all ages and backgrounds that are in school, particularly due to the economic situation right now.

however, i never see myself going back "full time" due to the fact that it would be almost impossible to maintain the lifestyle i have grown accustomed to that a full-time paycheck provides. that said, i have considered going back to finish my degree while working, but the time hasn't been right for me yet.

12/16/2009 2:03:29 PM

^That's the big issue I'm facing. whether or not to go back full-time. I'd have to sell my car, maybe even move to a crappier apartment. With a girlfriend that complicates matters.

12/16/2009 3:23:50 PM

There's a 4 year gap between when I finished undergrad and started grad school. For 2 of those years, I worked full time. After I realized how much that sucked, I started working on prereqs to get into grad school. I never took more than 2 classes a semester, and thus have been able to work almost full time. It was tough adjusting at first, but it got better and my grades have been great.

Quote :

"But, he made straight A's this semester mainly because he has WAY more focus and responsibility after coming in from the working world. He said he never realized how easy college was until he went back after working full-time for nearly a decade."

completely true

[Edited on December 16, 2009 at 3:29 PM. Reason : .]

12/16/2009 3:26:20 PM

i did it last year around this time- got 8 more credit hours until I'm done with my new degree


and I have a friend who is doing the same thing right now (just had his last day yesterday, and went to go pay the school money today and talk to his adviser)


I was 25 at the time, and he is 25 now

12/16/2009 4:29:22 PM

To go along with what I said previously about assessing the benefits and taking stock of the costs... a physics degree could have a big upside compared to what you've been doing, but make sure you're also being realistic about what's involved; before committing to it, be honest with yourself about whether you can and will finish it. I don't in any way mean this as an insult, but your prior GPA wasn't stellar, and you were in a program that was a lot easier than physics. I don't know if you're talking about getting a bachelor's or a graduate degree, but physics is difficult, and nothing would suck more than spending a few years not working, possibly accruing more debt, and then coming out of it without a degree and no upside at all.

12/17/2009 1:28:38 PM

I thought the job market for physicists was terrible?

Quote :

"Q: How many physicists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: One, but 25 will apply for the job."

Is the joke my former physics-major friend told me.

12/17/2009 1:40:48 PM

The job market for physicists to do physics isn't great, but the job market for people with physics degrees is fine.

12/17/2009 1:44:18 PM

quit my job for full time b-school when i was 24. it was not a top tier program by most rankings (NC State). had several good internship offers, and took one that eventually turned into a full time job after graduation. it has worked out incredibly well -- being compensated on par with those from top tier programs, my ROI is through the roof.

in general, i think higher education is always worth it. just know that a lot of times it isn't a "ticket". you still need to hustle to get where you want to be.

12/17/2009 5:54:23 PM

I did undergrad at State. Graduated. Worked full time for 3 years. Now I've just finished my first semester in grad school going full time. I'm very happy with that decision. I'm 25 now.

12/18/2009 5:23:09 AM

I went to school for 2 years right out of HS. Then I quit for a couple years. I'm now going back to finish what I started. I'm much better off now because I appreciate the opportunity for me to succede at NCSU, where-as before I did not.

12/18/2009 5:29:53 AM

my brother went back to school at 29 at NCSU doing their night MBA program.

I'm tossing around the idea myself (not MBA) and I'm 26. I've been out of school for 3 years.

My mother-in-law completed her RN two years ago, and she's 50 (48? 49?...51? 52? I dunno )

A intern at my firm was a doctor (GP), but was going back to law school. She was 40.

It's never too late!

12/18/2009 9:53:16 AM

not full time but wasnt tooo far from being done anyways

31, 2 nights a week

my current job requires the degree i dont have so this is more for me, and in case i get fired or something

12/21/2009 8:29:41 AM

NEVER TOO LAAAATE

12/21/2009 9:01:47 AM

Quote :

"Have any of you quit the working world and gone back full-time? What was it like?"

this is what i'm doing in ~8 months

knowing the level of income ill be getting afterwards is very strong motivation

[Edited on December 21, 2009 at 1:15 PM. Reason : s]

12/21/2009 1:11:35 PM

yes. I quit last august, took 3 grad classes last semester, taking 2 and working part time this semester. I am 29, the oldest in all of my classes. However, we had to plot stuff on log-log graph paper for a test last semester. Apparently a few years after I graduated elementary school they stopped teaching kids how to graph by hand and went straight to excel, so I aced the test and everyone else failed. It was kind of funny. I had an 830 class where I was the only one who showed up on time, and it irked me that people showed up late. I also have a baby, and that makes life hard. If your SO has a good job or you have enough saved to go back, i say go for it. There are few better places to network for jobs than college.

1/7/2010 8:46:20 AM

^^

What are you planning on doing?

I toss around the idea of quitting work and going back to school when my wife is done with residency and making $texas. At that point, my salary won't really matter. MBAs are kind of a dime a dozen these days, but I really really enjoy the leadership aspects of my job.

My dream job is probably to work ski patrol, but that would require living somewhere near a mountain.

1/7/2010 8:52:20 AM

if it goes like the movies I've seen, you'll have sex with a lot of women too (ski patrol)

1/7/2010 2:04:58 PM

^^ Maybe you could drag 'em down the mountain and your wife could fix 'em.

I think I want to get into a commission based job once this economy starts turning around. Maybe sling boats or something. Knew a guy down in Wilmington who was selling yachts and making a killing for the past 5 years or so until the economy went sour. You don't have to sell much to make a living when your product is $1mil+.

[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 10:47 AM. Reason : s]

1/8/2010 10:45:38 AM

I don't know, 10:30PM? That's getting pretty close to bed time these days

3/5/2010 11:47:46 AM

Quote :

"Money, family, and work permitting... I don't think it's ever too late. I mean, you're talking about bettering yourself."

I studied physics. And I say go for it!

3/7/2010 8:37:22 PM

never too late.

3/24/2010 10:09:22 PM

I started my undergrad when I was 30 (actually 29 and about 10 months).

I'm done and happily employed. Glad I did it.

3/25/2010 7:37:31 PM

im ready to go back to school.

having spent the last 3.5 years in the "real world"

bout time for some real structure (ie. school)

3/25/2010 10:27:05 PM

I miss school!

3/26/2010 4:15:50 PM

when you are dead

4/4/2010 5:04:27 PM

I graduated from State in 2004. Worked FT for 2 years and realized if i wanted to get further in my field of choice (Sports Finance/Sports Admin) then i was going to have to go to grad school. Im completing the M.S. in Sports Management and Sports Finance online program with the '[b]United States Sports Academy' and I TREMENDOUSLY enjoy their program and the fact that they place 93.5% of their graduates into the Sports Industry. I should have gone straight after undergrad but im glad i took the time off and worked b/c im wickedly more motivated and yes im rocking a A combined GPA.

4/11/2010 2:24:02 AM

I quit my job last year and have gone back to school to pursue an entirely different career(Architecture), def way more focused. It's crazy to look around the classroom and realize not only are my classmates a lot younger than I, but they're also way ahead of me. But it's funny to see that I've met half the guest speakers in my old career and have way more to offer in class than my classmates. It feels good to be back in school. No keg parties, just getting my learn on, haha

5/1/2010 8:12:49 AM

Holy Shit, PartyChris sighting ITT!

Gotten anymore DUIs lately?

5/1/2010 8:29:20 AM

^ rofl

[Edited on May 1, 2010 at 2:29 PM. Reason : ]

5/1/2010 2:29:20 PM

i'm starting law school next year and i'll be 31. getting real world seasoning before going back was the best decision i made.

5/2/2010 6:36:31 PM

maybe i'm getting old, what's ITT?
I've been staying outta trouble, just laying low, studying, spending time with my son and working

[Edited on May 3, 2010 at 1:41 PM. Reason : .]

5/3/2010 1:40:42 PM

in this thread

5/13/2010 2:00:35 PM