Re-starting college!

[BigK]

[quote name="R_Bert" post="1180094" timestamp="1408153377"]I took a look at TN university system tuition rates. Wow. I had no idea it was so expensive now. MBAs from $45K to $70K and more. I would have to sell my house or kill my 401K to even think about finishing a grad degree. No idea how I would even start back up now. Kudos to OP for getting it together.[/quote] Two of my co-workers have wrapped up their MBAs and one a PhD in the past couple of years. They say nothing but good things about the overall process and that the feeling of accomplishment surpasses just having their bachelor's degree. All 3 went slow (1 or 2 classes per semester), so the cost and class load is easy to handle and still work fulltime. The problem with all 3 people is that they still work at the same place. They'll NEVER get a fair return on their investment in time/money until they shop that new degree around in the market. Same would hold true for any new marketable skill, I guess.

[R_Bert]

Two of my co-workers have wrapped up their MBAs and one a PhD in the past couple of years. They say nothing but good things about the overall process and that the feeling of accomplishment surpasses just having their bachelor's degree. All 3 went slow (1 or 2 classes per semester), so the cost and class load is easy to handle and still work fulltime. The problem with all 3 people is that they still work at the same place. They'll NEVER get a fair return on their investment in time/money until they shop that new degree around in the market. Same would hold true for any new marketable skill, I guess.

 

talking about paybacks - I once had a new ham radio friend who dropped by and proudly showed me his just-received PhD in EE (He was ~55 years old and had spent years in night school).

 

He literally and suddenly dropped dead within 30 days.

[peejman]

I took a look at TN university system tuition rates.

Wow. I had no idea it was so expensive now. MBAs from $45K to $70K and more.

I would have to sell my house or kill my 401K to even think about finishing a grad degree.

No idea how I would even start back up now.

Kudos to OP for getting it together.

Exactly. I've thought about getting an MBA as a way out of my current dead-end job (yes, a dead-end job in engineering) but it's way too expensive to justify and I don't really want to go into management anyway. Edited August 17, 2014 by peejman

[BigK]

talking about paybacks - I once had a new ham radio friend who dropped by and proudly showed me his just-received PhD in EE (He was ~55 years old and had spent years in night school).

 

He literally and suddenly dropped dead within 30 days.

 

dang, it's bad enough to die that young, but after all that hard work, he didn't even get to reap ANY rewards from it...that sucks

[R_Bert]

A question - Tennessee Promise scholarships are available to graduating seniors. Provides two years of community college.

Anyone aware of educational help available for washed-up, broken old farts needing a totally new start?

[peejman]

A quick scan of the lottery related scholarship stuff doesn't seem to show any sort of age restrictions.  Most appear to be based on high school GPA and/or ACT/SAT test scores.  It might be a bit of a challenge coming up with that information if it's been a while, but schools are required to keep those records forever. 

 

http://www.tn.gov/collegepays/mon_college.htm

 

http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/nontraditional.phtml

[RC3]

All my classes suck. And so does my schedule. A 3 hour sat class.... Already dreading this.

[peejman]

All my classes suck. And so does my schedule. A 3 hour sat class.... Already dreading this.

 

 

Its important to start out with good grades.  The more class hours you accumulate, the less impact any one class will have on your GPA.  If you start out with a high GPA, it's much easier to keep it than it is to bring it up if you start poorly.  It's also important to distinguish between the important classes where you really need to thoroughly understand the material and those "check-the-box" classes. 

[RC3]

Its important to start out with good grades.  The more class hours you accumulate, the less impact any one class will have on your GPA.  If you start out with a high GPA, it's much easier to keep it than it is to bring it up if you start poorly.  It's also important to distinguish between the important classes where you really need to thoroughly understand the material and those "check-the-box" classes. 

Im knocking out everything I need for my engineering degree. And only doing the classes that are mandatory. All the extra ones suck, or are in different campuses. And the german class got cancelled. And work schedule isnt helping. But at least I get to go back to school.