Uni in my 30s! Any tips? Worried about being the oldest

[DanceMonkey19]

I'm starting uni in September, and while I'm really excited, I'm nervous about being so old in a room full of teenagers! I'm in my late 30s with 2 young kids so won't have a lot in common and won't be going on nights out etc as I'll be commuting in each day.

Anyone who has been to uni as a very mature student? How did you find it? Any tips on getting the most out of it?

I'm going at 47 I'm definitely the oldest by at least 20 years. But I have my friends who I sit by in class and got in fine.

Not speaking too much in tutorials is probably good advice.

I worked out quite quickly not to attend all lectures if you can avoid it sone days (but I can watch all mine online) saved one day of commuting.

@DanceMonkey19 I'm 47 and in my 2nd year of a SLT degree. In my cohort, there are 4 others in their 30s, then a handful of 20-somethings then the rest are school-leavers. All lovely, bright young women who have been perfectly friendly and inclusive to me and the other mature students. You'll be fine.

@burnoutbabe

I'm going at 47 I'm definitely the oldest by at least 20 years. But I have my friends who I sit by in class and got in fine.

Not speaking too much in tutorials is probably good advice.

I worked out quite quickly not to attend all lectures if you can avoid it sone days (but I can watch all mine online) saved one day of commuting.

Not speaking too much in tutorials is really bad advice.

That's why some of the young ones disliked me but who cares what they think? They were the lazy, immature ones. The opinion of your tutors is more important because they'll be the ones writing your references.

But it's a good idea to think about which lectures you'll attend. If a topic isn't relevant for you then you don't need to go.

No I mean over contributing is annoying for tutors. Let others speak. If no one wants to speak then indicate you know the answer and you are happy to answer.
But often the tutor wants students to work it out themselves, not one person provide all the answer.

All lectures are important I'd say but you don't need to attend then all in person if they don't track attendance.

(Unfortunately!) they will track attendance for an SLT course. I think it's a minimum of 75% attendance required by RCSLT. But I imagine there'll be some online teaching still, come October, due to coronavirus? So that might help reduce the number of days you'll actually need to physically attend OP.

@burnoutbabe
That isn't over-contributing. What you are describing is not giving anyone else a chance to answer. I haven't done that.

Some of the younger ones don't turn up to seminars and even if they do, they are silent throughout. They seem to think they'll get a degree just by paying the fees.

RE attendance. If they do track it and you can't attend for good reason make sure you email whoever's running the lecture/seminar every time you miss it explaining why and apologising, ideally before it starts. Not only will this lead to good relationships with your tutors but if your attendance does slip below the level set you are much more likely to be given wiggle room if it's all been acknowledged by you and shown to be for good reason rather than just skipping without saying anything (even if the reason for skipping is still reasonable).