to consider selling my house to fund a degree?

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More of an 'am I being completely ridiculous?'

I went through school with undiagnosed dyslexia. My grades were all over the place, totally inconsistent and very little correlation to how much effort I'd put in, and ultimately, I dropped out of university in my final year.

There's always been a question over whether I'm autistic too. I have no friends and I haven't since I was a young child. I don't really fit in anywhere.

I've always worked in unskilled jobs but I find everything apart from the actual work difficult. I'm bored and I get frustrated when things are unfair/illogical/half arsed/pointless. I hate having no autonomy. I was managed out of my first workplace for poor social/communication skills.

I feel like even if a degree didn't lead to a more interesting job, I'd possibly benefit from the student support and social side of things but it's a huge amount of money to spend when I might not get anything out of it.

Is it an option worth thinking about or is it just a massive waste of money? When I dropped out, fees were £3k so it was reasonable to think 'I can always go back later' but now they've pretty much trebled, is it worth it?

It's difficult to weed out the ones that just say it but it's not that important vs where it's genuinely very important.

It tends to be important for most jobs, no less so for biomedical science than for other jobs I wouldn’t have thought. To an extent though communication skills can be learned just like other skills, with practise and a bit of effort.

Sounds as if you are in a tough spot but selling your house to fund degree-level study is ... quite a drastic move, I would think carefully. I’m almost more inclined to suggest letting out your house or selling it and going travelling or volunteering for a year as seeing where that takes you, depending what you chose to do you might develop in more ways than a degree would let you. (Alternatively becoming a paramedic is a degree-level training now I believe, that does require ++communication skills though.) (Radio producer the first thing that comes to mind is “make a podcast then” but that’s not quite the same. Volunteer with hospital radio?)

Whatever plan you make, realistically it would be unwise to plan for a September 2020 start for a degree (because pandemic, timelines for house sale and degree application) so you have some time to think carefully. I don’t think you have to stay where you are but I’m not sure selling your house and getting a degree will open the doors you hope that it will.

feel like even if a degree didn't lead to a more interesting job, I'd possibly benefit from the student support and social side of things

This is the key.

You're looking for a new start and for somewhere to belong.

When you say you have weak social skills, exactly what do you mean by this? I have a child with SEND & their social communication weaknesses are not in the areas that you would expect. Every person with social communication difficulties are different.

It might help you (& us) if you list on paper what these difficulties are. It will help you to narrow down career choices & dismiss the obviously unsuitable ones like stock broker etc.

I suspect your social communication difficulties are in direct customer interaction. Background, support roles will suit you better as minimal interaction is required. It might help you to get some CBT therapy & counselling before you spend money on a degree. Spend time working through your issues with a trained professional.

thegirlwiththecurlyhair.co.uk/

You're not going to have more options though if you refuse to move. Are there jobs in your area where you could use a biomedical science degree? If no, why bother? You'll have no more options than before, and you'll have lost your house.