Going back into education and second guessing myself... opinions needed!

[DaydreamBeIiever]

Re-posting here for traffic as it’s been ignored in Chat...

I’ve applied to do an Access Course and am potentially going to be enrolling today, and now I’m starting to panic about it. Here’s what’s running through my mind at the minute.

• I have a 10 month old DS who I am going to have to arrange childcare for at very short notice - I won't know what days/hours I need until I get my timetable, and I won’t know that until I enrol. Doesn’t give me much time to figure it out and I have no idea how much it’ll cost.
• I’m doing the course with a view to then going on to study Diagnostic Radiography at university. I don’t drive (haven’t learned) and the three nearest unis to me that offer this course are roughly an hour- 1.5 hours travel in each direction on the train. Season tickets alone will cost thousands. Moving isn’t an option.
• The unis I can get to that offer the course aren’t great...
• DH and I want to have another DC. Timing this is tricky... at the moment I’m thinking we could TTC this autumn/winter so I’m due next summer, then I take a year between the AC and starting uni, so when I start uni DS will be just shy of 3 so we’ll be entitled to however many hours free childcare. Is that the best way to time it? Also means I’d be pregnant whilst doing the AC. My pregnancy with DS was a breeze but there’s no guarantee that’ll happen a second time.
• I already have a ton of student debt from my first attempt at university (that’s a whole other back story). To do this I’ll have to apply for an advanced learner loan for the access course, and I don’t know how much I can apply for yet. Presumably most, or all of it will go towards the course fees (£3.4k). That being said, once I graduate (assuming I do, of course) that loan will be automatically written off. But I’ll still have to finance a degree- there is a government grant currently offered but whether that will be the case when I actually get to uni in potentially 2 years’ time...
• I have to do the science AC to meet the entry requirements for 2 of the unis. I haven’t studied these since GCSE nearly 20 years ago. What if it’s just too hard, and I can’t hack it, and I get myself into all this debt and plonk my baby into childcare and it turns out to be for nothing? What if I don’t get accepted into uni?

I want to do this, but I also want to do the right thing for my family, most importantly for DS and his potential future sibling/s. Now that I’m right on the edge of taking this plunge I’m starting to worry that I’m making a huge mistake.

I'm a mature student at uni and most of what you're concerned about I was too.

As far as your timetable is concerned, it's shit.
I'm due to go back in about 2 weeks and I still don't have my new timetable.
I'm a lp with with an infant aged child and I need to book breakfast/after school clubs but can't. It's a bit stressful but not insurmountable.
I didn't do an access course but I know people who have. Most of these had courses that were called full-time but in reality they were 2 days a week.

With regards to money. I don't have a dp so what i get and what you would be entitled to won't resemble each other at all. His income will be taken into account in any calculations. And the 'debt' isn't debt in the traditional sense. I've worked out I will be about 80 grand in debt when I finish. It's terrifying, but again it's not something that will negatively effect my life.

Finally, I was so scared I couldn't hack it and that I wasn't clever enough.
I've now completed 2 years of my degree and I'm going strong.
It's stressful and hard going at times but it's also amazing and empowering. This is the hardest thing I've ever done, made harder through being a lp and having a lot of outside pressures that most students don't have. There's a lot of support at my uni available to students that have outside caring responsibilities. Talk to your college/uni about it.
I say go for it. You never know if you don't try!
Good luck op!

I meant to also say regarding the commute, you'll probably find that at least the first semester will be mostly remote learning due to covid.
Mine is and I'm studying a science subject too. The only times I'll be on campus will be for the labs that have to be done in small bubbles.
When things were normal I was spending 3 hrs a day commuting on the bus. Again this is a pain in the arse but I used this time to do reading I needed to do or sometimes to write lecture notes.
Being organised is key! It took me most of the first year to figure out what worked for me. I also spent most of my first year thinking that I'd made a huge mistake! It's a massive undertaking so it's understandable that you're having a bit of a wobble!

Thanks @NeonBella.

The college I’m doing the AC at is only a few miles away so travelling won’t be an issue for a little while yet. But it’s so frustrating that I can’t find out any information about timetables, funding etc until I’ve enrolled, I don’t even know if it’s remote learning or not- and I might have classes as early as next week!

I have no experience of doing this as a parent, but as an adult I did an access course and went on to study diagnostic radiology.
My first comment would be regarding uni's, it won't make a jot of difference whether the uni has a good reputation, it is whether they have a good reputation for radiography. You are almost guaranteed a job, every hospital needs more radiographers.
It might be better to make your choice around which places students with your local hospital, as that will save you transport costs for about half of your school year (it's about 50/50 uni time / hospital placement).
Regarding childcare, I am pretty sure some people on my course got help with this, but I don't know if that has been reduced recently. Worth a chat with the college advisors.
Finally, my access course was 3 days per week. At college there was an on-site nursery, which might be helpful.

@overwork none of the unis are particularly high ranking either by league table or by subject, but all the good ones are way too far away! The one that would be my first choice (Canterbury Christ Church) does place students at my local hospital and initially that was the only uni I was planning on applying to, but it seems a bit foolish to only apply to one why is why I’m also looking at the other two (Brighton and LSBU).

I know there’s no on-site nursery at the college, so I would have to find childcare- the college does have a fund to assist with childcare costs but it’s means tested so I don’t yet know how much help I’ll be able to get.

Go for it. It will all work out. Good luck.

Sorry, I should reword it, I still don't think it will make the slightest bit of difference to you getting a job (which is the main point of all this). We take students from two uni's and there is a slight difference in them as a whole, but we employ from both uni's (as well as further afield) and there are always standout students in any cohort in any uni. Concentrate on being one of those students and don't worry too much about the league tables!
I wish you luck, it will be hard work but I am sure that you can get there :)

i think its a LOT to take on. 10month old baby AND planning to start on number 2 and a degree in a new subject.

Why not start with say science GCSE's over next year, as a private candidate (or A levels) to take next summer. get you back into the learning, to apply for next stage next year. least you will know then whether you have 2 kids or not at that point to cover costs for.