Uni as a mature (40) student. What to expect?

[RoryGillmoresEvilTwin]

I'm starting uni next month as a 40 year old LP and I'm nervous!
I've had the UCAS 'congratulations!' Email for a while but as of today I've started getting emails from the uni and it's now feeling a lot more real!
Stupid things are preoccupying my thoughts such as what should I wear 😂 and what if I don't make any friends because I'm so old 😭.

I'm doing Environmental science and I can't wait but I'm now equally scared and excited.

Are there any mature students out there that can give me some perspective and/or stories of oldies done good?!

I'm in the same boat - I'm 46 and starting next month. I'm quietly terrified. Worried about everything, especially lab skills as I didn't do much lab work durinmy Access course. Biomedical science here.

Oh gosh yes! I'm quite worried about lab work too.
I've got in on the strength of 2 years of OU modules done a few years ago.

Quietly terrified sums it up perfectly.

Looks like it's only us queribus 😂

Looks like it . Whereabouts are you going? I get sweaty thinking about day one, but I hope it will be fine. I guess they'll be other mature students even if they're not on my course

Me too! I'll be 46 in September, a week before I start. Also a single parent. I got a place through clearing this morning (was planning on applying 'properly' next year) so I'm still a bit shell-shocked. I'm so out of touch with popular culture, I will have absolutely nothing to talk to the young 'uns about...

I went at 27 and thought I was old but there were a few older than me on my course. Even more so when I did my MSc. You tend to find that the mature students stick together. My group of friends ended up being one 2 years older than me and the rest younger students that were in long term relationships and no longer prioritising going out every night! We seemed to gravitate towards each other as we were the only people standing outside the seminar rooms early each morning in the first few weeks! The rest would rock up bang on 9am or not bother turning up until mid morning...

You’ll be fine. A lot of the 18 year olds will probably be a bit intimidated at first but once you get into doing group work and seminars everyone gets talking.

My DH was a mature student in his 30s. There were other mature students on his course. He enjoyed it.

Woohoo there's more of us! 😂
I'm off to the University of East Anglia (UEA)...fab uni for env.
I found out a couple of weeks ago that I definitely had a place but it still hasn't quite sunk in. I'm struggling to think about anything else tbh.
I'm planning on joining an oldies group but dreading being the oldest on my course.

What are you studying BigPink?

Oh and CONGRATULATIONS to both of you! 🎉
It's a bit bloody scary...

Thanks Mait and Orange ☺ I think that I'll just be so happy doing something I enjoy for once...I'm not thinking about the childcare juggling act that I'll have to put on place just yet.

32, single parent of 3DDs 10, 7 and 2 - starting Biology at University of Nottingham next month I did an Access Science course at college with a bunch of mostly 20 year old lads. It was great. Really nervous for Uni though.

I'm equal parts excited and terrified. Especially as there is maths in the course airily dismissed as only Higher level.

Higher maths was 30 odd years ago!

Good for you Pipe!

I find it interesting that at least 3 of us are doing science degrees.
Maybe we should set up a support group 😂

ItsAllGoingToBeFine congratulations!

Yes the maths in my course is worrying me too...I'm going to channel your username!

Well done. UEA has an excellent reputation for environmental science. Wear what you feel comfortable in. A lot of people just wear jeans. Would suggest wearing flat, comfortable shoes, especially for the first couple of days as there can be some trotting back and forth across campus to get id cards/ registration certificates/ key fobs etc. If you're doing lab work you will likely be doing a fair amount of standing up and need to wear close-toed shoes anyway.

There's no getting around it, the 18 yr olds away from home for the first time will seem very young. And sometimes it's not just a case of being older than all of your course mates but older than all your lecturers. However, you are all in the same boat and that's a great leveller. Join the mature students' society and take people as you find them would be my advice.

The other thing I recommend is to grips with citation software -Endnote, Mendeley or one of the others early on. It makes life so much easier.

I went to uni as a mature student in 1991 aged 39 and I loved every minute. My biggest fears were just the same as staring a new school - would I find my way round, make friends etc. but it was fine - I just latched on to a few people and followed them for a bit, and then hooked up with the two other mature students on the course. Maths was a bit of a challenge because I had done my '0' levels twenty three years previously and couldn't remember much, but they held a test for all students in our year and those who were rusty (like me) were given extra sessions so we could catch up.

I remember being so elated to have got a place that it only dawned on me once I got there that I would have to write essays, do practical work and pass assignments. I wrote my first essay (I didn't have to do an access course so hadn't written anything since I failed my A levels twenty years previously) and asked a couple of the younger ones if they would read it and tell me if it was, in fact, an essay. They were all so stressed out and said no - fair enough. The day we got our marked essays returned the tutor said "Which one of you is Catcoriander?" I put my hand up expecting to be told that I had failed miserably but in fact I had gained a First and she said it was the first time anyone had managed to do that in their very first assignment. Guess who wanted to read my essay then!

I really enjoyed my time there, made some good friends, and went on to have a very enjoyable and satisfying second career. You'll be fine!

Speech and Language Therapy for me. I've done a lot of studying in various forms over the years, largely just for fun, no-one's that surprised that I'm going back to Uni...again...but I didn't have a kid those other times, so that's my main worry - the practicalities of childcare, being around enough for him, having both the energy & headspace to be a mum and a student...

Really looking forward to it though.

In definitely a jeans and t kind of girl so that's good ThreeHours . Realistically I'll be wearing whatever's in my wardrobe and clean 😂 it's just one of many silly little worries. I think it's my way of not panicking about the big stuff just yet.

Wow Cat fancy reading my essays when the time comes?? 😂
It's tough because no one I know really gets it. I think everyone thinks I'm being a bit silly and frivolous going to Uni at my age, especially as I'm a lp. I keep saying that this is as much for ds as for me. I also dont think people will have much patience with me saying I can't go out or something, because I have something due...

I have been looking at doing this but it will not be this year.. (As well I've applied nowhere for starters ) So reading this is making me feel a bit " ohhh lucky you all"

Good luck.

Thanks Enko.
I'd say go for It! It's kind of now or never for me and I can't not give it my best shot.

Yes we should make a thread somewhere!

I agree Rory, I’m doing this for my DDs more than for myself. Everyone mostly thinks I’m either brave, crazy or possibly both

Also a jeans and tee kinda gal. When I started college last year, to save on time and over thinking, I bought a college ‘uniform’ of plain tees, high waisted jeans, leather jacket, gloves and Converse/Doc Martens. Like Jessica Jones 😂

I’ve found my tribe! Except you are all so young!! Off to uni next month when I will be 55. And my uni apparently doesn’t really have mature students. There’s a do in freshers week for students over 21 so I will do that, but probably not anything else though my 23 yo DS keeps saying I should!

I started uni last year as a mature student. It's quite funny at times seeing what the kids are wearing, I definitely remember some fashions from the first time round and others are just well
My union has mature student societies for socials and there are Facebook groups so definitely have a look for those. I'd say for me the hardest thing at times was trying not to sound like a condescending old twat! I mean that in the nicest way. It's funny because I found myself cast in the role of an OAP which I pretty much was to the 18 year olds. You forget how much you learn/develop in you late teens and early 20's and whilst some fellow students are incredibly mature others are exactly their age and you have to let live. The good thing is that they've grown up with so many of the tools you'll need to use that might be less familiar to you, that you can learn from each other. But, I would highly recommend finding some other mature students so you can swap stories and support each other as you'll likely have some slightly different challenges to a lot of your classmates. They will not be able to help with your childcare dilemmas! Good luck with it all!

More of us - yay! Some of my friends are baffled why I'm bothering but DH is very supportive which helps. I don't mind not being seen as a bit OAP, but I would like someone else to talk to whilst I'm there! Feels a bit more real now I have emails about enrolling, course modules and ID cards!

Ive just graduated as a mature-ish student. I didn’t make friends in the first 6 months as I didn’t really try, I decided from the start that I was there to learn and I already had enough of my own social life so it took a bit of pressure off. I did end up making friends after the first Christmas and they were fresh from school young things but probably more mature than I am!
I came from an access course where I didn’t learn many lab skills and my maths was still rusty for the parts I needed but they take things so slow at the beginning normally you shouldn’t worry.
Lab skills wise there’s YouTube videos that were really helpful. Look up how to use variable pipettes if you think you might use those, they’re easy to learn but it was nice that I didn’t have that panic when I first picked one up. I did natural sciences so watched videos about how to plate on petri dishes and similar but everything was explained anyways.
I was astounded by the one popular clique where I was and they were good to watch, like they hadn’t realised they’d left school. That was 10-15 people out of 150 and everyone else was really nice so don’t worry :).
Congratulations and good luck!

And I doubly recommend using mendeley from the off. I’d say mendeley over Evernote as mendeley is free so you can put it on your home laptop and it is just as functional and I thought it was easier to get to grips with.
Also read scientific papers on your topics from the off. They’re easy enough read once you’ve done a few and they inform you’re learning so much which leads to 1sts and really well written essays and reports. Prioritise papers just as much as a recommended reading.