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?!

Oooh I need to join this thread. 54 and starting a part time masters next month (while working full time )!

I graduated in 1985, so its going to be a very different experience. The internet hadn't been invented and obviously all work was done old skool longhand. I'm really interested in the various learning platforms etc now available.

I'm just working through a module on brushing up your skills, and one thing that is interesting is all the plagiarism stuff - that really did not exist when I was an undergraduate, probably because students could not cut and paste, and there were no detection programmes.

I’ve been forewarned about timetable changes, last minute cancellations etc. It’s going to really irritate me. In short I’ve booked full time childcare for all 3 of my DC to try and negate this, grand total is just shy of £400 a week

Half terms are already freaking me out - £50 per day per child and I have 2 that will need it My Dad has offered to take the elder 2 in Feb and May so I just have Oct to sort out.

I’ve moved from an area where I had zero back up to inside the City boundaries where I have several friends on hand that are SAHPs and are my back up.

Hi all, I woke very early this morning and the first thing on my mind is childcare and Uni worries. I have my timetables now and had a good idea of how full on it was before I applied.

My problem is that I am in every day, and don't finish until 5pm on 4 days. I live rurally and will be driving, on a good run it takes an hour, at 5pm rush hour, I'll be lucky to be home in 1.5 hours. I can work around this all but one day a week, when my DD is in afterschool care that finishes at 6pm and no back up to pick her up. I am so worried, and want to ask Uni if I would be able to leave 30 mins early one day a week, but daren't! I don't want to look like some flaky mum who expects special treatment.

I am very organised and dedicated to doing this (it is my last chance at my age) but I am also stressing so much about it.

Looking at the 6 weeks worth of timetables available to me, there are changes in some session times, but not on the day I need it.

Does anyone have experience of being able to leave early in situations such as this?

blackspaniel I left early all the time last year. My children are too old for childcare but my youngest had ASD. A lot of our lectures were recorded so you could catch up. I did really well in my foundation year despite having to leave some lectures by 30 mins. The lecturers in my uni were very understanding.

I initialling would try to change timetable to a different session/workshop, otherwise leave early. Lecturers were always happy to meet up to discuss anything I had missed.

I did my nursing degree at 39 and there were a few mature students there as you would expect in nursing. I made good with quite a few of the younger students and still keep in touch now. Some of them were quite mature. I'm so excited for you. I remember the feeling .

@blackspaniel I have some that run till 7pm (only once every third week though, bizarre!) my childcare ends at 6pm, so il have to leave Uni at 5:15pm. I’ve already emailed the lecturer and it’s fine

Serious cold feet about the whole thing now. Timetable not too bad, but I have two days a week each with only one 45 min lecture, including Friday at 4pm. It's a 40 min commute, plus parking, walking etc. I've asked about alternative lectures but can't see me arranging child care just for those lectures. A b bit overwhelmed at the moment

Sympathy to those facing these childcare issues. I, too, have a day with just one lecture. I wonder if the NUS is doing anything about the issues faced by mature students? I’m off to have a google.

Yeah, I understand where you're coming from queribus.

I'm very excited about starting for me, but my stress is coming from parking (severe lack of) close to the university and the impact that this will have on my son! I had thought I might be able to do most school drop offs and make it home to pick up DS from after school club at 4.30 on days lectures finished at 4, because, in theory, I'm only a 15 minute drive away from my department's building...but I've now found out that a lot of my lectures are in different buildings and so I'll have a longer drive than expected and then a walk from where I expect I'll be able to park. I could get the bus to avoid the parking issue, and I would happily get the bus if it were just me, but that'll add at least 30 minutes onto DS's morning and another 30 minutes for afterschool childcare. He's just started Y1 and generally finds school exhausting, so I'm already feeling bad for making his days even longer and I've not even started yet.

blackspaniel that sounds incredibly tough. I think definitely worth talking to your tutor about it.

PipeTheFuckDown that childcare bill! Can you apply for a childcare grant? When I had the interview I asked about timetables/placements, etc. wrt to childcare. The tutor used the word 'flexible' a lot. I never did like the word flexible very much, I like it a lot less now I have a child and after school child care needs sorting!

Still, I'm comparatively lucky looking the situation some of you are in. I live fairly close to the university and my son's school has breakfast club and after school club, and my mum is round the corner for emergencies, so I'll be ok. (Still stressful though!)

There are lots of nice words about mature students on the website but in reality it seems that my university isn't really geared up for us. I have got parking but it's 10 mins walk from the main campus (and cost £120!). I hope that the lecturers/tutors are more forgiving in person.

The long and short of it is that most uni's don't even bother to record mature students, or students with kids. They do know it's a problem but it is perhaps too costly and difficult to sort out the problem, so most universities deliberately swerve the issues faced. I did my dissertation on this exact topic, hence my rage with my supervisor attempting to pull in even more student parents whilst knowing it affects their mental and physical health so negatively.

Re the half terms - do ask your tutor if this is still a reading week. We were told formally we had to be in, under no circs to miss lectures, it wasn't a half term etc etc. Then the lecturers who had kids pulled sickies and didn't show for most of the week anyway. I'm hopeful your lecturers will be a bit more up front and honest about it than ours were.

Recorded lectures are the way forward for student parents IMO. I suggested this to several of my lecturers who sadly seemed more concerned about their intellectual property rights (similar with not posting slides in case people stole them) than the ability of equal access to all paying students. If your uni offers this then be very thankful!

My uni records all lectures and I assumed this was more widely done! I'll certainly count myself lucky!

I'm also very lucky that my timetable has me in for 2 full days a week. Counting my blessings right now!

Turns out my uni students association isn’t affiliated to the NUS but I am looking into ways to get involved with campaigns to support student parents and mature students.

I have a “Kick Start” event on the 18th/19th for Mature Students. We get early access to the libraries So far they seem really on the ball with MS.

Yes I’ll get upto £287 I think via Student Finance for childcare and University will cover the rest, so none of it has to come out of my back pocket. Phew.

Uni also has a Playscheme during school holidays, for students children it’s £14 per day which is amazing.

My commute is 2 buses and 45 mins. That’s after walking half a mile to drop big kids at school then another half a mile in another direction to drop the toddler off. 4 full days of lectures/labs and 1 day just a morning lecture. I’m already exhausted just thinking about it.

I don’t drive but parking is a nightmare at Uni. Parking passes are only available if you live more than 15 miles away AND have children or elderly relatives etc.

I've just got my timetable. It all seems a bit real now...

I'm lucky in that my DC are older (12, 14 and 16) so I don't need to worry about childcare. I work full time anyway, am just reducing my hours in order to study PT, so the family juggling is much the same.

I'm quite daunted by juggling work and study though. Hopefully it will all work out.

I am about to start an MSc part time alongside working practically full time... it all seems a bit real!

I graduated in 2002, but i am wondering about brushing up study skills... anyone got any top tips?

My approach at uni was a bit basic - write everything down! I didn’t do much other than rereading after, so I am wondering is there are techniques i can use to be more efficient with this MSc as I will have to juggle so much more this time —not just pub and Neighbours like my undergraduate degree—

@HeyToTheHo the best tip I was given when studying was to download a citation app, such as refworks or Mendeley and make sure you enter every article, book, or journal that you think you might need to include in your bibliography. Then you can print off your bibliography really simply.

@TawnyPippit is the module you are working through on study skills something that the university have given you, or external?

I graduated in 2000, I did a few OU modules when the DC were small but other than that haven't studied properly for a long time. So my MSc is quite daunting!

My university has study skills sessions for postgrads every Wednesday afternoon, so am planning on signing up for them.

My first day is tomorrow. Just been packing my bag. Feel like a five year old!

Good luck @nymanperkins !

Exciting @nymanperkins!!!

Do you have lectures yet, or just registration etc?

Good luck @NymanPerkins! I start next Monday.

I'm meeting someone from my course (made contact on Facebook) for coffee on Tuesday so at least I know one person on my first day!