Anyone think I am foolish to consider a career change at 38 to Psychology.

[raisinbran]

In August I'll return to the Uk and start the next chapter of my life as single mother of 2ds 9 and 4. My ex will give me enough spousal support for the next 3 yrs so I can retrain or start a job in a lower position and workup.

I will have the majority of the child care as he will be 300 miles away and frequently over seas.
Before kids I was a Hotel General Manger.I don't want to return to this as the hours will be to long and part time is not an option in this role.

I was considering a career in Psychology however as I only have an HND qualification in Hotel Management I would likely have to start from scratch and do a degree plus training in the is new field.

Would I be wasting my time, anyone know if I would be too old.?
What help could I expect fees as I dont have a job ( but I do have some savings from the sale of the house)?

All thoughts and advice greatly appreciated.
even suggestions of what job/ career I could do.

Of course you won't be wasting your time. You're never too old to do anything. If you finished training at age 45, that's still another 20 years of work you can do with it. I started my degree aged 41 - you should get some kind of help. May depend if you need to go to college first, or straight into uni?

Not too old at all, littlewoman said what I was gonna say.

Thanks to both of you for posting. You've given me more confidence to consider it. I'm going to investigate further as I assume courses will start Sept/Oct.

I think that being 'older' is a positive advantage in a field like psychology - you have lots of life experience and maturity to draw on.
I'm a mature student and I love it - I also know that had I done the course that I'm on at 18 I would probably have wasted the opportunity (would have been far too busy partying then to have done any work). I have found the younger students on my course to be very accepting of me and have enjoyed being around them.
I guess the obvious choice with psychology is to aim to be a clinical psychologist but I would think it could be relevant to a lot of different jobs. What interests you most about it?
Afraid can't advise on fees/finances as the system's changed since I started - try the student parents thread for this.

If you can link Psychology to what you've done before eg Occupational, then it doesn't take too long.

I think it's one of the best subjects to tackle as an 'older' person - experience is a boon.

I started OU Psychology after dd1 was born and have stalled on 2 years but it's something I can take up again.

My best friend is a clinical psychologist; she did a psychology degree at 18 then graduated and did work in psychology assistant posts before applying to get on her postgraduate course. She now works in a community learning disability team and really enjoys her work.

She took a very straightforward path in her training but when she did her postgrad course from about 20 students one was 40 and several others had taken more varied paths. I would say that psychology is very competitive and you will need excellent academic skills to succeed. Maths in particular is surprisingly important.

Your never too old!!!! Go for it girl. If you have the option to change your life for a career you would enjoy then enjoy and do it