justanotherlostgrrl

Yes - beginning to apply to schools. Sent away for my transcript today - start of the journey to make it official 15 years since undergrad, so go AARP me! How would I find schools that would pay me to go? I understand that PhD programs often will sponsor some of your tuition, but I'm looking at masters, and not seeing any. I'm looking at New York area design schools (Parsons, Pratt, SVA etc.) and trying to find scholarships, although I doubt there's much substantial that covers thousands of it - maybe $1,000 here or there. If it was a Harvard, they do have larger scholarships, but perhaps smaller schools like Parsons don't have quite so much in the way of scholarships and instead assume most folks are there on loans. I understand what you mean linking career and social. It depends on the program - I don't get the sense at any of the schools I"m looking at that it's looked down upon if you're a little older, and it's not like we're sharing a program the way that other courses might be... it feels very self directed, and you don't have to be hanging out with everyone at the lab after school. At a certain point, I'm hoping people are evaluated on the strength of their ideas and not their ages (etc.), so if anyone gives me any guff in class - well, I'll concentrate on my work instead, and if I make a few friends, I'll be happy. I don't look 'old' and I know how to 'act younger' and dress younger if I need to, luckily, but I'm feeling really old and bit like I've failed in life, and like I'm going back to school because I have to for work - which is the big problem, which is also tied to age. We'll see I guess. Happy to have found folks going down similar paths in the Going Back To School madness. For wildlifer, yes, 27 is a perfect age to be doing it - so enjoy! I so wish I had done this earlier back when I wanted to, but was intimidated by the cost. Life is too bloody short - just do what you want, and never be scared to do it. I've spent too many years being scared - don't do that.

Anyone have any reputable sites that give you the employment rate of graduates, ideally in design related programs? I'm evaluating several schools and want to see what data is available - but they're cagey on their Web sites about showing how many graduates are employed in their chosen field, and while written reviews of a school are useful, I want some data that lets me know that x number of grads have found work.

Makes total sense - although the good part is with grad school, often there ARE people who've had a gap between undergrad and working. I"m trying not to focus on a 15 year gap, or how old I feel, and instead on why I'm doing this - like to ensure I have work in the future. Right now, the main struggle is paying for it. The other parts are difficult, but I can work on applying, thinking of topics to study, changing my life to accomodate schooling. The money part is over my head... completely lost and stressed out. Even exploring scholarships is overwhelming. The schools I'm looking at are at a minimum $40K in debt for 2 years, and I don't even see where I'd have money to live on let alone rent. I know they don't expect it all repaid overnight, but I'm feeling so lost at this point, I don't know where to begin to sort it all out.

Oh, thank goodness for this thread. I just joined the site and am trying to make my way down the journey towards grad school. I'm 40 and contemplating going back to school after 10 years away from school (did get a B.A.), and am slightly terrified at the prospect. If money wasn't a problem, I could see myself enjoying school, but at this point both the applying part and the whole 'why am I doing this' part is overwhelming me. I just can't seem to find work in my field anymore, and I'm too old to 'intern' at places, so this is part of the reason I'm thinking about grad school. I did love studying although my grads were a solid B - so I don't even know if I'll be able to get into any place, and the idea of standing up and defending a thesis seems beyond me right now. Focusing in on one topic seems impossible, but I'm hoping as I go down this road it will become less scary. If anyone knows of any great resources (books, scholarships, tips, meetups) specifically for older students, please let me know.