how old are you?

[ramamama]

i'm curious to know how old everyone is who is applying and about to go to grad school. i know programs accept people who may have just finished their undergrad but there are also folks in their 30s starting. this creates quite a difference of life/work experience and it would be interesting to get an idea how this affects your experience in the program.

[snap]

Maybe you should create a poll for this.

anyway,

24 here.

Undergrad Dec 2008.

[phreeduh]

I started my PhD at age 30.. everyone in my department was my age or older at the time, but all the students who have entered since have been quite a bit younger. There seems to be some kind of drift going on..

[layintwait]

27

I feel like thats the general age for the mfa programs, a few in the low 20s and a few in the low 30s. But who knows. I feel like they always want a "mix". I do have beef with kids going straight from undergrad though.

[theyuck]

Although I am coming directly out undergrad, I am a somewhat unusual case in that I am 29. I will be going to SUNY Purchase for my MFA in the fall (yay!). I do think that being a little bit older (can't believe I'm saying this) helped me get into more programs as well as get more funding.

[yousername]

24, graduated in 2007. I am going to be the baby in my (new genres-ish) program! I have heard that Painting MFA's tend to skew younger, but I am glad to be in a program with "older folks."

[Summit_Bid]

I graduated with my MA at 23. I've been applying to Ph.D. programs since with no luck. I just turned 25.

[alspants]

will be thirty.

[skp]

I'm 27--will be 28 after the first week of classes. I'm one of the older ones in my program--nearly everyone was required to have work experience for this program, and most are 2-3 years younger than me on average.

[Timothy Vallier]

I am 23 years old. I graduate with Master of Music this spring.

[VUbrat08]

23, will be 24 three weeks from tomorrow.

[yehk]

just turned 22

[brianmc]

33. I'll have been out of school for over 11 years if I go back this fall.

[elwen]

60, yes, sixty. Don't freak--started law school at 52, but found out just how evil most lawyers are and walked out. decided to follow my bliss-painting.

[wang chuk]

44 with MA in media studies. applying for MFA in media arts.

[sirjimbob]

Almost 27.

[fermaigh]

24

graduated two years ago

[wallacetype]

Will be finishing up my BFA this Spring and will be 27 in the Fall.

I went back to school after finishing my Associates in a completely different field and having 3-4 years off. Since I have only been back at school for just about 2 years, I feel on the ball to continue into a MFA program. I do think having time to grow up, pay bills and live life is key before continuing onto a grad program if you've been in school since HS.

[ck03yh]

I will be 30 starting my MFA this coming fall. I took time out of school, both in between high school and art college, and between getting my BFA ( grad. 2009) and now. I found the experience of not being a student really important for my growth as an artist, and as a person.

I've been told my age is the average for MFA's, but I always thought it odd (but not all bad!) to go straight from undergrad to MFA...at the masters level I feel you should already have professional experience under your belt, and I don't think student shows count. (sorry.)

I hope to see other folks my age in my program, although I don't discriminate based on age, just level of maturity. That's code for, I hope I'm not bunking with a bunch of kids...

[olive88]

I am 22 and will begin graduate school this fall...

[Just me]

I'm going to be 24 in a few days, and I graduated from undergrad in 2009...and I definitely feel like a youngin' in my program among all the 30-somethings, 40-somethings, and 60-somethings who make up the rest of my class (as in all grade levels).

[JasonRH]

This thread reminds me why I love this site.

I just turned 31 this month. I attended college from age 18-20 , dropped out, returned at 23 and finished in the middle of my 25th year summa cum laude.

I have been drifting around the corporate world and making a decent career, but it doesn't excite me the way academia does. I want to go back for a master's and eventually a doctorate, but I am still debating many particulars. That's for another thread. But what is relevant here is that, having been out of school for awhile, and having gone through my undergrad with no intentions of pursuing a higher degree, I have much work to do before I can even think about applying.

So I may be 32 or 33 before I even begin work on a master's.

And here I see people of all ages, with all backgrounds, pursuing all manner of higher degrees for all manner of reasons. What binds us all together is a passion for learning. And that makes me genuinely happy.

[sonia]

I graduated with my MA at 25

[dimanche0829]

I just turned 29 two weeks ago. I will be spending the last year of my 20s fretting over PhD apps and biting my nails over whether or not I will get in somewhere. Yeesh.

[pbrussell]

I bounced around a few colleges, but i am graduating in December with a BFA at age 25. Debating whether to take a break or continue to grad school.