What do I need to do to go to college at the age of 33
March 17, 2006 12:25 PM

Having never really gone what things do I need to do for going to/back to college.

I have never really gone to college, i took some classes at a community college, and various other educational instutions. But I have made the decision that at age 33 to move from Southern California back to Minnesota(where I grew up), and go go to school in the fall of 2007 for EE and CS. My question is what sort of things do I need to take care of so that I can get in to the UofM, I never took the SAT's or ACT's or whatever they were. It has been so long that I have forgotten what sort of things were being talked about when you are in HS about what you need for admissions.

Thanks
posted by Mesach to Education (9 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
Download their application, I'm sure they have it on their website.

Look at their requirements. Will you need the ACTs or SATs or both? Or maybe, since you're a non-traditional student, you won't need either of those things (you could find that out by talking to an admissions counselor at the school).

You'll probably need to submit a portfolio or a personal statement. You'll need your high school and community college transcripts (again, ask the counselor since you're non-trad).

Get your resume up to date and be sure to prepare for the 'so, what did you do during your 15 year hiatus' question.

Calling an admissions counselor and asking specific questions is your best bet.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:32 PM on March 17, 2006


Some important things to keep in mind when dealing with any post-secondary environment is to speak to the highest up person possible (the dean of admissions for example) and to avoid being sent on bureaucratic wild goose chases by the staff. Try to speak to people in person if possible. If you have a meeting regarding admissions, read the admissions guide before hand so that you can bring everything that might prevent you from moving forward in the process (like birth certificate, transcripts, drivers licence, resume, etc).

Getting any administrative thing done at a university seems painfully slow by non-academic standards, so try to minimize return trips by being as prepared as possible.
posted by dobie at 12:43 PM on March 17, 2006


This is specific to the University of Minnesota.

At the U of M EE/CS is part of the Institute of Technology, and it has (or had) slightly different admissions requirements than the liberal arts school that most students fall into. Talking to the people in admissions at 240 Williamson can be a slow and heartless experience. I'd highly recommend trying to see the student advisors for IT at 105 Lind Hall.

The U of MN accept(ed) both the ACT and SAT. One thing no one has mentioned yet is that you'll want to figure out who can write good recommendations for you - they probably aren't your high school teachers anymore.

That said, whether by design or convenience, you're looking at a good program at a good school. IT at the U of M is pretty strong and there are a lot of good professors there. I may be able to connect you with someone who is an EE/CS grad student there now and was an undergrad somewhere in IT, if you want.

Good luck, and congratulations on deciding to go back to school...
posted by whatzit at 1:14 PM on March 17, 2006


Most colleges define people in your age bracket at "non traditional students." They often have specific support systems in place that you could look into. You might google that term.

For the application, my understanding is that the ACT is more dominent in the midwest than the SAT. In either event, look into one of the test prep books to refresh yourself in whatever subjects you haven't thought about since High School.
posted by Jeff Howard at 1:17 PM on March 17, 2006


Most colleges have two sets of admissions requirements: new student and transfer. Older students sometimes get automatically considered transfer. Since you've got some college credits, this also makes it more likely you'd be able to apply as transfer. Why is this good? Your life experience and recent college grades usually get more weight, and SAT/ACT scores are less important if needed at all.

Do talk to an admissions counselor. Waking you through the steps, navigate the system, etc is what they're there for. :-)
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 2:20 PM on March 17, 2006


waking walking.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 2:21 PM on March 17, 2006


Following up on whatzit's good firsthand advice -- if you're planning on getting your degree from the U of M, and you think you might have to fund your courses out of your own pocket, at least to start with, I'd encourage you to look into taking your intro courses at one of the community colleges or Metro State. Everyone planning to enter any Institute of Technology major has to go through a major-admissions process at (roughly) the end of their sophomore year, and you can pretty much transfer in everything you'd need up to that point. This would be math through Calc II, a semester of calc-based physics, and a semester of CSci, and you can get all of these, plus all your general education/distribution requirements, *much* more cheaply at one of the MNSCU schools. On the other hand, you certainly can apply to start right at the U--it'll be pricier, and admission is more competitive, though. One Inst. of Tech. person you could talk to about your prospects is Ben Sharpe--he's a good guy and very experienced with I.T. admissions.
posted by Kat Allison at 5:03 PM on March 17, 2006


I am a third-year EE student at the University of Minnesota. I'll be back on campus on Sunday. Do talk to the people in IT in Lind Hall first.

If you need someone on campus to run and get some things for you or something, lemme know.
posted by adamwolf at 5:17 PM on March 17, 2006


At my school (Berkeley) there was a special program for older students who wanted to get into EECS. If I remember correctly they started with undergraduate courses but the final goal of the program was a masters degree. I guess the assumption was that older students don't need nearly as much "this is how to actually learn stuff" preparation and so it made more sense to give them a different course load structure.

It always seemed like a smart idea to me, maybe you'd want to look into programs like that?
posted by aspo at 5:29 PM on March 18, 2006


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