Mature Students (1 Viewer)

[MotorBoatMyGoat]

Hello, this is my first post since....2004, when I finished my HSC. Glad to be back in this community, Im sure I will be spending too much time here in the near future.

So just a quick synopsis: was accepted in 05 to Usyd, transferred degrees two times before quitting Uni in favour of full time employment. Found myself in a rut, bloody hospitality driving me nuts, decided it was time to get some education again and grow up.

Im looking forward to getting accepted for the Mid year admissions (8/9 prefs at Mac), I guess my question is, how have other mature age students adjusted back into the studying groove? How do you balance study/work successfully (if you do?), did you get into the course you were hoping for? How did your previous UAI (or ATAR as they call it now, obviously at age 27 Im geting old!) affect your entry? How do you cope with the young'uns? any anecdotal information is most welcome to me.

Thankyou for listening to my ramblings and hopefully I get a few replies

 

[Carrotsticks]

I cannot speak for all mature age students, as I am not one myself.

However, a number of my co-workers are mature age students and many of them share their woes (or otherwise!) regarding it.

Couple of things first:

What will your load of work vs study be? ie: Part time study, full time work, perhaps visa versa etc.

Is the nature of your job something that is physically demanding? ie: Lots of standing up, walking around etc?

Do you intend to work from home mostly and not attend classes (so watching lectures online)? Or do you intend to attend every single class?

 

[Carrotsticks]

Also, welcome back to this site =)

 

[Makematics]

What a brilliant name you have there

 

[MotorBoatMyGoat]

I cannot speak for all mature age students, as I am not one myself.

However, a number of my co-workers are mature age students and many of them share their woes (or otherwise!) regarding it.

Couple of things first:

What will your load of work vs study be? ie: Part time study, full time work, perhaps visa versa etc.

Is the nature of your job something that is physically demanding? ie: Lots of standing up, walking around etc?

Do you intend to work from home mostly and not attend classes (so watching lectures online)? Or do you intend to attend every single class?

Hello there

I'll be doing full time with a combined laws degree, so quite a big study load I'm imagining.

I'm planning to switch from Newstart to Austudy, so I will be able to work part time. Most likely it will be hospitality job, so probably geared towards night-time weekend work. I think being that im older I will have better experience in juggling my responsibilities, however I know from previous experience studying is really a full time commitment and Id rather sacrifice income for reaping the rewards in the future.

I didnt even know you can watch lectures online! what a nice new fangled world we live in Do you still get marked on attendance? I remember failing a stats course because the tute was at 9am on a monday and I used to work in a nightclub all weekend needless to say the two didnt mix.

I guess my main impetus to study again was that I have been unemployed the past six months, had a 'fuck this' moment, and decided to put myself back on the path I needed to go back to anyway.

Im a little bit worried that they might scale my UAI mark out of my favour in admissions with UAC. I got 96.15 in 04 and the law degrees at Mac are all hovering around 96...I dont know, im stuck in that 'what if it doesnt cut' thought process right now haha.

But I do intend to attend every class/lecture, even considering recording them all for study. I usued to be a good student in school so I think Im going to enjoy they experience again.

 

[MotorBoatMyGoat]

What a brilliant name you have there

Thankyou sir

 

[Carrotsticks]

Hello there

I'll be doing full time with a combined laws degree, so quite a big study load I'm imagining.

I'm planning to switch from Newstart to Austudy, so I will be able to work part time. Most likely it will be hospitality job, so probably geared towards night-time weekend work. I think being that im older I will have better experience in juggling my responsibilities, however I know from previous experience studying is really a full time commitment and Id rather sacrifice income for reaping the rewards in the future.

I didnt even know you can watch lectures online! what a nice new fangled world we live in Do you still get marked on attendance? I remember failing a stats course because the tute was at 9am on a monday and I used to work in a nightclub all weekend needless to say the two didnt mix.

I guess my main impetus to study again was that I have been unemployed the past six months, had a 'fuck this' moment, and decided to put myself back on the path I needed to go back to anyway.

Im a little bit worried that they might scale my UAI mark out of my favour in admissions with UAC. I got 96.15 in 04 and the law degrees at Mac are all hovering around 96...I dont know, im stuck in that 'what if it doesnt cut' thought process right now haha.

But I do intend to attend every class/lecture, even considering recording them all for study. I usued to be a good student in school so I think Im going to enjoy they experience again.

Indeed you can watch lectures online! Not all, but most courses now offer recorded lectures. In terms of whether attendance is compulsory or not, that really depends on the unit outline. You UAI mark may not be enough because depending on the mature age scheme you are applying for, there may or may not be a chance that they will take into consideration your previous attempts at university studies. I suggest contacting the university for this just to confirm that it's all good. MQ offers the Jubilee scheme but as you've already attempted tertiary studies, you may be ineligible.

My co-workers who are studying mature-age say that getting back into it is quite difficult because

1. Increased workload

2. Increased pressure to work for $$ because by that age they usually would have a mortgage or a hefty rent to watch out for

3. Not used to 'filling your brain' with information

But also, as you are returning on your own accord (which implies that you value university studies and are mature enough to understand its importance, unlike most other university undergraduates), then #1 and #3 may not be as much of a problem!

 

[MotorBoatMyGoat]

Luckily I put an arts degree right at the bottom of my preferences

I did call Mac and UAC and they did say they are taking both my UAI and previous tertiary study into account- Im think of doing the STAT test too just to cover all bases, and because my second preferred uni of Notre Dame only does internal admissions for mature age students.

re no.3, Im pretty sure the amount of reading and research is whats going to get me. Are you at Mac? I wonder what the library is like there. I just remember Fischer Library at Usyd being the biggest head f*** to find books, if they weren't already taken out.

I did some maths and figured out on Austudy + rent assistance + start up scholarship +capped work permitted I would be on an approximate income of $32640 p.a, which translates to $628 a week or $89.70 a day.... which doesn't sound too bad but that is with working the maximum amount allowed before it affects the benefit, if I minus that it comes to around $60 a day which is a marked difference particularly when you think about the cost of living these days....

 

[Rectanglor]

Just thought I'd add a little bit of information regarding Macquarie's library.
It's really easy to navigate around, and I know they do guided tours for new undergrads. Also, most of the books aren't on the shelves. I think the uni advertises a figure of ~90% of the collections being underground. To access these, you have to request them and then a massive fucking robot goes and collects them for you.

Hope this helps a bit

 

[ChrisAC]

Hi there. My situation was pretty close to yours. I too did the HSC in 2004. I studied and dropped out and started to work full time. I left my job in a bit of a "f this" mindset because i knew i couldnt go higher in my company without some qualifications. So i quit and began studying commerce.

The main difference is that im in my last semester right now and i should get my degree in June/July. Youre just starting! So i guess i have some good insights.

First of all i quit my job in about august which was too late to enrol for semester 2. Additionally, i had no idea if i was eligible to enrol as a mature age student and i didnt want to take any risk of rejection and risk delaying the start of my studies at all. Therefore, i enrolled to join SIBT.

SIBT was good because:
1. it has 3 semesters so youre able to get your first year done faster (sem 3 you can do 4 subjects whereas in actualy uni you can only do 1 usually) and the sem started in about october so because i was jobless in august i didnt want to wait till next March to start.
2. No uncertainty on enrolement. The only real requirement was that i passed 2U maths in the HSC (but that was only because i was enrolling for commerce)
3. If you pass first year of SIBT you are guaranteed entry to MQ uni with full credits of all the courses you did in SIBT (its basically a substitute for first year uni)

Problems with SIBT:
1. No HECS (FEE-HELP instead which is inferior but i forget how. i didnt use it i paid upfront)
2. more expensive than uni
3. Dont think you can start first year law in SIBT - but you can do first year something else then transfer into a law degree when you get into uni.

Of course you dont need to consider SIBT if you are confident you can get into uni as a mature age student. I think they may take into account your previous dropouts at usyd though.

My thoughts on uni as a 2004 HSC leaver:
- We have chosen to come back and are really keen to study, and you are mixed with kids who are at uni because its just the 'next thing to do in life' after school. They generally arent as keen and this can be frustrating when it comes to group work etc.
- Because youve made quite a big decision to quit work and begin study, getting into the 'study groove' isnt really a problem. My UAI was in the 60s back in the day. Now, Im on a D average with quite a few HDs in my courses. Ive been invited to the nerd club where they throw a luncheon for people who have a perfect 4.0 GPA. For me, i just went in with the mindset "do everything that the lecturers/tutors tell you to do" and that worked really well. (eg do all the readings etc.). You have extra motivation because you dont want to have to go back to where you came from.
- My work situation is kind of unique, i quit my full time job and didnt apply for any part time work. Instead, i help my parents with their business which is flexisble as can be. I work for them when i can and in the last few study weeks i dont work at all. Having said that working part time is completely normal especially in hospitality. If you plan to get good marks though you may have to sacrifice some social life. You may just be aiming to get passes for a degree which is perfectly fine too.
-I seriously dont know where the last 3 years went. The degree seemed to go by in a flash. When you compare your studying life with your previously full time working life ( i had a 9-5 office job so it might be different for you ) you really appreciate the flexibility and relaxed lifestyle that studying students really have.

It all really depends how motivated you are. From your UAI it seems you work pretty hard towards your studies and if you have the same motivation as me then you should be fine. feel free to ask me any more questions =)