A Guide To Going Back To School As A Mature Student

School is not just for the young; in fact, over the last few years, there has been a large rise in the number of older people who are looking to return to studying. There are many reasons why you might be interested in going back to school. Whether you are looking to change career paths or simply learn something new and expand your mind, going back to school can bring with it a whole host of benefits. However, it is not without its challenges.

 

Whether you are looking to earn a degree or attend a short course, returning to education will usually involve having to get used to a new lifestyle and way of working for the mature student. This guide has been specifically designed with mature students in mind to help you find the right course, hit the ground running, and get the most out of your learning experience.

 

Establish Goals

 

One of the most useful first steps that a mature student can take is to establish some clear goals. When you are looking to establish goals, you should ask yourself, first and foremost, why do you wish to return to education? What are you looking to learn? What do you want to get out of this experience? Do you have a clear professional aim, or are you more focused on personal development?

 

Once you have asked yourself a series of questions to define your overall goals for returning to education, the next step is to break down a series of further goals you would like to achieve. For example, while you might be looking to get into a specific industry after your studies, you might also have smaller goals, such as learning more about a specific subject or improving your writing skills. Having a set of smaller, more obtainable goals can be a great way of helping you to remain motivated, especially if your course will continue for a longer period of time.

 

Finding The Right Course For You

 

Once you have established your goals and what you wish to achieve from returning to education, the next step is to find the right course for you. There are many different considerations you will need to make when it comes to finding the right course for you. The list below has been designed to help you to understand what finding the right course can entail.

 

1. Focus on Subject Matter

 

When you are looking into which course you are interested in taking you should be concerned with the subject matter being taught. It is easy to assume, especially if you are interested in more niche subjects, that all institutions will offer a pretty similar syllabus, but this is actually not the case at all. What you learn can differ greatly depending upon where you are studying. This is why it is important that you set some time aside to carefully read over and compare the different syllabus of each relevant course to find those that interest you the most.

 

If you have a particular interest or area of specialization, it is worth doing some more in-depth research. If you are looking to study at a college or university, you might want to spend some time reading into the areas of specialization of the tutors and professionals to see if they align with your own interest.

 

2. The Length of the Course

 

Another area that you should give some thought to is the particular length of the courses you are interested in. The length of the course that you study can vary greatly depending upon what you want to get out of the studying process. For example, if you are looking to expand on an area of interest, then you might be satisfied by studying a short course. Whereas, if you are looking for a career change, then you might want to study for an undergraduate or master’s degree to gain more in-depth knowledge and a formal qualification.

 

You should take a look at all of the start and end dates of each relevant course to gain a clearer idea of the commitment you are about to make.

 

3. Working Hours

 

It is not only the length of a course that can differ greatly from institution to institution but also the required working hours too. For many mature students, one of the biggest challenges they face is working out how they can fund their studies. If you are looking to work while you are studying, then you should pay close attention to the required working hours of a course.

 

Some courses are full-time while others are part-time and have been designed this way so students can work alongside their studies. In addition to full and part-time courses, others offer a more flexible timetable to suit your working or childcare needs.

 

4. Location

 

Another important consideration worth bearing in mind is the location of the institution that is offering the course. Relocating in order to study can be challenging but is often particularly difficult for mature students, especially if you have a family. You will need to think practically about location and if you can realistic relocate or travel to attend your course.

 

If you do not have a relevant course in your local area, then you should look into studying online. Traditionally, remote courses were seen as inferior to their in-person counterparts, but this is no longer the case. In fact, if you look at the feedback from the best online MHA you will see that some of the top courses are now held online to facilitate the needs of all students.

 

5. Reputation

 

Of course, you should not choose which course you are intending on studying based on reputation alone. That being said, it is useful to pay some attention to the reputation of the course and in the institution in which you are studying. This is a particularly useful enterprise for mature students who are looking to change career paths, as your prospective employers will be interested in not only your qualifications but where you obtained these qualifications from.

 

Some a little time looking into the reputation of the institution and the course itself to ensure you are able to get the most value out of your qualification once you have finished studying.

 

Setting Up For Success

 

Once you decide that going back to school is the right choice for you and you have found the right course, it is time to start setting yourself up for success. No matter how dedicated you might be, or how interesting you find the subject matter, studying can be challenging, especially if you have not been used to that particular way of working. This means that setting yourself up for success can be hugely important, helping you to get a real head start.

 

Create a Plan Of Action

 

Manging your different courses, reading, and workloads can be a challenge for any student, but it can be particularly difficult for a mature student. This is because many mature students often have a number of different commitments, from looking after children to working part-time, which is why creating a realistic plan is so important.

 

The first step to creating a plan for your studying is to consult the course guidelines. Not only will this help you to better understand the number of direct contact hours you have, whether this is in the form of tutorials, lectures, or workshops, but it should give you some idea of the suggested hours of independent study too.

 

Once you have a clearer idea of the amount of time you will need to dedicate to studying, you then begin to work out a plan. When you are creating a plan, it is important that you are able to stay realistic. Creating a plan that is overly ambitious is likely to lead to frustration, demotivation, and demoralization. When you are creating a study plan, you should look at your other commitments and when, realistically, you will be able to study. For example, if you have young children, you might find the best time to study is in the evening after you have put your kids to bed.

 

Set Up A Work Space

 

Not only it is very useful to set up a dedicated plan for when you intend to study, but it is also helpful to create a dedicated workspace too. Studies have found that having a set working area can be hugely useful, as it actually helps you to get motivated and stay productive, as you associate a particular area with studying.

 

When you are setting up a workspace, there are a number of different considerations that are worth bearing in mind. Firstly, you will need to look for a space that has enough privacy to limit the number of distractions you will have to contend with. It is also a good idea to look for somewhere that you can leave your work out. For example, if you working on the kitchen table then you will probably be interrupted or asked to move every mealtime.

 

Next, you should look for an area that has enough space for you to house all the equipment you will need. This will help you to stay focused as you won’t be forced to leave the area every time you need to refer to a book.

 

Having some distance between the area in which you are working and where you relax is also very useful. This is because without distance between your working space and studying space can easily lead to a poor work-life balance, where you feel guilty for not working when you are unwinding or unproductive when it comes to starting your work again in the morning.

 

Seek Support

 

Studying can be a very isolating experience, especially for mature students who have been used to working with a team of people. Not only can studying be isolating, but it can also be challenging and difficult to manage at times. If you find yourself struggling with your workload or even just feeling stressed with this new way of working, it is useful to seek out support.

 

There are different forms of support that are usually available to students. Firstly, if you are finding work difficult, then you can approach a tutor or professor to ask them for advice and suggestions.

 

Even if you believe other students are excelling, this might not always be the cause. Reaching out to fellow students for support can be another great way to help deal with feelings of stress and isolation that come from long periods of isolated study.

 

The majority of larger institutions will also offer some form of pastoral support service. This will be a team of people who work with students to help them deal with any problems they might face while studying. This can be a great network to use if you are struggling with any problems that might occur as a result of your studies.

 

Stay Organized

 

When you are studying it is likely that you will be given a lot of work, reading and references. If you do not have a set system in place then all of these different documents can quickly become disorganized. When you are starting a new course it is useful to spend some time creating a filing system, so you are able to easily stay on top of your resources and put all documents into relevant folders. This will help you to stay organized and can help you to save a lot of time later down the line, particularly when it comes to revision.

 

Not only is it a good idea to create a comprehensive filing system before starting your studies but have a backup plan in place too. It is a very particular form of heartbreak that comes from losing a month’s worth of work due to computer failure. To ensure that your work will always be accessible you should have a regular backup routine. This can involve downloading a cloud backup service to back up all of your files regularly. You might also want to invest in a physical hard drive to ensure an added level of protection.