I am 20 and will be almost 21 come September – I withdrew from high school in 11th grade to take care of family. After spending the last year getting a diploma, 1440 SATs, and applying to colleges (I actually started visiting schools in the 10th grade, almost 5 years ago!) I’m starting to get acceptance letters, and it occurred to me that I’ve had an exciting life so far and most of my friends are in their late 20s, so it will be hard for me to connect with the average 18 year old who’s leaving home for the first time.
This is actually pretty common (for example, I have friends from places like Singapore and South Korea who went home for mandatory military service before college) but I haven’t found much in terms of resources. Any advice for which schools are a “good fit” for mature students or general tips for doing well at college are much appreciated!
Do you want to live on campus or is there a college where you can commute/live in a nearby apartment? I would think that commuter schools or schools in a larger city would be a good fit (idk your stats but Drexel in Philadelphia, Emerson or Northeastern in Boston come to mind.) Avoid anything with freshman dorms and a large greek scene.
Many colleges that require freshmen to live on campus make exceptions for students over 21. I would recommend urban universities.
Your life experience in the past four years may make a great essay.
Section F1 of the Common Data Set tells you the average age of undergrads at each school.
As @PetraMC mentioned, directional public universities and commuter schools often have slightly older undergraduates than liberal arts colleges and flagship public universities. The student body at Evergreen State (average age 25) is noticeably older than at the state flagship U Washington (average age 20), for example.
Most universities with graduate programs offer a variety of orientation social events in the fall that draw law/medical/PhD/etc. students – a great opportunity to meet older students who are also new to campus.
Since you have already applied, rather than ask such a broad question, it would be more useful to ask if anybody knows anything that might be helpful in choosing between your actual choices.
As for doing well at college start by staying ahead of the game:
review all your course syllabi and flag big deadlines- they tend to cluster, so plan your workload and work ahead
do the reading before the class. (this is surprisingly helpful)
use all the resources offered, early and often (TA/Prof hours; revision sessions; tutorials; writing center, math lab)
ask for help the second you have doubts - don’t wait until a major assessment has gone badly. College moves fast and pride gets you nowhere.
On the social side, you will be the age of juniors & seniors- you might try to get some upper level classes into your schedule right out of the gate. You might have a better idea of your plans for a major than some 1st years- if so, attach yourself to the department (that will happen anyway with time, but often students don’t start hanging out in their major area until they declare, typically 2nd or 3rd year). Not all colleges and not all departments have physical areas where the majors hang out- bur rather a lot do (official or unofficial). As you noted, a lot of international stuents arrive a little older or a little more experienced (from national service, from living in the southern hemisphere, or just from like), and making them welcome could be a win-win.
Well done on getting yourself moving forward.
If you do live in the college dorm, but are not into the kind of rowdiness that many 18-year-old frosh are prone to, you may want to see if “quiet” and/or “substance free” options are available (however, “substance free” residents are sometimes put their by their parents).
If you name the specific colleges, people familiar with them may be able to give you more information regarding how those colleges are for non-traditional students.
Thanks for advice so far. I think I’m going to live on campus, but avoid greek life and find living arrangements that aren’t exclusively for freshmen. Meeting and networking with grad students also seems like a great idea. I’m well aware of what my interests and desired major are (economics).
As for schools, I won’t hear back from most until April 1, but here they are. @warblersrule, you make a good point, but there seems to be a trend in that schools like UWashington tend to be more prestigious than places like Evergreen State, which has a higher average age.
Heard from:
UConn (accepted)
University of Arizona (accepted)
Charleston (accepted)
Waiting on:
UVA
Williams
Tulane
NYU
UNC Chapel Hill
UChicago
UMich
The only schools I’ve gotten into so far are more or less safeties. I think a place like NYU would be a great fit in this context (large urban setting).
Unless you’re getting a scholarship, consider starting with 2 years of community college, they tend to have mature students.
NYU definitely has some non-traditional freshmen. UChicago I bet does, too. Doesn’t Williams make all freshmen live in the same area? That would probably be the least ideal of the waiting list IMO.
Some places will allow older undergraduates to live in grad student housing. Ask about that too.