<p>Good luck I’m helping a kid your age I met over Thanksgiving with college stuff who never reconciled with his parents. You will be fine you had a charactor revealing period and what was revealed was good.</p>
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<p>Of course, this is for graduate business school, but note that the expectation is that you will have worked or otherwise lived in “real world” before business school. You have all your options open still, and many wonderful years ahead. Congratulations on turning things around. You will be a wonderful addition to your college class.</p>
<p>Here’s the relevant quote:
"The average first year business student is older than medical and law school students. The average age of the entering class at the top business schools is 27 years old, as first-years worked an average of four to five years before attending business school.* (Note that the average is slightly misleading because it consists of many 26 year olds and significantly fewer 30-, 40- and 50-year olds who skew the average upward.)</p>
<p>I am in your shoes, and I can tell you that it doesn’t matter at all! I had a lot of problems growing up that caused me to drop out of high school at 16. I spent a few years in the “real world” going nowhere, then got my act together, got my GED, started at community college, and now I’m about to graduate from a good school with a whole new future ahead of me. I was 21 when I started and I’ll be 25 when I graduate. NOBODY has ever cared about my age or my background. I can’t even remember anybody ever asking about it! If somebody’s giving you a hard time, then they’re not your real friends anyway. You didn’t ruin your life, in fact you’ve done just the opposite. You’ve given yourself a huge opportunity in life. Congratulations! :-)</p>
<p>IMO I’d look for a different word than “ruined” … something like “amazing” … you saved your life with your turnaround. You can’t change the past so don’t worry about the implications of the lost years … look forward and do your best. No one will really care how old you are or compare you to your HS cohort group. I have a pretty good job in the corporate world and one guy a level above me is 15 years younger and a guy a level below me is 10 years older … and we all have interesting (sometimes) fun jobs. Everyone’s life is a journey and we all take very different paths through our lives … be self-aware, keep learning, keep seeking … and you’ll have a interesting life; your life … noone elses.</p>
<p>You got your life back in order - good for you. Now stop agonizing, and start living and enjoying it.
There’s nothing wrong with starting college at 21. I am sure that you’ll have more perspective, wisdom and focus than many of your peers.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else about your prospects. I would add that you might consider therapy to help explore and put to rest any lingering feelings of guilt and/or anxiety.</p>
<p>Did you “JUST” ruin your life? By applying to college to get an education that will hopefully instill enough confidence and desire and well, EDUCATION in you to help you overcome the fact that you DID, NEARLY ruin your life beforehand?</p>
<p>Ummm…no? You just SAVED your life. Good job. </p>
<p>And you’ll be able to look back and tell future prospective job interviewers how hard you worked and what your education meant to you. And to instill in your kids those same qualities. </p>
<p>“Ruin” your life? No. YOu’re on the right track now you have to STICK WITH IT. Good job. Good luck. And Godspeed</p>
<p>The three years will mean nothing (except make you more mature than any 22 year old co-workers.) When I started law school, I had been out of school for 2 1/2 years working as a school teacher. I worried that I might feel out of place. Sure, there were plenty of 22 year olds coming right from undergrad. But there was a 32 year old former newpaper reporter, a mom of teenagers, a West Point grad who had been in the military for quite a few years, an oral surgeon, etc. … they all got good job offers, just like me and just like the ones who were 25 when they graduated.</p>
<p>You lost nothing and gained great appreciation of life opportunities. In some way you will be ahead of your peers. I would not advise your path, however, my approach to life has been to never regret what has happened in a past since you cannot change it anyway, but use it to your advantage. This approach has served me well.</p>
<p>In regard to being older in school, I went for BS in my middle 30s and got my MBA at 40. I went to school earlier in my life also, but it was in a different field of study. Yes, there is difference, but it is all up to you. It is easier to get a better grades when you are older, I was taking my studies more seriously. But I did not care for any social connections, since I had my family and circle of friends already.</p>
<p>On the contrary you will be going to college with a lot of real life experiences and maturity that most 18 year olds lack. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth I enjoyed the older students in both my undergraduate and graduate classes. They often brought a different perspective to discussions.</p>