Thoughts on continuing studies programs? Options after a few years off?

TheHound
Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:20:08 +0000

I was wondering what the CC community’s general thoughts were on continuing studies programs/if anyone else is in a similar situation to the one I’m in and had any useful advice.

After high school I went to my safety school because money was tight in my family and it was only costing me about 5k a year. After the first year I decided that I wanted a more challenging environment and ended up transferring to Vassar college. I realized after my first year at Vassar that I still had no idea what I wanted to major in and that I couldn’t afford to experiment with classes at a private school. I withdrew after a year at Vassar with the intention to take some classes locally then head back to Vassar and finish up my bachelors. Ugly ‘real-life’ stuff got in the way (money, family illness ect.) and going back to college full time just wasn’t really an option.

I’m now 24 and haven’t been in school for a few years and am unsure of the best path. My grades at Vassar were decent, admittedly not great (as I progressed in poli sci I lost my passion for the subject) and my SATs were ok (I took the old 1600 point test, ended up with a 1420).

I’ve been led to believe that the best option for me at this point is a ‘continuing education’ program like Columbia’s GS/Upenn’s LPS since these are geared towards students who are older/have taken a break. However I realize that the degrees/diplomas from most of these programs are different from the normal college (I think LPS is an exception?) which I imagine doesn’t work in one’s favor post graduation.

Am I too old/too long out of school to apply as a traditional undergrad transfer? Are the continuing education programs like the ones at Columbia/Upenn worth it? Will employers/grad schools look down their noses at me because I didn’t really go to school x? Anyone else been in a similar situation/have any insight?