Is 22 Too Late to Start a University Degree in Astrophysics?

[gizmo6]

Am I chasing something impossible?

Heya, I am a 21 year old female who is so confused as with what to do!

I'll give a bit of a background so someone can help me a bit more. Sorry it may be a bit long, but just bare with me.
When I was young at high school I was deadset on becoming an astronaut, but being young and uninformed (I didn't have the internet til I was about 18) I didn't know that maths and physics was something I needed to know in order to study in those fields. My teachers at school laughed at me when I told them I wanted to be an astronaut, and when I asked what subjects I needed to take to take that path they just said "we don't teach that here". So I hated school, all the subjects I applied for in year 10 and 11 were rejected and I had to study stupid stuff like economics and woodwork (woodwork I didn't mind so much). Anyhoo I got into a bad crowd and left school before my year 11 exams (so I didn't fail them I just didn't do them). I hated school and everyone there. When I was 15 I decided I wanted to be a motorcycle engineer, so without ANY school qualifications I flew through a two year course being one of only 3 people out of 11 that first joined to pass and I was the only one who got a scolarship. So now after being in the workforce for nearly two years and not even ending up being a mechanic because "having a girl in the workshop humiliates and puts strain on the male mechanics" I was inspired by a particular event to pursue my original dream. Now I want to study astrophysics and aerospace engineering, and I'm preparing for it by studying ALL the math and physics you study at school through an open university.
MY QUESTION: as I am 21 now and by the time I finish my preparatory courses I will be 22, do you think I will be too old to go to university as everyone else usually goes straight to uni as soon as they leave school because they had good teachers that actually cared because they went to a flashy high society school. Would my situation be the only situation like this? Because I'm finding it damn hard to find anyone else out there like me! Sorry for the long post but I need to know if I am wasting my time or not.

 

[Astronuc]

One is not too old. Some people get their baccalaureated degrees in their 50s or 60s or later. Some get their advanced degrees in their 50s or later.

Study what one enjoys, and do well.

 

[jhae2.718]

Go for it!

 

[gizmo6]

Okie dokie! P.S maths was never a strong point, but I believe that was because everyone I knew always had a negative view on maths, so it rubbed off on me, but I think I can learn to enjoy maths if it means I get to do what I love, agreed?

 

[phinds]

Okie dokie! P.S maths was never a strong point, but I believe that was because everyone I knew always had a negative view on maths, so it rubbed off on me, but I think I can learn to enjoy maths if it means I get to do what I love, agreed?

Most likely, yes. Math DOES take a particular way of thinking, so you should try to find someone that you can talk to at length in person about what math is really all about. It should be someone who actually KNOWS some math, probably not a high school math teacher.

I have to laugh to hear you think you might be too old at 21. You'll do much BETTER than the younger kids because you know enough now to know WHY you're there and that will give you a motivation that they mostly won't have.

 

[gizmo6]

Do YOU know math?

 

[phinds]

Do YOU know math?

I know a bit but have never made use of anything beyond algebra and trig. I took several somewhat advanced math classes in school, such as differeral equations and Fourier Analysis, so I've been beyond calculus, but have never used even calculus. All of that was almost 50 years ago though, so I only remember a little calculus and nothing beyond that. I couldn't deal with a differential equation if it was bitting my leg off.

On the other hand, I LOVE math and to this day do math puzzles. I've been finding some nifty ones on this forum since I joined a few weeks ago. You don't need to talk to someone who has a lot of advanced math so much as someone who has some patience to really work with you for a bit (I'm only thinking 40 or 50 minutes here, not hours). You should explore what it is that math DOES so you can get a sense of whether or not you are likely to be motivated to work at it if that's what it takes. You might very well have a natural aptitude for it.

 

[Fredrik]

A 21-year-old asking if she's too old for the university is like a 9-year-old asking if she's too old to read a book.

 

[I like Serena]

Okie dokie! P.S maths was never a strong point, but I believe that was because everyone I knew always had a negative view on maths, so it rubbed off on me, but I think I can learn to enjoy maths if it means I get to do what I love, agreed?

You'll find that here on PF there are a lot of people who *love* math and physics!

I'd say, go for it!
Post a bit in this forum with homework questions or other, and you'll see people responding enthusiastically.
Any problems you may have will be solved and I think you'll find the experience motivating!

 

[MACHO-WIMP]

A 21-year-old asking if she's too old for the university is like a 9-year-old asking if she's too old to read a book.

That is so true. I think you should just go for it. All that you need is to enjoy your work.

 

[lisab]

Okie dokie! P.S maths was never a strong point, but I believe that was because everyone I knew always had a negative view on maths, so it rubbed off on me, but I think I can learn to enjoy maths if it means I get to do what I love, agreed?

I didn't do well in math until I was 19 or 20.

My advice would be, start with a math level you're comfortable with. If you get too gung-ho and jump into a level you're not ready for, you may become frustrated. Better to start at "Oh this is easy!" than at "Oh I knew I was bad at math!"

Best of luck!

 

[jhae2.718]

My advice would be, start with a math level you're comfortable with. If you get too gung-ho and jump into a level you're not ready for, you may become frustrated. Better to start at "Oh this is easy!" than at "Oh I knew I was bad at math!"

Along these lines a lot of programs will have you take a math assessment test to see what level of mathematics you should be placed into.

 

[gizmo6]

The reason I ask am I too old is because by the time I finish my 5 years at university (if i enrolled to start early 2013) I will be 27.5 and the air force has a maximum age restriction for jet pilots of 27.5. The selection process can take up to 6 months and then I might be too old. Stupid me why couldn't I have just stayed at school like every one else

 

[I like Serena]

The reason I ask am I too old is because by the time I finish my 5 years at university (if i enrolled to start early 2013) I will be 27.5 and the air force has a maximum age restriction for jet pilots of 27.5. The selection process can take up to 6 months and then I might be too old. Stupid me why couldn't I have just stayed at school like every one else

My 2 cents: if you have a dream, pursue it.

I think it's too early to worry about the details how things might work out in 5 years.
Everything will look very different then, probably in unexpected and beautiful ways.

Anything amazing you will achieve starts with a dream...

Or do you have other dreams you want to pursue?

 

[Lancelot59]

You can't be too old. Go find a college, finish high school and then get going with your engineering.

 

[dcm]

The reason I ask am I too old is because by the time I finish my 5 years at university (if i enrolled to start early 2013) I will be 27.5 and the air force has a maximum age restriction for jet pilots of 27.5. The selection process can take up to 6 months and then I might be too old. Stupid me why couldn't I have just stayed at school like every one else

This type of planning will hurt you. I did this for 11 years and have not made any ground. Try not to pigeon hole yourself. Be willing to accept something less than what you aimed for. For example, if you want to be an astronaut or some other type of pilot, maybe consider programming and designing a flight simulator game. You would be surprised how big that community is.

 

[hadsed]

There was this book (I forget the name) written by a man who was something like 105 years old. He wrote about his life, and how he learned to read only three years before. Never too old...

 

[Adyssa]

I'm 30, and I (re)started my Comp Sci degree last year, and I'm very glad I did! I wasn't in the right place the first time and I'm really enjoying it this time around.

:)

 

[xJoba]

Man, I hope you're not too old.
I'm 28 and starting my first year of engineering this September after boring myself for the past decade working as an electrician and low-voltage technician.

 

[JakeBrodskyPE]

Sometimes dreams can be too specific. Wanting to be an astronaut is interesting. However, there are many ways to get there and they do not all have to include flying for the military. I can remember wanting to be an astronaut when I was a kid.

And then as I grew older, I realized that while the job sounds really cool, the competition is intense, the work is dangerous, and surprisingly political at times. However, I didn't fully discard my dreams of flight. I did earn a pilot's license, I earned an instrument rating as well, and I bought a share of an airplane. I get to choose when to fly, not some dingbat who has no idea of what flying is. I get to decide where I want to go, not a schedule. I get to choose what weather and risks I am willing to deal with, within a fairly wide latitude, not some policy books.

The joy of flight is mine. I'm glad I don't do it for a living.

Some things are like that.

Go to a college. Study what you want. You're never too old for that. And then when you are done, decide what you really want to do with your life. Often, the dreams you had when you were a kid are not all they're cracked up to be in real life.

 

[chiro]

Heya, I am a 21 year old female who is so confused as with what to do!

I'll give a bit of a background so someone can help me a bit more. Sorry it may be a bit long, but just bare with me.
When I was young at high school I was deadset on becoming an astronaut, but being young and uninformed (I didn't have the internet til I was about 18) I didn't know that maths and physics was something I needed to know in order to study in those fields. My teachers at school laughed at me when I told them I wanted to be an astronaut, and when I asked what subjects I needed to take to take that path they just said "we don't teach that here". So I hated school, all the subjects I applied for in year 10 and 11 were rejected and I had to study stupid stuff like economics and woodwork (woodwork I didn't mind so much). Anyhoo I got into a bad crowd and left school before my year 11 exams (so I didn't fail them I just didn't do them). I hated school and everyone there. When I was 15 I decided I wanted to be a motorcycle engineer, so without ANY school qualifications I flew through a two year course being one of only 3 people out of 11 that first joined to pass and I was the only one who got a scolarship. So now after being in the workforce for nearly two years and not even ending up being a mechanic because "having a girl in the workshop humiliates and puts strain on the male mechanics" I was inspired by a particular event to pursue my original dream. Now I want to study astrophysics and aerospace engineering, and I'm preparing for it by studying ALL the math and physics you study at school through an open university.
MY QUESTION: as I am 21 now and by the time I finish my preparatory courses I will be 22, do you think I will be too old to go to university as everyone else usually goes straight to uni as soon as they leave school because they had good teachers that actually cared because they went to a flashy high society school. Would my situation be the only situation like this? Because I'm finding it damn hard to find anyone else out there like me! Sorry for the long post but I need to know if I am wasting my time or not.

Hello gizmo6 and welcome to the forums.

First thing, you are not too young. Previous posters have pointed this out and I side with all of them.

Second thing, you should realize that just because you're in an adult learning environment, it doesn't mean that you have to know everything. The adult part of learning simply means you are responsible for your initiative to learn, but of course everyone has hiccups (if people never needed help and knew everything, we wouldn't need an educational environment!).

Third thing, you have many resources. You have teachers, lecturers, professors, colleagues, forums (like this one), and so on. Make use of your resources as best as you can. In this day of age, you could go to a forum and ask a question and in within a day or two get a detailed response from someone who has been working specifically in that field for a while: like I said, take advantage of your resources that are at your disposal.

Fourth thing, enjoy your learning. Find something that you can put up with. We all don't like everything about our coursework/jobs/relationships etc, but we find things that we can compromise with. You're not going to like everything with your dream course; some will be frustrating, some boring or pointless, and so on. You might find that your job at the end consists more or less of a tonne of paperwork instead of doing actual science for example. If you find a career that you like, even after all the things that you hate, then you are in a lucky minority and I wish you the best.

Final thing, there are people like you out there. Life has a funny way of taking you to situations where you meet like minded people (at least it has done this for me). Hopefully when you start studying, in your more senior years you will meet these kind of people, if not before then.

Good luck and all the best.

 

[jonspalding]

I have friends that didn't start a degree program until long after you are starting, so I agree--continue onwards with a strong will to succeed.

Just as others have said, many people go into college without a clear goal and without a reason to learn. Having these, you are at an advantage.

At the same time, the young 18 year-old freshman at the university are more interested in socializing than they are in studying. You, on the other hand, are more of an adult, and will learn more simply because you are there to learn.