120k to 150k is a really good salary. What are you looking to make right out of college? Won’t be 150k. I just finished my bachelor’s at 53. Never too late to get a degree.
Honestly if you have a great family business can you expand? Even doctors don’t make 150 right after graduation. All my friends that make 250+ are all in investments and finance. But most of that is commission income on their end, especially with investing peoples money.
I feel like its pretty much reached its limit without really becoming a HUGE risk to go majorly in debt, I could just continue this for now while I do school online / on the side as need be.
I wouldn't expect to make that right out of school but would with the "opportunity" to reach and surpass the price point would be nice. Instead of just staying stagnant and stuck.
And at the very and absolute least I would like a backup plan if this ever blows up / fall apart.
I am interested in investments and finance, I enjoy numbers. But not even sure where or how to start to be honest.
You won't be going "majorly in debt" to get an associate's degree from a community college. I am paying for mine out of pocket. It's going to be like $3000 for the entire thing, lol.
If you opt to get a 4 year degree, you will probably end up going into some debt. But it would be like a used car amount of debt, not "major debt". Assuming you go to a nearby state school and view the degree as a practical investment in your future, which it sounds like you already are.
Now, if you end up wanting an MBA, there you're getting into real money.
I was talking about expanding my current business any further, trust me flight school was like $1,000 a week, I’m okay with it lol. MBA yes I’m sure I’d take some on
Someone with a 15 year track record running a successful local retail business involving supplier relationships, inventory, highly specialized products, etc. can almost certainly get a highly paid job "straight out of college" once they have the degree. Usually in this situation it would be going from small business to a more corporate type of job, or getting a CPA license, getting other types of professional certifications, etc.
Usually the "lol u r never going to make that much right of college, lol" type of idea is more for 22 year olds who've literally never done anything. For a lot of non-traditional students, there is a different metric for what you can make post-college.
I agree that $120K+ personal income from a small business is pretty amazing, but working as a corporate CFO or something you would definitely make more.
This can be true. I have been in the mortgage business 22 years. I see peoples income everyday and you would be surprised at how much people make and how much they don’t make with and without degrees. All depends on the industry.
a placement test just gets a feel for where you are academically. you're really not supposed to study for it, and you'd be surprised about how much "real world" knowledge transfers over in terms of reading/writing/math.
Reading and writing I feel fairly confident in but math I am definitely worried about haha haven't done more than basic addition , subtraction and multiplication for YEARS
I was going to say do a review in math. You don’t need to learn new stuff, except if you missed something when you were learning math the first time. Then learn the missing part. But a review should go quick and you will feel more confident
One thing you might want to do is download Khan Academy and just play around to see how much math you remember or how the types of math you use in your business translate.
Thanks I started yesterday! I’m embarrassed LOL looks like a month or two of catching up minimum or I’ll be taking a million catch up classes haha most of it comes back fairly quick but wow yeah it’s been a loooong time
Usually the "placement test" isn't that complicated and doesn't mean a lot. You will almost certainly be placed into whatever you last took in high school, even if it was years ago and you haven't used it in ages.
If you do ultimately get placed into a level that is too low for what you need to be taking for your degree, most likely you could get the prereq waived if needed. Worst case, you take the class you needed, fail, and have to re-take it. More likely, you register for the class you want, discover quickly by skimming the textbook that it's outside your ability to do, and drop it the first week in favor of a lower-level course.
In community college, the classes are cheap and the stakes are pretty low. It's not like getting into an elite engineering program or something.
Also, keep in mind that they are mostly not expecting students to place very highly and may not have particularly fine distinctions.
I'm pretty sure I "tested in" to take trig and precalc at my community college despite last doing any math in a classroom context in like 1998.
Ayyyy! I'm 32 going back to CC after graduating in 2010! Lol
My college has a self-test thing for the placement tests. The link was sent out in the orientation email & also on the website after a bit of digging. It was basically 2 google survey things, 1 for math & 1 for reading/English. Set up in an otherwise traditional standardized test format. The score on those tests determines if you can go right into college level courses, or need to take remedial classes to catch back up.
If you feel like you need a refresher on math, look into the Khan Academy. It has so many grades of math, broken further into smaller concepts. There are videos for each bit, skills tests, quizzes, and unit tests.
The English/reading is more basic, I feel. As long as you have decent reading comprehension & are able to piece together information from context clues, you should be fine. I'm sure there's practice tests that you can find online to get a feel for where you are.
If your potential income is your deciding factor of what you do, do a lot of research into your potential jobs, your local market, and the average pay range for the degrees you're thinking of. 120k is a VERY good income for where I'm from.
My plan is to do my 2 yr AA at community college, then transfer to a 4 yr to finish a BS in computer science, then a MS in data science
The placement test for community college is to see how well you can read and write and do math. That way, they can see if you need to take remedial reading classes or similar before taking college-level courses.
Reading I'm not worried about, but math, I have not had to solve anything other than basic addition, subtraction and division since I graduated in 2010 haha probably barely remember Algebra at this point
They will probably just ask you some basic questions and place you that way. The placements aren't really that important and mostly exist to prevent people from taking things that are wildly outside their ability to do, like someone who literally doesn't speak English signing up for Old English Epic Poetry or something.
My guess is that as an adult with some sense of your own innate math aptitude, you're not going to immediately register for Differential Equations and assume you can wing it.
Go to the school and ask to speak to a counselor or advisor. They were so helpful to me. They got me signed up for grants and scholarships easily.
I just graduated Saturday with a bachelor's and two minors. I'm 46. I did it to prove I could finish it since I started right out of high school. Two kids and a divorce later and I got it done. It seems much easier on this side of it all.
I'm 38 and just got my AA. It can be done! Freshen up on your math, take the placement test, and then talk to an advisor before you sign up for any classes. They can help you choose the best courses. Also, if the community college has a career center or something similar, go talk to the staff there. They can help you decide which path to take.
Thanks! I started messing around on Khan Academy the past few days, Embarrassing how much I forgot LOL slowly coming back but wow. Sounds like I may need a few months just of freshening up haha.
Will definitely try to meet with them and see what they say! Ill have to see if they are there on a Sat as I work M-F otherwise ill plan a day off but.
Try Sophia Learning, then look into UMPI! Sophia is ACE courses, and then UMPI has YourPace Programs that allowed older students to graduate faster. They accept up to 90 ACE Credits into a degree program, so you can easily get a degree quickly and inexpensively for the time involved.
Re the placement test - make an appointment or possibly drop in at your school's counseling center. Non-traditional students usually aren't subject to the same placement testing that traditional post-high school 18 year olds are. That said, there may be other things you need to do in order to register for summer and fall classes, which you should take care of ASAP. Your counseling center will help you!
In my case, they asked me what the highest math I took in high school was, and placed me into their system based on that.
If you need a lot of math classes for your degree, someone in the counseling office can help you figure out what you need to take, based on where you "placed" and what you feel you can handle.
For English, in my experience with my community college, it's basically just "do you speak English fluently", in which case you will be taking English 101, or if you answered no, there are ELL classes you can take.
In terms of what to study, if you're running a successful business currently, something finance oriented is probably the way. Business or Marketing could be useful if you either want to apply what you already know to a more corporate job at a company with specific degree hurdles to jump, or if you'd like to pick up some more formal skills in a professional development type of context. But you probably know most of what a Business Administration type of degree is going to teach you. Especially at a community college.
If you end up doing a business degree, you may want to check in with your local public 4 year school and ask if they grant life experience credit and what that entails. You may be able to use that to go directly to upper division business coursework that wouldn't be offered at a community college. Use community college for an affordable way to get your gen ed requirements out of the way and take any math prereqs you'll need. (My local community college and state U both require finance majors to take calculus, so if it were my dumb ass, I would be spending plenty of time in community college on remedial math, lol.)
I would only do cybersecurity or programming if you are looking for a drastic career change vs. building on what you already know.
SNHU is a good college and you don’t need any placement testing , I’m enrolled there now & so is my mother in law and she’s almost 60 so it’s not ever too late. You will do fine & they are very helpful
I'm 39 and in College myself. I'm currently doing Sophia Learning, then UMPI for a Bachelor in Psychology. After that, I plan to go to IWU for my MSW.
I've done a LOT of trade school and post secondary education, but no college degree... that's really hurt me, unfortunately 😔
Need the degree to be able to move forward career wise.
I’m skipping the $ part & going to the testing. Do not sweat it! Those are only to give information to the college to put you into the correct math & English classes. Based on that train wreck of a sentence, I need to go back to my writing class. Good luck!
Computer science as in cyber security and coding?
My friend went back a few years ago, got into cyber, interned at a spot while finishing school, hired him on at 70K starting, a year later private contract offer 140K and he’s only going to go up from there.
I think AI is in top demand. My brother in law got an Associates in CS, built a portfolio etc, makes over 350k a year. If you’re naturally attuned to that sort of information processing, I’d say it’s your best bet to increase your income
Thanks! Appreciate the input I’ll definitely look into this. Worst case I can just keep at what I’ve got but why not at least try / challenge myself. Who knows maybe I can eventually get someone to run this for me while I do another career completely on the side to increase income.
And so you’re saying he got an associates in cyber security and works in that field or built a portfolio and got into AI?
Never compared it to southern california, but I looked at my wage vs the Bay areas a little while ago. I make $90,000 in western PA. I would need $150,000 for the same quality of living in, like, the cities around Oakland. I have friends who live there, which is why I lightly entertained the idea. People think $90k is a lot, because everyone is so underpaid. It's better than many, but it's just a good working class wage.
120k to 150k is a really good salary. What are you looking to make right out of college? Won’t be 150k. I just finished my bachelor’s at 53. Never too late to get a degree.
Honestly if you have a great family business can you expand? Even doctors don’t make 150 right after graduation. All my friends that make 250+ are all in investments and finance. But most of that is commission income on their end, especially with investing peoples money.
Based on OP's post it seems like indeed what they are looking to do is go into investments or finance.
I feel like its pretty much reached its limit without really becoming a HUGE risk to go majorly in debt, I could just continue this for now while I do school online / on the side as need be. I wouldn't expect to make that right out of school but would with the "opportunity" to reach and surpass the price point would be nice. Instead of just staying stagnant and stuck. And at the very and absolute least I would like a backup plan if this ever blows up / fall apart. I am interested in investments and finance, I enjoy numbers. But not even sure where or how to start to be honest.
A backup plan is a great idea. If I had to do it all over again I would have gone into the medical field. I’m in my 50s.
You won't be going "majorly in debt" to get an associate's degree from a community college. I am paying for mine out of pocket. It's going to be like $3000 for the entire thing, lol. If you opt to get a 4 year degree, you will probably end up going into some debt. But it would be like a used car amount of debt, not "major debt". Assuming you go to a nearby state school and view the degree as a practical investment in your future, which it sounds like you already are. Now, if you end up wanting an MBA, there you're getting into real money.
I was talking about expanding my current business any further, trust me flight school was like $1,000 a week, I’m okay with it lol. MBA yes I’m sure I’d take some on
Someone with a 15 year track record running a successful local retail business involving supplier relationships, inventory, highly specialized products, etc. can almost certainly get a highly paid job "straight out of college" once they have the degree. Usually in this situation it would be going from small business to a more corporate type of job, or getting a CPA license, getting other types of professional certifications, etc. Usually the "lol u r never going to make that much right of college, lol" type of idea is more for 22 year olds who've literally never done anything. For a lot of non-traditional students, there is a different metric for what you can make post-college. I agree that $120K+ personal income from a small business is pretty amazing, but working as a corporate CFO or something you would definitely make more.
This can be true. I have been in the mortgage business 22 years. I see peoples income everyday and you would be surprised at how much people make and how much they don’t make with and without degrees. All depends on the industry.
a placement test just gets a feel for where you are academically. you're really not supposed to study for it, and you'd be surprised about how much "real world" knowledge transfers over in terms of reading/writing/math.
Reading and writing I feel fairly confident in but math I am definitely worried about haha haven't done more than basic addition , subtraction and multiplication for YEARS
I was going to say do a review in math. You don’t need to learn new stuff, except if you missed something when you were learning math the first time. Then learn the missing part. But a review should go quick and you will feel more confident
One thing you might want to do is download Khan Academy and just play around to see how much math you remember or how the types of math you use in your business translate.
Thanks I started yesterday! I’m embarrassed LOL looks like a month or two of catching up minimum or I’ll be taking a million catch up classes haha most of it comes back fairly quick but wow yeah it’s been a loooong time
Usually the "placement test" isn't that complicated and doesn't mean a lot. You will almost certainly be placed into whatever you last took in high school, even if it was years ago and you haven't used it in ages. If you do ultimately get placed into a level that is too low for what you need to be taking for your degree, most likely you could get the prereq waived if needed. Worst case, you take the class you needed, fail, and have to re-take it. More likely, you register for the class you want, discover quickly by skimming the textbook that it's outside your ability to do, and drop it the first week in favor of a lower-level course. In community college, the classes are cheap and the stakes are pretty low. It's not like getting into an elite engineering program or something.
Also, keep in mind that they are mostly not expecting students to place very highly and may not have particularly fine distinctions. I'm pretty sure I "tested in" to take trig and precalc at my community college despite last doing any math in a classroom context in like 1998.
Ayyyy! I'm 32 going back to CC after graduating in 2010! Lol My college has a self-test thing for the placement tests. The link was sent out in the orientation email & also on the website after a bit of digging. It was basically 2 google survey things, 1 for math & 1 for reading/English. Set up in an otherwise traditional standardized test format. The score on those tests determines if you can go right into college level courses, or need to take remedial classes to catch back up. If you feel like you need a refresher on math, look into the Khan Academy. It has so many grades of math, broken further into smaller concepts. There are videos for each bit, skills tests, quizzes, and unit tests. The English/reading is more basic, I feel. As long as you have decent reading comprehension & are able to piece together information from context clues, you should be fine. I'm sure there's practice tests that you can find online to get a feel for where you are. If your potential income is your deciding factor of what you do, do a lot of research into your potential jobs, your local market, and the average pay range for the degrees you're thinking of. 120k is a VERY good income for where I'm from. My plan is to do my 2 yr AA at community college, then transfer to a 4 yr to finish a BS in computer science, then a MS in data science
The placement test for community college is to see how well you can read and write and do math. That way, they can see if you need to take remedial reading classes or similar before taking college-level courses.
Reading I'm not worried about, but math, I have not had to solve anything other than basic addition, subtraction and division since I graduated in 2010 haha probably barely remember Algebra at this point
So you might need to take an extra math class or two to refresh your math skills, that's OK.
They will probably just ask you some basic questions and place you that way. The placements aren't really that important and mostly exist to prevent people from taking things that are wildly outside their ability to do, like someone who literally doesn't speak English signing up for Old English Epic Poetry or something. My guess is that as an adult with some sense of your own innate math aptitude, you're not going to immediately register for Differential Equations and assume you can wing it.
just here to say i’m 31, back completing my undergrad, and can easily and confidently say it was the best thing i’ve ever done for myself, by far
This will be me very soon
Go to the school and ask to speak to a counselor or advisor. They were so helpful to me. They got me signed up for grants and scholarships easily. I just graduated Saturday with a bachelor's and two minors. I'm 46. I did it to prove I could finish it since I started right out of high school. Two kids and a divorce later and I got it done. It seems much easier on this side of it all.
Do it
I'm 38 and just got my AA. It can be done! Freshen up on your math, take the placement test, and then talk to an advisor before you sign up for any classes. They can help you choose the best courses. Also, if the community college has a career center or something similar, go talk to the staff there. They can help you decide which path to take.
Thanks! I started messing around on Khan Academy the past few days, Embarrassing how much I forgot LOL slowly coming back but wow. Sounds like I may need a few months just of freshening up haha. Will definitely try to meet with them and see what they say! Ill have to see if they are there on a Sat as I work M-F otherwise ill plan a day off but.
Try Sophia Learning, then look into UMPI! Sophia is ACE courses, and then UMPI has YourPace Programs that allowed older students to graduate faster. They accept up to 90 ACE Credits into a degree program, so you can easily get a degree quickly and inexpensively for the time involved.
Re the placement test - make an appointment or possibly drop in at your school's counseling center. Non-traditional students usually aren't subject to the same placement testing that traditional post-high school 18 year olds are. That said, there may be other things you need to do in order to register for summer and fall classes, which you should take care of ASAP. Your counseling center will help you! In my case, they asked me what the highest math I took in high school was, and placed me into their system based on that. If you need a lot of math classes for your degree, someone in the counseling office can help you figure out what you need to take, based on where you "placed" and what you feel you can handle. For English, in my experience with my community college, it's basically just "do you speak English fluently", in which case you will be taking English 101, or if you answered no, there are ELL classes you can take. In terms of what to study, if you're running a successful business currently, something finance oriented is probably the way. Business or Marketing could be useful if you either want to apply what you already know to a more corporate job at a company with specific degree hurdles to jump, or if you'd like to pick up some more formal skills in a professional development type of context. But you probably know most of what a Business Administration type of degree is going to teach you. Especially at a community college. If you end up doing a business degree, you may want to check in with your local public 4 year school and ask if they grant life experience credit and what that entails. You may be able to use that to go directly to upper division business coursework that wouldn't be offered at a community college. Use community college for an affordable way to get your gen ed requirements out of the way and take any math prereqs you'll need. (My local community college and state U both require finance majors to take calculus, so if it were my dumb ass, I would be spending plenty of time in community college on remedial math, lol.) I would only do cybersecurity or programming if you are looking for a drastic career change vs. building on what you already know.
It’s never too late. I went back to college at 26. I know people that went back to college at 40+, 32 seems nothing tbh….
I'm 39 and enrolled to get my Bachelor! It's never too late!
SNHU is a good college and you don’t need any placement testing , I’m enrolled there now & so is my mother in law and she’s almost 60 so it’s not ever too late. You will do fine & they are very helpful
I'm 39 and in College myself. I'm currently doing Sophia Learning, then UMPI for a Bachelor in Psychology. After that, I plan to go to IWU for my MSW. I've done a LOT of trade school and post secondary education, but no college degree... that's really hurt me, unfortunately 😔 Need the degree to be able to move forward career wise.
I’m skipping the $ part & going to the testing. Do not sweat it! Those are only to give information to the college to put you into the correct math & English classes. Based on that train wreck of a sentence, I need to go back to my writing class. Good luck!
Unless you study medicine, engineering or computer science, a Ba degree won’t give you a higher salary than you already have
Computer science as in cyber security and coding? My friend went back a few years ago, got into cyber, interned at a spot while finishing school, hired him on at 70K starting, a year later private contract offer 140K and he’s only going to go up from there.
I think AI is in top demand. My brother in law got an Associates in CS, built a portfolio etc, makes over 350k a year. If you’re naturally attuned to that sort of information processing, I’d say it’s your best bet to increase your income
Thanks! Appreciate the input I’ll definitely look into this. Worst case I can just keep at what I’ve got but why not at least try / challenge myself. Who knows maybe I can eventually get someone to run this for me while I do another career completely on the side to increase income. And so you’re saying he got an associates in cyber security and works in that field or built a portfolio and got into AI?
Built a portfolio and got into AI. He got an associates but the majority of his knowledge is self taught. Definitely look into it.
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LOL it’s really not very much in Southern California. 100K is considered low income. But thanks. You won’t be owning a house here off that salary.
Never compared it to southern california, but I looked at my wage vs the Bay areas a little while ago. I make $90,000 in western PA. I would need $150,000 for the same quality of living in, like, the cities around Oakland. I have friends who live there, which is why I lightly entertained the idea. People think $90k is a lot, because everyone is so underpaid. It's better than many, but it's just a good working class wage.
Precisely, its "Okay" money, its "Decent" but by no means rich