How many much older (40+) students out there starting classes? (I'm 47)

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi, everyone. Just wondering how many older students like me are starting nursing classes this year? I'm 47 and just finished most of my pre-reqs; starting nursing classes in the fall and am extremely excited! Second career for me after doing data entry for over 25 years and never having gone to college before, but I love it! I don't feel like I could have done this when I was younger - didn't have the determination I do now. And now that my children are grown, there's only my husband and I left so I have plenty of time for studying. This is happening at the perfect time in my life. My ultimate goal is to work as a L&D nurse. I became interested in that 3 years ago when my granddaughter was born and I noticed the nurses helping my daughter through her labor. I thought that was such an interesting and rewarding career. My goal is to have my RN by the time I turn 50! Never thought in a million years my life would take this turn, but soooo glad it has.

NewRob:

At age 49, I'm starting to get the baggage out of of my life. It feels great!

Wow! Clearly I am FAR from alone! Is there an "OVER 40" forum for nursing students? If not, it would be nice to have one ;)

I have read that some of us 'seasoned' students are going to be starting nursing programs this fall (or entering soon)....

Where will you be starting your program?

I will be starting my ASN program at Ivy Tech in Evansville, IN in Aug. and will turn 43 in Sept. :yelclap:

I am 40 and have finally made the decision to go back to school for nursing.

Keep up the good work, you CAN do this! It dosent matter how old you are, it matters how determined you are to succeed.

Hello everyone.

I am 40s and am going to go to BSN program in this fall.

I am very excited!

Even though it was hard when I took prerequisites to maintain my GPA at 4.0, my effort brought me a wonderful gift: to get in BSN program.

I'd like to go to graduate school if I have a chance.

After reading this thread, I'm very glad many over 40s try to fulfill their dream. I'm not alone :)

knew i wasn't alone! lol

i'm 48 and am 1st alternate for an asn program starting fall '12. if i don't get in this fall due to an applicant not passing their background check, drug test, physical or paperwork on time then i'm guaranteed entry in spring '13! all of my prereqs & coreqs are complete so if it's spring that i start ns then i'll take a few bsn prereqs this fall.

i'm one of those that stayed at home with the kids, never had gone to college and after a while decided i better get busy or i'll be of retirement age before even re-entering the workforce!

glad to have found this thread! wishing good luck to all of us in our endeavors! we can do this!!!

I wish you all the best. I will begin my journey this fall and this is inspiring!!

I'm 40 and going into the RN program in the fall at my local CC. I will be 42 when I'm done. I've been back part time for 2 years now doing all my pre-req's at night or online. I was very nervous going back to school because I was never much of a student in my younger years. I totally agree that I could never have done this when I was younger and tell people all the time that if I finished school back in 1990/91, I wouldn't be then what I'm going to be now! I'm LOVING being in school, words you would never have heard from me back in the day! :) Good luck to all of you! :)

LOVE this thread! I'm 47 and starting back in the Fall to finish up all my pre reqs. I went back in 2004 and knocked some of them out of the way but a divorce and being a single mom to three derailed me. Now I'm going back and hope to be in clinicals Fall 2013 with my 21 year old daughter who is also taking her pre reqs at the same college. I'm SUPER excited. I've been a medical transcriptionist for twenty plus years and I'm so ready to DO instead of just type it! I know when I went back to college in 2004 I had a 4.0 GPA which was very different from my 2.45 that I had when I first went to college in 1983. I think being older is an asset...we know what we want and we have the life experience to achieve it! Wish there was a forum for us over forty students!

I'm 41 and finishing my first semester of prereqs. I figure on finishing up prereqs next summer and am hoping to enter a program in 2013. My husband is active duty military and what exactly I do will depend on where we're stationed...but I would like to get BSN and then ultimately MS and become an NP. I have a totally unrelated degree and was a teacher before staying home with my kids and moving all over the planet... my youngest just finished kindergarten this year and I knew I did not want to go back into teaching. I decided to indulge my geekery in medical science and just go for it. I do get nervous about this choice..I have a lot of experience and knowledge in education and I am basically walking away from that. I wonder if it is crazy but I am just drained of any desire to work in that field anymore. I've always had this geeky interest in medicine and I'm motivated by what I'm learning, though, which reinforces for me that this is the right decision.

re: doing this at 40+....I'm definitely a better student now than I was at 20! College is wasted on the young in many ways. On the other hand, it is hard to manage it all at this point in life. I've got it under control at this exact moment, but what happens when my husband is deployed, kids get sick, etc..? There are definitely advantages to being older, but challenges as well.

I love this thread and am very motivated by reading everyone else's posts!

This is so great!!! I'm 44 and I will starting nursing school next month. I'm so excited but nervous also. It's so wonderful to know that there are so many women that are 40+, who are stepping out and going for it!!!

I'm a better student now than I was when I got out of high school and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to pursue my dream of becoming a nurse.

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