Considering going back to school at 30 years old...where to start?

[Huckleberry3911948]

your gut instincts so far have been very good, jr college is cheap useful VE and debt free.
and you are now FTE, so far so good. your ed to get the most bang for the buck should be employer driven. my favorite pick is RN.
shortest route is 42 units lvn then the crossover program 30 units to RN. you cut out a mountain of useless prerequisities.
good luck. you are way ahead of most. good job.

[Camden Northsider]

college debt is good debt, and most studies have found it to be generally worth it in the long run (it has definitely been worth it for me- as others have noted, you're much more likely to get promoted if you do well in a position and have a college degree). if you want to go to college to learn more and better yourself, do it. you asked 'what if' you go through all of the motions, time, work, and money, only to not be able to crack into a better job. couple of points:

• the website i linked to showed average growth for the dietician market projected at 9.9% (these growth figures may be off, i would think with the expectation of the growth of nursing/long-term care sector projected in future years, this would be higher. Furthermore, there are probably a lot less people seeking dietary degrees than say, nursing).
• the website i linked to showed the average wage for dieticians to be $26.59/hour (full-time annualized would be $53,435).
• i would pose the following question back to you- 'what if' you get laid off from your current position tomorrow (or next year or the year after)? it could happen anytime, and if it does, will you be a competitive applicant for jobs comparative to the others out there currently seeking employment? -Or will you have less career prospects because of the number of persons with college degrees you'll be vying against?

If you're worried about "Risk vs. Reward", my advice would be to target your education to the following:

• Industries/careers exhibiting the most growth in the next 10 or so years.
• Careers that start out at high wages.
• Careers related to the type of work you have been performing as an adult (assuming there are related jobs that would put you in a better pay range and are anticipated for growth, and that you'd enjoy this line of work).

It sounds like Dietician is great for the second bullet point, is pretty decent on the first bullet point, but would be a total career change for you. This may not be the worst thing as I can't imagine too many people have experience in the field prior to getting an actual degree in it (outside of cooking, food service, or health-related careers I suppose, but looking up some job postings in the field would tell you about positions' requirements). Also, if you'd be passionate about and love doing the job, that helps out and comes through in interviews as well, and your college would likely involve internships to gain experience, etc.

So, make sure you don't just love the idea of a certain job, but would actually really like all of the duties and work comes along with whatever field/career you choose to go into and/or study, and that you'd be a marketable candidate after graduation. My suggestion would be to call some Dieticians to pick their brains, and/or talk to college professors in this field to talk about career prospects, etc. PRIOR to taking loans out (this is what most people currently getting their law degree should have done)- it will give you a better feel for the types of jobs out there, current/future market, and could be the start of your professional networking in the field. If this turns out to not be the best fit for you, do some research on other career sectors, and/or assess whether there's anything related to what you are currently doing (or have done) that you would love to do, would put you in a higher earning bracket, and have good prospects for industry growth. What do you currently do? (I'm good at 'transferable skills and experience').

Also check out the Workforce Center in Bloomington to see if they offer any workshops on changing careers/going back to school, etc. for people that you could take or sit it on- might be helpful or help you to get more focused with going back to school/ career changing.

[golfgal]

I am curious about your coworkers that only make 30K with a degree--what are their jobs? How long have they been out of school. 30K is a pretty low starting wage for a college grad in MN. It is also possible that you are making 30K because you don't have a degree yet they are making more than that because they do. Also, when a company looks to advance employees, not having a degree will play a big factor in getting a promotion or not. Yes, having a degree IS a big deal. I also doubt you will come out 80K in debt. Our oldest goes off to college in the fall and if he takes a "full load" of student loans he will only have about $30K in loan debt. When I graduated from college I had 16K in student loan debt and my starting salary was $16K, no different of a ratio than it is today to be honest.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by golfgal

30K is a pretty low starting wage for a college grad in MN.

It's not that low- in the nonprofit sector, 30K starting for a person that doesn't have a lot of experience is considered fairly decent- I've actually had some govt funders and consultants scoff at the fact that a few of our more entry-level professional staff make 30-34K/annual (as in this amount is too high).

[uptown_urbanist]

Yes, unfortunately in the nonprofit sector $30k starting isn't low -- for an entry-level nonprofit job it could be considered quite good, and it would be fairly normal for someone with a couple of years under their belt. (and these are often people with graduate degrees and stellar internships) Another reason to consider the amount of debt one is willing to take on compared to likely post-degree pay scale! But I do completely agree that school debt in itself isn't a bad thing, as long as you're not piling on excessive amounts. You'll make it up in the long term when it comes to career opportunities and salary potential.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

To the OP. Many times classes that are close can be allowed into a program if you challenge them. Generally you will need a syllabus and fill out a form. Usually the department is the person that blesses them off. Get to know that person (a.k.a. be a politician). Some colleges are stricter than others. Metro U has been known to have an super easy transfer process which I humbly believe takes away from some of their credibility. The U of MN is probably one of the stricter colleges. By the way, my daughter got 3 classes that were officially not transferable to be applied to her degree. They initially said no but we got them though.

If I was in your shoes, I’d be calling a few Dietician Managers and asking them if they had 5 minutes to answer some questions as you are thinking of entering the field. For starters, I’d ask them what school they hire from and why. Just because a colleges offers a program doesn’t mean that they have a program or are well networked. I'd expect there would be a college that most local dieticians attend. If you hit it off, I’d ask if you could buy them lunch (healthy of course) and spend an hour with them to get a quick tour to see what they do. I’d do that with a few people to get a consensus.

This also serves as a great networking tool. I’d find a reason to ask them a few questions every year to keep them in the front of their brain. It’s all about networking. People want to help people that they like.

An analogy... My daughter is in pre-dentistry. 1400 people apply for 95 spots and the UofMN is the only spot in MN. I called the Dentistry college and asked for a histogram of where the 95 students came from in the last two years. They were from St. John’s, St. Thomas, UofMN, UMD, Gustavus Adolphus, and St. Ben’s. About every college has a pre-dental program and they might be just as good in Mankato versus as UMD. But if the college that takes the applications doesn’t think so, that is all that matters. Just think about those students that were not as strategic who attend Mankato or Winona for pre-dental. Statistically, they are studying hard to come-up empty because they assumed.

I’ll bet there are a lot of dietician programs in MN. But if the potential employers think that the dietician program at the U of MN (for example) is weak, you are climbing an uphill battle. That’s why I’d go to Winona for Nursing, River Falls for Elementary Ed, U of MN for pre-Dentistry (34% addmitted come out of the U or UMD), St. Bens and St. Johns for Music, etc.

You cannot assume that you will get straight answers from the admissions counselors because they are marketing and they are also biased. For instance, I talked with the head of Mankato about their pre-dental program and I asked him how successful their program was. He said it depended on their students. I asked how many were accepted and he said he didn’t know. Later I learned that no students were accepted from that program for at least the last couple of years.

The message is in this job market, think strategic and do your homework. Network early and it will help you land that 1st job in your field.

Good Luck!