Young male, Should I go back to school?

[ZN6]

Originally Posted by TMT

So I've decided that I may want to go back to school. But I feel like it will put me behind rather then forward because if I go back I will make no money. I don't like depending on others.

Should I go back to school for a couple of years?

Thanks

Rather than thinking that it would be putting you behind, think of it as an investment in yourself as an academic asset. Don't want to depend on others? Get a student loan. Honestly, don't go back to school without a solid plan or a clear objective of what it is you want to do.

Worst case scenario I've seen is that people go back to school for a year or two just because and they end up not finishing with anything and dropping out to go work in retail because their old position was no longer available.

Going back to school doesn't mean that the flow of money has to stop. Pick up a part time job, work as a TA (worst pay for the amount of work you do, I know, but it helps on the resume), Tutor.

Worst time to go back is now, though, since the winter semester is almost done and summer semester has the worst selection of courses and it sucks to be indoor when it's sunny and warm.

I would not delay though. Tough it out one summer and get a head start on where you want to be.

[zetazeta]

^ where did you TA? At SFU we got paid quite a bit for the amount of work I had to put in.

back on topic...

Don't go back to school for the sake of school. Figure out what you want to do, or at least have an idea of what types of industries you are interested and would like to work in, then research various education options (degree vs diploma, college vs university vs BCIT, etc...). Check the employment rates and average salaries for recent graduates of that program if the information is available.

A ton of my coworkers (supervisors, managers, etc...) changed careers in their 20's or 30's, went back to school and started from scratch (for reference, I work in IT).