Starting Engineering at 22 years of age? Not sure

[mtayyab522]

hii everyone...i will be 22 this november
due to some personal reasons i was not able to continue my studies for past 3 years
now i am considering starting bachelor in electrical engineering
it is a 4 years program...so till completion my age will be 26
so it is worth it?? will there be career opportunities for me when i will complete my education
i am really tense...please guide me
thanks for your time and advice

 

[thankz]

heh you have it easy, I have to learn a BS in EE on my own before I can even think about going to school (a mental health issue )and I'm 36 now. but what I do have is time so i'll do it, sticking to your education is prob the best thing you can do imo.

 

[ActionPotential]

I am 28 and a current undergraduate. There are plenty of other engineering students in their late 20's/early 30's as well so do not worry about your age. Just study hard, build a strong foundation and stay focused on finishing your degree. 26 is still YOUNG (especially when you will finish by that time). Your age will not be a factor unless you allow it to become one.

 

[mtayyab522]

I am 28 and a current undergraduate. There are plenty of other engineering students in their late 20's/early 30's as well so do not worry about your age. Just study hard, build a strong foundation and stay focused on finishing your degree. 26 is still YOUNG (especially when you will finish by that time). Your age will not be a factor unless you allow it to become one.

thanks. that's a relief
i wish this world has a lot more people like you

 

[SilverSlash]

I would say that you're still young. The real question you should ask is, "If I don't do a bachelors degree what might I do after age 26?". No, this is not a sarcastic or snide question. I mean literally think about it. Are you so skilled at a particular trade that you can earn money and experience in those 4 years which will be useful in your later career. Or is your preparation good enough that you will finish your degree in 4 years time?
The Pro's of getting this degree is that it will open a lot of doors for you. Lots of opportunity to grow in the field and being able to work in several related fields if you desire later.
The cons, I'll leave to other people for explaining as I have no idea whether age(26-27) plays a significant role in starting your first job.

Whatever it is, I wish you good luck.

 

[tom.k]

I went back to school at 26 and graduated at 29 with a BS in EE. There were quite a few students in my EE classes in their late 20's to early 30's. As for jobs, I had two internships while attending school. One of the internships lead to a job offer before I had graduated, so I didn't even have to deal with job hunting. My advice to succeed would be to work your butt off and take any internships that come your way.

 

[SteamKing]

I went to school with a guy who had gotten an MFA and decided to go back to school to study naval architecture, beginning as a freshman at 24. Of course, his classmates and everyone else at the school nicknamed him 'The Old Man' for his wizened years. He graduated at 28, several years older than the rest of his classmates, and did go on to become a rather noted racing yacht designer and sailor.

 

[SilverSlash]

I went to school with a guy who had gotten an MFA and decided to go back to school to study naval architecture, beginning as a freshman at 24. Of course, his classmates and everyone else at the school nicknamed him 'The Old Man' for his wizened years. He graduated at 28, several years older than the rest of his classmates, and did go on to become a rather noted racing yacht designer and sailor.

That's quite an inspiring story for people wanting to change careers. Mind telling me what an MFA is?

 

[Vanadium 50]

I knew someone who started her EE degree at 30 or so. After having had five kids.

 

[SteamKing]

That's quite an inspiring story for people wanting to change careers. Mind telling me what an MFA is?

It's a Master of Fine Arts degree, totally opposite of an engineering program. The student originally studied to be an art historian, IIRC.

 

[jtbell]

Maybe we'll see some interesting ship designs from him, like this one:

http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/dev/project.php?id=154

 

[Windadct]

It isn't a trade school, it will be one of the the most rigorous educations you can pursue and prepares you well for many possible careers, it teaches you to think, solve problems - etc. It is in it's own right a great personal accomplishment. I am an EE - and actually if I had been able to do something productive for 2-3 years - I would have been better off starting the program later. -- your age should have no bearing on this decision.

 

[Medicol]

hii everyone...i will be 22 this november
due to some personal reasons i was not able to continue my studies for past 3 years
now i am considering starting bachelor in electrical engineering
it is a 4 years program...so till completion my age will be 26
so it is worth it?? will there be career opportunities for me when i will complete my education
i am really tense...please guide me
thanks for your time and advice

I'm planning to go to a local med school next year. I'm a 35 year old engineer.
I'll probably choose to be with being a PA or do works related to pharmaceutical research (uhmm I'm not sure at the moment but I seem to love doing everything, so I'm leading a poor life without a purpose, which is why I'm not a boss while most of my friends or guys of the same age already are). I can't resist the temptation to learn (forever). I'm wondering who's then going to hire me.
Age is a real problem in employment. No company will hire old people (>30) to do jobs of a junior or new grad. 26 is not really old. I started working when I reached 28. How sad and unfortunate I was! (all things took place as if predestined, sigh...). If you get hired as a junior member in some company after 26, you'd have a good chance to train your ego. Your project mates are all 4 years younger and your leader may too. Believe me, I have talked to people of 40s but their egos are just worse than those of 20s. You'd better be glad if it occurs to you too. Go ahead to finish your undergraduate. Remember there're always people that are worse or better in all aspects of your life, each of which will feature your current or future stand points about everything you'll later face with. Good luck!

 

[Choppy]

Age is a real problem in employment. No company will hire old people (>30) to do jobs of a junior or new grad.

I couldn't help, but notice this.

Businesses in north america can't legally discriminate against someone by age. Nor does it seem they should want to. There are lots of good reasons to chose qualified older applicants for entry-level positions such as maturity, a stronger sense of purpose, and life-experience that can be brought into the company.

And on top of that - how exactly can anyone on a hiring committee find out what your age is? I can take a guess at a person's age and I suspect I'd be reasonably good at discerning most 20 year olds from most 40 year olds. I suspect I'd be very poor at discerning 26 year olds from 22 year olds, or 34 year olds from 26 year olds, and I suspect most people would be the same.

 

[SteamKing]

Maybe we'll see some interesting ship designs from him, like this one:

http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/dev/project.php?id=154

Actually, he has been involved with a couple of the teams which fielded entries in the America's Cup races led by Dennis Conner, most notably the challenger catamaran Stars and Stripes which won in 1988, and he has been extensively involved in the Little America's Cup, which is a competition held exclusively between racing catamarans.

 

[Medicol]

I couldn't help, but notice this.

Businesses in north america can't legally discriminate against someone by age. Nor does it seem they should want to. There are lots of good reasons to chose qualified older applicants for entry-level positions such as maturity, a stronger sense of purpose, and life-experience that can be brought into the company.

And on top of that - how exactly can anyone on a hiring committee find out what your age is? I can take a guess at a person's age and I suspect I'd be reasonably good at discerning most 20 year olds from most 40 year olds. I suspect I'd be very poor at discerning 26 year olds from 22 year olds, or 34 year olds from 26 year olds, and I suspect most people would be the same.

They won't discriminate people by their age explicitly at all. You'll hand in your application (i.e CV) which states when you graduated and and started working, and they'll be able to figure out your age.
I read this all the time: "...Only short listed candidates will be contacted for a test and an interview. We offer equal opportunity to all applicants regardless of their sex orientation, age, etc.". After I send them my application form, I may wait for their call forever. Where in the selection process could you tell an older applicant get rejected because of his age ? The employers have plenty of reasons to do so without ever stating the fact that "he is too old for the job". I would like the OP to understand the reality, the fact of life, not the letters of law that can be varied by word of mouth and from authorities' power.
Also, when we become older, that our brain activities get worse than those of the younger is true. Excessive brain power based tasks will not be suited anymore. Plus, paychecks for the older may get higher overtime compared to those for the young, it's not uncommon that employers therefore reduce their labor forces in their workplaces by seeking ways to fire old employees. Sad but seriously true.

 

[Gerardo Ortega]

42 Years and still need 3 more years to finish my EE - you are very young! what ever happen don't stop.. even if is 1 or 2 classes.. That was my mistake I stop for different reasons.. Good Luck

 

[jasonRF]

hii everyone...i will be 22 this november
due to some personal reasons i was not able to continue my studies for past 3 years
now i am considering starting bachelor in electrical engineering
it is a 4 years program...so till completion my age will be 26
so it is worth it?? will there be career opportunities for me when i will complete my education
i am really tense...please guide me
thanks for your time and advice

You are not old. I am an EE, and one of my friends during undergrad did 8 years in the US Coast Guard prior to starting at a community college, then transferring to an EE program at the university I attended. He was soo much more focused than most of the young folks; he stayed for a masters degree and got a great job doing RF work.

No one knows what the future holds, so no one can promise career opportunities. Historically, EE is not a bad way to go.

I wish you the best.

jason

 

[D246ga]

As someone one year older who's in a similar predicament (not to mention if I do decide to go back to school, I'll likely have to wait another couple of years anyway), I appreciate this thread.

 

[HuskyNamedNala]

What is this garbage about losing your brain power after your 30? I knew a professor who was 95 years old and well sought after in computational fluid dynamics. Maybe if you have a stroke, yeah, and sure maybe your memory gets a little slower, but I think it is a culturally acquired characteristic more than anything else.

 

[SteamKing]

What is this garbage about losing your brain power after your 30? I knew a professor who was 95 years old and well sought after in computational fluid dynamics. Maybe if you have a stroke, yeah, and sure maybe your memory gets a little slower, but I think it is a culturally acquired characteristic more than anything else.

Well, there is a difference here. The 95 year old professor had about 60-odd years of experience in his field; he was not trying to learn CFD at his advanced age, he was sought out for his vast experience acquired over that lengthy period.

It's one thing to be an undergraduate at 20; it's a different experience when one is 30 or 40. The older students likely have families and thus more responsibility at that age than the callow youth just out of high school. Some people find it more difficult to concentrate as they age, because the brain does age like the rest of the body.

This is not to say that older individuals cannot find academic success. It's just that the approach an older student takes might be different from what someone barely out of his teens would take.

Post World War II in the US, colleges and universities were swamped with returning veterans taking advantage of their GI Bill benefits. These veterans had spent their late teens and early twenties in the service and thus were older when they hit college. They were more mature than the average student and highly motivated to obtain academic success. That's not a bad combination.

 

[HuskyNamedNala]

I don't know, as I have gotten older I found that my thinking is more organized and generally better, comparing my 18 year old self vs my 25 year old self

 

[MathAmateur]

One of the best engineers I work with got her degree at 50 after raising a family. 22, 30 or even 40 are spring chickens compared to her. I mean she is REALLY REALLY good.