I just can't make up my mind. With the amount of money and time it will take for me to finish, it is just a huge decision.

Overall, in the long run, the outcome is purely positive. BUT, short term, there are more negatives.

I can't decide what I want to do.

Pros:

-Getting my degree, or at the very least a certificate in the career I am looking for.

-Ability to make more money (long term) than where I am now.

- More opportunity for career growth

- possibility of working from home in the future when I have kids

- I can get my B.S. in only 3 years.


Cons:

- School is Monday- Thursday from 6-10PM which means I wont see DH most of the week and I wont be getting much sleep.

- It will be hard making time for homework during the week since I dont get off of work until 4:00 then I need to start school at 6PM (in between I would need to travel home, eat dinner, etc. and travel back to school).

- We will have to put off having kids for another 1.5 years - 3 years depending on how far I want to go with school, and we arent getting any younger.

- The average starting entry level salary is about what I am making now, so it wont have an immediate advantage as far as pay goes.

- It will cost a lot of money and the only way I can afford to go is with student loans.



The biggest concern for me is waiting on having children. We both want kids right now, so waiting another 3 years will be hard, plus, we arent getting any younger. I mean, in 3 years I will be 33 and DH will be 38/39! I feel like we are running out of time. BUT, at the same time, unless one of us makes a significant amount more in salary, it will be a struggle to afford daycare, etc. and we definitely couldnt afford to let me stay home and not work with the salary we currently make.

My second biggest concern is the time involved. It's a big commitment and I have to be 100% sure I can handle all the time involved without givin gup or quitting. It costs too much money to not be 100% sure.


I just dont know what to do. :sigh

I don't know exactly how it works there in the states, but here in Australia getting a certificate is often enough for you to get a job, depending on the field of work, then your employer pays for you to do your degree.

Is doing the course part-time an option? You could still have kids now and study part-time, but of course it will take twice as long to finish studying.

As for me, I did a 3 year uni course straight after finishing school and a Grad Dip after that, worked for 18 months, then started having kids, so I have the degree and no work experience in my field. By the time I go back to work I'll be 35, and I only want to work part-time then! I think my degree was a waste of time and money, because I haven't used it and I am still paying it off :puzz

I don't know exactly how it works there in the states, but here in Australia getting a certificate is often enough for you to get a job, depending on the field of work, then your employer pays for you to do your degree.

Is doing the course part-time an option? You could still have kids now and study part-time, but of course it will take twice as long to finish studying.

As for me, I did a 3 year uni course straight after finishing school and a Grad Dip after that, worked for 18 months, then started having kids, so I have the degree and no work experience in my field. By the time I go back to work I'll be 35, and I only want to work part-time then! I think my degree was a waste of time and money, because I haven't used it and I am still paying it off :puzz



it still works the same as far as the certificate goes. I can get my cert. start working in the field and then keep going to school, which is a huge plus. The cert. takes 16 months, part time which is what I am looking at. It is 4 nights a week and is actually technically considered full time but it is less than the normal daytime classes. To get my associates would be another 5 months after I get the cert. and then to get my B.S. would be another 14 months after that.

Overall, the program seems awesome...I just really need to decide where I can be dedicated to it or not, and that is hard because of tghe things we are wanting right now.

its hard making that decision!! but if you really feel like you should do it then id say go for it!!! Even with kids, its hard.. trust me i know!! But you can totally do it! :hugs good luck hun!! Cant wait to hear waht you decide to do.

I would probably go for it too, the sense of achievement you will feel will be well worth it IMO, plus you won't have to regret not doing it :)

It's a hard choice, but I'd say go for it. I always do a couple of units of study per year- The only time I took a break was with my last child, who was an emergency C-section. If he wasn't I would have gone straight back to lectures the week he was born ( I would have taken him in with me ).
I'll be going back next year full time, and next semester do a couple of units as a warm up. I have 4 children- it's not easy, but you can do it and you get a great feeling of acheivement :wink

It's just me girl, but if I had to make the decision, which I did, I would go for it. The longer you put off your education, the least likely you will do it. Of course, this is just me, lol, but the list of cons to me is really not cons, just challenges and excuses (don't kick me, LOL) that can easily be overcome. But then I am always 100% for education, and doing whatever it takes to get it :P

It's just me girl, but if I had to make the decision, which I did, I would go for it. The longer you put off your education, the least likely you will do it. Of course, this is just me, lol, but the list of cons to me is really not cons, just challenges and excuses (don't kick me, LOL) that can easily be overcome. But then I am always 100% for education, and doing whatever it takes to get it :P

No, you're totally right. They are all challenges and excuses. But, to me, they are all short term cons. Although, all the long term things are pros which is why I want to go.

The main thing to me is that I know if I go to school for the next three years and then we missed our opportunity to have kids because we are too old or whatever, (especially since my DH will be nearing 40 by then.) I will totally regret it and never forgive myself. I know if I do get pregnant, then I wont be able to stay in school (because I would be working full time then going to school all night and never see my child, and that just wont work). I am just so scared that if I go then I am giving up having children, even though I know that is highly unlikely.

I am pretty sure I am going to do it though. I have a meeting with the school again next week to talk more about financial aid and go over the applications I completed over the weekend.

I havent been in school since High School. I've always hated school so that is what scares me the most too. I know this will be different though, and I woudlnt be going because I have to, it would be because I want to. SO that makes a huge difference.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't have it all... school and kids. I think you should do it--or at least give it a try or else you will always wonder how things would be if you did. And then if you get pregnant, can't you reduce your course load and just be in school longer?

Obviously I am speaking from my vantage point, and I don't know your whole financial situation, but if it were me, that's what I would at least try to do.

Good luck! I hope that whatever decision you make, it is the right one for you. :goodvibes

I don't see any reason why you couldn't have it all... school and kids. I think you should do it--or at least give it a try or else you will always wonder how things would be if you did. And then if you get pregnant, can't you reduce your course load and just be in school longer?
Obviously I am speaking from my vantage point, and I don't know your whole financial situation, but if it were me, that's what I would at least try to do.

Good luck! I hope that whatever decision you make, it is the right one for you. :goodvibes

that is the crappy part.... I can't reduce any less than the 4 nights a week. They either have full-time (days) or part time (nights). I would be doing the part time, night classes but it is still M-Th 6-10PM.

So, as far as kids are concerned I really couldnt have both (unless I knew someone who would watch my kid morning noon and night 4 days a week, which i dont and I wouldnt feel comfortable doing anyway).

At the same time though, I dont want to put off things because of wanting to have kids anymore...because honestly...who knows if I ever will, ya know? I mean, I tried for like 9 months and nothing...so I just dont know.

When we decided to TTC I put off so many things and said no to a lot of things because I just knew we would be pregnant and it wouldnt work out (like offers to photograph weddings, births, etc. that I would have been paid for, and at a time when I was really trying to get my photography career off the ground) . Turns out that I didnt get pregnant and i could have done all those things had I not assumed I would be getting pregnant.

I think I am going to do it. Now it is just a matter of seeing if I can qualify for student loans, etc.

Thanks for the support ladies. :hugplease

Hey so what is your major again? Have you already looked into online classes? I am doing my ENTIRE Masters Program through National University online :)

Hey so what is your major again? Have you already looked into online classes? I am doing my ENTIRE Masters Program through National University online :)

It's Computer Information Systems (computer programming).

I can actually do the associates, bachelors and masters online but I have to complete to core part of the classes (all the classes that have to do with the major, which they do first) in the classroom. Once that is done (16 months, nights) then I can finish to get my associates, bachelors, and masters all online if I choose to.

It's Computer Information Systems (computer programming).

I can actually do the associates, bachelors and masters online but I have to complete to core part of the classes (all the classes that have to do with the major, which they do first) in the classroom. Once that is done (16 months, nights) then I can finish to get my associates, bachelors, and masters all online if I choose to.


So you just really have to get through the next 16 months? That's totally doable! I'm so 100% education, I'll be 30 now and just starting nursing school, the associates degree program. I have 2 kids, and childcare is going to be $1332 every 4 weeks. Yikes. Then it'll be 2 more years to finish my BSN, and another 2 years to finish my MSN. And I'm going to have to have at least a year between finishing my ADN and starting my BSN. So at the earliest, I'll be 37 before I start practicing as a nurse practioner. A little late to the game, but that's how things have worked out. So don't wait!

It will suck not seeing dh 4 nights a week, but it will make you appreciate the weekends. Dh and I did it for almost 2 years while he finished his Bachelor's, but man did having a degree help when he got out of the Navy and went looking for a job.

Good luck with your decision!