Well, for what it's worth, I think the UW is a great school, if you have the discipline to handle it. It's way too large for some. When I was a freshman, I was much more interested in drinking and having fun and being in my sorority. I had to drop out in my junior year. Lack of funds (I had a dirt poor mother, so I had to pay for my own education, working 2 jobs too). I went back when I was 33, divorced and had 2 young kids to put in daycare.
I highly value this last year of my education much more than my first three when I was 18-21, because I had to work even harder for it.
The UW student's average age is 26, which means that there were plenty of us older Gen Xers going back to finish their degrees. I had a lot of company, lots of single moms like me.
My professors appreciated me more, I think. I had very fruitful conversations with them that didn't end in "cool dude." I got 2 4.0s and a 3.9 this time around, and my family and I are very proud that I got my degree (finally).
Makes me proud to say I have a $40,000 (I was out of state the first two years) piece of pretty paper on my bookshelf, because I know that my kids' chances of getting good degrees are even higher now. Plus I got a good job at the UWMC out of it!
"Real" college degrees are SOOOO worth it!
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