I feel behind on my education

[Husseinisdoingfine]

I had just turned 20 on May 14th.

Anyways, I decided to go to community college for 2 years before transferring to a University, but I'm behind on my credits.

It looks like I'll have to do another year of community college before I have enough credits to transfer.

I'm insecure about this as the average PhD takes 6 years to complete, meaning that if I take another year of community college I'll be 27 when I graduate. Don't people usually gradate at around 23-24-25?

How am I going to get an early start to my career when I'm 27?

 

[Meliodas]

well the answer to this question depends on you : if the phd is really important to you  and if you work hard , you will not mind getting employment at 27 because you like what you are doing . if the phd is not important to you , or you are not interested in the subjects/or plan on doing something else entirely after college , then doing a phd is not a good idea .

[charlie cho]

If you think a degree or a PhD will make you effective at your work or business, you're mistaken. It may as well help, and  with no doubt it may give you a lot of help, but it's not the conclusion to your creating quality work. I might also had, no great man, quality worker, or a hero ever thought he needed a "PhD" or a "qualification" to make him a great man. With that kind of thinking, you simply cannot create anything meaningful. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by charlie cho

[zurew]

43 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

I'm insecure about this as the average PhD takes 6 years to complete

Are you sure, that you need a PhD?

[Yarco]

It sounds like you're a bit in denial and just need to grieve about the reality of the situation and then accept the facts.

It doesn't just feel like you're behind on your education, you objectively, factually are behind. Don't use weasel words to try and lighten the blow on yourself or delay the realization, just accept it.

Most people start college at 18 and you're 20.

There are some situations in life you can create for yourself where once the decision is made, you can't go back. This is one of them. You can't just fast track and do 2x as many credits in half the time to make up for it. You aren't a time traveler and there's nothing you can do about this now. 

If fixing life regrets was as easy as realizing you made a mistake, then nobody would have them.

You can't change the fact that the earliest you can possibly get a PhD is 27 now, assuming no further falling behind. Then using that information decide if it's still worth pursuing, or if you should shift to another strategy that doesn't involve a PhD.

No matter what you do, starting your career early and at 27 are mutually exclusive. Although I'd also say that the difference in your career between starting at 25 and 27 is probably very small.

If academic performance is part of the reason for the delay at all, then I'd reconsider the idea of a PhD or even an MBA. It's only going to get harder from here. Don't fall victim to sunk cost fallacy... know when to hold em and know when to fold em.

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

How am I going to get an early start to my career when I'm 27?

27 is late. But a few years is not going to stop a career. My brother took a long time to graduate college but he landed a $80k/yr job as an entry level programmer and then it went up to $100k/yr within a few years.

Don't worry about a few years difference. Worry about making it count. If you make a solid career it won't matter if you're 26 or 36.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

@Leo Gura THANK YOU.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

UPDATE: I’m most likely to graduate at 24/25.