Is 32 too old to go for a degree?

as I said, I'm 32,married, have 1 child 5y.o, housewife. and very tired of been nobody:((
when I meet other women,and they ask me what do I do, I feel miserable.back in US, I worked in several places,didn't get paid much, but it was enough to pay my daughters daycare 1000$ & other things
I got my Bachelor Degree in 2000,in Art, and since then never worked by my profession.I quess my diploma from Central Asia is not that popuar in US and EU
another thing,when I wanted to go research in univercity in Washington DC,they told me , I have to have as foreigner student TOEFFl test done first. that time, I was really busy with my family life, so I didn't tried to find out about Toeffl classes
I wonder if here somebody can help me with advice, is it in Germany possible to get tested Toeffl test?
and if someone can reccomend me some university, where I can study in English?

honestly I speak OK English, not perfect, but understand almost 90%, but I never took English classes, all by myself,reading books, textbooks etc.but I need to study writing and Grammar
I've been searching in Internet for Toeffl preparation classes in Stuttgart and universities, but at the end got so tired of it, couldn't find anything around Stuttgart

I am pretty sure the Uni Stuttgart offers prep courses for the TOEFL. (Did you spell it right when you did your Google search? Maybe that's why you didn't find a lot of info?) The DAZ (Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum) might also offer courses for the TOEFL, I know the American cultural institute in Heidelberg does, so maybe your local one does as well. If not, they might be able to help you find a place that does. They do definitely offer English language courses; you can find out more here.

You can take the TOEFL in Germany, yes.
Here is the next date you can take the TOEFL in Stuttgart:
Stuttgart Internet-based Test $185 Sat., May 03, 2008
Heidelberg also offers several dates. (Info from here.)

By the way, I have taken the TOEFL (admittedly, it's been a while, August 2003 was when I took it in Munich) and there is an entire section on writing (you have to write an essay), so definitely work on your grammar and spelling.

Its never too late to do anything

If money is not too tight, you may want to work individually with an experienced tutor on your grammar and writing so that you get instruction customized to your needs and areas where you need to improve. This would be beyond TOEFL preparation because you need to do more than just get a high score on the TOEFL if you want to successfully do postgraduate work In English.

Good luck...

As one who teaches college, I welcome having in class "non-traditional" college age students, who bring more life experience and maturity to their studies. It makes the class and interactions among students more interesting. I suggest having a talk with the whole family, explaining that your pursuing this goal will require support from all of them and asking for their support. In pursuing more education you will set a fine example for your children. Go for it!

I went back part time at 30, and am still working on my second degree, I had students in my classes when I taught that were older than me. I aslo have a cousin that went back full time at 36 with 4 kiddies at home. Anything is possible.
Good luck

Why don't you try an Open University degree? You wouldn't need TOEFFL for that and as the largest University in Europe it has a formidable reputation. It was founded in the UK in the 60s,70s and offers home learning for mostly adult students who have to balance family/work life with doing a degree. Much of it is distance learning, with tutorials offered for most courses locally in most European cities and summer schools in each subject. All the people I know who have done OU degrees have sung their praises to high heaven and in contrast to other distance learning degrees they are REAL and very respected qualifications to get. They also provide financial support to some students too.

You can find out more here.

Excellent suggestion, BTC. To that I might add to look at the University of London (londonexternal.ac.uk) especially if you can handle studying primarily on your own.

well, since you've already achieved the bachelor degree, I would suggest specializing in something you enjoy. it's never too late to learn or master something you like to do.
I started my bachelor degree at age 35 and spent 10 yrs on it. I was single and paid for it myself. I never regret getting it.

Hell, 32 in Germany is, like, average age to be in University right?

and 10 years is about right for the time taken in Germany to complete it!

Only problem can be the bull you sometimes encounter from "human resources" people telling you you are "too old".

I remember being told in London by a recruitment consutancy that I was "too old" - and I was only 26!

The Open University's got a represenataion in Germany. Simply google under open uiversity, germany.

Have you tried the education enter on the Base?? They have lots of resources and information. My friend was Moroccan and they helped her to get what she needed to start her degree. You don't have to be military to go there.

My Dad graduated from the Open University aged 85.

You're not too old at all!

Even if you don't need to pass the TOEFL exam to study at the Open University, I would still do the preparation or hire a tutor (as previously suggested). If you want to do well at any University, you should be competent in complex situations. That being said, you're definately not too old to go back to school. It takes a lot of courage to go back to college after some time off, so props to you!

hello nice members of this forum
thank you all for your answers, I'm touched

I have an american husband home but he doesn't help me to improve my language last time, when he find out, that I was reading book in English, he even got kinda jealous, that he couldn't learn Russian, as I had learned English, so I'm able to read detective books now in English

I find a library in base not so long time ago, but they don't have much choise of self-educating textbooks in English. just what I got is 4 DVDs ESL, but those are too simple.
if anybody would like to sell me used DVDs or textbook for reasonable price, I'll buy it
I'll try take a look more carefully at the Toefl classes and that Open Uni, thanks!
who has more suggestions, I'll be happy to listen
by the way, I went to those Maryland and Texas college in base, I took some buklets(broshures< I don't know how to say it right, there is all information about Degrees and payment, and when the sessions starts, when I told my husband, he wasn't interested, he said it's expensive, and promised me find another not so expensive distant schools, it past almost a years since then, he never returned to this subjekt again)
I want to study, I want to be happy too, I want to have good job, so I don't have to depent on somebody and be able take care of myself and my daughter in any case.
sometimes I think, that my husband is very comfortable with this situation, where I'm housewife, fully not independent

"Never too late to learn" and "better late than never". My dad got his bachelor degree when he was 34 and my sister was 4 years old.

According to my experience, no language school can't provide you a TOEFL preparation course which is effective enough to help you get something like 100 over 120. I think you should register for an online course by ETS. Here is the link: http://toeflpractice.ets.org/. Everything in this online program is just the same as a real test and that helps really much, both advancing your English skills and getting high scores. Besides, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic, CNN and... Disney Channel are recommended. I have no idea about how to improve writing skills as I am now stuck with it too. But I know some titles of some useful English grammar books and you can deal with them all by yourself. For example:
- Advanced Language Practice with key - by Michael Vince with Peter Sunderland, Macmillan
- Understanding and using English grammar - by Betty Schrampfer Azar. (Student book and workbook).

Oh, one more thing, it seems that IELTS is more commonly accepted in Europe than TOEFL. And it is also easier to get high scores for IELTS.

If you are taking a degree for the fun of it then you are never too old. If you are taking a degree to get a job then if you consider that a career is 25 years long then providing you graduate before age 45 then you are not too old.

what's the point of doing TOEFL if you do not intend to take a degree in the USA? Your English seems good enough to me for a degree course and it woill improve anyway as you study. TOEFL would therefore be money down the drain.

Agreed with Btc, if you do not need the TOEFL, don't take it. It costs $180 to take now (and that is at the moment; when I took it 4.5 years ago it cost $120 or so, so it will probably get even more expensive). The money would be a lot better invested in extra English classes.

thak you guys again
Arianne what is that IELTS?I thought only Toefl accepted in any countries as US and EU too? didn't hear about other classes.
the reason why I registered here was to practice more, posting in forum even stupid thing
I wasted enough time to forums in my native language(kyrghyz and russian)
I'll try find out about those classes IELTS

TOEFL is probably the most widely accepted test, but here is some information on the acceptance of the IELTS in the US.


Wiki article on the IELTS

By the way, the acronym stands for "International English Language Testing System".

Esma, for what it's worth, perhaps you're too hard on yourself. You're raising a child and maintaining a working relationship... taking responsibility for a child is a huge commitment that takes a lot of work and energy, and you've been doing that. Give yourself some credit and cut yourself some slack. But yeah, go for it!

$140 if you register online.

Just saw this..

Degrees from central asia and other former soviet countries aren't worth a bundle because whilst some people work hard, degrees can also be bought (I know someone who bought a Phd in Tashkent).

However I also had a British friend who's mum studied for an Open University bachelor degree in maths in her sixties and graduated aged 70. I also have Kazakh friends in their forties who were qualified doctors and with some hard work, they requalified in their specialities and are now working as doctors here in Germany. Age is *not* an issue and believe me, you are still quite young particularly by German standards.

However you may have to negotiate study space with your family. Times when you can concentrate and not be disturbed by your children or partner.