Started at 17......(a few pre req's),full time @ 18.Finished at 21.In porcess of going back for my bs.

I started school at age 33.  I was divorced, had 5 children and a dog, and was working full time at a food processing factory when I started.  I wish I would have went to school right after high school so that I would be more stable right now, but I truly believe that I wouldn't be nursing if I would have.  My life would have taken another path.  So as rough as things may get sometimes, I just pray for strength and know that this is what God has chosen for me and this is the path that He wanted me to take.

I was 19 when I first went to college. Was a psychology major for 4 years. Went back to school at 33 and got my ADN. Had one child and am a single mom. Now I am 36 and going back to get my BSN and then on to get my psychiatric NP. Also have a new 4month old daughter and still a single mom. Just want all the single mom's out there to know....it is possible!!

I married at age 19, lost my dad to lung cancer at age 23, and that's the year I started in the vocational nursing program.  I received my diploma and began working as an LVN in Texas at age 24.  I began working on my BSN at age 17 (don't ask), graduated at age 27 and passed the RN exam on the first try.  I started on my MSN at age 30, and completed it at age 33.  It was at that time that my husband and I decided to have our first and only baby, a girl, who just finished her Associates of Art Degree in Hebrew Language, and is now a Hebrew Cryptological Linguist in the US Air Force.  It seems like just yesterday, so for anyone just starting out, cherish every minute of every day!!

I was 18 when I went to college.  I went back when I was 30 for my EMT license.  I will be starting again for nursing this year.  Yeah.  I am 38 now!

I was 47 when I first entered college, taking classes full-time. I graduated with an ADN at age 51.

I started at 38 having to take every pre-req known to god and man.  I'm 42 now and finally in my last year (yeah!), but have decided to keep going for my BSN next year after I complete my RN degree.  My brian does not function and fast as when I was young but there is alot to say for life experience. 

I graduated high school in 1978 - I went to college much later - graduated w/my ADN in 1998!  LOL!

"mature women rock!"

I graduated from high school in 1975. I enrolled in college (for the first time in my life) in 2004 at the age of 47. I graduated with an ADN May 2008. Never let your age be a barrier!

I went to college at 43 and graduated with an ASA degree and now am in College again for RN  and I just turned 50!!  I won't be graduating until 2010..it's harder now but I want what I want so I will rise up and carry on to my dream.

I waited until all four of my children left home and here I am at 46 starting college.  I am currently taking the pre-req classes for LVN with a desire to become an RN.   This has always been a dream of mine.  My family is very proud of me and that means the world to me.  I love my classes and look forward to a nursing.  

I was like some of you, starting college while still in High School (as my kids would tell you "when dinosaurs roamed the Earth").. :-)    I did continue college then, and got a BS degree, but getting married and moving to a different state and then trying to find ANY job right out of college was no picnic. I put my love of healthcare  and taking care of people on hold, because my job was paying well, and then the kids came along.  My job decided to start downsizing, so I enrolled in an ASN program. Halfway through the program, I was laid-off from my job, but they agreed to pay for my classes for 2 yrs. 3 months later, my husband died (massive MI). I was 39, with 3 kids, no job and halfway through school. But I continued on and got the ASN, and 3/4 through the BSN before the funds ran out. I was lucky enough to find a job in a Dr's office as an RN and do the last semester of nuresing.  I then went into home health care and agency nursing (and back then, the pay wasn't nearly as good in it as it is today). I stuck with it until I found a better job, but it wasn't in nursing. It did pay the bills. To make a long story short, I was able to get a decent job again as an RN in a Dr's office while the kids were growing up, and now I'm in a MSN program to become a Family Nurse Practitioner (3 semesters to go!!!!). I still work full time and do the school part time. It's a ton of work, but I'm thinking it will be so workth it. Oh and my age now??? 51. LOL. I'll be 52 1/2 when I get my MSN. 

PS: My "baby" is now a sophomore in a junior college and wants to transfer into a BSN program. I help her with her homework when she doesn't understand something, so it's a lot like going through those courses again.

I did however attend the school of hard knocks for about 20 years...lol..got my LPN in 86 , received my LPN results in the mail when I came home from giving birth to my second child.Hit the ceiling as an LPN then had a back injury so the degree became imperative. working in a B2B call center now and trying to decide on where to restart my career as med tele on the floor is no longer an option

I have been going to college from I was 18 and still cant finish.

I was 17 when I went to college, but because I kept changing majors, I didn't graduate until I was 25 or so. Then, I didn't go to nursing school until I was  30. But, reading from other posts, that's an average age.