Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 07:25:10 UTC No. 16584412

>>16584411
If you're capable of learning you will do fine. How long it takes you to master the field you want to will depend on your prior knowledge, especially math I think. As long as you're disciplined you'll be fine.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 07:47:11 UTC No. 16584421

I'm in the same boat who's also going back and forth between those options.

Software is in a really difficult place right now for entry level roles. Self-teaching and bootcamps won't get you anywhere right now so you'd probably need a degree, lots of projects, internships, and connections to get anywhere.

There are a lot of "postbacc" premed programs offered by 4-year institutions where you only need to take the prereqs. Your nontraditional background will probably help you stand out in that regard, but again there are a lot of extra hoops to go through to get in.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 08:00:45 UTC No. 16584427

>>16584411
A lot of STEM fags are getting totally destroyed by a globalized labor market. It's not the instant win button that it was a few decades ago. You sound like you come from a privileged background, I would just live with my rich parents if I were you.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 08:16:17 UTC No. 16584439

>>16584427
not OP but the other poster. I'm from a humanities background and realized how much I would rather do science instead to the point of going back and getting a second bachelors and a PhD. Or engineering, or medicine, software. I realized I'm really interested in it all.

But, yes, I keep hearing about recent grads getting wrecked.

I just really want to pursue this but hearing the cries of frustration around this make me paralyzed on what to do.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 08:20:09 UTC No. 16584441

>>16584427
and to add, I work an average paying normie job but live with my parents so it feels like my money is going further for what I'm doing. But the work isn't fulfilling it all. How great would it be to do something that I'm actually interested in and feel like I'm helping advance humanity at least in some way?

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 08:24:06 UTC No. 16584442

This guy knew calculus and probably quite a lot of physics thanks to his family background. He's not your average humanities grad. Next fuckin question...

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:20:38 UTC No. 16584675

>>16584427
OP here. Not privileged at all. I came from a lower-middle class background but did stuff like Calculus AB and Physics C and all that jazz when I was younger and got good grades and got a scholarship. I just wasn't disciplined enough for STEM the first time around. I can't leech off my parents forever. Any other ideas?

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:57:12 UTC No. 16584704

>>16584411
>What is my prognosis?
It's obviously not a great idea if all you care about is money. You only change careers later in life because your previous career didn't work out and you have no other choice, or because you're interested in a new career for reasons other than money.
>I would like to go to med school or learn software engineering.
A lot of people get into med later in life because they get disillusioned with their careers and would rather spend their time having a direct, positive impact on people's lives. Going med to begin with is a rather bad financial decision overall i'd say, the amount of money you make can be quite big but isn't all that impressive given the sheer time commitment and lifestyle difficulties, generally if you're smart enough to get through med school and become a doctor you're smart enough to make better money in less time in other fields, you need to want to be a doctor.

Software engineering, not my cup of tea, no opinion.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:22:31 UTC No. 16585006

>>16584411
Don’t go into software. I finished my BS in ME at 28 after having to drop out the first time around (untreated bipolar disorder). Unless you have great soft skills, software has has too many turboautists that can out code you, and AI is going to eliminate everyone below the 50th percentile. STARTING pre med at 28/29 can be tricky. Assuming you have all gen ed and elective credits, it’ll still take 2 years to finish pre med. 4 for med school. 3-7 for residency. You’ll be at 37-41 before you become a full fledged doctor. BUT- if it’s something you really think you’d love, go for it. The money is still decent, and you really will make a positive impact in a lot of peoples lives. And at some point you’ll be 41 anyways. Ask yourself- would you rather be 41 in your same field, or 41 and a doctor?

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Feb 2025 13:21:33 UTC No. 16586612

>>16584411
Learn to code, literally.

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Feb 2025 15:21:42 UTC No. 16586751

“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both. Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it… Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”
―[math]S\varnothing{}ren\text{ }Kierkegaard [/math]

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Feb 2025 19:00:01 UTC No. 16586979

>>16584411
I can only speak to mathematics, but you're generally fine starting out 40 and under imo. If your goal is to be a gold medalist or an autistic problem champion you have to start early unless you practice night and day but it's really not worth it. If your goal is to become an expert in some particular subset of mathematics it is much more doable and you can make it in some regard.
Mathematics is so large now that it's very difficult to have monumental results published by a single author regardless of brilliance.It generally takes multiple people working with you (unless your field is niche and gains some kind of traction or you get extremely lucky). After 40 I would say it becomes harder if you're starting entirely from scratch but not impossible. I know people who started late and had successful careers. They aren't Tao or Gauss or whatever but they still enjoy what they do and are contributing.

Anonymous at Sun, 16 Feb 2025 19:27:54 UTC No. 16588313

>>16584411
>>16584421
>software engineering
meme
>I'm a humanities fag
idk finish some khan academy courses, if you like it then enroll somewhere you can, people interested in academics usually stay in academics for their whole lives, so there's no age verification. You gonna read books, not singing in a boys band, nobody gives a fuck about your age.

Anonymous at Sun, 16 Feb 2025 23:34:02 UTC No. 16588565

>>16586751
Based Kirky

Anonymous at Mon, 17 Feb 2025 17:39:10 UTC No. 16589373

>>16584411
Weierstrass, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, started publishing papers after the age of 40. But remember, you're no Weierstrass.

Anonymous at Mon, 17 Feb 2025 21:11:42 UTC No. 16589545

>>16584411
Med school might be possible, but you won't have a job until you're around 40. The SWE job market is apparently kind of rough these days, you can't just do a bootcamp and grind leetcode anymore. There's a track of elite undergrad to prestigious internship(s) to prestigious grad school or first job at a prestigious firm that you really want to stay on, and many tech companies aren't going to be interested in a 30-something trying to break in when there are so many perfect applicants in the new grad pipeline.

Anonymous at Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:28:25 UTC No. 16593572

>>16584411
>>>/sci/scg is what you are looking for.