Should I go back to school?
The real question is "what is best for you in the long term?" - So if you feel you can advance in your career without a degree it may not be worth it to go back. But if several years down the road, people with the degree are being promoted to much higher levels in the company and those without are left behind, then that of course can drive your decision. Many companies will also help pay for college (they get really good tax breaks). So perhaps your company has a similar program. The thing is, you probably don't want to be making the same salary (+3% a year or whatever), so you have to look at what is needed to take the path you want. You could simply be on a path to owning your own business or the current industry you are in doesn't always mandate a degree to keep getting promoted. It is never a bad thing to be more educated. But as you say, taking on the extra debt is a bad thing if it is not going to lead to something more. I assume you have very few responsibilities (no wife, family, etc) and if that is the case, you have a lot of free time to take courses at night at a local CC or perhaps online. This way, you won't have to go into a lot of debt as most of those are going to be reasonable and you make a good salary at the moment. My guess is that you will make the right decision. You seem to have a good sense of judgement.
When is the best time to go back to school for your PhD?
There are really two kinds of PhD's -- the teaching track and the research track. I can tell you that given the right department/university, it is totally feasible to be a parent and get a Ph.D. after having been out of university for a few years. This is not at all unusual when people take a break between their bachelor's and PhD to work in industry, during which they often become young parents. What I would really caution, is for you not to mistake a love of learning as adequate to pursuing a PhD, especially research track. First year grad students often believe that a PhD is ideal for them because they love learning so much, but doing research is a much different ball game than learning advanced material in a nice structured learning environment. Depending on the requirements of the program/advisor's etc.. there is a really high bar today to create some fundamentally new body of knowledge in order to get a PhD. You need to revisit your explanation for wanting a PhD in this context.However, if you are explicitly interested in a teaching track rather than research track it should be possible to substitute greater research experience with teaching emphasis. In this context, some research is still useful to obtain a much deeper understanding of how concepts and advancements in your field relate to each other. I think this fundamentally helps you be a better teacher -- you need to know 4x as much to effectively teach 1/4 or less of what you know.
Is now a good time to go back to school to become an urban planner?
This completely depends on your age and abilities. If you are in your twenties or thirties and enjoy planning then yes, but if you are in your forties plus it might not be worthwhile. There are too many people and not enough houses, so it is an ever growing business and perhaps even more so now.
Is it good to go back to school in your 50s?
There is no age limit for education - provided the school has to accept you or you can go for on-line tuition and get a degree. If only you are looking for degrees / certificates then you should.. its not the question about whether it is good or bad - you want it, you will get it. "Good" if you ask for whom? Then there is no answer. In fact in Quora - there are men and women who are above 60 are getting educated on many issues. But so far you question is concerned you want a certificate etc., There is nothing wrong in getting to school - or study the same through online or postal courses.
I want to go back to school at 31, am I too old?
My younger sister dropped out of college after 1 year and took 10 years to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. At 28, she came to me and said, “I finally know what i want to do. I want to be a doctor.” “Great.” “The only problem is that I’ll be 45 by the time i get there.”“Well, you’re going to be 45 anyway. Why not do something worthwhile by the time you get there?”She went to undergrad in biology, grad school in nursing, and two more in anesthesia to become a CRNA. She didn’t make it all the way to being a doc, and it didn’t take until she was 45. She made it 2/3 of the way by 38.Want a different perspective to answer this Q?Flash back when you were 7 and ask yourself this Q. Then flash forward to when you’ll be 70 and ask again. Listen carefully to both perspectives. One reflects hope. The other wisdom. Then ask yourself the same Q again now. You’ll know what to do.Have Fun & Good Luck!
When is the best time to go back to school with respect to career advancement?
Hard to say, because the 'best' time depends largely on many personal and professional factors.Very broadly speaking, it seems best to go back to school after ending employment rather than during the middle of it. That ultimately means before the time of making the actual switchover to another career path (which is what going back to school is supposed to be for). The main reason for supporting post-employment boils down to the distractions from work and home life.Kids and general home life pose the biggest difficulties for going back to school, I've noticed in myself and in others.It's just physically and mentally draining to hold down the job and study while toddlers and young kids run amok in the home. Compounding this are a nagging (or drunk) spouse, disappointed parents, pushy in-laws and schizophrenic pets. We all have only 24 hours in the day to be spread thin by three, four, five or even six different things.Going back to school while with older children around, we can just leave those brats (and practically everybody else) to their own devices and get on with the study materials. There are side benefits too -- the kids see you doing homework and they have no good excuse ("Do your homework, like I'm doing mine, dammit!").In an ideal world, a good level of savings, older kids and no main job to hold down make for some quality free time to concentrate on studies and for "forward networking" in the target career path. In a more practical world, we just have to keep going down the next-best level to match our unique situations.As to the best age to go back to school, I'm afraid there's really no universal answer. Again, it rides on many personal and professional factors. When I went to law school, we had classmates in their 50s and 60s -- even one in her 70s.Thanks for the A2A.
How long to go back to school after having a c section?
It would be okay. Dont lift anything heavier than baby...at least before your 6 week post-partum check. but really you should be fine. Besides lifting HEAVY things i was doing normal things the next week after my c-section. the first poster was right about walking as soon as you can after delivery. it really does help with your mobility and swelling and all that. So if your sitting in a class room at school a few hours a day, a few days a week, then yeah go to school...you will be fine. just dont over do it. listen to your own body. and going back to school after having a baby is a GOOD thing! take care. and good luck. dont let people who tell c-section horror stories scare you. you will be fine. yeah its considered major surgery, but it was a breeze for me. im glad i had a c-section!