I guess I'm fishing for reassurance.....I have yet to hear someone say, "are you f'n crazy'. I even went to a therapist for my anxiety over this decision. She says I should go for it, along with my financial advisor, my friends and my whole family.

I just turned 39, married with 2 young boys. I decided I want to go to dental school. I will apply the summer of 2012 and if all goes as planned I will be 45 when I graduate.
I'm about to quit my job (and it's a good job, RDH) so I can go to school full time and get my pre-requisites and my bachelor's in biology. I'm so scared and of course I'm having second thoughts and questioning whether or not I want that responsibility. I'm almost getting in my own way. I will be registering next week and then it's official.
I will then have to drop the bomb at work......That will be interesting for sure. I'm not sure how my boss, a dentist of 30 years, will react to his hygienist suddenly wanting to become a dentist.
Also my family and I will subsist on bologna sandwiches, this will suck financially, and less time with mom. This is the hardest decision I have had to make and it's eating me alive but the answer keeps coming back.........I must try.

One of my female classmates started at age 42 with 4 kids after spending 20 years in the Navy. We have a bunch of other men and women in their 30s or 40s, and some also have kids. You'll figure it out, it'll be fine.

Welcome to the 40 something club !! :):thumbup:Just recently turned 46..I am applying to U of Melbourne and U of Sydney post-doctoral program. If you want something bad enough, go for it..

One of my classmates was 42 and another was 48 when they started.

I guess I'm fishing for reassurance.....I have yet to hear someone say, "are you f'n crazy'. I even went to a therapist for my anxiety over this decision. She says I should go for it, along with my financial advisor, my friends and my whole family.

I just turned 39, married with 2 young boys. I decided I want to go to dental school. I will apply the summer of 2012 and if all goes as planned I will be 45 when I graduate.
I'm about to quit my job (and it's a good job, RDH) so I can go to school full time and get my pre-requisites and my bachelor's in biology. I'm so scared and of course I'm having second thoughts and questioning whether or not I want that responsibility. I'm almost getting in my own way. I will be registering next week and then it's official.
I will then have to drop the bomb at work......That will be interesting for sure. I'm not sure how my boss, a dentist of 30 years, will react to his hygienist suddenly wanting to become a dentist.
Also my family and I will subsist on bologna sandwiches, this will suck financially, and less time with mom. This is the hardest decision I have had to make and it's eating me alive but the answer keeps coming back.........I must try.

My class of 40 students started out with...
a 30 year old married Aeronautical engineer that walked away from $$$.
a 35 married/2 kids Machinist that continued to work the night shift
a 32 year married/2 kids Social Worker/Mother
two 30 year old male married/no kids teachers.
a 32 year old single teacher.
a 30+ married/1 kid pharmacist
a 30+ marred/2 kids dental tech
a 40 year old PhD in Physics with 1 ex-wife and child plus 1 current wife and child.
-------Guess What---- They all made it. Their families made it too. They are all now successful dentists and happy with their choice.
It's not easy but it can be done.

Thanks so much for your responses.

We had a ton of second career people in my class. I think the oldest at graduation was early 40s, and he had been a bartender before going back to school.

While you might have more real life obligations and less youthful energy, you may (hopefully) have better organizational, time management, and communication skills than your younger counterparts. I think some of the faculty gave a little more respect to the older students too. The perception was that older students probably knew more about what they were getting into professionally, and had sacrificed more to get there (ie leaving another career and its salary behind to start over).