Finally, at 35, I realized that I would either be 40 with a PT degree, or 40 without a PT degree, and the choice was clear.
Exactly my experience as well! I dragged my feet in my late 20's and early 30's, thinking I was too old, until I had the same realization. I remember feeling old when I was 26, which seems ridiculous to me now
I was a music major but got burnt out my senior year at a conservatory--so competitive! I spent a year working at a bookstore, hanging out with artists and philosophizing about life. But I'm the productive type, so I started teaching myself how to do web design, starting with graphics then going into front-end development. I got a job doing this (and then lost all my artsy friends because I "sold out" to the tech industry). While working as a web-designer, I expanded my experience to back-end development languages.
I worked in the tech industry for almost 10 years doing both front and back-end dev. I always enjoyed the problem solving, but knew it wasn't the career for me. The paycheck was nice, but not fulfilling.
The difficulties I've had as a non-trad:
1. Hard to coordinate vacations with my partner. Summers and winter breaks have been spent trying to cram in classes and GRE studying (although we just got back from a 2-week vacation in Europe! Yay!)
2. Because I was trying to finish all my classes as quickly as possible, plus getting volunteer experience, I didn't do a lot of formal "extra-curricular" activities. I think this was a major issue in my applications.
3. Also concerning extra-curricular: I go to schools with some very bright, dedicated, and interesting colleagues, yet I also need to spend time with people my own age. My motivation to join school clubs was lacking because of this. I participated completely when needed, but it is easy to feel out of place with people 1/2 your age.
4. Undergrad is like being spoon fed, but I want to integrate what I learn with real life practice! This is where my excitement for grad school comes in. I work well when immersed. Or so I think
Thanks, also, to jblil! You offered some good pointers, especially about memorization. I used to be one of those near-photographic-memory types, but at 37, I am definitely seeing a decline in the ease of memorization. Other areas of problem solving and learning have improved, so it's a give and take.