Crippling self doubt! (aka starting college at 40!)

[rvm]

There are far more better suited members here to help you with the actual technical aspects of your degree, as well as the choices of the schools and degrees themselves so I won't even jump in the deep end of that pool.

What I wanted to say is that: we've all been where you are. I started out a year ago with 12 semester credits from a CC when I was 19. I am 34 now. I officially started my BA journey at age 33 having nothing but a GED, coming from a family where NO ONE has EVER earned even a high school education (I'm not kidding, they dropped anywhere from grade 8 through 12 including myself in 11), and having no experience outside of a couple remedial college classes with higher learning.

If you stay focused and listen to the members here, as well as have an open line of communication with your advisor from the school you select, you can be successful. I've got a few tidbits of gold I'd like to share based on my experiences:

1. Take courses and classes that you enjoy. If you hate philosophy and can't retain the info, find a different way to get the units.
1b. If you hate the course, stop doing it. This can demotivate you by weeks and you can lose a lot of time and money. You may even drop the plan entirely. Don't do that over a $54 SL class!!
2. Trust your gut with exams
3. Stay healthy - exercise, eat good whole foods, and drink lots of water. Having a strong healthy body and mind will translate into better focus, energy, and success.
4. Take advantage of every single free credit, partnership program, scholarship, fee reduction, income assistance, and other programs you possibly can. If you qualify, apply!
4b. Really! If you can get a free credit for having a scuba diving license with PADI (hint: you can) make sure to add it to your ACE transcript.
5. If you end up taking lots of ACE courses, make sure that your master's program / grad programs accept them as ore-requisites if they have any. Talk to your choice grad school academic advisors and ensure that what you're doing now with your undergrad will be compatible with what you're planning down the road.
6. Find the program or website you like and use it. I LOVED Study.com's app, website, format, and partnership with ProctorU. I didn't like how expensive it was compared to Straighterline, but I did as many credits as I could at SDC because the learning style of videos and text helped me blast through courses and under a week each. Honestly I did some of the courses in a day if the content was something I knew in tech or history.
7. Experiment. Yes I know we're all trying to save money, get a degree fast, and do it masterfully, but maybe you take a class on Female Archers who are also Architects 101 and you love it. So much so that you find a passion, hobby, and new career. If you can step out of your comfort zone and bit and sneak in a few fun classes, give it a try.

This is some the best advice I've seen on how to move through things quickly without getting bogged down with courses you just can't get your head wrapped around.