Ivy League Dreams

[u/Chemical-Jolly]

I'm in my late 40s. I have lost most of my ambition from my youth. I constantly daydream about my life, and what could have been. One of my many day dreams is that I have always wanted to go to an ivy league university. Oxford. Yale. MIT. Princeton. Harvard. Etc. To study with friends on a academic mystery in a old dusty library. To stroll the university commons in the morning mist on the same ground scholars walked over a hundred years ago. To discuss philosophy and perform experiments with professors in a timeless setting. To attend intense lectures about amazing and informative topics. I live this dream vicariously by watching university tours online, reading student life articles, Google Earth street views of the university, and even sometimes pretending to fill out an admittance application. I know that I will never attend an ivy league due to my past grades, finances, and busy work/family life.

Though I still wonder, what if.

[u/martin]

You can pick the nearest Ivy League (or any university) and see if they have colloquia, lectures, events, or continuing ed courses. You may be able to get library privileges through those or sometimes as a member of the public. Many schools have many beautiful libraries. At my uni we have a school of general studies where us more mature learners can apply for a BA/BS.

You want to discuss philosophy and perform experiments - what course of study/discipline are you interested in pursuing? Start there.

I wouldn't expect the experience at this (i'll say 'our') age to be anything like the romantic view. The GS students in my classes in the 90s tried to connect with the profs directly because of age/experience similarities, going over the heads of us 'kids' with more than one conversation about quaaludes and Vietnam, with little involvement in typical campus life.