Community College: To go or not to go, that is the question. A close friend of mine went to community college before transferring to a four year school and I asked his thoughts on the experience. He is in the “not to go” camp.
My friend went to community college because… well, it was a convenient option. He didn’t really know where else to go or what other schools to look at, his girlfriend was going there, and his parents appreciated the price tag. He decided to apply for and was accepted to the college’s honors program, billed as a prestigious opportunity geared toward students transferring to four year colleges. However, he found that the honors program, like the rest of the school, was focused on graduating students with their Associates degree, rather than preparing them for continued education.
He received his Associates and transferred, encountering the typical transfer student issues, mainly being the new guy, struggling with a blank slate GPA*, and transferring credits. But he also faced problems with the difference in the level of work and professors’ expectations. In his experience, the courses were truly more difficult than his honors community college classes. He felt unprepared, placing him at a serious disadvantage as his new professors expected a much higher quality work product than he was accustomed to.
There are, of course, some advantages to community college. Obviously, the lower cost is enticing to many parents and students alike. Community colleges offer many interesting, inexpensive courses, which are great for supplementing your general knowledge and furthering adult education, without having to travel great distances.
My friend’s best advice? If you start in community college with the goal of transferring to get your Bachelors degree, make a plan before you start. Think of what school you will transfer to, and try to take courses that will give you transferable credits. Most important, be aware of and prepared for the challenges you will face at your next school.
*This is something all students contemplating a transfer should know. When you are a new student at a university, you generally enter the school without a GPA. Typically, you have 120 credits taken over four years to accumulate your graduating GPA, but if you transfer as a junior after two years of community college, you might only have 60 credits to reflect your graduating GPA. To bring that point home, one disappointing grade out of 120 credits does a lot less damage than one out of 60 credits – something to seriously keep in mind.
Subscribe to this blog
Subscribe to RSS feed
Join Us
Become a fan of WiseChoice on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Categories
- Choosing a Major / Career (2)
- College Admissions (28)
- College Applications (10)
- College Search (12)
- College Transfer (3)
- Community College (1)
- Financial Aid (17)
- Greek Life (2)
- Just for Parents (3)
- Learning Difference (2)
- Life at College (9)
- Miscellaneous (2)
- Social Media (1)
- Topics of Interest (2)
- Visiting a College (5)
- WiseChoice (2)