Community College is for failures!

[Beachbum]

Senior year is coming to an end, and I was unfortunate in not getting to an university I live by. Due to not meeting the SAT requirements, I'm going to a CC for the basics,math eng and whatever else there is, and transferring to a University later. I know this would probably be a cheaper, and easier plan to build myself up to a university, but teachers and classmates alike make it sound like it's prison. Is going to a CC that bad? Everyone around me seems to be getting free rides to universities, and high SAT scores. Damn, life can be depressing lol.

[W.I.P.]

My wife did the same thing. She got her associates from a CC and moved on to a University. I think anyone who is talking like it is a bad thing must have money to throw away. This method is a way to save THOUSANDS of dollars, for us broke folk that can be a huge financial help.

[Real Pol]

I didn't go straight to uni and when I decided to go I had qualifications in all the wrong subjects so I had to do an access course. I did this at a local college which also taught maths, english etc for those who didn't get good enough marks and also taught bricklaying, painting & decorating, slating etc. I thought it was going to be terrible and all my friends were in the city at their fancy universities. I ended up having a great time and though it seemed like my mates were having a better time in Glasgow (they probably were) the year went by quick enough!

[Luke]

I also did an access course at a community college to get into uni, I wasn't that interested in studying when i was at school.

I think the most important thing is to work out what you want to do, and then see what training etc you need to do it. This gives you much more focus when it comes to doing the work. When I was at uni there were plenty of people who had good grades at school who ended up dropping out.

No education is for faliures, You get out what you put in.

[RJD]

Hah I remember Steve Jobs goingto Harvard and lecturing a bunch of near graduates.

Told them they'd all already failed and were looking at a life of being wage slaves. If they had a clue they'd have droped out and started working for themselves and made something

IMO university at such a young age is a mistake for a lot of kids, you should be out experiencing the world before you attempt to cast in stone your position in it.

[Hang11]

Hah I remember Steve Jobs goingto Harvard and lecturing a bunch of near graduates.

Told them they'd all already failed and were looking at a life of being wage slaves. If they had a clue they'd have droped out and started working for themselves and made something

IMO university at such a young age is a mistake for a lot of kids, you should be out experiencing the world before you attempt to cast in stone your position in it.

Ha!

I got booted out of school at 16, and only went to university when I was 23, and all I did was go surfing a lot, and still ended up being a wage slave

Though I have got three macs and 4 ipods, so good on Steve Jobs.

[grammarnazi]

As a community college professor, I may be a bit biased. But, in many places, CC education is very good. If you are planning on doing your 4-year degree at a state school, often the quality of CC education is actually better than what you'd get at uni. Most of the undergraduate-level courses (at 4-yr) are taught by graduate students; if you do get a professor to lecture, he/she will most likely have been trained to be a researcher, not a TEACHER. Here in California, many people actually encourage students to do their first two years/GE requirements at CC - it's much cheaper, and the quality is often better for the intro courses (all professors have at least a MA; many at CCs have PhDs, and faculty focus is on TEACHING, not publishing or doing research). At the UCs, it is also so crowded that some students can't get a seat in the intro courses in highly-impacted majors, and will get through school faster by doing the first 2 years at CC. Many CCs (at least here in Cali) have transfer agreements that will guarantee admission to certain schools as long as a specified course of study is completed - definitely look into that! Good luck; don't despair!

[billie_morini]

Beachbum,
I'm with grammarnazi in Santa Barbara. Community college can be a very good thing. I've taught in Community College and, long ago, obtained an A.S. degree there. Even joined the rock band of some guys I met there. Be encouraged to pursue it!

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

i went to KCC, didnt even bother to take the sat's. i didnt think it was bad at all. it was just smaller than the university, and the campus life kinda sucked. it made me appreciate UH much more when i went there. its also good if you dont know your major, classes are cheap so i took a lot and figured out what i like. grammar nazi is also right, i majored in psychology and most of the teachers at KCC were more experienced.

what school are you going to? one thing, dont listen to the CC Counselors, they told me to take speech and a hawaiian studies class which ended up not transferring to UH and i had to take them again. 100 level classes do not transfer, only their credits. i know a lot of art students who gor screwed over on that and had to take all the inro classes again because at UH theyre 200 level classes even though really they are the same class.

[buckthis]

"often the quality of CC education is actually better than what you'd get at uni"
wrong! if you can go to a 4 yr, do it. Even if you go to cc for 2 yrs and graduate from a 4 yr. you will be paid less than a 4yr graduate. cc is not cheaper in the long run!

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

"often the quality of CC education is actually better than what you'd get at uni"
wrong! if you can go to a 4 yr, do it. Even if you go to cc for 2 yrs and graduate from a 4 yr. you will be paid less than a 4yr graduate. cc is not cheaper in the long run!

i dont think thats true. i have taken more psychology classes than most 4yr psychology majors because i want to a cc. there are so many different aspects an employer is going to be looking at, the fact that you went to a cc for 2 years before a university isnt going to matter. only your grades after you transferred. im not sure if this is true in all th US but in hawaii most grad students started at a cc.

[themathteacher]

Statistically, only 28% of people that enroll in a community college get a college degree. There are many sucess stories, even me, I'm a product of community college and transfer to university, but we are not the norm.

However, what the studies do not show is that community colleges open opportunity to other avenues of carreer employment. Someone might start community college, end up loving computers, transfer to a technical college and get a successfull carreer in computers, but since there is no way of tracking anythying that is not within the educational system it is considered, for lack of a better word, a failure.

Anyway, community colleges are not a failure, but looking at 4 year university degree completion, community college is 28% and direct enrollment into a 4 year university is 81%, which is why it is stated as such.

I'm a viceprincipal at a high school, I tell everyone to go to school, I don't really care what school...

[grammarnazi]

Statistically, only 28% of people that enroll in a community college get a college degree.

I agree with what you've posted. This statistic is probably accurate, but doesn''t show the whole picture. At my CC, only about 20% of entering students actually enroll INTENDING to transfer to a 4-year. CCs often have a split function of college prep and vocational training. Many enroll only planning to get a certificate, say as a dental assistant or radiologic tech (and some of these are super-rigorous programs requiring more than 100 units of content-area coursework), and decide to get further education after they have experienced some academic success at the CC. We also have a lot of returning students and older students - our average student age is 33 (which I'd guess is not far from average). We have many students looking for second careers or personal/professional development - 38% of students at my school actually already have a BA or BS. Definitely agree with themathteacher that CCs open up tons of opportunities for a lot of people.

[WICKED]

i started out at a 4 yr university, but found the students there to be spoiled, drunk, cracked out, and really uninteresting. i ended up transfering to a cc to do all my gen ed, and then got my bachelors afterwards. the people at the cc were more genuine, taking their education more seriously. most of them were older and paying for it themselves. their parents were not standing over them telling them to get a degree. they were independent and wanted to do it for themselves. those were the kinds of people i chose to surround myself with, not drunken frat boys, and daddys girls.

[buckthis]

but look, it is true
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/ ... nity_N.htm
anothermathteacher

[billie_morini]

I read the linked story. It was kind of skinny on study methodology, but I don't believe it anyway.

[buckthis]

Billy, the kids that go to cc, flounder when they get to the four year college. But I am talking about the Ohio State University, and I am talking about mechanical egineering, so if you are going into some mickey mouse field, it might not matter.

[billie_morini]

hallo buckthis,
you are to be commended for pursuing engineering. Many engineering disciplines are interesting and well-paying. I started my 2nd career in the physical sciences and ultimately ended up in engineering. I don't buy that CC kids flounder at 4yr schools and don't think you should think I'm belittling your serious intentions. I've worked all over the US and continental Europe in engineering disciplines. In my most recent employment of nearly 4 years, I was a regional manager in a very kick-ass US environmental engineering firm. I've just made the switch to a new employer and work in engineering litigation support. Please be reminded it all began in Community College. Along the way, degrees were garnered at UNC, NMSU, and (possibly) University of Stuttgart (Germany). These schools are on par with Ohio State U, but it is really more about what one gains from one's education experience than the name of the school. You are smart enough to recognize my experiences have not been "Mickey Mouse." I wish the same for you.

[buckthis]

Billy, if you can get into a prestigious masters program, all the more power to you, it makes your four year degree null and void. Experience is the key in any field, so it really doesn't matter where you come from. Did you go to a private high school? most of the students in the honors engineering courses came from private schools, and seemed to be much better prepared than those students coming from a public school, so these same students that go to a private high school would really not have a problem going to a CC and then finishing their four year degree at State. To go to a public school, then a CC, you already got two strikes against you, why deliberately put yourself in that position? MOST would fail(depending on your background)again, congratulation on your perseverance and accomplishments

[billie_morini]

buckthis,
pish. am going surfing.
billie