Community Colleges in General

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I just want to open up this new thread (in my opinion) to all WrongPlanet users.

What do you think about Community Colleges in general?

I feel that they open new vistas to almost all students regardless of familial status or previous academic experience. They really give opportunities to those who are willing to work hard to achieve great things in life.

Community colleges are like "second chance" schools for those individuals who did not do well in high school for whatever reasons... and then, realize later just how important an education truly is for a satisfying career and fulfilling, happy life.

It depends on the school and where it is located. My first community college experience was near the dirt poor hillbilly redneck home town I grew up in and it was pure crap and a total waste of money. Now I live in a fairly large city with several universities which forces the community college to offer classes and programs that are top notch. Community colleges serve a niche that universities do not.

The quality varies a lot, but a good one is a great thing.

I was pretty depressed in high school and barely graduated. The local CC let me get my grades up, and do my first 2 years of college for much less money than otherwise. Then I transferred to the Univ. of California and did the last 2 years there to end up with a BA. Second chance, saved thousands of dollars, slowed the transition away from home/hometown (I was very socially (and otherwise) clueless at that age), small classes, and the instructors' are there to teach and help (as opposed to do research and grudgingly teach because they have to).

The bad CC's though -- you can't transfer your units anywhere, worthless credentials, low quality/crappy teaching, bad facilities, etc. It really depends.

If you make sure your CC credits will transfer to your university, a CC education could turn into a real Bachelor's Degree and serious cashflow. Use the CC to bounce around and figure out what you really like (more like: Figure out what really likes you (weird as that sounds, that's what it felt like to me)). Once you "home in" on a subject, see if your interest continues into higher-level coursework. Once I found my subject, it really didn't feel like "homework" and your rote memory ability will make study time quite minimal.

It depends on the community college. Some schools are good, and some are bad, just like any school. Community college gives you the same credits, and it saves a whole lot of money. 2 years of CC and 2 years of university can save thousands of dollars. The place I go to has horrible parking, but it's alright. Nobody lives on campus, so there are no dorms to visit. It's like the 13th grade to be honest, only you foot the bill. Maybe a slight difference is that there are slightly more people that have "grown up" shall we say.

Aren't they the same thing as "junior colleges"? None of them ever offered anything I was intrested in or anything remotely close. I plan to go to one for my assoaciate's degree and then go to a univerisity for my bachlor's and for vet school. I guess they are okay if you aren't planning to go into anything fancy like veternary medicine or zoology. I've yet to come across one that offers a vet tech program.

So true.

As a rule, you go to CC instead of college to save money. If the credits transfer, you get your core classes done at a fraction of what a regular college costs you. The 2 year degree isn't that marketable today (if it ever was), but there are lots of 2-year programs that will get you into a trade that pays pretty well. The costs often can be covered by Pell Grants (if you qualify) making your education dirt cheap.

The only down side is that the 4-year college has a social environment that needs 4 years to exploit for maximum benefit, and as you will learn, the college experience is all about networking for a good job, not just getting "educated."

For those without much social skills to exploit the social circles in a 4-year college... do you think CC will work better for them?

And for bad CCs, at least we are given a chance to prove ourselves in a low-cost environment, isn't it?

I attend my local community college, which I quite enjoy. I love the small classes, and it's not very demanding socially.

Well, grades are grades. A bad CC usually doesn't hurt you there, it might even help...getting an easy A grade.

Even a 2-year school has social circles to exploit, just not as many or as significant as the larger schools.

For the person with AS, there are two important things about college to remember. (1) it's more about social connections than grades, so you gotta do as much as you can to develop them, and (2) since you will rely more on your grades and skills, pick a program that WILL help you get into something good when you graduate and not leave you with a fancy degree that only takes you forward if you have the social skills to open doors.

I'm a nursing instructor at a community college so have my own take on this. I started college at a community college, before transferring to a state school for my BS and then returning to a state university for my master's.

I think CC's are great for aspies because they are smaller, more informal, less intimidating, more user-friendly, more accommodating. They allow you to take a bunch of classes to see what you're interested in. Often the instructors are quite good, and will spend time with you. At a large university you might find that the professors are too busy to spend any time with you and you get taught by TA's - doctoral students.

As a CC instructor, I believe that we are providing a service to the community and I do my best to help all my students succeed. I think you will find that more common in the CC community than in the uni community.

I was lucky to have many great instructors at the CC I went to, and I try my best to also provide an excellent education. I do not believe that you necessarily get a substandard education at a CC - it depends on the instructor.

Use them to acclimate to the college environment.

There is positives and negatives to going to a community college. The positives is that at a community college, they give you the opportunity to decide what you are really interested in, what you plan to major in once you get your bachelors, or what you can get an associates degree in. The negatives is that it is more boring, it feels like you are in high school still, the school atmosphere is sleepy and there is no one to talk to. I know it because i go to a community college (because of doing horribly in high school, unfortunately).

I go to a CC and I have found that it is less intimidating than a university, however I found it hard to related to other students there because most of them were just out of highschool and they all knew each other, meaning the cliches just moved from highschool to CC.
Don't get me wrong, CC is better, but I was homschooled and it was just harder for me to adjust.

I had a great time at CC. It's a great way to get a fresh start in life. I had the opposite experience that some previous posters have had; the university I transferred to seems to have a lot more of the high-school attitudes, while the CC had a more adult atmosphere.

I made a ton of friends, raised my confidence level, discovered people who believed in me, and learned an amazing amount of stuff both in and out of the classroom. I just wish I could get that feeling back now that I have transferred to the university.

Anyhow, I highly recommend community colleges. Mine in particular had quite a few instructors who could have taught at a university but took the CC job by choice because they liked the atmosphere and because they felt they had more of a chance to make a difference in the lives of their students.

There is NO WAY I could have started my college career at a four-year school. I'd have dropped out for sure. CC's are much less overwhelming.

And on top of all that, I saved thousands of dollars in tuition!

I am starting community college tomorrow morning thank you very much , will report back on how that goes.