OsamaBinAthlon+ Posted October 27, 2006 I am strongly considering going to a community college for 1 or 2 years than transferring to a state university (Stony Brook University, Oneonta, Oswego) Going to take core credits at the community college, anyways just curious if anyone here went to community college, can share opinions/experiences. My cousin once told me to go away because I will not take community college seriously, is he right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angry_Games Posted October 27, 2006 momma and I both went to community college here's a thing you should consider...momma is studying to be a teacher she spent 2 years and got an AA degree from College of Southern Idaho, who assured her that her courses would be recognized by all State universities she graduated and transferred to Boise State University, and come to find out, a lot of the classes she took have no value towards her degree at BSU, and she had to take a whole bunch of different classes. so depending on what degree you want, most of the time it is better to just stick to the 4-year Uni from the beginning. (I never had this problem but that's because I never transferred from a CC to a university, but I have a feeling that the results would have been the same...some of the courses or a lot of them would not have counted towards my degree at a 4-year) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
momma Posted October 27, 2006 I am strongly considering going to a community college for 1 or 2 years than transferring to a state university (Stony Brook University, Oneonta, Oswego) Going to take core credits at the community college, anyways just curious if anyone here went to community college, can share opinions/experiences. My cousin once told me to go away because I will not take community college seriously, is he right? All my core classes did transfer though just not some other ones that were specific to my program. Anyways, I think its a good experience to ease you into the university system. For me, it was also a cheaper way to get my core credits out of the way and it was close to my home. My experience was small class size and actual conversations with the professors so at least you knew where you stood and where their ideas came from. From what I hear from people who take their cores at universities, its a giant class and its treated like a cattle call where it doesn't matter if you come or not as long as you show up for the final. It all depends on the type of person you are as to whether you would take community college seriously or any college for that matter. If you want to get a good education and a degree, you should be serious about it not matter what type of school you are going to. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[email protected] Posted October 27, 2006 Taking classes at a CC can save money and can help your GPA. I think some of the core math and physics classes I took in university were needlessly difficult (being taught by a TA with terrible english skills did not help), and I could have taken them at a different university or CC and gotten a better grade. However, like Happy is saying, transferring credits is a tricky area, and core requirements can vary between different universities and different programs within the same university. I think if you know the university you want to go to and what major you want to get, then you could consult the program advisor for that department and find out which course credits will transfer. I'm not sure how happy program advisors will be to work with someone who isn't even enrolled at their university though. Also keep in mind that a program could potentially accept certain CC classes one year, and then change their policy the next. I think the best thing is to do like Happy says and start out at a 4-year university. Then you know you're in and that the courses you take there are applicable. If you want, you can still take some core classes at a CC during the summer. You'll have better access to program advisors, and you'll know that your transferred credits are applied before any policy changes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ReelFiles Posted October 27, 2006 Gotta agree and stress Travis' point about transferable credits, you can get majorly screwed if you don't watch out. I don't think community colleges are as bad a s private colleges though, since private schools can sometimes "create" courses to meet certain requirements, but no other school recognizes these courses because they are made up. I see you're from NY, which community college are you looking at? I looked at Stonybrook, but wasn't crazy about their Computer Science major, was a little too much for my needs, but the school is excellent and I highly recommend it if you can handle the workload. What do you want to major in? I went to Briarcliffe college and got a 1 year diploma and a 2 year associates in half the time, going weekends and nights, I got lucky, but my credits won't transfer nicely either. BTW, before I went to Briarcliffe I wasted 1 year at Suffolk community college, because I didn't take it seriously enough, that was straight out of high-school and my parents made me go, even though I told them I wasn't ready, and that I just wanted to work for a while. If you are ready then you can do it, if you don't really want it then you won't, it's up to you. I also noticed that if mom and dad pay for it is a lot easier to miss classes. I didn't miss one unnecessary class when I was paying for it myself Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JiveTurkey Posted October 27, 2006 If you're anything like me, you'll also find that a larger university can offer a lot of other activities a small school can't. Competitive athletics (school teams), intramurals, fraternities and sororities, concerts, school clubs, etc., etc. Of course, this also depends on the size of the school (my school was 20,000+), not to mention how important the social aspect of school is to you. For me, looking back, it was as important as the education I received. I made the best friends of my life during those 4 years. I guess I just really believe that a larger school has more to offer, more to get involved in, and a lot more options to expand your horizons. But that's just my experience... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Smoken Joe Posted October 27, 2006 There is absolutly noting wrong with going to a community colledge for many people. First and formost make sure that it is an accredited colledge this goes for 4 year colldeges and programs also. Without that it is often worthless. Unless you are going for just the class itself either get good grades or drop them before it gets on your reccord. Less than a B is not going to help your GPA and GPA helps determine your Scolership and colledge opportunitys later. Many of the people I work with are getting the masters requirments out of the way at community colledges even after the 4 year degree. Going to the right school can really open some doors but the main point is the connections later in school not how you started. Unfortunatly some of the people have to redo there credits taken at state universitys and such because they lost accreditation. Forgive the spelling sadly I never learned to spell in engligh though I did manage to learn greek and latin to some extent in colledge. I have two degrees right now and will probibily need a masters before too long good thing english is not needed though of course very very helpfull. No spell check at work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WintersFury Posted October 27, 2006 I've gone to a number of schools. And no matter where you go you'll wind up taking classes that won't transfer to other places. Most of my current classes in my major (Computer Networking) are far too specific to transfer to most 4 year schools. However if you do plan on going and getting a 4 year degree, a 2 year liberal arts degree can save you a ton of cash at a community college. As it'll take care of your libereal arts classes at the 4 year school who I'll bet charges more per credit hour. As for not taking it seriously, if your not going to take going to a community college seriously, your not going to take going to any college seriously. Just don't let the people who arn't taking college seriously distract you (Which is harder if you go away as your definately not living with anyone who cares if you get an education) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SeanDude05 Posted October 27, 2006 I'm going to be doing a community type college next fall. I am currently enlisted in the Army and will be going to basic training this January, thank god I will get tuition assistance. But I will stress two things. Diligence and Transferable credits. Community College is not Community Fun Time. It is a college for education, so your mindset should be set on gaining an education. This isn't to say that you won't have fun, because a healthy college lifestyle is both work and fun, its learning to balance the two. And make sure, that if you ever plan on wanting to use your CC credits for a State University or College or higher education, that you check whether or not they will accept them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zkissane Posted October 27, 2006 In my (and my sister's) experience, starting straight into a 4 year has some significant advantages. I graduated from high school in May 1999 with 30 college credit hours taken through dual enrollment classes. I started college that fall. By the spring of 2000 I knew that I wanted to major in computer science, so I did all the paperwork to make that happen. Most of the CS courses that I took were taught by professors, not TAs, so that was good. Getting your name and face in front of professors is always a big help, especially when it comes to getting things like recommendation letters and research projects. In 2002, I did manage to get on a research project, developing a virtual reality simulation to train potential first responders to a terrorist attack (the focus was on chemical spills and chemical attacks). My grades were not spectacular in college, so I knew that if I wanted to get a job I would need something to set me apart from everybody else. That project was exactly what I needed, and it did in fact play a significant role in getting me my first job when I graduated in Dec. 2003. If I had spent my first 2 undergrad years in a community college, I might not have had the opportunity to take the classes I did with the professor in charge of that project, which would have made it significantly more difficult to get on that project. So, if you do decide to go to a 2 year school first, know that you may need to work extra hard on getting to know your department's professors and potential advisors when you get to the 4 year school. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmay119 Posted October 28, 2006 I tried community college for 1 year. I absolutely hated it. A lot of the people I went to HS with were there, and it just felt like High School all over again. I quickly left that place and decided to go to a Technical College instead (I know, very similar to a Community College). I'm more focused and happier there than I was at the CC. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boo_masters Posted October 28, 2006 I did not go to any of the community colleges around my area simply due to the fact they did not offer nor support Online classes for your core credits. By going to a college (DeVry, CET and EET degrees, working on Network Management Masters) that allowed online core classes and mathematics classes, I was able to get far better grades by being able to attend class when I wanted or needed to. My wife did not necessarily do two years at a community college and 2 more at a University, but the Georgia State Colleges and Universities work with each other so she was able to basically take classes at the smaller (and cheaper) community college while taking her degree classes and senior classes at the University. boo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites