<p>Okay, so I'm pretty much dead-set on leaving my current school when the quarter ends. I'm back home for thanksgiving break, and I was so relieved to finally come back to my home town. It's not that I was homesick, it's that I was sick of where I was. My girlfriend told me I sounded the happiest I've been in months on the phone. Everyone seems to be talking about how they already miss school when they've only been home for a few days... I don't miss it at all and if anything I'm dreading going back on Sunday.</p>
<p>Anyway, I've basically got two options back home. I'm going to be working either part or full time. I'm also going to study. The thing is, I'm not sure where. I could go to University of Maryland (though I'm not sure if they'll just admit someone to take courses for next semester) or I could go to Northern Virginia Community College. UMD has more 'prestige' and I actually did apply for it last year and got in, but it was always a safety and I didn't really get hooked on it during the tour. NVCC obviously doesn't have much recognition since it's a community college, but it does have guaranteed admissions agreements to many Virginia schools, including two that have quite a bit of "name value" (UVA and VA Tech). And that's not a guarantee as in "oh you'll surely get in with those grades"... it's a 100% guarantee. As long as you've taken the right courses and have above a certain GPA, you are guaranteed admission to the school you apply to.</p>
<p>My mom thinks that I should go to UMD. Apparently because I went to a fancy private school I'm "above" taking classes at a CC, even though it's cheaper and I get that definite admission to VT and UVA. What do y'all think? What would you do in my situation?</p>
<p>I attended CC for my first two years. I didn’t have any money, so I can’t say I regret it, especially since it was free. But if I did have the money (read: choice), I definitely would have regretted it… Your CC may be different, but mine was very boring. The classes were very, very easy, and I didn’t learn anything in them. Also, the students are of a different caliber and generally unmotivated. I’m waiting to transfer as of now, and I’m a little disappointed that I’ll only get to spend two years at a university.</p>
<p>What don’t you like about your school right now?</p>
<p>Way too many things… not to sound like a dick but read my previous posts. It’s 2:30AM and I need to go to bed because I have a job interview today. If I wasn’t so tired (long night with the girlfriend who I haven’t seen in two months :P) and it wasn’t so late I’d answer in detail though :)</p>
<p>Dick! Lol… Jk… But really, you should be the one to provide those links ;D. After all, how is anyone going to be able to help you decide when we don’t even know why you’re fed up with your current school?</p>
<p>You have to be really careful with credit transfer- your credits might not transfer from your school now to where you’re wanting to transfer, and those community college credits might not transfer to wherever else you’re wanting to go to. Transferring once would be stressful enough, but two different times could be a nightmare.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you went to a community college and completed an associates you might qualify for some good transfer scholarships. If you get accepted into Phi Theta Kappa this might help your chances even more. Some schools give scholarships for completing a certain number of hours while other schools require a full associates degree. You might even qualify for some scholarships now, depending on how many hours you already have completed. </p>
<p>However, like said, sometimes those credits you take for your associates won’t transfer to four-year schools.</p>
<p>Personally I think I would just transfer to the state school. Transferring two different times might get too tricky. Plus that way you’d have more time go get used to the state school’s program and enjoy more of it.</p>
<p>“On the other hand, if you went to a community college and completed an associates you might qualify for some good transfer scholarships.”</p>
<p>Besides PTK I have serious doubt that these exist. Most schools do not even have merit aid for transfer students, or very little. I was in PTK and short of some resume fluff and the personal enrichment from the volunteer work, I got no tangible benefit from it.</p>
<p>Why don’t you apply online for NVCC and register for classes to hold them, and also apply to UMD. I don’t know when UMD lets you know if you’re accepted, but the NVCC payment deadline is December 18th. So you can just pay for your NVCC classes and if you do get in to UMD and decide to go there, drop the NVCC courses and get a refund.</p>
<p>@Gotakun bascially… I don’t really fit in well with the place, there are courses that I want to take but I can’t because they’re in the business school and I’m in the engineering school and it’s nearly impossible to switch into business, it’s expensive as hell (I’m not paying for it but I feel bad having my parents pay) and the area it’s in is really really boring if you don’t have a car. It’s not isolated enough to have become a college town, but it’s not urban enough to have a lot of things. It’s basically like living in suburbia. Least it’s safe.</p>
<p>@October I’m pretty sure most of my credits will transfer and even if they don’t oh well. I’ve got like 62 years left on this planet (rough estimate, most people seem to live to around 80 y/o these days) so I’m not in a rush. And if I transfer to UVA or VT or W&M, those credits from NVCC will definitely transfer (hence the guaranteed admission).</p>
<p>@Logic at the moment I wouldn’t. If I end up living on my own in VA (somewhat likely depending on how my job pays) then yeah I would. I also recall VT having this thing where if you took an engineering program not offered in your home state (e.g. Mining Engineering) you’d get in-state tuition.</p>
<p>You might want to check to see whether if you drop out after this quarter and don’t take any more college courses this academic year, you could apply to colleges as a freshman applicant for fall, 2010. That may be a good option for you if it’s possible.</p>
<p>You’d be surprised. Many, many, many of the schools I’ve looked at offer some kind of transfer scholarships. Some will also automatically give you a scholarship if you’re a member of PTK. I’ve seen some really great scholarship packages for transfer students.</p>
<p>I think you should really take a look into what classes you can even still take that will transfer from a CC. If you’re already into courses that aren’t offered at one college, it sounds like you’re beyond your gen eds, which are probably the only ones that transfer.</p>
<p>If your goal is to save money or give yourself a break, then CC+work would definitely be the best way to do that. If that isn’t your goal, then CC could just be a waste of time. And as was mentioned before, if you can still apply as a freshman, going to CC will take away those scholarships.</p>
<p>NVCC is a good community college from everything I’ve read. If you’re a VA resident, go there and make sure you do what you need to do in order to the the guaranteed transfer.</p>
<p>If I could go back in time I would have stayed home and gone to my local Junior College for the first couple years and just worked to save up for when I transferred to a university. Just make sure you keep on top of the classes you need and can take that count toward your major so you don’t end up taking classes you don’t need like I did.</p>
<p>I’d say get VA residency, though you may have to take a year off of school in order to be considered in-state, go to NVCC, and transfer to UVA or Virginia Tech. You may lose out on 2 years of college experience, but that’s the choice you make. Within VA, your classes should transfer, but your current school’s might not.</p>
<p>So I was talking to my dad and now I’m even more conflicted. The nice thing about UMD is that it offers a lot of courses compared to NVCC. I’d love to study something like Counter Terrorism (partially cos I’m considering a career in law enforcement/the FBI/the military and partially cos it’s just interesting). But the thing is, if I end up going to UMD then I’d have to apply for transfer to VTech like everyone else instead of having a guaranteed admission. I don’t know the statistics for transfer admits, but I imagine it’s a lot less than 100%! I’m worried that if I do go to UMD I’d end up ‘stuck’ there for four years. I mean, sure I’d get a degree in the end and I’d probably take some interesting courses, but I’ve never felt the “Maryland spirit” despite having lived in Maryland almost all my life. I sure didn’t feel it when I visited there back in Senior year, and I can’t imagine myself feeling it in the future. </p>
<p>be aware of the possible restrictions you’ll face when you would like to transfer back into a university because you’ve already attended a 4-year school… for example, the priority you get as a transfer to a UC is much lower if you have a certain amount of units from both a community college and a 4 year school as opposed to solely from the community college. This is only an issue once you rack up a certain amount of units though.</p>