I live in New york and I’m choosing where to go to college because commuting was difficult and due to cancelled classes, financial troubles, a death in the family, etc. I had to drop out of community college completely and take a gap year. However, I realized that the college I went to probably wasn’t for me so I decided to go to a community college with campus housing/dorms. Here is a list of all the community colleges in New york with campus housing:
Herkimer County Community College Herkimer New York
Fulton–Montgomery Community College Johnstown New York[4]
Monroe Community College Monroe County New York
Dutchess Community College Poughkeepsie New York
SUNY Adirondack Queensbury New York
SUNY Broome Community College Broome County New York
Sullivan County Community College Sullivan County New York
Onondaga Community College Syracuse New York
Tompkins Cortland Community College Dryden New York
Mohawk Valley Community College Utica New York
In my opinion, I think Herkimer County is the best community college according to cappex, rate my professors, niche, etc. especially since it’s upstate and not too far away.
I’ve read your previous posts. I think you need to get your mental health and family situation straightened out before you try to go back to school.
You also need to make sure your finances are squared away. If commuting was a financial challenge, how will you pay to go to residential college? Have either of your parents committed to helping you pay?
It’s commendable that you’re pushing to pursue college despite your difficulties. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do if you don’t go to college. Will I fall behind? What will happen to me? And maybe I want to leave home, but can’t.
College is always out there waiting for you, as long as you keep your eyes on that prize. Stay single and put off having kids until you finish, is probably the best policy, but otherwise it’s out there waiting until you’re ready. Here are some ideas for how to get going if you want to take time before college:
- get some sort of job. Any job. All jobs teach you skills both practical and innate that you will use your entire life. If the job is something you love, then you've discovered in addition a new passion;
- try something completely different, like volunteer at an arts program/ museum or tutoring or helping to sort clothing at a shelter or volunteer at a hospital or at a library or build things with Habitat for Humanity
- If you want to get away from home, there are many things you can do. Try Student Conservation Association internships and other positions. The website is a little confusing. Look along the right-hand side to see internship link. They provide housing and sometimes a small stipend. the "hot" internship list on the side are positions that have too-few applications. https://www.thesca.org/serve/young-adult-programs
- Try workaway.info for places around the globe where you can work 4-5 hours a day and get a place to live, maybe a meal or two, and explore. https://www.workaway.info/
- Apply for Americorps. There are two programs, one that's general Americore NCCC and one that's FEMA. AGain the website is confusing so look around as there are also individual programs that are local etc -- https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-nccc
- Volunteer.gov has volunteer positions in National Parks. You can search for positions that provide housing.
@Dustyfeathers and @austinmshauri Thanks for the tips, but which community college with housing is best? I’ll respond to your posts later.
Which school is best for you depends on whether or not your parents are willing/able to help you pay. Even if you have the finances sorted out, you’ll have to consider what your counselor recommends. Is returning to college so soon what’s best for your mental health? Your previous posts indicate some pretty serious problems. @MYOS1634 might have some suggestions for you. Which part of NY do you live in? If you’re close to NYC, @sybbie719 may have some ideas too.
I think Mohawk Valley may be a better option.
TC3, Dutchess, and Herkimer have good transfer agreements to 4-year universities. An issue is that you’d need to be in good health to benefit from what they offer.
Also, are you okay enough to handle residential life - and, if you plan on staying over the weekend and many classmates leave, will you be able to build a support network on campus from the available resources and reaching out to internationals (which requires efforts and persistence, and that’s psychologically difficult when one isn’t ok.)
There’s just too much pressure and my parents and sister were arguing about her going to college and they had to mention the fact that I don’t do anything but eat and go to the bathroom at work and that I dropped college, despite the fact that they were struggling to pay for the mortgage and how bad the commute was from there.
I feel like it’s my fault for things the way they are.