Community college alternatives

Parents Forum
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<p>My immature senior daughter will need community college. Her test scores are okay, GPA is not good, her self confidence about her academics is terrible. We do have her in counseling to help with study skills and confidence. We had her tested for learning disabilities a few years ago but the results were inconclusive. After her last set of grades, I do plan on testing her again as I still feel like something isn't "right".</p>

<p>We live in a very small town in the South that is a vacation area that is a weird combination of wealth and party/bar atmosphere that is not a good influence on impressionable teens. In that respect, our local community college would not be a good fit and DD would like to get away from our small town atmosphere.</p>

<p>I'm at a loss about what to do. She needs structure and some time to grow up but she also needs to get away from the influences of our area. I've looked at gap years but most programs seem to be rewards for hard work and not opportunities to mature. To be honest, I'd rather not pay tens of thousands of dollars so another adult can tell my kid the same life skills info we have been talking about over the past ten years. But, I realize that may be our only option if we want her to successfully further her education.</p>

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<p>If she’s mature enough to handle it, there’s AmeriCorps.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps”>http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>A fair number of community colleges around the country do have residence halls. If there aren’t any in your state, you still may be able to identify one that has reasonable OOS fees. Here is one list: <a href=“List of community colleges in the United States with campus housing - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_community_colleges_with_campus_housing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland has a program for students who aren’t quite ready for admission to Towson University, with classes meeting on the Towson campus, and students living in a Towson residence hall. A similar program may exist in your state.</p>

<p>There also are a few private 2-year schools that might be good options for her if they work with your budget. Two that come to mind are <a href=“http://www.cottey.edu”>www.cottey.edu</a> and <a href=“http://www.harcum.edu”>www.harcum.edu</a></p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

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<p>Maybe she can live with a relative who has a better community college near where they live.</p>

<p>I know that this is a difficult situation to navigate. I have seen good changes in some kids who wait a year to attend college. Lots of maturity can happen in that time. Even a job (like waitressing, store cashier…) during a gap year can be helpful. My daughter worked as a waitress during high school and most of her fellow waitresses were adults who were supporting themselves on this salary. It was an eye opener for her - to see what life after high school with no further training/schooling is like. It helped her to really want to go on to college. </p>

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I don’t know much about it, but you might look at the PAL program at Curry College. There might be other programs like it. I know someone who went there for a year and learned some study and learning techniques that worked, then transferred to a pretty well regarded college.

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What about a small LAC.

I once visited Birmingham-Southern (is this a CTTL?), and it was obvious that they really are in touch with their students…even coming to their dorms if they don’t show up for class. The students who go there seem to really like it. It is a lovely small campus. It is “girl-heavy” so that may not be desirable.

Another school is Samford…absolutely gorgeous. When you drive up, it’s WOW. Small, devoted to students, and the kids love it.

Also…Springhill in Mobile. It is Jesuit, so it probably has that more classical education approach that the Jesuits are known for. i have known several kids who’ve gone there and loved it. A few needed some “growing up” and did so.

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Like happymom, I encourage you to check out Cottey College. If you can persuade your daughter to go visit (it’s in Nevada, Missouri) they may be able to win her over. The women’s philanthropic & educational organization P.E.O. owns the school, and if there is a P.E.O. chapter in your area they will likely do whatever they can to assist you with tuition. The school has excellent academics and a nurturing environment but is not overly selective about who gets in.

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military

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I can’t see paying out of state rates for a community college. Are there other ones in your state she could consider?

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@sylvan8798, Thanks for your suggestion. I am worried about unnecessary expense and have been looking at other cc’s in our state. We are in GA and I’m still struggling to find a fit.

@bomerr If my child was a boy, I would consider the military. I am not comfortable at all with the military’s treatment of women.

Cottey is quite a hike for us but I will talk to her about it and we will also look at the good suggestions from @happymom @BrownParent @mom2collegekids and @warblersrule.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses.

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@DBSouthworth
Honest answer from someone who has taken far too many CC classes. Have her get a job and work for a year, two, three or however long it takes for her to get her act together.

CC can be a great chance to redeem oneself academically. But having her enroll at CC without the motivation to do well will most likely cause her to falter and repeat her HS mistakes. More so CC never ends so without a clear transfer path, she can easily get bogged down like 1000s of other students.

I speak from my own personal experience and that of other students who have gone to CC without being ready.

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What does she want to be “when she grows up?” Does she have any sort of an idea of what path she wants her life to take? Where does she see herself in 10 years? What are her favorite classes?

Let’s assume she’s a typical kid and that her answers are basically “I have no idea.”

Then I think I would be looking for a small school, one without crushingly high admission standards, a reasonable distance-- say 2-4 hours?-- from home. I think “small” is probably key.

On Monday morning, speak to her guidance counselor, or the school’s College Placement Office if they have one. She isn’t the first kid they’ve had who is looking for that type of school-- they should have some solid suggestions for you.

I just did a quick search-- knowing nothing about Georgia schools. I found a number of Georgia CC’s with dorms:

List of Georgia Community Colleges with Dorms (2 Year Colleges)

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, – Tifton, Georgia
Housing Options: Dorm, Coed, Apartments for Single Students
http://www.abac.edu/housing/

College of Coastal Georgia – Brunswick, Georgia
Housing options: Dorm, Coed Housing
http://www.ccga.edu/housing/

Darton College – Albany, Georgia
Housing options: Dorm, Coed

Gordon College
Barnesville, Georgia
In-state tuition and fees: $3,572
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $11,054
Room and board: $5,500
Housing options: Dorm, Coed, Men’s, Women’s, Apartments for Single Students,
Wellness housing (alcohol/drug/smoke-free)

Middle Georgia College
Cochran, Georgia
In-state tuition and fees: $3,642
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $11,124
Room and board: $7,180
Housing options: Dorm, Men’s, Women’s, Wellness housing (alcohol/drug/smoke-free)

North Georgia Technical College
Clarkesville, Georgia
In-state tuition and fees: $2,526
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $4,776
Room and board: $7,905
Housing options: Dorm, Coed Housing

South Georgia College
Douglas, Georgia
In-state tuition and fees: $3,500
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $10,378
Room and board: $7,715
Housing options: Dorm, Coed, Special Housing

13

Bomerr. No one should go into the military unless that person wants to BE in the military.

Why alternatives to community college? It can be a great start for students.

14

If your daughter has been tested for learning disabilities, those tests often miss ADHD. If that is a possibility, a psychiatrist or even PCP can administer a questionnaire to your daughter and you. That’s really the only tool for diagnosis, weak as it may be. Neuropsych. evaluations do address attention and focus but every neuropsych. we have dealt with says that those tests are not reliable because they are one on one in a controlled environment and do not represent any of the usual challenges in ordinary life. A speech pathologist doing attention tests will do things like play the radio in the background- also not really useful.

Does your daughter have any interest in specific vocational associate’s degrees or certificates, such as nursing, physical or occupational therapy assistant, medical assisting, respiratory technician, EEG, phlebotomy etc? Or office/computer skills classes? Sometimes taking a one month nurse’s assistant class can inspire an interest in this type of thing. Many of these two year degrees can be transitioned to 4 year programs but the student in the meantime gains confidence and motivation from work in the field.

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@thumper - I don’t have a problem with CC at all. It’s just staying in our town and attending our local CC will probably not be a good idea for the reasons I mentioned in my first post.

@bjkmom - Thanks for your research. I have been scouring our smaller state schools. Right now we are dealing with her immaturity and shame about her high school grades and not wanting to go to the “stupid people” schools. Most of her friends are going to our very popular state flagship. I explained to her that bright, motivated kids go to every kind of school. If you act stupid at school - partying, skipping class, etc - then the school will be a “stupid people” school.

She has shown interest in environmental science and teaching. Her AP environmental science grades have been poor so she is shying away from that at this point. She would be a talented elementary school teacher - she is caring, outgoing and creative.

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" She would be a talented elementary school teacher - she is caring, outgoing and creative."

Which of the Not Flagship publics in your state are the old Normal Schools? Those are almost certain to be the ones with the best El. Ed. and/or Pre-School Ed. programs. Find out where the teachers at the local elementary school earned their bachelor’s degrees too. That could help with your list.

17

How about University of North Georgia ?

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If you truly think she has a learning issue, I don’t think sending her away to school will help. She struggled through high school while living at home, right? It would be different, I think, if you already had a diagnosis and she knew what she needed and could advocate for herself. I’d get her tested and encourage her to start college close to home so you can help her build the skills and confidence she needs to succeed someplace else. If she hasn’t been successful at home, it’s not surprising she’d like to go elsewhere.

I also understand her reluctance to attend what she feels are “stupid people” schools. I disagree that’s what cc’s are, but I know it’s tough to convince teens of that. I don’t think that changing locations corrects learning issues in and of itself. In my experience, remediation leads to confidence which helps build maturity. If you believe there’s a learning challenge, I’d pursue that first and decide what to do about college later.

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She could try National Outdoor Leadership School if she is interested in the environment and teaching.

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There may be out-of-state options at a range of price points. Montana State has a community-college-to-university enrollment program where students live in a dorm on campus. It is strong in environmental science and education. Total COA would be around $30k.

You might also look at Northland College in Wisconsin, a tiny school mainly focused on environmental studies, but also offering an education major. This is the kind of teensy LAC (~600 students) where every single kid will get personal attention. It’s a quiet small-town location. That sort of school is often a safe place for a less mature student to grow up a little. There’s a lot of cushion if they fall down, and not a whole lot of temptations. With OK test scores, she had a good chance of getting in as long as she passes all her required courses.