Community College Differences?

College Search & Selection Community Colleges
41

<p>Here is the article published in Washington Monthly, in 2007, which does a nice job of stating the case for going to a CC:</p>

<p>[America’s</a> Best Community Colleges - Kevin Carey](<a href=“S-CHIP clears Senate | Washington Monthly”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.careyessay.html)</p>

<p>One of our local CCs, Cascadia Community College, was listed as #2, so they tout that in all their advertising. Here is the specific part of the article on Cascadia:</p>

<p>[Built</a> to Teach - Kevin Carey](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.careycascadia.html]Built”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.careycascadia.html)</p>

<p>My daughter took some classes at Cascadia this year, instead of taking those classes during her Senior year at the nearby high school. The English Composition course in particular was amazingly good - very rigorous and innovative. The Political Science course was OK, but nothing special; just a typical college course.</p>

<p>I have taught for 5 years at a big University (UW, i.e. U of Washington), and 10 years at a community college (Everett CC, north of Seattle). I have been an administrator at a community college for another 10 years, so I think I know what I’m talking about. Although CCs commonly suffer from a reputation or perception that their courses are not up to par with 4-year colleges, I have found that rarely to be the case. As a matter of fact, I think that you will find that most CC courses are superior to their counterparts at universities or 4-yr colleges. CC teachers are generally more dedicated to teaching, and are evaluated solely on their teaching ability. Classes tend to be smaller and there is usually more instructor-student and student-student interactions. In Washington State, as a group, students who transfer from CCs to the UW or WA State U (WWU) outperform (i.e. have higher GPAs) Juniors and Seniors who attended those institutions as underclassmen.</p>

<p>As noted in some posts, the percentage of entering students who successfully transfer to 4-yr colleges is quite low. That is true - CCs are easy to enter, but hard to complete. Usually any HS grad can get in, so the overall ‘quality’ of the students is not necessarily going to be similar to that of a college that has competitive entry requirements. Some posters have noted that some of their CC classmates were unmotivated or unable to do well in their coursework. This may contribute to the perception that CCs are ‘an extension of high school’. Some have pointed out that the social and activities scene is inferior to that of a residential college. Fair enough - but you pay for all that through higher tuition and other fees. CCs are more ‘bare bones’ and are mostly all about classes.</p>

<p>The problem that you will encounter at CCs is that they tend to rely too much on part-time adjunct instructors. In my experience, the performance of adjunct instructors is wildly uneven. You could get a fantastic teacher, or you could get a poor teacher - it is just the luck of the draw. Adjuncts are generally not as dedicated to the institution and commonly move on after a short period. My biggest piece of advice would be to find out who the full-time instructors are and try to take courses from them. I would avoid taking a class from adjunct instructor, unless he/she has been around for at least 5 years.</p>

<p>To be sure, there is a similar problem at universities. Too many courses are taught by graduate student Teaching Assistants or adjunct professors.</p>

<p>Bottom line: it is hard to go wrong taking your first 2 years at a CC, then transferring to a 4-yr college/university. You learn the same or more than you would have at a 4-yr, you will save a ton of money, and you will have a transcript that (presumably) shows that you are capable of succeeding at college-level coursework.</p>

42

<p>Interesting thread. :)</p>

<p>I’m enrolled at a CC (which is considered by most to be the top CC in my state) right now, will graduate next month with my A.S. in Gen Studies, and will transfer to university this fall. Anyway, during my two years at CC, I’ve found that classes are not always necessarily easier than at a university, but that it just depends on the course. For example, English 101 and 102 at my CC are modeled on English 101 and 102 at the biggest uni in the state. At either school, you have to write a minimum of six essays, etc. Now, I can’t say if the professors grade the essays any harder at the uni; I just don’t know that. </p>

<p>So yeah, I’ve had all types of courses at my CC. Some have been incredibly easy, and have been a cinch to get an A for the course (ex: History, Psychology), while others have been very challenging and require a great deal of work be put into them (ex: Biology, Calculus). </p>

<p>Also, regarding the types of students who go to CC, I’ve found that there is a wide variety, just like anywhere else. Some students I’ve met/seen are the most incredibly lazy bums on the face of the planet, while others are some of the brightest, most driven people I’ve ever seen. </p>

<p>And, regarding transferring, a good GPA should be able to get a CC student into most schools. I will (99% sure) be graduating next month with a 4.0 GPA, and I’ve gotten offers from universities all around the country, including Columbia and Cornell. So, transferring from a CC isn’t usually a problem. </p>

<p>Anyway, sorry this got so long-winded, but my main point of all of this is that you can’t really generalize too much when it comes to CCs. Some are bad, some are good. Some are better than unis, some are worse. Some students are lazy bums, others are driven…you get my point. </p>

<p>Just my .02 for what it’s worth. :)</p>

43

<p>CC’s are the best or the worst of your college life, depending what you do.</p>

<p>I just finished up two years in CC and I can say I loved it. Small class space, nice and helpful teachers, and a small community. I am not saying that CC is better then a University but I am kinda happy that I took my basics there (especially when I heard that most schools had their basics at 200 or more and had not the teacher always teaching, which I really couldn’t survive). I was able to get a full ride in terms of scholarships because of my 3.2 GPA (unweighted) in high school and maintaining a 3.5 GPA in the college. I was kinda active in the college with being the community college (once held as the best of Maryland) and two honors societys - PTK and a The Society of Leadership and Success. I am leaving there in the fall because I found my dream 4 year (even though, I was considering to a college that I now absolute hate now during before CC). But if CC wasn’t invented, I would not be in college and never had the chance to improve myself because when I was high school, I was a good school but not awesomely awesome that most colleges look for (My SAT and ACT’s scores were so minimal that they barely helped me get out basic courses).</p>

44

<p>Hey, I agree that a great majority of students who go to CC are returning adult students! </p>

<p>My uncle (who is almost fifty) finished up a diploma program at his CC after having been out of high school for years. Interestingly enough, while he was getting his one year diploma, my cousin (his daughter) was finishing her senior year at a university. My uncle finished all his coursework before his own daughter graduated, and he makes more with his diploma that he got from the CC than my cousin makes with her four-year bachelor’s degree in religion.</p>

<p>What does that tell you?</p>

45

<p>Hm. I’m not an expert on this, but community college students seem very serious about their work. I visited CC library out of curiousity and it was completely silent, and tables were full of kids hunched over books and papers. </p>

<p>I’m also taking a Chinese class for language credit (I’m in high school) and the students are very very very eager to learn. They ask questions all the time, and the teachers are more-than-happy to answer. Also, it takes a lot of self-discipline, esp. in lang, since you need to review a lot on your own and everything. </p>

<p>Overall, my two-semester experience in CC really changed my views on CC.</p>

46

<p>The disparity between ability levels at a CC is REALLY high. I mean, I was able to land work as a supplemental instructor in developmental math courses for three semesters. I spent a few hours each week teaching handfuls of 18 - 40 year olds how to add and subtract fractions. In the meantime, I was a full-time student in the honors curriculum.</p>

<p>There I met dozens of people who’ve since gone on to top universities. I’ve kept in contact with some of them. We’ve all agreed: some of our honors courses were tougher than any classes we have yet to take at our new schools.</p>

<p>Take a look at facebook groups with titles like “D*mn straight I transferred from a community college!” and you’ll see that, with the proper formula of hard work and talent, CC’s offer adequate prep for a very successful academic career.</p>

47

<p>I have never heard of top universities making “offers” to any student. If you are referring to getting mail from colleges as being offers than you are mistaken. </p>

<p>Also a 4.0 does not mean acceptance to a great University. The top schools are looking for a whole package, great ECs, possible work experience, and indication that you have what it takes to make in their school.</p>

48

<p>I’ve been going to a cc for a while now and am one class away from graduating. It has its ups and downs. </p>

<p>I’ve found that many of the ‘uncommitted’ students tend to drop their classes so the class sizes tend to be very small. I had a drafting class this semester that started with 30+ students. Two weeks there were 10 and only 8 made it to the end of the semester. The class was incredibly easy; there was no way to fail it, as long as you completed all of the work. There was a significant workload however, including a semester long project. Also once you get past the intro courses these students tend to disappear. There are many really smart students though. There are home-schooled kids and older students who are very committed to school.</p>

<p>The teachers tend to be great and want to help the students. However some of them can be extremely overworked. There was only one physics teacher in the school and he also taught astronomy.</p>

<p>The difficulty of the classes really depends on the teacher. Some are easy others are tough. Some of the humanities courses that I’ve taken have been a complete joke. I had a communication class last semester where the only effort I put into the class was to show my face in class. Math, chemistry, history and been quite a bit tougher.</p>

<p>My biggest complaint is the lack of options when it comes to classes. last semester 3 of my classes had only one section offered. This can be a pain when it comes to scheduling. My school has a consortitium program where if you are a full-time student and want to take a class not offered, ever, at the school you can take it at the local university, FOR FREE!</p>

<p>The transfer process is a bit of a mess.</p>

<p>I have found that it is really hard to make friends at the community college level. Most students work and go to school so they don’t have time to make friends. Many students just want to go to class then go home.</p>

<p>Overall I’ve found the majority of classes to be a breeze, student life to be non-existent, and the teachers to be excellent and helpful. If I had it all to do over again I would have applied myself more in high-school and went to a university, but CC had worked out well</p>

49

<p>^^^ my experience has been very similar.</p>

<p>Students drop like crazy. This small class sizes are wonderful. The professors actually know your name, and you’re able to develop great teacher-student relationships. This really comes in handy if you’re having trouble in class, whether its with the content (because they’ll spend extra office hours helping you), or the workload (I’ve gotten sooooo many extensions).</p>

<p>I hate the lack of classes too. Not just the class times, but the classes offered. I’m so jealous of my friends at UC and CSU that get to satisfy their GE with fun, kinda oddball, courses. At CCC, you’re pretty much stuck with Biology 1A.</p>

<p>I made a couple friends after taking classes at a different college in the district. It had a better student life, but it still pales in comparison to a 4 year. At my main campus, you’d be lucky to get someone in the hall to even smile at you, much less actually make a friend.</p>

50

<p>It’s so true about people dropping. In my Intro to Chem class last quarter, 10% dropped after the first test and 15% more by finals. What makes it sad was how long the waitlist for the class was at the beginning of the quarter :-/</p>

51

<p>speaking as someone at a CC currently. Both sides in this are right to some degree. At my CC I see about 3 types of students in my classes.</p>

<p>1: people doing 2 years at a CC before transferring to a 4 year,
2. People returning to college or starting college later in life
3. Unmotivated slackers who only care about “interesting” courses and blow off everything else.</p>

<p>I know this, because I’m in category 2, used to be in category 3 a few years ago, and only got out of that after realizing how stupid I was. Theres still people like that there…I’ve met more than a few of them in my classes. Thankfully they seem to avoid the art department like the plague :D</p>

52

<p>CCs are less rigorous because their target demographic tends to be ample: almost everyone in the surrounding community! That doesn’t mean they are a bad investment; for many students, they are generally a great option. You may correct deficiencies before transferring to a 4yr university, you may obtain technical skills at a low cost, etc.</p>

<p>Comparing CCs to 4yr institutions is also somewhat unfair since CCs compete directly with vocational/training schools and not 4yr colleges. Nonetheless, attending a CC is not an obstacle to responsible students; many successful people have started at CCs and ended up at top universities.</p>

53

<p>I have to disagree with Enginox. The calculus, engineering, calc-based physics, and organic chemistry courses at my (and most) community colleges are just as rigorous as the same classes at 4-yr colleges. It is true that CCs have vocational programs too, but the higher-level transfer classes are at least equal to the same classes at 4-year colleges. We send our students into Junior-level University courses, and many of those students out-perform the ‘native’ students.</p>

54

<p>I’m college shopping, so I stopped by our local community college to check it out a few weeks ago and was incredibly impressed. The facilities were great. It’s 4 buildings on a suburban campus (lots of grassy areas, plenty of parking, safe environment.) 2 of the buildings are brand new - 1 of those was for engineering and trades, the other for math, science and tech. I was impressed by how extensive the engineering programs are and the Math/Science/Computer building was gorgeous - far nicer than any building on the LAC where I earned my bachelors. </p>

<p>There were people nearly everywhere when I visited the CC campus (about 2-4PM on a weekday.) The first floor of the math/sci building was a lounge/computer lab combination that was packed. There was lots of people in the library. There were students working on diff eq in the little areas in the hallways between the classrooms that they had set up with white boards and couches. There were people outside. I think the only places I saw that weren’t that busy were the dining area and the bookstore. I felt “old” walking around this campus, most of the people(~80-90%) were in their early 20s, but I also saw some older students, even a senior citizen or two. There seemed to be a lot of racial diversity too. </p>

<p>I can’t speak to the rigor of the classes yet, but the classrooms I peeked into all looked to have very engaged students in them. And the math, on the boards in the classrooms I looked in, was no joke.</p>

<p>At $93/credit and in a convenient location, it’s hard for me to not to choose this route over our non-flagship state universities, where credits are 5x as expensive, scheduling is less-flexible, the facilities are similar(at best) and the locations are less-desirable. </p>

<p>I basically plan on taking every math/stats course the CC is offering to help prepare me to take the actuary exams, so my goal is neither to transfer nor to earn a degree, so YMMV.</p>

55

<p>I went to IUPUI in Indiana then to VSCC in Tennessee to be closer to my parents,and save money. I must say I enjoy my classes more at my cc ,because my teachers know my name,have more office hours,and are better at teaching the content. I have retain more content from my class lectures resulting in less time out of class studying. My US history professor has her Ph.D from Vanderbilt,and loves teaching at VSCC ,because she can interact and teach her students on a more personal level. She could teach at any University ,but she choose VSCC. I think i am getting a better education here,and my credits are worth the same as any university. Many Vandy and Belmont students take classes here over the summer.</p>

56

<p>Hi people i want to be a medical student i was wondering wich type of collage should i do?</p>

57

<p>Just finished my pre-reqs at a Cali CC, and I can say it was a solid experience. I only had about 10 close friends, 4 are going to UCLA (2 were accepted to Berkley but wanted to stay closer to SD), 4 UCSD, 2 USD, and then me going to SDSU since I want a business info systems degree.</p>

58

<p>@hellojan-</p>

<p>You are right on with “proper formula of hard work and talent, CC’s offer adequate prep for a very successful academic career.”</p>

<p>I’m a counselor at a California Community College and can’t tell you how many of my students go into Ivy league schools or impacted colleges such as Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. If you work with a counselor, push yourself academically, and do all the right things outside of the classroom, your options are wide open out of a community college.</p>

59

<p>Try to go to college first, but if that doesn’t work out for whatever reason, a community college is a perfectly sufferable second option. </p>

<p>The last paragraph by ‘dmoreau’ above encapsulates virtually every CC out there.</p>

60

<p>Community college social scene is usually non-existent. Most people are commuters and go home right after class and socialize with friends they already have</p>

<p>A traditional 4-year with a large percentage of out-of-town students is totally different</p>