Community College vs. 4-Year College

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I will be applying as an international student in fall. I have already applied to few schools in the states and I have been thinking of attending a Community college and transfer after getting an associates degree. </p>

<p>-My GPA is around 3.9
-I just moved from an IB school, and currently taking 5 AP classes
-The problem is my SAT around 1700's
-I do extra curricular activities outside and inside school</p>

<p>Honestly, I have no idea what I want to do with my future or what major I want to take. My parents can afford a four-year college, but I would like to save them money, and I like the idea of small schools. </p>

<p>Could you guys give me any advice?
Thanks! </p>

<p>There are lots of colleges you can get into, and some would even offer you merit money if you can increase your SAT score (try number2.com or prepare the ACT, some students do better on one or the other).
Check out Colleges that change lives (ctcl.org); universities and LACs in the South, MidAtlantic, Pacific Northwest, and Midwest; Universities ranked 30-60, LACs ranked 45-85, and regional universities ranked 1-20. Buy yourself a Princeton review’ best colleges, or Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, or Fiske Guide, and start reading.
note:
For an international, community college doesn’t necessarily save money since you no longer have access to merit money (limited to freshmen) so you have to pay the full cost for the last 2 years. It’s better to apply to a variety of 4-year colleges as well as one community college with good articulation agreements (agreement with specific universities) to public universities that aren’t too expensive.</p>

<p>If you don’t know what you want to study yet, why don’t you take a Gap Year, and do something else while you think about your long-range goals? That would give you a chance to work on improving your ACT/SAT scores, and more time to investigate all of the educational options that you have.</p>