<p>Hello, unfortunately I am not in the top 2% of my hs class, nor do I go to one of the most competitive schools in the country. My first two years of high schools I primarily took regular classes and failed to complete major assignments that ended up costing me 20-30% in easy classes. Although I stepped it up, it was clearly not enough to enable me to be admitted into top universities within my state like UT or Texas A&M. </p>
<p>Although I can attend UTSA or Texas Tech right after high school, I have decided I could simply get my basic courses out of the way for engineering at a nearby community college, in hopes that I would save a good deal of money. If I get the grades I am striving for after the 2 years, then I should be able to transfer to UT or A&M, but if things do not go as well as I am hoping, then UTSA and Tech would be my safeties I suppose. </p>
<p>Does this sound okay, or should I really be going straight to university to avoid any major loans for a bit.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by “straight to university to avoid any major loans for a bit.” It seems to me that you might avoid loans more easily if you went to a cc than a 4-yr since ccs usually are less expensive per credit hour. </p>
<p>Yes, yours seems like a reasonable plan: go to community college and get really good grades. That means studying your backside off so that not only will you get in but when you get to UT or A&M you’re ready to work your backside off there. CC can be thirteenth grade if you let it; don’t let it. Take a look at what courses students in E are taking at UT and A&M and take the same courses. These schools may already have arrangements with the ccs so that if students complete these cc courses they get this UT/A&M credit. </p>
<p>Lots of students go your route.</p>
<p>Most people aren’t in the to 2% of their class. There’s no shame in that.</p>
<p>It isn’t a bad plan and it sounds like your mind is already made up. </p>
<p>The quality of CCs varies greatly and lots of students get lost because there isn’t a well defined single path. CCs have many missions - some students are there because they don’t know what else to do. Others plan to transfer to a specific school in a specific major. Some are older and returning to college, taking just a few classes. Others are working toward an AA. If you go to a CC and plan to transfer quickly, you have to work hard, be disciplined and be sure to stay on track. </p>
<p>Contact your target school, understand the GPA you’ll be expected to meet and be sure you take the courses they prescribe.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>My cousin went to Texas Tech for engineering and is doing great for himself, has new BMW and a brand new house in Houston. Do you really not want to go there enough to miss out on 1-2 years of the college experience?</p>
<p>I would love to go straight to Texas Tech and I will definitely consider transferring there after my first 2 yrs of community college, but am reluctant to go because my family and I have absolutely no money. I was very ecstatic about there new Petroleum Engineering facilities, but like I said that will have to wait in the mean time.</p>
<p>Honestly the top 4 universities I have in mind in this order are: UT, Tech, A&M, UTSA
UTSA is one of them, because it has a very decent engineering program and is in my city, which means I won’t have to spend money on housing.</p>
<p>You may want to figure out the estimated total cost of each school until you complete your bachelor’s degree, both entering as frosh and starting at CC and transferring at the junior level (check the net price calculators to get financial aid estimates). Then you can make a more informed decision on what choices are financially feasable.</p>
<p>One thing that a community college student should investigate regarding possible transfer to a College of Engineering is to find out how many STEM core requirements you can satisfy at community college. It’s important because specific to engineering, a transfer student may nevertheless spend 4 years at a college of engineering because that’s how long it will take to satisfy all of the requirements for majors such as Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering. For example, does your community college offer Calculus III (Mutivariable), Differential Equations, Fluid Mechanics or Thermodynamics? That is essentially the pre-engineering or basic course work at many universities. Therefore, you may need five years to finish the B.S., so depending on your circumstances, attending CC for your pre-engineering agenda may not provide a large financial savings (since you plan on attended the public and relatively affordable Texas Tech University).</p>
<p>^^ yes. ALL students considering CC should have a target university in mind and speak face-to-face with an adviser to make sure the CC will provide the max number of credits that will transfer there. Not all schools have the same articulation agreements, and even individual departments differ in the courses they allow to transfer into the major. Not doing this kind of research ahead of time is the major reason students lose credits when they transfer.</p>
<p>And when you have that conversation, even if someone says that a course transfers, make sure it transfers as GE credit or credit in your major. Lots of U’s accept transfer credit as elective credit only. You get the hours toward graduation but may still need to repeat some courses.</p>
<p>And when I say an adviser, I mean just that. If you talk to a student worker on the phone you could get seriously misled. </p>
<p>Often, you can look up “transfer credit” on your target four year schools to find articulation agreements with other schools, particularly same-state community colleges. You can then check the frosh/soph requirements of your target four year schools to find out which courses you need to match up with those at your community college.</p>
<p>For example, at UT Austin, the transfer credit equivalencies can be found here:
<a href=“Automated Transfer Equivalency System | Undergraduate Admissions | The University of Texas at Austin”>Automated Transfer Equivalency System | Undergraduate Admissions | The University of Texas at Austin;
You can then look up the course requirements for your desired major to find out what UT Austin courses you need to find in the transfer credit equivalency lists:
<a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ugdegrees.html”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ugdegrees.html</a></p>