I’m confused. Maybe I am thinking about community college, maybe I am not. But how come there isn’t a lot of discussion pages for all the different community colleges in the US…i think there r 1200 and they serve 1/2 of US students ! So what do you think…
are you considering community college? if so, is it a safety/backup or do you think it’s a good option?
what do you see as the good things and bad things about community college?
why do you think that community colleges get less attention, and less funding from our government?
do you know what an occupational college is? have you considered them?
So I am wondering too just why college confidential doesnt have the resources for community colleges!!
Your thread’s in the Forum/Suggestions forum as you’re suggesting adding a forum for Community Colleges.
Most of the members of CC aren’t exactly Community College material and apply to top schools, not colleges offering a “thirteenth/fourteenth grade” option. Community Colleges are for people who need another dose of what was taught in high school…
So to answer your questions:
A) No. I would have died if ended up at a local community college. (Self-pride thing)
B) Good things-Simple classes, like-minded students… Bad things-Many credits don’t transfer. Not exactly intellectual environment.
C) …Because they don’t offer enough quality to get government support?
D) Like a trade school? No, because I’d like to keep my options open.
There are actually quite a few members that are or were attending community colleges, though you’ll find them in the transfer forum as we all get together to discuss tips on transferring from a CC to a university.
I believe there is discrimination against community colleges. While it can be true that students who attend community college are of a “lesser” caliber, it’s not always - nor, in my experience, usually - the case. This, however, is the assumption. I know that the community college in my area even has an honors section of the college (like other honors colleges, you must apply and qualify). Community college can be a good option for those who cannot afford regular school and need to stay close to home for one reason or another. At any college - like any institute of learning - what you put into it. And after community college, you can pursue a bachelor’s degree, after saving up some money. Community college can be a very good thing.
So who thinks there should be a community college forum on this website? Don’t you think it would open up the website to so many more types of students? I just think it would be a good thing to do. thoughts?
also, i’m still interested to know your thoughts on CCs in general.
no problem. But no, I don’t think there should be a community college forum. There really isn’t much to talk a/b regarding CCs with the exception of current students getting together and talking a/b the transition on to universities, which takes place in the transfer forum. In the same sense that there isn’t a special forum for private high schools, prep schools, technical schools, etc. I don’t think there should be a CC forum.
coot66 - Your post concerning community colleges was extremely arrogant. It is not difficult to see why prospective and current community college students don’t post here.
Community College alum, present student of Amherst College
Arrogance? That’s a key part of my personality! But putting my superiority complex aside, there really isn’t that much to talk about for CCs. As brand_182 mentioned, admissions are usually open for all, making tentative discussion topics limited. And again, there’s always the Transfer forum/High School forum…
I agree with LordJeff, coot. Many students may attend CCs to get another dose of high school and get their act together, but just as many of us did so for financial reasons/etc. and are now at the best schools that most College Confidential posters are dreaming about.
Dooley - as an administrator on College Confidential, you should be more aware of the dynamics of community college admissions. Nursing programs at community colleges can be competitive. Furthermore, college conf is not just for admissions!! There are discussions about college and dorm life, the social scene, choosing a major, etc, all of which apply to community colleges too. Indeed, there is generally less choice involved in CC attendance. But a forum could answer questions like: can I get financial aid at a CC, can I live in a dorm at a CC, how do I know if CC is right for me, what’s the different between a community and an occupational CC, what’s the social scene like, and on and on…it seems that it would be beneficial to CC goers and prospies to also have a forum for discussing and debating these types of topics. Brand_182 and LordJeff have it right!
the fact that teenagers are obsessed enough to come on here and post like me rather than playing lasertag or something definitely excludes the tv colleges from the list
Community Colleges are great penny savers and academically credible institutions. Sure, depending on where you attend cc, there is your share of hicks, or ignorant teenagers who’ve never left their neighborhoods and think everything outside them is worthy of insult. But there is also a great deal of hardworking individuals who are striving to overcome the obstacles obscuring their future. And talk about diversity! Truly, the globe is represented in the cc and it makes for very interesting conversation. In my women’s studies course the opinion of women’s roles in society were argued from Arab, African, American, Hungarian, Polish, Asian, male and female perspectives! We learned a great deal from each other. And my professor in this class was due to work in Sweden the following semester on a Fulbright for women’s cultural research!
I have a hard time with the notion of cc’s as extended high schools with lower academic quality. The classes are small, and you really can benefit from this. In my calculus 2 course we spent the semester working on probably half the problem sets in the section with our professor who had a PhD in mathematics from NYU (one of the best graduate programs). We had ample time to ask questions in class, and we really learned the challenging material. The majority of the students found they were able to do any problem in the text – a major accomplishment in the land of integrals. BTW a student received a full scholarship to Columbia from that class.
College is abundantly expensive, and aside from the 1% elite who can bankroll 50k per year in college tuition, four semesters of a nearly free education is a very smart move.
In the end, it comes down to how you choose to spend your time there. There is opportunity to work as hard as you want. No one is stopping you from reading the book that your English professor mentions or the essay that your history professor references as his premise for argument.
If you look at the stats of people in this world who are successful, it isn’t where they went to school that makes them successful; it’s how hard they worked and how well they used their mind to get where they are. Take a look at the men and women in executive positions today, not that you necessarily want to be one, but many of them are not from the top ten universities.
I do not think there is a conspiracy or prejudice against community colleges on CC. I think there are 2 main reasons there is not a lot of discussion.
First, for the lion’s share of CC kids community colleges are not in their college plans … the local state U or state College is probably their academic and financial safety. This bias in interest does not say anything against community colleges … just that they are not top of mind to most CC posters.
Second, and more importantly, community colleges tend to be very regional … so if someone started a topic on CC on Roxbury Community College (in Boston, MA) how many people on CC could provide knowledgeable inpout? likely very few. Again, this is not saying anything negative about community colleges it’s just that not very many people can provide input about specific community colleges. And even in the abstract the structure of community colleges in one state (CA, for example, where they are stepping stone to top flight UCs) may be VERY different than in other states (MA, for example, where they are not nearly as successful moving people to top colleges) so abstract discussions on community colleges would be tough. (BTW - a similar issue exists for smaller and more regional schools … there are occational complaints about how CC tends to focus on the large or national known schools … that is because those are the schools a lot of CC readers will tend to know about).