im entering my 3rd year of community college right now, and i started CC straight after graduating from high school. if i dont get into the schools i want, would it be a bad idea to stay another year or would that raise a huge red flag?
i know there are people who have entered the work force and then go into CC, and universities seem to be pretty lenient on them as “mature” students, but given that i didnt take a gap like that and went straight after high school, would it look really bad if i did that?
if i stayed another year, i would probably finish up 2 IGETC courses (which i originally planned on finishing at a UC since they probably have more interesting higher division electives) and i would probably take a year of organic chemistry or something (not required for my major but i like science and if anything it opens doors to have more science requirements)
i also have to think about pell grants and cal grants running out though.
should i just deal with it and transfer to whichever school i get into or should i hold out for more highly ranked schools in case i dont get into them?
how bad does it look to have someone spend 4 years at CC after high school? i have been full time every single semester, and ive taken summer classes every summer, too, so it’s not a matter of me taking 1 or 2 classes part time or anything like that. will they question my ability to graduate in 2 years once i transfer?
that’s another concern i have, because i have heard from admissions counselors repeatedly that they basically just want transfer students to graduate in 2 years and then get out. they don’t really seem to encourage transfers to pursue a double major or minor or anything like that because it would take them 3 years to graduate but i honestly don’t mind. why would i want to spend only 2 years at a university after all of the work it took to get there? i dont want to appear as a leech or anything but i just find it a bit unfair to discourage transfers from double majoring or pursuing intellectual activities because counselors want them to leave after 2 years. just because im a transfer student doesn’t mean i dont want that college experience. not all of us could afford to go to a 4 year university straight after high school, or had the environment that valued education or pushed us towards going to a 4 year straight after high school. but that doesnt mean we want to be treated as 40 year old commuters who dont desire a college experience. so far i only even know of 1 university that has on campus housing for transfer students. im probably younger than some of their sophomores yet im treated as if im “too mature to want to dorm on campus with other 18 year olds” dont tell me what i want. im young, i dont want to be treated as if im too old to want to have fun. it reeks of ageism. but that seems to be the general impression that 4 year university counselors have of transfers students, that somehow we’re all veterans or over 30 or something. im not even 20 yet. you can be mature and young at the same time.
sorry, this became a rant.