<p>I have a linguistics teacher that got her BA/MA from Stanford and is now teaching part-time at my CCC, and part time at a nearby CCC. She's traveled around the world and met many famous researchers. I haven't asked her the reason she's not teaching at some Ivy-caliber institution but she seems pretty content to have a small class and loves the weather :)</p>
<p>OCC is cool. Great mix of everything. Some super rich kids, some super poor, some retards, some smarts, and mostly druggies. I loved OCC!</p>
<p>Thomas_:"True that." I guess I erroneously assumed one would attend a pricey university to land some high paying job. I have a cousin that goes to SMC and loves it for the same reason.</p>
<p>Far more PhD's are produced every year than there are academic openings for. And I don't even believe that teaching at a CC is a bad job. The pay for PhD's, at least at my school, is very good with respect to the hours, so for those who value leisure, California weather, or have side projects or jobs, CCC's are very attractive. While science PhD's have been mentioned here, in conservative fields, CC's are often a haven for professors with ideologies that transgress the orthodoxy of their profession, like feminist philosophers and Marxist economists.</p>
<p>Of course, it doesn't seem likely for someone to go through the process of getting a PhD with the aspiration of teaching at a community college, so I understand where you guys are coming from.</p>
<p>Santa Monica College is pretty cool so far. I've completed 8 classes, and I'm in 5 new ones right now, and all of them are great. The counselors definitely don't know what they're talking about unless you ask them about UCLA...figures haha. Most of the students here transfer there. Socially, it pretty much sucks, but I've met a few cool people that have similar ambitions as I do.</p>
<p>lol samus... my friends and I call them "gunners". I personally like to call them "the thieves that steal 1/4 of my class time while giving their professors a water break". </p>
<p>My cc has had tons of gunners that interject and if there was a way to shut them up I would tell you.</p>
<p>The professors at San Joaquin Delta College were great! At first, I would get nervous about how some of the professors I had would be boring and/or difficult from that website ratemyprofessors. To my surprise, this was only the case for one teacher, but even this so called boring teacher gave some valuable tidbits spread throughout his lectures. Honestly, there are no complaints from me. </p>
<p>Met interesting people of all ages and aspirations. Sure there are some students that are there for no reason at all, but I'm glad to say I met a lot of down to earth people that made me proud of coming from a cc. I just hope that my uni friends I make are just as cool as my cc friends.</p>
<p>I really don't care for mine. However, I feel as though it's because I'm a bit older and new to California. Having to pay ~$65 per semester to park, and having to spend 30-45 minutes to find a spot just doesn't sit well with me. In addition, having to fight for the classes I want to take can be a bit frustrating. I also wonder about the motivations of some of my teachers. My English teacher mentioned that least semester he only gave one A... That concerns me a bit.</p>
<p>it's good enough.... but the bad thing is you get easily distracted and get lazy..</p>
<p>es four- I think the parking problem is at a lot of cc campus.Ive seen people start fighting in the middle of the parking lot for a spot.Ive seen people get arrested, people taken the hospital over a parking spot its crazy.</p>
<p>Johnny,</p>
<p>I've noticed parking seems to be a problem everywhere in CA... It's just consistently bad at the CCs.... Particularly PCC where I attend. </p>
<p>I just don't think I've gotten used to the parking fiasco that is just a part of CA living.</p>
<p>I like my JC, but it has its drawbacks. Like all CCs, it's a commuter campus with few activities. Parking is a pain, even with the new five story parking garage that was put in a few years back(I usually arrive at least half an hour, often 45 minutes before class starts to beat the rush). </p>
<p>One thing that gets to me is the lacksidasical attitude many have. You can always tell who they are: they often joke with their neighbors in class behind professor's backs in whispers about how much the class sucks or trivial anecdotes from their lives...it reminds me too much of high school. I notice this especially when I have a class with 150-200 people in a lecture hall. People mingle with friends and do the same things. The professor usually can't hear, but I can, and it is incredibly annoying, especially when I'm engrossed in the subject matter or am trying to fully understand something. </p>
<p>It's this type of behavior that makes me crave a school with more of an intellectual environment among the student body. I don't mean a place where people simply study and strive for higher grades. I mean somewhere where the students in general are interested in what the class is about and are not whiny about having to write a 4-page(double spaced) paper in an intro to psychology class. This is what makes it seem like an extension of high school. In fact, I'd say 85%+ of my graduating class goes to the JC(yeah, not that great for a public with mostly spoiled white kids...one went to UCLA, another Berkeley, another USC, a few to various UCs/CSUs/obscure OOS privates and the rest to the JC) </p>
<p>On the flip side, the professors are very good for the most part. Many of my professors have been there 20-30 years. From what I can tell, many departments, especially the anthropology department, are fairly active for a CC and have faculty that publish. A Physical Anthropology professor I had has a PhD from Stanford; another for astronomy has a degree for Berkeley and worked for NASA. Overall, in my limited experience, there are plenty of quality professors who are willing to go further into the material after class or during their office hours. They are less like absent minded professors and are more approachable given that they don't have loads of research to conduct/publish and grad students to babysit.</p>
<p>My CC gets the job done and it has helped me further my educational career. But I hate it. I absolutely hate going there and everyday is just another sad day that I have to get through.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, the professors are fine and I'm doing exceptionally well. But the other kids that go there... I can't stand them. Just, how they go about their lives...</p>
<p>They complain about the CC too but they make no moves to get out. They OPENLY cheat on tests and then get mad if the professor catches them and drops them. They never come to class, they fail and then blame everything on the professors. They can NOT let go of their damn cell phones and are constantly listening to their iPods or talking.</p>
<p>They have all this big talk about transferring to UCLA or UCB, but when I ask them what do they think about this process or isn't it stressful because of this... they just give me blank stares. They're all talk. They don't know the first thing about transferring.</p>
<p>Not ALL of the kids at my CC. Just... enough to make me hate going there. It is a spirit breaker.</p>
<p>The only fellow students I can deal with are the ones in the honors classes, but even some of them are aloof and wasting the professor's time.</p>
<p>It's like HS because they treat it like HS.</p>
<p>On the bright side, the majority of the people in my classes are so dense and uncapable, it brings the rigor of the class right down and I can excell without any competition.</p>
<p>LAPCC. I hate you so.</p>
<p>I hate how blatantly disrespectful some CC students I've seen can be to well-meaning professors. I see tons of eye-rolling and sighing, and a general lack of seriousness...just like HS. I'll admit, it's infectious, but I try to ignore it. </p>
<p>I second what xleper17 says about cell phones. They're like the plague. Texting during lectures is especially annoying and is a further sign of disrespect. Imagine a lecture hall class of ~200 where 1/2-2/3 of the people have a clear "I so don't want to be here and this subject is stupid" look on their face. And don't get me started on the hideous "bug-eye" glasses girls today wear while talking on their cell phones, holding some petite handbag and wearing skimpy clothing with the words "juicy" plastered on the rear of their pants. God, I despise such people, and California is over saturated with them(at least where I live). </p>
<p>I was never in AP classes, so I've rarely experienced an environment where most students are serious about the subject matter. Most of my friends are derelicts who have no clear goal other than to transfer to the nearest CSU. They follow the "C's get degrees" mantra and are not terribly intellectual. </p>
<p>I will say that the most engaging classes were those with a high amount of older, non-traditional students, be it those who are striving for a degree or older folks who come to class for the sake of learning.</p>
<p>That is exactly how I feel about my CCC CCC88'.
Where do you go?</p>
<p>i agree with just about everything xleper17 and cc88 about cc life and cell phones, it seems everyone has one and its always ringing in class and people do sit in the back and just talk and cheat during tests. Xleper17, are you talking about pierce college?</p>
<p>yeah. It's the CC that everyone makes fun of.</p>
<p>I'm leaving this Spring. I'm going to UCLA, most likely, and I am glad to be done with PC.</p>
<p>i almost went there when i wanted to transfer out of the first cc i went to but i went to another cc instead, pierce is pretty big for a cc, i went there to walk around once, kind of ghetto too i think. I think their website or something said they have a very high transfer rate to ucla, what a difference it will be at ucla in every aspect.</p>
<p>yeah, PCC is actually bigger than UCLA, you know, since everything is ground level.</p>
<p>I think "ghetto" is a good way to put it. It's down right miserable. All these "no smoking here" signs, yet people are blowing smoke right in your face as you walk by.</p>
<p>They have a higher transfer rate to CSUN. Which is fine and everything, but these people don't even bother to go for UCLA. If I meet one more psychology major that is going to CSUN because "It's a really good school, better than UCLA as far as psychology goes", I think I might scream. </p>
<p>I like to think of myself, not as a LAPCC student, but as a student waiting to go to UCLA.</p>
<p>I go to Santa Rosa Junior College, nixietink, about an hour north of SF and 15/20 minutes from Sonoma State.</p>
<p>If you guys can't focus because someone is on a cellphone then I don't know what to tell you. As far as the people cheating, They are the smart one if they get away with it, you realize people with lie cheat and steal to get to the top, partake in it or get out of the way because those people are the go getter's.
The girls that wear skimpy clothing are hot, don't hate on them cause you don't anything physical to offer, I will walk up to a girl wearing a skimpy outfit than a girl that's not. Being studious and applying yourself to your studies isn't the only aspect of college. Networking, meeting new people, being fun and inviting. There is no point to hate people for who they are and what they do, if you don't like it don't do it but don't have a sour attitude because you cannot fathom why they do the thing's they do. get a grip.</p>
<p>my 2 cents.... CC is a good place, Bad parking, cool and interesting people, just because they have different goals than you doesn't make you or them any better.</p>