<p>A lot of my friends go to college through STARs. Most of them attempt to get into Rutgers after their two years. That or they just give up on STARs for the sake of getting out of NJ.</p>
<p>MissSilvestris:</p>
<p>[Transfer</a> Admission Guarantees](<a href=“Understanding UC transfer | UC Admissions”>Understanding UC transfer | UC Admissions)</p>
<p>I would agree with MikeMac…everyone goes into a CC for different reason. I started at a CC, got my BS, then my MBA and my parents did not spend a dime (I financed all of it). Its all what you put into it. Professors at my “Harvard on the Hill” were very helpful, spent 1:1 time working with me, and were more approachable than any of my other professors. </p>
<p>If you go to a CC to be a slacker than you will get a sorry experience. I remember my friends giving me a hard time about going to a CC but my parents did not have the financial means to pay. I also remember laughing at them when they came back from their 4 yr schools with a gpa <1.5. Also I met my wife at the local CC and she is now a CPA…so yes we both are the exception to the CC misinformation.</p>
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<p>I think it’s likely they went to very good CCs, but, even still, the fact that they said their instruction in core classes (computer science, electrical engineering, math, and physics are among the courses they took) is better than one of the “best” universities in the country has to say something about the diversity of quality of instruction in the schools across the country.</p>
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are they penalized for getting out of nj? im pretty sure the STARs program also pays for the two years at CC.</p>
<p>LogicWarrior: Interesting program. I’ve never seen another university with a transfer guarantee. Well, good news for CCers who want to get into the UC system :)</p>
<p>I’m transfering with njstars right now, it was really the only thing that made me go to community college. I got my associates, my 60 transfer credits, and NJSTARS II so I can’t really complain and I don’t regret it. </p>
<p>What they don’t tell you at community college is how horrible the transfer experience can be! </p>
<p>STARS pays for 5 semesters (2.5 years) at CC, but if you lose the scholarship while you’re there, they send you a bill for the semester (I had never heard of this until it happened to people I knew). If you graduate with stars but choose to transfer outside NJ you simply don’t get the scholarship anymore, but you aren’t penalized.</p>
<p>I agree that they are not bead. you’re parents are being elitist 
maybe your parents could attend an information night at the college to have their questions answered.</p>
<p>I wish my state had programs like these. I’m not against going to a CC for a while, especially at $26 a credit!</p>
<p>Misssilver is severely misinformed. In no way shape or form is my community college easier than high school, and I went to a top, “blue ribbon”, high school. I went to a state school out of high school before I had to drop out due to financial reasons, and it seems to be the same amount of work at both places. A lot of work, tests count for most your grade, papers in almost every class, and it takes a 93 to get an A-. Many people from my CC go to great schools like UNC-CH, and many others go to other state universities.</p>
<p>Also, it’s not as easy to get a 4.0 as people think. It’s still college where one bad assignment or test can bring an A to a B or a B to a C, and you won’t get a chance to make it up. Generally the smart liberal arts majors have about a 3.8 and the smart science/engineering majors have about a 3.5.</p>
<p>oh thats pretty awesome then, top 15% and free cc, it would be so awesome if we had top universities like the UC system to transfer to though.</p>
<p>There’s a fine for going out-of-state after signing the STARs contract. Also STARs is the top 20% of your high school class, I think. I heard they’re going to change it so that if your parents make over $100,000 a year you’re ineligible. D:</p>
<p>Like others have said, it depends on the college. In my town, a lot of people go to the local CC and transfer to the state university. As far as a stigma, people who are smart, but may not have the money for the 4-year university, really aren’t looked down upon for going to the CC. However, people who have the financial means to go to the 4-year university are looked down upon because people figure that their grades are too bad for the university.</p>
<p>That’s funny because my friend is Asian too and her parents said that that she could never go to a community college; they would be so embarrassed to tell their family that she goes to community. But she’s rich anyway so that wasn’t a factor, it’s that she was NJ star and could have gone to college for free if she started with community.</p>
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<p>Almost all community colleges have joint-admissions agreements or guaranteed transfer agreements.</p>
<p>MissSilvestris, I’ve honestly been told the opposite. Getting straight A’s in CC won’t necessarily get you into a top school (though paired with work experience and extracurriculars it might). However, in terms of transferring versus applying traditionally, I’ve always been told that A’s and B’s at the college level look better than A’s at the high school level, unless you’re looking at really competitive high schools. CC is by no means easier than high school unless you did IB.</p>
<p>“There’s a fine for going out-of-state after signing the STARs contract.”</p>
<p>I’ve seriously never heard of that. Are you talking about after you already have STARS II? Weird!</p>
<p>The problem with attending a community college is that even if it’s right for you, almost no one will take you seriously and you will be stigmatized the rest of your life. If you are intelligent enough to get accepted to at least a state school, I suggest you choose that alternative over a community college. Don’t make a life altering decision just because you are too stingy to get a college loan.</p>
<p>^Hardly. That’s only if you stay at CC and don’t transfer. If you transfer to a good school, no one cares where you spent your first 2 years.</p>