Hahaha!! Although I don’t know you, I have this image of you eating this sushiritto and registering under the store front eatery awning.
JMO- I would do 2 yrs at CC then try to transfer. My daughter had tons of APs, super scores on SATs and ACTs but burned out during Jr yr and consequently her GPA went down. She went to a CC (actually went 3 yrs in order to complete more classes before transfer) and lived at home. She has guaranteed acceptance at one UC because she has kept her GPA up. I have read that it may be easier to get into a UC as a CC transfer. And CC classes are a lot cheaper! It is nice to get a UC diploma while spending 2 yrs of that at a cheaper CC. As a parent I think asking yours to stick around for another two yrs is a lot, but lots of parents are willing to sacrifice so their kids can get an education. Many pay or co-sign loans so their kids can enjoy an education. I would do it for my kids.
Just noticed your update about your mother agreeing to stay while you attend college. Great news! (Just make sure to keep your grades high enough to transfer.)
I agree. CC to UC is much easier, and a lot of smart kids do this route to save money.
But you will lose the residential college experience for two years.
You will be surrounded by students who do not share the same agenda as you, and if you become on par with other students, and not focusing on your goal, you may lose your track. Some students start part-time jobs, and they start focusing more on the job than education, and eventually quit the school.
So you will need to stay motivated.
These are two cons on attending CC.
Not to be rude, but CS is the most competitive major there is right now, and while it is understandable you had a rough go of it, you’re not the only one. Covid has been hard on a lot of kids, so I don’t think schools are going to be as compassionate about your situation as you had hoped and sadly a 3.66 for a good CS program may not be in your cards. That said, you shouldn’t thumb your nose down at programs you view as “low” because maybe they aren’t “low rank” and even if they are, they sure beat being out on your a$$ or subjecting your parents to staying in a house for a few years that they don’t want to be in. Show some grace to the students who are happy going to a CC or those “low rank” schools that you keep mentioning. Which btw, that isn’t the case. Rose Hulman which is a highly regarded Engineering school I believe is still open, University of Iowa which has a decent CS program is open, tons of others if you look. Maybe you will have to give up staying in California, which it sounds like your parents are leaving anyway.
Nothing is a guarantee in this process this year and if you have to go to a CC college with a pathways program, then you may just have to do so and can’t worry about it. It will still save you money in the long run because even at the UC school you would still have to find and pay for R&B no different than if you live in an apartment at a CC.
ETA: You also do NOT need a degree from a top or even great program to get a great job. I have said this dozens of times on CC probably, but I have a kid that decided to skip college altogether after he was supposed to go to a top 5 CS program. He is pretty successful and at 23 now has his own company. So, it is not necessarily about where you go to college, it is about what you do with your degree (or no degree) and not making excuses for why something is the way it is or not.
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Actually they require a lot of stats but they often don’t take AP Stats credit and the stats classes are usually courses in Biometrics. My daughter is on her 2nd or 3rd one already for her CS major.
Yeah a sushi burrito!! We have a place here that makes those and oh yum!! When this holiday is over other than Pizza that sounds so good!
A student taking transfer preparation courses will be surrounded by students whose goal is to transfer to a four year school.
Regarding those with part time jobs, often they do that because they need to earn money to pay for school (this is true at four year schools as well). Obviously, financially vulnerable students are at higher risk of dropping out because they run out of the ability to pay for school. But financial vulnerability or lack thereof is a personal characteristic than the OP needs to evaluate for their own situation – whether others students are financially vulnerable does not affect the OP. Note that some financially vulnerable students start at community college because that is the only way they can afford to attend college at all.
If people continue motivated, that ‘s really good.
I want OP to be always motivated to fulfill his goal. I have many friends’ kids went to CC and lost focus, not because they are financially in stress. It was because of the motivation. Their parents are well to do. Maybe kids from the well to do families lack the resilience. I don’t know. As I said, some kids even from the rich applied for the part time job, and lost focus. It’s is the character issues.
Did they lose focus… or did they not have focus to begin with?
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I don’t know. I can’t be subjective to answer that question. As you said, kids in the transfer preparation classes are kids who must be focused. I am not sure if all community colleges have so called transfer preparation classes, or these are simply regular classes. But there are many kids have different goals. Some of them are satisfied with the associate degrees.
They would not call them “transfer preparation”, but the kinds of courses taken by students aiming to transfer to a four year school are typically different from those aiming for a terminal associates degree or other goal.
Oh, where oh where is this sushi burrito place in Chicago? Please say it’s a reasonable drive from the west suburbs.
UC Merced starting offering an early transfer program so something to check out:
This fall applicants have the option of applying to our campus as transfer via our lower division undeclared pathway. This early transfer option, allows students who were eligible to added a UC campus upon graduation from high school the option of transferring early to UC Merced. This transfer program allows you to transfer prior to the 60 semester/90 quarter units required by the majority of campuses.
Additional details about this program can be found at Early Transfer Opportunity | Undergraduate Admissions. Students who come in as lower division transfers are provided with wrap around services and a specific academic advisors in our Bobcat Advising Center who will work with them to help determine their degree path at UC Merced.
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In Buffalo Grove, but really more like Arlington Heights because it’s on the Western Border, so if up for the ride you can shoot all the way up 53. We have never sat inside as it’s one of those casual places and we discovered it during covid but yummy. One of my daughters after she went back to school would text how she missed it so bad, lmao. Didn’t miss us, but missed her pokehale. For some reason, they also always give us free drinks but some sort of asian drinks or sprite. Haha.
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My kids went to a catholic high school. Although some of the students were on scholarship, most were paying $15k a year, and many were quite wealthy. I was driving a Honda, but many of the students had jags and BMWs.
There were about 235 seniors and all but 5 listed a college in the grad program (4 going on missions, one going to play jr pro hockey). About 1/3 of the seniors were going to California community colleges, most to Saddleback, which was one highway exit from the school.
Not all chose CC because that was all they could afford. They wanted to go there. Some wanted to play sports, some liked the art and theater department. Most were planning to transfer to a 4 year college.
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It was not my intention to sound like all students in the CC were not focused, nor they were not going to be successful. Apparently, many of this forum contributors are a living proof in that the success in life didn’t have to come from having gone through 4 year college. In fact, my son was already planning to go to CC if he couldn’t get into any 4 years university. He would be willing to take 2 years at a CC and transfer. I just wanted to bring to OP attention that it was not a walk in the park. I personally know many kids that couldn’t get through CC. These were the kids that had no issues financially to pay for the tuition, etc. They got in CC and lost focus, never finished or just simply gave up. For some young adults, there are always distraction.
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As someone who has spent 4 years in CC, I can 100% say that yes a lot of CC students are not focused. The truth is, CC is an amazing way for students to complete a degree who cannot cut it at a 4 year at that moment. Whether the issue is monetary concerns, the need to work and provide, time needed to grow up as a person, soul-searching, or the student is legitimately behind and needs time to catch-up, CC is an AMAZING tool to bring college education and a chance to transfer to many students who simply would not be able to attend a 4-year right out of the gate.
However, it is absolutely true that a large portion, and in many CCs, and the system overall, a majority, of the student body are unmotivated, and CC was not the option, but the forced choice for them. There are a great many students going who do not care, who have no goals, and no idea on where to go for the future. There are many who are not disciplined enough or don’t have the capabilities to finish an education, and have no desire to fix these issues.
I have personally seen that the majority of peers in classes are unmotivated and contribute to an unproductive classroom atmosphere of apathy. Unless you have or make dedicated CC friends, you can often-times feel very alone in your CC journey if you care, and find yourself surrounded by people who don’t care at all.
That said, I love CC, will always support people going, and do not regret it one bit. But facts are facts and it is wrongful to ignore them.
If you do not stay focused in CC, it is VERY easy to get absolutely nowhere and waste all of your time and money. It has happened to numerous of my friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and almost to me.
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If you don’t stay focused in any school it’s easy to crash and burn. The financial loss incurred at a cc will likely be much lower than failing out of a 4-year university.
Do you have sources to back up these statements or are they based on personal opinion?
I’m so sorry to hear this. Many of my son’s friends are in similar boats who applied to CS or competitive majors.
If you have good grades, I would strongly suggest looking at ASU and U of AZ. They have rolling admissions through July I believe, and U of AZ gives out a lot of automatic merit based on GPA: for example, a 3.90-3.99 GPA gives you $30K in awards. We are in state CA also, and U of AZ ended up being our cheapest option financially, even against his in-state acceptances. Types of Aid: Scholarships | Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid
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