I might not be posting this in the right area so move it if need be.
A little background:
I did online school for 2 years without any break and graduated high school a little over a month ago. I have graduated a year and a half early.
I started community college last week and honestly I’m not super crazy about it. I’m only taking 3 classes so it isn’t that big of a deal but I’m having a really hard time adjusting back to the classroom. I’m very independent and like to learn on my own. I also love being able to just finish my classes quickly and zoom through what I know. I don’t want to spend a whole semester going through classes and only being able to finish a few at a time. I really want to go to an online college. I’ve noticed that most of what I have been doing at college is online and I figure I might as well just switch to online and save myself the drive.
So here’s the thing I want to tell my parents about it but I don’t want them to be disappointed in me. I know my mom will say “but I don’t want you to miss the college experience” but I honestly don’t see what I’m missing. I looked at the clubs they have and I’m not interested in any of them. A lot of the people that go to the school are burn outs (no offense) and I just don’t have any real interest in going anymore.
Thank you for reading. Please leave a response if you can!
I would suggest you not leave after a week; if this is truly not your “thing,” that’s fine, but why not finish out the semester and then reassess? Get the class credit, see if things change after you give it a chance. I assume you’ve paid for those classes. Pity to lose the money, especially if you’re more than capable of the actual work (sounds like you are).
If you choose to finish the semester, I’d visit professors during their office hours to discuss whether class attendance is mandatory (for some it is, others, not) and also to maybe see if you can take on some additional work instead of attending class. Depends on the class and the professor, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
When it’s time to decide what’s next, be honest with yourself about where you want to go and how you get there. While you may learn/work faster online on your own, very few of us end up in lives where we don’t have to interact with others in our jobs. It’s entirely possible that you chose community college because you’re young and it’s local, and you’re right that it’s simply not your crowd. So is the next logical move a prestigious university where your classmates and instructors will be more inspiring? (If so, especially coming from homeschooling, it would be helpful to have some great grades at your local CC under your belt.) Is it forging your own path entirely? What would that look like?
As a parent, I can tell you that your parents are much more likely to be amenable to a change of course if you 1) finish out your commitment to this semester and 2) have a well-thought-out plan about what you’d like to do next, instead.
It sounds like this particular school isn’t right for you. Unfortunately, a lot of community colleges have many students that aren’t motivated (for whatever reason) and you’re clearly motivated and bright.
I would get out there and tour some schools - my guess would be that being surrounded by similarly bright students would make a world of difference to you.
Don’t judge college based on a community college!!! I went to a cc for one class and couldn’t stand it. I then applied to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rochester Institute of Technology and chose RIT. They are worlds apart!
Sounds like you need a much more rigorous college experience, particularly given the speed with which you took on the online content!
Problem though: many upper tier colleges are not too keen about online courses, so I would suggest finishing the semester, keep at it until you have at least several A’s – most college admission officers will consider a community college class to be similar to a high school AP or IB course…so if you can combine your online courses with some CC grades demonstrating that you have skills at a high level, you’ll have lots of options.
I’m a homeschool mom of a 15 and 18 year old. I have nothing to add except to say ditto to everything already posted. Good luck.
Oh, wait. I do have something to add: don’t be worried about disappointing your parents!!! It’s not your job to please them. It’s your job to be and become your best self. Whatever you do or say toward that end should, and I suspect will, be enough. But as people, we have emotions, and sometimes we may feel disappointed that something’s not looking exactly like we think it should. But that’s our problem. We can deal with our emotions; it shouldn’t be your concern. We just want what’s best for you. Talk to your parents.
I would highly encourage you to at least finish the semester. Transitioning to a college setting can be rough at first, but it’ll get better. What online schools are you looking at? For profit schools are shams, so I’d steer clear of them
you’d best finish the classes such that you get the transferable credit, and then look at another college. a lot of times it’s just the bad vibe you get from a school.
So I ended up staying the semester and passed all my classes. I wasn’t super crazy about it but I made it. I’m switching to a different community college that’s closer to my house for the fall.
That’s great. Good luck. I disagree with the poster who said colleges view cc classes the same as they fo high school AP courses. People transfer from cc’s to 4-year colleges all the time. When you’re ready to transfer, see if yours has articulation agreements with any of them.
