Is community college dumbed down?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>So I'm 4/5 through my first semester of community college, and I'm hardly applying myself. I'm getting straight As while barely doing any work, and I spend around 90% of my out-of-class time wasting time rather than studying. Yes, I know, I'm displaying the qualities of a bad student (I might have ADHD, don't know), but it seems like the grades just get better the more I screw-off. </p>

<p>Has anyone else had this experience in community college? And do you think the relative ease of the coursework/assignments is due to the college having lower standards and more grade inflation? Or am I just smarter than I realize? </p>

<p>Honestly, if college is going to be this easy, even after I move on to a university, then I might as well continue being lazy, cuz there's no point in putting in extra effort without seeing better grades. But, if this experience is a shortcoming of the community college system, then I'd better improve my study habits before I hit university. </p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

2

<p>If you’re not taking any 200-level classes right now you might be in for a surprise when you do. Otherwise, maybe you’re going to a really dumb community college.</p>

3

<p>make sure at all your future job interviews you explain how you accomplish success by being lazy.</p>

4

<p>No, you are not a genius.</p>

<p>Yes, there is a good chance you could handle university work well.</p>

<p>No, that does not mean you’ll be able to dick around and sleep through classes and maintain a 4.0 at the uni.</p>

<p>But then again that depends on what uni you’re transferring to.</p>

5

<p>My friends that transferred from a CC to a university were in for a BIG surprise. They were completely overwhelmed with the workloads they received in comparison to what they had at CC. We’re just like you. We didn’t put much effort into anything, never studied, didn’t even read the book, and breezed by with straight A’s.</p>

<p>To quote them, “Community college is a joke.”</p>

6

<p>It depends on the college. The Northern Virginia Community College is supposed to be pretty good… I mean, UVA offers a guaranteed transfer if you maintain a certain GPA, and UVA isn’t a joke university so obviously it’s somewhat rigorous.</p>

7

<p>It really depends on the school, but for the most part I think it’s true.</p>

<p>I know a lot of people that chose to do certain courses at a community college instead of APs because they’d get the same level of credit for it, but the course would be WAY easier. It also seems so much more common to hear of people transferring in from CCs with 4.0s.</p>

<p>From personal experiences, it’s awesome when you can maintain great grades with little effort, but laziness is never a good thing, as bad habits are hard to break.</p>

8

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<p>Calc at my community college was not a joke. Just sayin.</p>

<p>I think probably the bigger and more well-known the cc is, the better (i.e. harder) it’s going to be.</p>

9

<p>It completely depends on the college. The CC near my house is quite good, and most of the classes are not a joke! There are some that are, but honestly, there are some that are at every college.</p>

10

<p>It depends on the CC.</p>

<p>I looked into the quality of the community colleges in my state many years ago and concluded that the level was poor. We used/are using community colleges for our kids in their high-school programs and used the community colleges in a neighboring state where the quality is higher. That said I still check out the courses and professors because quality, even at a better community college, is not uniform over courses and professors.</p>

<p>One of the courses that our son took at community college was as tough as it was a nearby university. Another cc course that he took was 1/6th the work as the same course at the university. The university wouldn’t even provide transfer credit for the course. So it can be all over the place.</p>

<p>If you’re planning on transferring to a university, make sure that you are getting quality courses. Check the syllabus and ask the professor or department head questions about their courses and programs. If you have a university major in mind, ask the department head of a local university as to what his thoughts are on the community college.</p>

11

<p>“Honestly, if college is going to be this easy, even after I move on to a university, then I might as well continue being lazy, cuz there’s no point in putting in extra effort without seeing better grades. But, if this experience is a shortcoming of the community college system, then I’d better improve my study habits before I hit university.”</p>

<p>THIS screwed me in my SECOND semester of community college. Had I kept it up until I got to my university I’d have failed out immediately, I’d be completely buried right now had I not started to practice good study skills before I got here. </p>

<p>I DEFINITELY think it’s dumbed down, however, that doesn’t mean you don’t sometimes need to put in a fair amount of effort-- no matter how easy it is to learn if you don’t bother to learn anything you still won’t do well.</p>

12

<p>well from personal experience i can say that math and science are not dumbed down, and that ucla frequently accepts math and science majors with 3.5 gpas since 4.0s are nearly unheard of in those departments.</p>

<p>that just might be california though, and the other departments are supposed to be really easy.</p>

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<p>What’s your major?
Are you picking all of the easy professors?</p>

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<p>as most ppl here have said so far, YES community colleges have different ratings. for example, in california one of the best ones is saddleback cc near rancho santa margarita. a lower quality one is yuba college near sacramento…</p>

<p>so yeah, cc’s aren’t dumb. some of the best profs i’ve ever had have been at CC’s. but the overall quality can vary from place to place, just like universities.</p>

15

<p>College is dumbed down ergo community college is dumbed down.</p>

16

<p>My CC is in no way easy
I doubt you could dick around and slide by</p>

17

<p>Well, my major is poli-sci, but right now I’m just taking general ed crap to get a AA degree, since my college doesn’t offer a concentration in politics. </p>

<p>The only class I’m taking that even remotely challenges me is “Intro to Ethics,” and I’ve been informed that this course and professor are among the toughest on campus. Really, this is the only class I apply myself in, sometimes spending 6 hours with a study group and then 5 more hours at home in the same day. Maybe 1/2 of the students dropped out in the first few weeks, and another 1/2 dropped out recently, right before the drop deadline. Of the few that remain, I’m the only one getting an A.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I’m taking “American Government,” which basically has no homework, only one essay, and the tests are multiple choice with study guides. The teacher’s only expectation is that we “try.” He guarantees an A if we do that. Needless to say, this class is a joke in terms of rigor–but the teacher places a strong emphasis on classroom participation, and from that participation I’ve learned more about our nation’s political system than in any class I’ve ever taken. </p>

<p>What I’m getting at is that some of the classes focus more on coursework, essays, wrote memorization, grades, etc., while others zero in on teaching students how to thrive in the real world of their profession. In the former classes, I tend to work hard and put in the time, and maybe get a little burned out. In the latter, I’m a bit lazy. </p>

<p>Now, ideally, a good class should include elements of both, providing students with advantages of both approaches to learning. </p>

<p>So, after community college, I want to transfer to a fairly good university or college, such as Berkeley, Chicago, Grinnell (in my own state), University of Wisconsin, Madison, etc. I’m betting that these colleges have a balanced approach to academics that includes participation, analytical activities, wrote memorization, and everything else that goes into a good course. </p>

<p>So here’s my biggest question: Assuming I maintain a 4.0, assuming my extracurriculars are very good, and assuming I take courses that are known to be rigorous, even at junior college, are those “good” colleges going to look at my transfer app and give it less weight among its competitors because it’s coming from a community college, which may have watered down academics?</p>

18

<p>It is more than likely that your classes are a joke rather than Community Colleges in general.</p>

<p>If you were taking Calculus 2 or Organic Chemistry(Assuming Organic is offered at the CC) then you would have to study for the 4.0 GPA.</p>

<p>If you really do have all this free time don’t waste it all on the Internet. It would be better to get a job or internship and/or even ask your Professor(s) how to prepare for the academic side of a competitive school.</p>

19

<p>It depends on the college a <em>lot</em>. I have friends who came from community college to major in math at the university, and their lower division math and physics work seems to have been way harder. The reason being that the professors teaching at the university have things like graduate students to attend to, their research to worry about, etc, and chances are the teacher at the community college may not be required to do all these things, and may spend lots of time making a course thorough and/or hard. </p>

<p>What is your major? If it’s in math or physics, I would suggest that you take a look at what universities are doing online, and try solving their problems to make sure you’re going to be ready if you transfer.</p>

20

<p>I’m taking some courses at my CC as a high school student. The required courses for any degree are always pretty easy here, but anything not uniformly required is not. Only 4 people are signed up for Calculus II next semester. Most people in my Chemistry and calculus courses have C’s or below, including a guy from a top 25 school who’s already take Calculus I, II, and III.</p>