<p>I have just finished my third semester at a local community college (brookdale) majoring in chemistry. Classes I have taken are as follows:
Gen. Chemistry I
Gen. Chemistry II
Gen. Biology I
Gen. Biology II
Organic Chemistry I
Intermediate Algebra (1st college level math class)
Trigonometry
Precalculus
English 101
English 102
World Civilization
Microeconomics
General Psychology</p>
<p>I currently have a 4.0 but I have heard so many times that community college courses are nothing compared to 4 year university courses.
I am just worried that I will be in for a shock when I get into a 4 year university.</p>
<p>I’m sure each community college is different, but my daughter has taken 3 concurrent classes, and she says that all of her honors and AP classes in high school have been harder than her 3 community college classes.</p>
<p>you know, nobody can give you an answer that is guaranteed to be true when you compare all possible CC’s and all possible sets of classes within those CC’s to the corresponding set at every 4 year in the country.</p>
<p>That said, many 4-years that accept CC xfers warn them that the pace and level may be harder than what they’re used to. CC’s have to gear their classes towards the students they enroll, the qualifications of which are basically to be 18 or older. A 4-year college is more selective and can gear its classes towards a higher level of academic performance. And not to be insulting, but the 3 math classes you list wouldn’t even be offered at a University of California campus; they’d be considered remedial. </p>
<p>I suggest you visit the transfer center and start meeting with a counselor to get assistance with selecting colleges that are right for you and for finding out more about the process. After all they work with hundreds of students each year, and the ones from 1 or 2 years back are walking today where you want to be. They can tell you what they’ve heard from previous students they’ve advised.</p>
<p>Also I don’t know about the CCs in your state, but in CA there are programs where CC students can take 1 class each semester at a participating UC campus. If there is something similar in your area it would let you get first-hand experience at a 4-year school.</p>
<p>I don’t want this post to sound discouraging. It sounds like you’ve made the best of your opportunities and have done good work; there’s no reason to suppose that if you continue to apply yourself you can’t succeed at a 4-year college. Be sure to take advantage of all the resources they offer including a transfer center, academic advising and tutoring, talking to your profs and TAs, and books you can find for extra practice with solved problems in Chemistry (a series called something like “Chemistry Problem Solver”)</p>