Is going to Community College a bad thing?

Applying to College
1

I’m new here so sorry if I put this in the wrong area, but I would really love any advice or encouragement people can give me.

I’ve applied to a numerous amount of Universities, and although I have been admitted into all of them, I cannot attend due to my family’s incredibly difficult financial situation (I don’t want to go into detail, but I will just say that my family is extremely poor). I have failed to receive enough money to attend the schools (despite my high GPA), therefore, I decided to look into community college for my family cannot afford State University.

I don’t mean to offend anyone (I apologize if this is what it seems) but is it really that bad to attend a community college? I’m getting a bit worried, because of what everyone around me is saying about my choice… I don’t know if its due to how competitive my class grade is, but a lot of my classmates keep downgrading community college by saying things like “I would never go to community college even if it means that I’m getting into debt” or telling me that “I’m too smart to go to C.C.”
(I know that I shouldn’t listen to what they say, but their comments are starting to get to me… If I were to be honest, I’m getting a bit nervous because I don’t know anyone that can tell me about their opportunities and experiences in community college)

Is community college really such a terrible thing? I know that it will save me a ton of money, but will people be less willing to hire community college interns?
Is it harder for transfer students to receive scholarship money when they are admitted into a 4 year University?
Do any of you know people that have attended Community College and have gone on to a lot of great schools and job fields?

(Any advice or words of encouragement will also be greatly appreciated!)

2

Would it perhaps be a better idea to take a gap year, work a part time job to save up a bit, and apply again to a list of merit-money schools? For example: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ You said you have a high GPA. Is it high enough to qualify for those automatic full tuition scholarships, like Alabama’s (Out-of-State Requirements: 3.5 GPA, 32 ACT or 1400 SAT (CR+M))?

3

Anyone who thinks that going into debt is smarter than starting at a CC isn’t very smart at all.
No, going to a community college isn’t a bad thing. Many of them are superior to a great many 4 year universities, but there are enough qualitative differences between them to make sweeping generalities invalid.

I believe the most important thing to do (if you do decide to attend CC) is to be as focused as possible and to surround yourself with other students who are serious about getting excellent grades and transferring to a university after a maximum of two years. Unfortunately there are usually a fair number of slackers and kids who simply are too unmotivated or immature for college level work (often true at 4 year schools as well) and if you surround yourself with them you may end up wasting time and money and fail to position yourself for the best opportunities. Don’t hang around with those kids, no matter how much fun you may think they are to be with. It’s not worth it.

We don’t know where you live and what CCs you are interested in attending. The best thing for you to do is visit the ones available to you and find out all you can. There are often honors programs and merit scholarships for strong students and there are often internships available specifically for students at that school. Good luck!

4

OP, you are right that scholarship and need based aid can be poor for CC transfers. Are there any 4 year schools you can commute to from home?

5

If you’re really smart enough to get ahead, you’re smart enough to know that the judgement or approval of your 12th grade friends is not an accurate guide to how the world works.

Post in the transfer forum, you can find plenty of stories about kids that went to a CC and did just fine. Can I guarantee this will happen to you, that you won’t start hanging out with kids that take pride in not doing homework or studying? No. You need to know yourself here.

6

I think it’s very easy to get caught up in the admission excitement. Try not to let that pressure get you down. I’m not sure what state you are in but in Texas, it is about $1400 to attend a community college or about $4800 to attend a public university, per semester. (Tuition and fees) It is VERY easy for a fellow student who has no worries about paying for school on their own, to say “I would never…”

I went to community college first and then transferred to a large public university. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, and I knew that it was not a lucrative career! I also worked part-time or full-time throughout college.

My husband did the same thing. He is in a much more lucrative field though, technology. His degrees, including his MBA are no less valued because he attended community college.