<p>Right now I'm in a four year college (Uni of Maryland). I haven't done well, and while I will get my act together next semester, I have to make a choice. Whether to stay at UMD or go to Montgomery College (it's a 2 year school). My parents think I should stay at UMD because they don't think MC will be challenging, and that I'll have a better chance transferring from UMD than MC (assuming all other things equal). Is that accurate?</p>
<p>Umm… people say that it’s easier to transfer from a 4-year, but people from MC have transferred to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and many other prestigious schools.
I’m just wrapping up my second semester at MC and I can tell you that the challenge is up to you. It really depends on what you decide to take and how many credits you’re going to do. I’m doing 15 (5 for honors orgo), and it been challenging.
I’m not gonna lie, the social life at MC really sucks (for me personally), and that was one of my main reasons why I am hopefully transferring this year. There are also the stereotypical ‘people who go to a CC…’ there, but like anywhere else you choose your friends.
I have to talked to some people I know and some of them came back home after messing up on their first year of school, so it is definitely an option.
Prior to making the decision I would recommend seeing what classes they offer that can satisfy reqs for your intended major.</p>
<p>It really depends on the applicants’ individual situation, but for the most part it is easier to transfer from a CC than a four-year. CC students generally have two years, and then what, more CC? No, colleges and universities understand that the next step for CC students is at a four-year institution. CC graduates have no where to go but up, so to speak. </p>
<p>Students at four-year colleges need to have a compelling reason to transfer. Despite what some think, wanting to transfer from a ‘lesser’ school into a more prestigious institution is not going to cut it. Transfer applicants are asked why they want to transfer, why they want to transfer into the school that they are applying to, and why they want to leave their current school. It may not be asked in those exact words, but something along those lines at least (through the transfer essay). Those questions are easier for a student leaving a CC to answer, and they offer a more compelling reason to accept them. If Joe Blow at Podunk State does not get accepted as a transfer, he still has Podunk State to attend. </p>
<p>There is also something else; the top colleges know that they are the top colleges, but all collegiate institutions generally tend to respect one another. It is only the high school senior, or perhaps just those under 24 or so, who really put stock into the whole ‘This school is better than that school’ mumbo-jumbo. If you are applying from a lesser school into a better one, the better school is going to assume that you are just trying to trade up since if you really had the application worthy of the better school you would have went there in the first place. But you didn’t (by ‘you’ I do not mean you the OP, but ‘you’ as in the colloquial you), so you will need that compelling reason or else things will not be in your favor.</p>
<p>Crucialbbq, I was thinking exactly the same thing, and never really understood why somebody from a state school would have better chances than people at a CC.
Also, I think that top unis want a ‘diverse’ group of accepted transfers; meaning some from four-year and some from two-year schools.
@DCHurricane, PM me if you have any other questions about MC.</p>
<p>crucial bbq:</p>
<p>I absolutely beg to differ (as does an assistant dean of admissions I spoke to at USC before leaving in 2008). For starters, CC students have no more/less compelling reasons to transfer than anyone else: it’s totally dependent upon the individual. Moreover, applying to a higher ranked school as a non-CC transfer does not imply he or she is merely “trading up.” It is easier to transfer from a four-year institution precisely because the curricula and admissions standards are more comparable to the prospective school (assuming we’re talking top four-year schools) than say those of a CC and the same school and, consequently, adcoms not only have a better context in which to judge your grades, but also can be more secure in that you can handle the rigors of a four-year college.</p>
<p>That said, there are definitely successful CC transfers to the Ivies and top schools, but they are more rare than successful state school transfers.</p>