Hey everyone, I’m new here, and decided to join due to my dilemma in which I really don’t know what to do for my future. I won’t reflect on my bad decisions in the past, cause that’s done already. But basically, I’m a C student Senior in High School, and before Winter Break my Guidance Counselor had a meeting with me about College, I haven’t done any College Applications still, and based on me not knowing what I want to do; She recommended I go to a Community College for Liberal Arts, and after that transfer after 2 years to pick a Major in another College.
I am now extremely fearful for my life, and worried. I don’t know what Colleges to select, is going under Liberal Arts truly the right thing? When I finish said College, will I have truly explored enough to know what I want to do? Why can’t I go to any College, and get the basics out of the way whilst exploring without it being under Liberal Arts? I know Liberal is in the title, but I feel like Liberal Arts is limiting me to Math, Art, Writing, other things, and won’t let me explore career paths I might want to study about…
Another issue I have is, would I have to pick a major in Liberal Arts, or in anything in this Community College? If so would I have to continue studying that after the transfer? … I really need help asap!! And thank you for your time.
If you go the community college route, you will spend two years at the community college finishing your general education (which is what I believe you are calling ‘‘liberal arts’’) which is what you’d have to finish at a 4 year university as well.
Along with finishing your general education, you’d also have to fulfill certain prerequisites for your major at your transfer school. That means that you have to determine which colleges you’d like to transfer to and compile a list of requirements that those who are in your major have to complete before entering their junior year of college. So to answer your question about majors - you can pick any major that you want for the 4 year university but you have to fulfill the prerequisites at your community college.
I’m asumming you have already decided to not pursue a technical degree (<2 year degree where you mainly focus on the immediate skills you will need to do your job) at community college since you seem to think very strongly about transferring.
As far as I understand it, liberal arts is really the basics to the vast majority of (non-technical) careers. A computer scientist must have a strong background in math. A writer must have a strong background in English. For the vast majority of professional jobs, you need to study the basic theory, liberal arts, first. Then you either find a job utilizing that theory you learned and applying it (4+ year degree) or move on to professional school where you learn more building off of your theory and then find a job in the field you did your professional training in (5+ year degree). Liberal arts shouldnt limit your choice of careers. I’m just a high school studnt myself so don’t take this advice too seriously. This is just as far as I understand it Please ask your GC about this!
What I think your GC means is that you will go to a regular community college to study liberal arts. Truthfully, your GPA is low to really plan on getting into a 4 year college straight off the bat. By going to community college, like you said, the past will be in the past, and you can bring up your GPA and get into a good 4 year college!
I’m definatley not the best person to ask about this, maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in, but I don’t think you have to pick a degree/major at a CC if you are planning on transferring. You would want to take the vast majority of your classes in the liberal arts though. The rest of the classes will be in technical fields and those credits may not transfer. You don’t have to study the same thing once you transfer.
I Live in NY in the city, and thank you for the answer. However, what about things outside general education, those aren’t taken the first few years of a 4 year college either?
Thanks for answering, and yea I’m planning on another meeting as soon as break is over with my GC, however I just feel it “limits” because I feel like in another college, people start off with interesting things as basics as well, like say Sociology, Computer Science or w/e. I don’t know if I’d be truly ready after 2 years, or would have truly explored…
And isn’t it correct that I can apply for college at any given time, even after High school? Because honestly, I don’t see why such huge decisions should be made for people like me while in High School.
You can often start classes needed for a specific major, like business/accounting, engineering, etc. But you usually can’t get the more advanced courses needed to graduate from a 4 year school. I think starting at a community college seems like a good idea for you.
Thank you for the advice, but what do you mean by I can’t get the advanced courses? You mean from a community college? So I can’t get them till I transfer correct?
Theses both can be considered to fall under the ‘liberal arts’ category more or less and you will find them at a CC.
Yes you can take a gap year. I would bet most CCs have rolling admissions so you could start in the spring semester. I don’t think its a good idea though unless you have a really good idea of what you are going to do during it.
I mean, for example, that you might be able to take the first few courses in the sequence needed for an accounting degree, but you wouldn’t finish the advanced coursework for the four year degree until you transferred to a four year college. You can get a start and a flavor for the major at a CC.
Thanks for elaborating, but another problem is the particular college she set me out for has that Liberal Arts stuff, among other things. But I don’t see any such classes that sound that they could help me explore like what you said, classes such as that. So should I just go to any Community College? Or stick to that “Liberal Arts” stuff? And does every college truly just have General Studies for the first few years? Or do they start off with classes that (to use your example) would give you flavors in future careers till you get a Major?
Then maybe that just isn’t the right CC for you. Maybe another one might be more tailored to your needs. Express this to your GC.
Usually both which can very well be the same thing concurrently. You might take a sociology class to fufill your social sciences requirement, but then discover you might be intrested in a career in it. I would imagine that would be part of the reason for colleges to even have a general education requirement.
Yea I know, I’m just worried that the general education of Liberal Arts, of things that I’ve been doing most of my life already, if not all of them are, won’t help me explore. And I don’t know if any other College which is not under the “Liberal Arts” banner has different things. I definitely plan to talk to my Guidance Counselor as soon as I return to school though, however I don’t mean to sound dumb but I’ve researched everywhere on what good are Minors? Aren’t Minors there for showing things in your other area of interest? Lets say I major in something that sucks, what good is my Minor now? Do I actually get a degree for a Minor?
I think it would be helpful for you to look through the course offerings and policies at your cc, and at any college you are thinking you might transfer to.
Liberal Arts is very broad – at a four year college, it includes things like math, chemistry, physics, geology, foreign languages, sociology, English, history, psychology, economics, computer science, biology, anthropology, art, astronomy, music, nueroscience, political science, theater, and more. You are getting overly hung up on that term. Most four year degrees require coursework in some of those areas even if you have a different major.
If you are looking for something more pre-professional (business comes to mind), look for a community college that also offers classes in that area. As someone mentioned above, many CCs have arrangements with four year colleges for students to transfer. The advisors at CCs usually know about these and can help you plan your courses. Or maybe you don’t want to get a four year degree and some of the associate degrees offered by local community colleges would appeal to you.
I’d suggest you come up with a list of possible areas of study (majors) and look into which CCs in your area can help you explore those and move to a 4 year college eventually.
Well you are going to have to take it at all but a very few select universities whether you enjoy it or not unfortunately. Maybe you would benefit of exploring careers outside of the academic setting. Have you ever though about job shadowing? What about getting an entry level job in a setting you are intrested in? Maybe even a studying on your own would help you find out what intrests you.
Around here, at least as far as I know, there aren’t ‘Liberal Arts Community Colleges’ just regular community colleges that offer both technical and liberal art classes, but I don’t know if it’s different where you live. There are however 4 year colleges that are classified as ‘liberal arts colleges’ vs ‘universities’.
I would think they would basically just show that you have some education in an area and also allows you to become more knowledgable. No you don’t get a separate degree for them.
Why would you major in “something that sucks”? I mean, we can all think of majors that would suck for US. But we would try not to choose them when we entered college.
I guess since I really don’t know what I want to do yet, I was trying to find a way to describe a useless major, to ask the question what good is a minor now that my major got me nowhere? I understand perfectly that people sometimes go Double Major, or if their minor is more interesting, they switch.
As for getting hung up on the term, I guess the reason being the particular College I explored about doesn’t have all these amazing sounding things. Other than that I understand a lot more than before.
Well, I’m confused as to Job shadowing programs, do Colleges offer them too? My highschool never spoke of this. It sounds interesting now that you mention it however, but don’t they usually offer them to HS, and College graduates? If I have to choose which College now I suppose it won’t help much, but I believe I should just start looking at other Colleges in general.
So it seems to me that you would benefit from asking your GC or checking your library for the Book of Majors (published by the College Board). Spend some time with a couple packets of sticky notes – one color for “Yes, this major/career sounds GREAT!” and one color for, “Maybe this would work for me”. See what patterns you see at the end. Maybe medical profession, or business profession, or legal areas would appeal to you. It can’t hurt to spend a few hours doing it, and maybe it will help you pick a few more specific areas to explore in your first few semesters. Lots of students don’t know their majors going in. But if you can pick a few that interest you and try out classes in those areas, that can help. You can also do online research or visit the career office at college to see what jobs students with those majors are getting.
Minors certainly can help supplement your resume. Some colleges also offer certificates (sort of like a minor) in some subjects. I think you need to do some research on what majors are possible and think about your interests and aptitudes as part of deciding on what CC you might want to attend.
Yea I definitely am planning to speak to my GC again as soon as I go back, but thank you guys so much for the help.
You guys eliminated some of my worries that were seemingly impossible, or literally mind shattering for me. If you guys want to contribute more I’ll still appreciate it, but one question that’s on my mind still is it’s of course possible to transfer from community college to any other type of college? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a City college which is 4 years, can’t it be a private one that’s 4 years as well? (Idk if some of you are familiar with the NY stuff here but, I’m assuming SUNY are private colleges) Other than that, if I have some requirements like say SAT scores, and whatnot, but my GPA is way off, Colleges can still accept you based on the essay, and if some requirements are met right?