<p>Didn't get into my #1 school(got denied at McCombs UT), so I have a bunch of "eh" schools I'm looking at. Texas A&M, Baylor, and LSU(32000 scholarship). All of them I got into business at their school.</p>
<p>Community College benefits me for many reasons
1. Easy classes(or are they?)
2. Cost
3. Parents want me to live at home for freshman year</p>
<p>I need to know what colleges I can get into with a 3.7-4 GPA from just a regular community college.</p>
<p>-Rice
-North Carolina
-Michigan
-University of Texas McCombs Business(only way I go to UT is if I get into McCombs)
-Tulane
-Vanderbilt</p>
<p>I want to transfer after freshman year, should I consider taking the SAT/ACT again? Already took both twice. Highest score was a 1960. HS GPA 3.75 taking difficult classes.</p>
<p>Are classes there RIDICULOUSLY easy? Or am I overconfident in my ability to get a 4.0?</p>
<p>Your overconfident, honestly dont expect them to be any easier than they would be at the schools you were accepted to.</p>
<p>The only reason you may do alot better at CC is because the average CC student is probably less willing to work and less ambitious than you. That means they may do less work, do worse on tests, and as a result test scales may be greater there.</p>
<p>^ No, it's pretty safe to assume that the difficulty of classes at a regular community college will be significantly less than that of Texas A&M or Baylor. That isn't to say that there aren't intelligent kids in cc--there are.</p>
<p>I was in the same boat you were in. I was rejected out of high school from UCB, Cal Poly and McGill. I had the chance to go to the University of Oregon, but I did not feel as if that would be the best place for me. I chose to go the CC route. I currently hold a GPA of around 3.8, I believe and was admitted into Carolina. I'm still awaiting answers from UCLA, UCB, and USC.</p>
<p>In high school I carried about a 4.0(weighted)GPA. I hope that gives you an idea of how CC's are. They aren't the easiest places in the world, but obviously they aren't as hard as an elite institution. I say it's possible for you to transfer and I'm sure it's possible for you to hold a 4.0 as well, but I'd avise staying at a CC for 2 years rather than trying to leave after your first. AFAIK, if you transfer after your first year, colleges rely heavily on your HS resume and quite frankly a 3.75 isn't going to blow away any of those colleges you're applying to.</p>
<p>You have a chance at all of those schools which a good community college record. Check the Transfer Admissions 101 sticky thread for other things you could do to enhance your chances.</p>
<p>What was your SAT for math/CR only? Whether you should re-take depends on the policy and typical scores of each school you are considering.</p>
<p>Will CC be cheaper than LSU with that (excellent) scholarship? I realize there are other reasons you are considering cc. And cc can be a really good way to go.</p>
<p>Was the hs 3.75 weighted or unweighted? Does your school weight? If unweighted and your school doesn't weight... how many were honors/AP (or just describe what your schools level system was).</p>
<p>"^ No, it's pretty safe to assume that the difficulty of classes at a regular community college will be significantly less than that of Texas A&M or Baylor. That isn't to say that there aren't intelligent kids in cc--there are."</p>
<p>I still stand by what I said. He has no college experience thus far so that means his first two semesters hell be taking alot of intro and 100 lvl classes. At that level I don't believe their is going to be much difference. Upper level classes are certainly an expection.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I still stand by what I said. He has no college experience thus far so that means his first two semesters hell be taking alot of intro and 100 lvl classes. At that level I don't believe their is going to be much difference. Upper level classes are certainly an expection.
[/quote]
Intro and 100-level courses at large state schools are often brutally difficult. Courses like general chemistry/general biology (for example) are frequently weed-out courses designed to filter the kids who don't have the willpower or intellectual capacity for upper-level classes.</p>
<p>If I were in the OP's position, I'd go to LSU with that nice scholarship</p>
<p>I think community college is somewhat of a joke. I spent 3 semesters at a 4-year satelite school of the UT school system and am currently spending this semester at a CC, so unlike some of the previous posters, I actually have first-hand knowledge of what it's like to take classes at a 4-year vs. CC.</p>
<p>Ways in which my CC experience was greatly different than my 4-year experience....
A) In all of my classes at CC, we have plenty of extra credit opportunities, where as at the 4-year I went to, I'd have maybe 1 or 2 classes a semester that had one opportunity for extra credit.
B) Most of my tests are graded from a scale of 0-105/110 versus 0-100. So if you were to add the extra credit, you can sometimes get up to a 115 if you get everything correct and do the extra credit.
C) All of my CC teachers use PowerPoint and all of the test questions are pulled from the PowerPoint notes. In my opinion, there's no reason to justify purchasing some of the textbooks if all of the material you're tested over can be found in your notes.
D) This could be seen as a good or bad thing, but at CC, there are only like 20-30 kids per class, so the teacher will literally do a role call to see who is and is not in class. Also, since the classes are so small, there are usually little group activities that the professors set up which gives CC an even more high school feel to it.</p>
<p>I think the difficulty of CC also depends on how well you chose your schedule. For instance, I used pickaprof so I have the easiest or second easiest teacher in all of my classes. </p>
<p>One note I should make is that I had a friend who took Macro at A&M and got a B, then took Micro at CC over the summer thinking it was going to be a breeze, and he ended up barely scraping by with a C. In his mind, Micro at CC was just as difficult as Macro at A&M, so I guess in certain instances CC can be of comparable difficulty as 4-years.</p>
<p>It really depends on the professors and courses you are taking. I did a CC and took mostly math/chemistry/physics courses and I feel I got a great education. I know more than my friends who went to a 4-year university, that being said I also took a government class, history and psychology class and those were pretty easy... so a uni would probably be harder. I think its safe to say chemistry is chemistry no matter where you are. All of my professors at my CC were ph.d's from University of Florida(in the chemistry field). My physics professor was a former research professor at UMich. You can get a great education at a CC, its a matter of the work you put in, and if you can pull a 3.7+ you can definitely get into top 20 universities. My only regret with a CC is that I missed out on the freshman dorm experience.. but oh well I wasn't ready for a university at the time, its also a little embaressing saying you go to a CC. But I'm on my way to UMiami.. GO CANES :D</p>
<p>btw if you couldn't pull a 4.0 in high school what makes you think you'll get one easily at a CC... trust me high school is way easier.</p>
<p>^^^^^
The work in high school is easier yes. But the grading systems in high school are BS IMO. You don't get daily homework in college, what homework you do get hardly ever counts for much, participation in college is usually not count for much if at all, and most of your grade in college is a couple tests and a final.</p>
<p>If you study hard and learn the material you can do well in college. In highschool if you don't need to study as hard, but you need to do tons of busy work (basically all HS HW) and you need to build a relationship with your teacher in highschool.</p>
<p>For people who would prefer to actually learn the material and not have to worry about meaningless busy work and liberalized grading schemes, the college system CAN be easier.</p>
<p>If you did that in college you'd probly have alot lower GPA, the only reason you could get away with that in high school is because of how the system works.</p>
<p>Which was my point, if you want to do nothing but work and learn college is better, if you want to waste your time with "circle time" and hangman games to get extra points you'd rather be in highschool.</p>
<p>AP courses are a clear expection to this rule because they can college classes and are taught like college classes in most cases.</p>
<p>I don't know which HS you guys went to, but I was very challenged all four years. We had brutal problem sets and read Homer and Vergil. Don't keep generalizing about *all *high schools assigning predominantly BS work.</p>
<p>I didnt say that the actual course work was easy or BS. I'm saying that theres a BS very subjective element in HS that simply does not exist in college. And for those of us who don't like dealing with BS or busy work, thats a plus.</p>
<p>thanks, I just thought of something that I didn't before. My HS has a dual credit program where kids get to go to a CC to take a class, I have friends that all say that the class is so easy, that they do nothing and still get a 100. It is English btw. </p>
<p>These are the same kids that, like me, took AP classes and Honors courses throughout HS.</p>
<p>Is this what I should expect going to a CC?</p>
<p>crs1909- I too have a first hand knowledge of attending both a CC and a university. I spent 3 full semesters at a CC before transferring. I am now finishing up my first year at USC. </p>
<p>For comparision purposes, I have found that the lower division courses at a CC are about the same academically than here at USC with a few exceptions, such as some lower divisions have not only a lab, but a discussion class as well. I would actually say that the major difference are the students at a University vs the students at CC.</p>
<p>I would definately not call CC a joke. So far the hardest course I have taken both at USC or CC has been bio at CC.</p>
<p>To answer the thread starter's question. A CC can take you anywhere, so long as you stay motivated and do what you need to do to transfer. I was in a honor society at CC with students who have transferred to Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, UCLA, Michigan, etc. When it came time to transfer for me, I was accepted to Pepperdine, Wake Forest, Tulane, and USC.</p>
<p>SCorBust- I don't really think you can compare CCs in Cali to CCs in Texas. I think it's safe to say that the average CC in Cali is going to be pretty different than the average CC in Texas.</p>
<p>Seeing as the OP is thinking about going to a CC in Texas, I think that my experience of going to a CC in Texas is more relevant than your experience of going to a CC in Cali.</p>
<p>Now I haven't taken any math or science classes at the CC I'm currently at, but of the classes I'm taking, Accounting, Economics, BCIS and Psychology, I have very strong As (95+) in all of them, and there's a chance that the only exam I'll have to take is in Accounting, and more than likely, I'll only need like a 70 to get an A.</p>
<p>Also, my friend who, like me, spent his first three semesters at a 4-year (Oklahoma St.), has told me that all of his classes at the CC are incredibly easy. At OSU, he had just below a 3.0, and for this semester at the CC, he expects to have at worst a 3.8, but most likely a 4.0. When he took Financial Accounting at OSU, he had a C before he dropped. At CC, Financial Accounting is the only class he might get a B in, but most likely he'll be able to pull off an A.</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, I think the difficulty of your CC classes is somewhat dependent on your teacher and your classes, but if you're good at creating your schedule (a la you use pickaprof), you should have no problem doing well (3.6+) without having to put in much effort.</p>
<p>It's definitely dependent on the class. I took an intro to Sociology class here at a California CC and the entire grade of the class were dependent on two 20 page papers. No foo-foo multiple choice tests. On the flip side, I've had classes that are just easy multiple choice tests.</p>
<p>I transferred from a no-name CC to Brown. Most classes are harder here but that's because the don't really tell you what you are supposed to remember, you are supposed to remember everything. Sometimes this is annoying and I miss the ways of CC. However, my favorite teacher teaches at my old CC, not Brown. Classes could be very challenging if you want them to be at CC. Schools use the same text books most of the time anyway.</p>