The credits you earn at a Community College count toward your college degree. Many people are taking their General Eds and intro classes at local CCs just to save money and then finishing the last two years at a university. After you finish your bachelors degree (even with CC courses the first two years), you can then get your graduate degree and your doctorate.
2 years at a community college is intended to result in an associate’s degree; 4 years at a 4-year college or university is intended to result in a bachelor’s degree.
There are two types of associate’s degrees: One is essentially a professional certification and is generally considered a terminal degree (e.g., an associate’s in culinary arts or welding), while the other is the type you’re presumably interested in getting, which consists mostly of the same sorts of courses you’d take during your first two years at a 4-year college.
If you go to a community college and proceed on to a 4-year college with an articulation agreement (explanation below), then you’re usually 2 years away from a bachelor’s degree (occasionally a semester or so longer, depending on your major).
The articulation agreement is key—those are agreements between community colleges and 4-year colleges that allow a student who receives an associate’s from the CC to be counted as fulfilling all of their 4-year-college general education requirements, and so not lose those courses in the transfer process. (It also often allows for an easier transfer application process, too.) Usually public 4-year institutions (and not infrequently private 4-year institutions, as well) have articulation agreements with the CCs in their state, but not always, so you need to check up on it.
Would I have to ask the university if they would accept my credits from a certain CC? Is there a certain GPA to transfer in? I’d have to imagine so, right? Probably at least a 2.5 or 3.0? Would I be automatically accepted if I met the requirements and showed ambition? I know even less about transferring than the regular college process. My “guidance counselor” is horrible and has offered me little to no insight on anything college related and I’m halfway through my junior year. The only thing she said was based on my PSAT and Pre ACT scores that I would be able to get into every state university and many other ones such as ASU, UA (Arizona) and a few others I told her I was interested in. Nothing about my grades.
Contact your local good CC and ask them your questions. Going to the good CC would give you time to mature and earn college credit while saving your family money.
What @gearmom said. Also, if there are specific 4-year institutions you’re interested in, you can contact them and ask if they have articulation agreements with any CCs, to make sure your local good CC is on the list. (Their offices of admission should be able to tell you.)
Thanks for the helpful replies, but what if I truly feel ready and prepared for college within the next year and a half and raise my GPA? Is there even a glimmer of hope for any of the schools I mentioned? They’re not exactly “top tier”.
@FutureHerper Community college is real college. I’m sure that there are some schools that you could attend in those states but it will depend on how much you want to pay. You will not be a candidate for merit aid. California CCs do have agreements with UCs which is why I mentioned them. You said your parents would do anything for you. You are 17 and less than a year from adulthood. Will it be best for your family to spend money to send you to a low level college in another state just so you can get away? The education will probably NOT be better than your local good CC in CT. You only have half a year to raise your grades before applying to college. You don’t have a year and a half worth of time to impact college applications. State universities in California are top colleges. No chance. UNC is a top college. No chance. Maybe Louisiana or Kentucky.
I would definitely look into ASU. I’m pretty sure they will take your test score and not GPA into their admission decision. Not sure about out of state scholarship or anything, but that 80% acceptance rate would work in your favor.
ASU states that GPA is very important and only 2% of students had a GPA less than 2.49. Cost 40k a year.
Thanks for the replies. If I finish Junior year with a mid to high 2 gpa and have strong SAT & ACT scores + a bunch of extracurricular activities would that help? I’ve done a decent amount of community service and plan on doing more.
To add in some info, I took my first SAT and got a 550 math, 500 CR & a 10/12 on my essay with a total of 1570. I feel like I can do much better with more preparation & guidance. I’ve always done well above average on every previous form of standardized testing. Would strong letters of recommendation help too? I know UA takes into account more than just grades. I can get a LOR from a teacher who went to Cornell and Brown Universities and also one from my former Bio teacher which I did well in his class in. He worked on cancer research for 4 years and also worked in NASA. I’m not sure if these help all that much, but at this point I’m willing to try anything.
To follow up, NO I’d never rule out a CC or a local school, but it is very hard to fulfill my passion of herpetology in the north east and also hard for me to be around baseball year-round being in CT.
I’d also like to add that I’m positive that I can turn around my lethargic attitude of the past couple years. I’ve worked hard on improving my concentration and study habits. Any other advise is greatly appreciated and I thank everyone who commented before.
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bump! any advice is welcomed and appreciated!
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You have several choices (assuming you do in fact do every homework as well as extra credit from now on, raise your hand to answer in every class period, etc, and thus raise your grades to As and Bs’)
- attend the “good” community college - it presumably has transfer agreements with UConn. Check what those are and position yourself for the highest possible grades in the required classes.
- attend a moderately selective 4-year public university in your state, such as Central or Southern CT University (or similar).
- apply to moderately selective private colleges that have decent graduation rates: Elizabethtown, Susquehanna, Rider, Widener, Wagner, Lycoming, Lebanon-Valley, or, further away, Westminster (MO), Centenary of Louisiana, Millsaps, Flagler, perhaps even include “reaches” St Lawrence, Goucher, Hendrix, McDaniel, or Washington (MD).
Run the NPCs (net price calculators) and show the results to your parents. Ask them how much they can contribute to your education. You do not want them to jeopardize your house or their retirement for your education, especially seeing you’re in this predicament because of your own choices. You, as a freshman, can only borrow $5,500 for your first year.
You may want to read the thread, with results, of a student who had a 2.8 GPA/2000 SAT. He had a good reason for the 2.8 so that would help compared to your case, but your attending a prep school would likely help you so I think it’s a wash if you can bring your cumulative GPA to a 2.8 and your Spring Junior and Fall Senior GPA’s to 3.5.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/admissions-hindsight-lessons-learned/1664036-my-ongoing-college-admissions-story.html
Colorado State University Pueblo. Very easy to get into, good research in the sciences on campus, and have a highly ranked business school. Colorado is similar to Arizona and California, and Pueblo is in Southern Colorado on the prairie. It is not what you would think of when you think of Colorado but it is very cool in itself. Look into CSU Pueblo.
Also, community colleges really are not that bad. Look into Santa Barbara City College (absolutely beautiful CC on the coast in California), as they have a guaranteed admission transfer process to the University of California Santa Barbara and a few other UC schools as long as you get the grades you need in the pre-requisite classes. The coastal California atmosphere and Santa Barbara cannot be beaten!
@Myos1634 Thanks for the detailed reply, I really appreciate people who help others out. The thing is, I really dislike the area I’m in for many reasons that I don’t want to get into too much. I’m blessed to have parents that don’t make an absurd amount, but are willing to make sacrifices for me to attend a good school. Money is a big issue, but all places out of state are fairly expensive. If I were to go somewhere, I would prefer out west with 1 or 2 of my closest friends. I’ve been working on raising my GPA and I don’t see any reason that it won’t continue to climb for the rest of this year and Fall of senior year.
@tmiller696 Thanks for showing me 2 interesting schools! I’ve looked into CS Pueblo and it seems beautiful. I love nature and the outdoors and it looks right up my alley. SBCC also seems amazing. The ONLY problem with going out west for a CC is the cost and the fact that most don’t have dorms. Do you think if I were to go to a CC in either AZ or CA and live there for a year or 2 and get all the required credits and grades needed for a bigger university that it would be worth it? Most states require you to live there for a year before becoming a resident. If I bang out 1-2 years at a CC there while staying on my own, does that count? Also let’s say I go to Mesa CC in AZ and I get the required credits in 1-2 years (I forgot the exact # of credits to transfer) and then I’d be able to go to ASU or University of Arizona directly. Would this be a good idea? I’m slightly afraid real college will hit me hard, but I’m trying my best to prepare in the next year and a half for it!
Thanks for all the replies, they’ve really helped comfort me.
I have a friend at CSU Pueblo and he likes it. The Pueblo region is definitely not the nicest area in Colorado (I am most likely going to CU Boulder next year), but the town is historic and there are lots of outdoor activities and the food is AMAZING. It is also a pretty cheap school that may offer you some scholarship money if you do well on the SAT/ACT.
I do not know much about the process of transferring from a CC to a 4 year school. I know that Colorado makes it VERY hard to claim in state residency- so much so that I will be paying out of state tuition all four years. I am not sure about California, but you should also look at the California State school system. The University of California system is considered more prestigious and I have heard that the classes are harder, so if you are more considered about that, look at CC to a Cal State. They have some pretty awesome campuses (San Diego State, Cal State Long Beach, San Fran State, San Jose State, etc) and I am sure they have simple transfer requirements. I think if you lived off campus near the CC (which wouldn’t be that expensive when compared to a 4 year school), took classes there, and maybe got a summer job there, you could get California/Arizona residency.
You need, at a minimum, to work for 12 months without attending any school, and even then in many states it’s not possible to claim residency as it’s related to your parents’ state of residency. It’s easier to claim residency in Utah or Missouri, I think. You could check out Mizzou?
I’m not sure about the other schools but I am from Georgia and plan to go University of Georgia next year. But their average GPA is a 3.8-4.1 and their average SAT score is 1800-2100.
If you have been “extremely apathetic” for that long, something else is going on besides your grades. I would suggest seeing your school social worker, perhaps. Students can be depressed, for example, and not realize it at all. This is a crazy time in your life for various reasons, and sometimes you could benefit from an outside observer to offer some advice (and I’m not talking about people on CC).