If I go to a community college for Aviation Maintenance, and then transfer to a University for Mechanical Engineering, does the time/credits from the community college carry along making is it 4 years total, or is it 2 years for the community college and then 4 more for the normal college?
It depends on how many of the requirements for the 4 year degree you are able to cover at the CC. And if you are well prepared and can keep up with a full load of classes at the 4 year school when you get there. In general it can be 2 years CC, then final 2 years at 4 year school. But engineering is a tough course of study with a lot of prerequisites that can extend the timeline.
Check with the four year school with the engineering degree you want to attend. You may find they want you to take calculus based physics but the community college only offers algebra based physics. And many upper level engineering classes require a long series of prerequisites.
There are community/technical colleges in Ohio that have programs specifically catered to partner institutions, but you need to really understand how those classes work together. For example, a two semester Chemistry series at our two-year technical college can be substituted as the one semester Chemistry for Engineers class at most of our state’s four year universities. Private universities may or may not take those credits.
But Ohio is very regulated, the state legislature actually mandates that state schools work together and agree on transferable credit guidelines. This was not always the case. And the two year colleges do offer some classes that don’t have a transfer guarantee to meet the technical skills employers seek, so it may not be worth fulfilling the credits for a technical degree if you know you want to transfer.
On the other hand, I know people that have gone through certificate programs at our vocational and technical colleges that are making more than starting engineers generally do. They are in a field with high demand in this area and are making money while the money is good. You should look for a community or technical college with an internship program. These pay well and give you hands on experience so you know what the job will be like.
Before Ohio schools went through unification is was extremely difficult to transfer credits, and the norm was people would find they needed close to four years after community college or transferring between universities for a degree like engineering.
Your answer is going to depend on which two schools, which classes are required for each program, whether there are transfer agreements in place and whether the requirements or transfer policies change over the course of your studies.
Generally 2 at CC and 2 at 4 year college…
Why are you doing your college career this way?
Are you interested in Aviation mechanics? or is it the closest CC “major” to MechE?
The best way to do CC to a 4 year college, is like @BuckeyeMWDSG says, to go to a State University/college as there are agreements in place. Look at the curriculum for a MechE and take the similar classes. So as a freshman you should take Calc 1 and 2, Chem 1 , Physics 1 and 2 , Programming, Thermodynamics (and whatever else freshman/sophomores take at the State U for MechE.
Looking at one Ohio CC Aviation Mechanic program there is very little overlap on what a MechE needs to what an Aviation Mechanic needs.
So I don’t think that your plan will work in 4 years.