Thoughts on Community Colleges

College Search & Selection Community Colleges
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<p>I'm an average student with a 1330 (1870) SAT, 3.4 UW GPA and went to school in a very high-achieving (at least 60% Asian, go figure) area. Where I come from, getting into the big California schools are expected; going to Irvine or Santa Cruz is a huge let down for my fellow peers; you can imagine what is thought of kids that go to community college. Now I have no delusions in my head, I know that I'd be lucky to get into UC Santa Barbara or Cal Poly, and I'm more likely to get into my OOS schools, tOSU and ASU. </p>

<p>However lately, I've been thinking that community is best for me for a few reasons. One thing that I really wanted from college was the experience. I avoided all of the smaller, albeit more "prestigious", LACs in favor of large public universities. I really wanted to make college the best four years of my life at a school that I would be proud to call my alma mater; one who's name is recognizable around the country. </p>

<p>All my life, I thought that if I ended up at a CC, it meant that I had failed. Now that I'm starting to see the benefits of it, I'm starting to worry that everything I wanted and expected from college will get turned upside down. As a community college student, how do you feel about your decision? If you could go back and do it over again, would you?</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the two CCs that I'm considering are nowhere near where I live; I would go to them because they are the only institutions in California that offer the FAA's CTI program. I would have to rent a place to live and when I transferred to a 4-year, those aviation science credits won't transfer very well into a business or economics program. I want to be an Air Traffic Controller, but since I would be entering the recruitment pool towards the end of the hiring surge, I want a broad and applicable major to compliment it. I don't know how marketable an Aviation Science degree is, but I'd rather have a business degree unless someone can point me to some more information on that.</p>

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<p>dont know anything about avidation science to be honest but i can answer those two questions you listed…</p>

<p>i never regret my decision to go to a CC because it was literally a 2nd chance for me. like you, i also went to a school with a majority of asians (80% probably) and im one of them. everyone was going to UCLA, USC, UCB, John Hopkins, Harvard…all big names. i graduated hs with a 2.07 GPA and i dont even remember taking the SAT. so our backgrounds are a bit different, but CC was the best decision of my life lol. and yes i would do it over again. the only thing that i hate at CC is the amount of people there. its extremely competitive to get classes and you MUST be persistent. </p>

<p>another thing that has bothered me is that since i spent a year at a CC and transferred to USC. ive felt like ive missed a whole chunk of the “college experience” and since ive been at USC, ive been trying to catch up on it all and like you said, take it all in really.
its almost overwhelming to some extent to juggle social and studies, but you learn.</p>