Could you tell me the pros and cons of going to a community college for two years and then transferring to a better university vs going to a university that is lower than your expectations for four years?
- Cheaper to go to a community college but transfer financial aid may be limited.
- No guarantee that after community college you will be admitted to the “better university”.
Starting college on training wheels in CC vs. jumping in the deep end at many Us (easier to get used to harder curriculum).
What do you mean by transfer financial aid being limited? For example, are there no need-blind admissions?
Most places are need-blind for admissions. Whether you can afford the places on your transfer list isn’t likely to keep you from being admitted to any of them. However, if you can’t afford them, you won’t be able to attend.
What can your family afford to pay? Will you need financial aid? If you are fortunate enough to be admitted as a transfer to one of the few places that meet full need, then you will have good financial aid. If you have top grades, and are able to transfer to one of the few places that offer good merit aid for transfers, you might be OK. In almost every other case, the aid you will be offered as a transfer is not going to be as good as it will be if you are a freshman applicant.
If you aren’t a super-star student, and your family’s resources are not unlimited, then starting at a CC can make a lot of sense. You will have two years to grow academically, and your family will be able to save some money to put toward the last two years of your education. That’s what we did. Happykid’s two cheap years at the CC meant we could afford the second two years at her home-state public U.
Community College
Pros:
- Cost effective. Unless you received a full scholarship to the four year that you are matriculating to, community college will by and large be cheaper.
- Is generally considered easier and easier to adjust to than immediately as a freshman
- Higher acceptance rates to most flag-ship in-state universities and upper-middle tier private schools relative to freshmen admission
- Graduate school will average in your community college GPA
- Professors ARE NOT researchers and are there specifically to teach, meaning they often care more about students succeeding than their research counterparts
- No GSIs (your mileage may vary on whether or not this is a pro or a con)
Cons:
- Missing out on the full four year experience and resources offered at a 4 year
- A “wiping” out of contacts that you made prior to transfer. This applies to both professional relationships and personal ones
- Adjusting to university level coursework at the upper division level
- Less time to meet professors and be a research assistant, to study abroad
- Ineligible for many “very prestigious” scholarships (such as Truman) because of timelines and attendance requirements
- Lower acceptance rates to highest tier “very selective” universities relative to freshmen admission
For a full four-year stay, you can take a lot of these and just read the negation.
Now, also keep in mind that a lot of people transfer to private schools as a sophomore transfer. In fact, most acceptances to private schools ARE sophomore transfers. If your intent is to transfer to a private school, keep that in mind.
However, if your goal is to be accepted to private schools that you were not accepted as a freshman applicant, it probably isn’t going to happen bar very rare exceptions.
Please tell a consistent story:
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I moved to America when I was in the middle of my senior year in Korea. The schools here are telling me that I have to attend 11th grade this fall due to lack of credits for graduation (which will mean that I will graduate two years later than my friends, who have graduated this spring) or take the GED since I am 18. Should I go for a two-year-late high school diploma or take the GED to go to a community college and transfer in two years? And if I take the GED, can I apply to universities as an undergraduate this fall despite being enrolled in a community college?
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and a few weeks ago you wrote:
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Now I'm moving back to America and will attend 12th grade there. Do you think I have a chance to be accepted to an Ivy League if I write a good essay? (By the way, how am I supposed to put all my extracurricular activities into my essay?) <<<<
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I thought that I would attend 12th grade in America after moving from Korea in the middle of my senior year, but talking with the county teachers, I was wrong. Due to lack of credits (though some states assign students to grades by age), I must attend 11th grade. It wasn’t what I expected (my years in high school being lengthened, I mean), so I’m thinking about taking the GED.
Attend 11th grade, build a fantastic secondary school record and application with plenty of advanced classes and good preparation for tests. That’ll be the best path to a good college you can afford.
An issue is that most transfers don’t have their need met, so the last two years’expense may wipe out the savings of the first two + outside of public universities in your state (especially those with transfer agreements) it’s often harder to get into a college as a transfer than as a freshman.
This varies depending on your state - which state are you a resident of?
California is terrific. Virginia s pretty good. Some other states… Not so much.
I know that this may sound like a new discussion, but how about an alternative high school? Someone told me about it quite recently. It’s a high school for people ages 17 - 21 and I may be able to graduate earlier through the program. However, they do not have a rigorous curriculum, although they do give you a high school diploma. Would it be better to go there or just stick with a traditional high school although it may take longer?
What kind of college/university to you want to attend? Are you aiming for the tippy-top places? If that is the case, then you need to be pursuing a rigorous HS program.
If you are aiming at normal colleges/universities, then all you need is to finish a regular HS program.
However, isn’t age a factor in college admissions? I don’t want to be turned down because another applicant is two years younger than me.
There’s no preference in college admissions for younger students.
I’ve heard if you graduate a community college and transfer into a good university, the people there look down on you. Is that true? And is it less likely to get accepted to a graduate program in a good university since you have less time to utilize the resources in the university (ex. less chance of being research assistant)?
Which “good university”? Which “people”?
Ignore the rumors. Focus on your own life.