I plan to earn my bachelor’s degree from one of the NYC’s community colleges. And after graduation maybe somehow continue my education in a private four year college (maybe earning another bachelor’s degree, or perhaps graduate school???)
Currently I do not qualify for any Federal aid, so the community college would be my only option. I struggle to understand the process and practicality of finishing these four years, and then attending a private institution for another four years. I need some advice on what options there are. And maybe what career would be most suitable if I were to spend so much years on education.
I am also aware that I could transfer during my second year of community college, and earning my bachelor’s through private college. I need some information on how to do that effectively, because as far as I know, the percentage of successful transitions is low.
In summary:
Would it make sense earning two bachelor’s degrees from different colleges?
Does private schools offer a graduate school or something for bachelor graduates?
What are my chances on being accepted to a four year college if I decide to transfer during my second year? Or even the chance of me being accepted to private colleges with my bachelor’s from the community college?
The CUNY community colleges do not award bachelor degrees. They award associate degrees. After you finish your associate degree, you can apply to transfer to a different 4-year college or university, and finish your bachelor degree at that place. You could transfer within the CUNY system to one of the senior colleges, or you could transfer to a different public university system, or to a private one.
In the CUNY system, if you want to you could start directly at one of the senior colleges, and study in that same place for all four years.
If you want to study at a private college or university, you could apply there and see if they give you the financial aid you need.
Why do you think you want two different bachelor degrees from two different places? What would you major in at each place? How would you pay for the second bchelor degree? Many places do not admit second bachelor degree students, and if they do, there is no financial aid except for federal student loans.
If you want to go to grad school, you will apply when you are finishing your bachelor degree or after you have graduated with that degree. Most students do not stay at the place where they finish their bachelor degree to do graduate studies. Most apply to several different grad schools, and then go to the one that they like best of the places where they get in.
Do many CUNY community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees? I don’t think that very many (if any) do. In general, if you do go to a NYC community college, you will be more likely to earn an Associate’s degree and then transfer to a SUNY, CUNY or private 4-year college to complete a Bachelor’s degree.
I have no knowledge of where your interests lie, so it would be very difficult to help you with the best discipline or career choices for you. I can tell you that virtually every Bachelor’s degree requires a certain number of courses distributed across a range of disciplines. So, you can go to a community college and start taking the English, Math, Social Science, Humanities and Natural Science courses that would be required to graduate from any 4-year college. During that time, you will hopefully learn which areas of study are most interesting to you and which will yield you a rewarding career.
It will be easier to transfer to a 4-year college once you have an Associate’s degree, and there are various agreements between NY colleges to accept these degrees. You can then work on concentrating on the courses that you would need to earn a Bachelor’s degree in a particular major/field.
I’m not sure why you would necessarily aim to earn two Bachelor’s degrees, unless that would be particularly helpful for the career you are pursuing. In general, it would probably be more useful to earn an advanced degree, such as a Master’s degree, rather than a second Bachelor’s degree. Again, this really depends on the career that you are most interested in pursuing. Many SUNY schools offer advanced degrees in various subjects, so you don’t necessarily need to go to a private college/university for this purpose.
There will be plenty of time to figure out all this other stuff, but first, you might consider enrolling at a NYC community college and start taking those graduation distribution courses. Get an academic advisor there who will help put you on the path toward eventually earning (probably via transfer) a Bachelor’s degree.