I am deciding between going to UMASS Amherst and staying and going to community college. My situation is as follows:
-I have many AP credits so will only have to spend a year until being able to transfer instead of the typical 2 years
-I am pretty sure that if I go to community college I can transfer into a better academic school like UCLA or Berkeley
(I messed up in high school academically)
-I live in Los Angeles and Massachusetts is all the way across the country. I want to move out but Massachusetts seems a little much.
-UMass is a university i can see myself at. Its a good mix of social and academics, and the town of Amherst is a perfect college town.
-I want the college experience and I am afraid that transferring as a junior will jeopardize my experience. i.e. going into college as a junior and everyone knows each other already, missing my chance to get involved as a freshman, missing my chance to rush a fraternity
-I am really proud to have been accepted to college and want to rep UMass all the way, wear the jackets, go to games, and things of that nature.
-Financially: community college would cost maybe 2k plus money for rent for an apartment (probably 8k total) and id get a used car if i stay
UMass would cost me 34k
Money isn’t really an for my family, we aren’t rich and we aren’t poor, but id still like to save money if possible.
Summary:
I really want to go to college as a freshman and have the whole college experience, but the proximity of community college, the cost, and the possibility of transferring into a better college might outweigh the pros of going to university right away.
If anyone has any advice or personal experience please share. It is a difficult decision and i need all the help i can get.
I was accepted into Brandeis, University of the pacific ( in california ) , Drexel and Umass amherst. Even though I narrowed the list down to Amherst or brandeis, and i live in California, I never even ONCE considered community college. UMass Amherst is a good school, as in ranked in the top 75 in the nation, its in a very good area and isnt too expensive. It also has a great social aspect from what i hear and some crazy parties if you’re into those, but yet again it doesn’t have too many so if you’re not into parties it wont affect you too much.
I’ve read terrible reviews of community colleges around the country, boring atmosphere, very high-school like, and basically two years of boring non university like experiences.
I say only go community colege if money is an issue.
First of all, not all of what the above poster said is true. I attend a community college right now and it is one of the best choices I have ever made. I paid close to nothing while getting a great education and California has some of the best community colleges in the country with helpful transfer agreements. I have met so many awesome people at CC and I’m going to be really sad when I transfer next semester! College is what YOU make of it, whether you’re at uni, cc, etc.
So to answer your question, I would do whatever makes sense financially. 
What community college do you go to? I have heard that some people are getting stuck in cc and not able to transfer because of not being able to get the classes they want, sometimes spending 3 or maybe 4 years instead of 2 or 1. Is this true? Also how hard is it to transfer to some of the better universities in California? I’m planning to go to Santa Monica College if i decide to go to cc.
I go to CC in Mass but same thing applies. I have never had any trouble getting the classes that I needed however, I am only at my CC for one year. In Calif, I believe you have to have junior standing before you can transfer which sucks if you just wanna get in and get out. Here are the stats for UCLA https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof14.htm
If you go on the UC Transfer forum you should be able to get good insight from other CCC students about how easy it is to transfer into UCLA or Cal. If money is not an issue and you want to just go straight to a 4-year university I would say go for it and don’t look back.
@fallenwinter, nice one and what happen to your decision?
I go to CC as well. It is the best place to be. Classes are small, lots and lots of diversity. I must say one thing though the majority of teacher may not be good, but there are hidden gems in CC. Really good teacher.
All you have to do is search for them.
Going to CC is one of the best decision, I did. My friends who went to UMass Amherst straight from HS have around $20,000 loan, whereas I made extra money doing a job and $0 Loan. The funny part is I’m still ahead of them in term of credit earn.
From CC—>BU, NYU, Brandeis, Umass Amherst (CHP).
And two of my very friends went from CC to Cornell university and MIT, respectively.
P.S anything is possible.
@Nomads77 I second everything you said! I have a friend who went to UMass (not amherst) straight out of highschool and she is already in 17k debt! I have no debt and even money to spare.
And congrats on your acceptances! How long after your spire said “under consideration for admission” did you hear of your acceptance?
@fallenwinter, I got it two days prior to the final decision, but I not sure whether I’ll be attending UMass Amherst or not.
My CC has a full scholarship agreement with BU for selected few student and Honors society is paying for the rest. BU is very close to home so I need to talk with my transfer advisor about few stuffs.
@Nomads77 BU is also a great school, I would say go wherever means less debt. Did your acceptance show up on spire or snail mail?
@fallenwinter it showed up in spire then week later in snail mail.