<p>Your situation is similar to mine. I am currently 28 years old and I had to attend a CC in NYC before transferring to SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island. Generally any STEM related fields will require at LEAST 2 semesters of Calculus, usually more. Furthermore, in order to take calculus, at most schools, pre-calculus must be taken as well. It sounds like the “Technical Math” is -not- pre calc, and is probably not worth taking, regardless of time constraints. To me it sounds like something that would be required for an A.A.S degree rather than for transfer credit by using an A.S. degree. If you want to continue past community college, you will have to make time for these classes- its the only way. In my opinion, once you take calculus you will know if you want to continue on the physics/astronomy path. Also, take into consideration the increasing difficulty that will comes with transferring as well. I had a 3.6 GPA with A’s in Calc I and II from my community college, and I thought I awesome, but I was taken aback once I realized how much more difficult and demanding my new school is. My grades dropped from A’s to C’s and I am just now (1 year later) recovering and getting my grades back up. I also did not do well in high school, but I found that I had renewed vigor once I went back to school. This helps, but just know your far behind the kids who just came out from taking their Regents exams on these subjects and whatnot.</p>
<p>All in all, getting degrees in STEM related fields is pretty rough- especially if your not ace math wiz. I wasn’t and still did OK in CC, but got my ass handed to me once I transferred. If your looking to get into Astronomy, graduate school is most likely on your radar as well… and I hate to break it to you- but grades really really matter. Please take this into account and think about the balance between family, work, and time commitments required to maintain a good GPA for (eventual) grad school applications (3.2-3.3+ at LEAST).</p>
<p>I’d like to add one more thing, hopefully this is more to the point: You can get a degree in almost ANYTHING STEM related in community college and still be ok down the line. You say you want to do astronomy, cool, but just know that the course outlines for an AS in math or physics or chem, or even to a certain extent bio, will all transfer in pretty well to a 4 year university. So just do whatever you want for now, community college is a good place to learn about what you want to do. Take the core classes: English, Social Sciences, Pre-Calc, Calc, and then decide where you stand- you’ll probably change your mind about 5-6 times lol.</p>