Just wondering, I see a lot of online posts about how community college is the best way to save money and still receive an awesome education. Also about why it is such a good idea to transfer to one right out of high school because the negative stigmas associated with them are not true… But, as someone who has gone to one out of High School for about a year now, I am starting to realize that this might have been a serious mistake on my part to put my trust into all of those posts (and actually will be transferring after this semester) Obviously parents will say go with the cheaper option so asking them wouldn’t have been the best choice as well after high school. I suppose in the past the negative stigmas were the dominant view of community college ie. “13th & 14th grades”… but in modern times just like all other negative stigmas everyone just decided to look at the benefits of a 2 year school, because it was considered bullying to talk about community colleges in such a way as to look at it as the 13th and 14th grades. But my time here has been just that… Although many people have had probably had wonderful experiences at their community colleges, why when making a decision to go to a community college are people only told the benefits? Why is the constant toll that commuting places oneself never talked about? Or how if the school has multiple campuses and your intended major is in the one furthest away your “local” community college may not be so local after all. Or even more importantly (and my favorite) I hear a lot of people say that it’s “only four semesters…” That’s usually the biggest lie honestly… When a person is going to start something and wants information, all situations and potential outcomes should be addressed, especially as important as the time one will spend doing something… It can take a LOT longer than 2 years to earn a 2 year degree, not to scare people away… for some not going to community college isn’t exactly a choice, just wondering if people know / knew what they were getting themselves into…
I think your first problem was “putting your trust into all of these posts on CC” when making a decision. Your decision to attend community college should have been made in conjunction with your parents, based on your academic and financial profile.
As for the problems with CCs that you point out, I don’t think they’re exclusive to CCs. Plenty of people commute to 4-year state schools, too, and would have the same stress associated with commuting that you do. The average 6-year graduation rate is 59%, so not much different than taking 3 years to complete a 2-year degree. And many 4-yr state schools automatically accept CC credits, because the classes taken are basic core classes that are easily transferable.
Community colleges make a lot of sense for a lot of people as a low-cost path to a 4-year degree. Yes, there are downsides, but just as you dislike people only touting the positives, don’t let the pendulum swing to the other side, where you unfairly identify negatives that are present in 4-yr schools as well.
Absolutely right, I guess this was mostly a post talking to my high school self… my situation is different and similar to the norm I suppose, only universal truth is the time it may take to graduate varies, but there’s probably a lot of high schoolers out there without a full story