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In one thread, I advised a statistically perfect student to take a gap year so that he could reapply to four years that would give him a full ride. The vast majority of students aren’t like that student though. Many students that were shut out have good stats (3.4+ GPA,27+ ACT, 1790+SAT) but not high enough to earn them close to a full ride. For those students that clearly have the potential to succeed in college, but don’t have the funds to afford a four year school, community college makes sense. They’re likely to do well enough to transfer, unlike the student with a high school GPA of a 2.3. </p>
<p>For the former student, a CC is a very good deal. He’ll probably do quite well, and transfer after 1.5-3 years (depending on AP credits/availibility of courses). The latter probably won’t be able to transfer, but at least he’ll get to try college at a fraction of the price of a four year school.</p>
<p>Btw, my CC offers high school graduates with a HS UC GPA of 3.8+ (UC GPA excludes fluff classes like PE and cooking) priority enrollment. That means they’re likely to get every class they need in two years for less than 3,000 a year. For these students, a gap year would be a waste of time. </p>
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Does anyone have a list or know of any states for which this situation is applicable? I’m from California so I take it for granted the community colleges serve as ways to continue education, learn new skills, and offer a cheap transfer route to the state’s four year institutions, but I guess this isn’t the case everywhere.</p>