Posted on 02/21/2022 2:40:06 PM PST by karpov
Scrolling through my social media recently, I noticed a post shared by a friend that read: “@ all high school seniors filling out college applications right now: COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS OK [repeated 7x].” The sharer of the post wrote that she was about to get her associate’s degree and transfer to a four-year school with zero debt. Having gone through a similar college pathway, I hit the “like” button and commented expressing my agreement.
This post pushed back against the stigma about community college that many people are enculturated to believe: that going to community college is a failing option as opposed to a helpful means of continuing education and obtaining a college degree.
Coming from a college-preparatory high school, I myself felt a little embarrassed when I enrolled in community college while my peers went off to four-year institutions. During my senior year of high school, the student advisor shamed me for my decision to attend a community college, claiming that I was “too good of a student” to attend community college and that I “belonged to a four-year school.”
The message was clear: going to a community college wouldn’t help me flourish academically.
But immediately enrolling in a four-year school was not a financially viable option. Despite applying for scholarships and grants, none of which provided sufficient funds, I decided to enroll at Durham Technical Community College (DTCC). Four years later, I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a double bachelor’s with less than $15,000 in debt. Looking back on the whole four-year experience (two years at DTCC and two years at UNC) I asked myself, was going to community college worth it? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to others? Without hesitation.
It’s time we put a damper on the stigma of attending community college.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
I have and I can speak from experience. In my experience, the state schools are Ok and can produce some good students, but overall they tend to be amazingly average. The private universities are better than the state schools by a fair degree. When I arrived at an Ivy from a state school to get an advanced degree, the kids who went to that Ivy as undergrads were head and shoulders smarter than I was. They understood things more quickly that I would take hours to digest. In the end my grades were as good as theirs, but I had to work significantly harder to get them.
I am a 68 y/o Electrical Engineer.
I got started with 2 years CC, and got my BSEE at a great SEC university. Pretty much everything transferred. Saved lots of money, even way back then.
BTW... I still have nightmares as well. My nightmare scenario involves sleeping through my Fields final exam in the last semester of my senior year.
I concur.
If you are going to a “hard” degree, CC will not help you.
The course work does not prepare you for something like engineering. I saw a lot of kids flunk out after 2 years of CC, only to find they were a year or more behind in calc and chemistry.
Community college can work, but to say it provides the same value as a good state school or a private school simply is no true.
“The course work does not prepare you for something like engineering.”
It can, but you have to want it.
That was followed by sampling 4-6 wines during the remaining time.
The tests were NOT easy: you had to match different wine regions to their primary varietal. I blew up one test when I mistook Burgundy for Bourdeaux...lol.
I still earned an A in the class, as I received extra credit for a 10 minute presentation on German (i.e. Mosel River) wine, with a focus on Riesling.
The idea for the presentation came when I asked a couple of "experts", "if Americans prefer sweeter wine, why does German wine only have 3% of the market?
Their answer? "German wine is too difficult to understand." In ten minutes, I taught my class the different levels of Riesling, which are based on the sugar content in the grape: Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese (very sweet, the grapes are nearly raisins.
I lived in a small Mosel town named Traben-Trarbach for 4 years. My weekends during the summer were spent at weinfests given by local towns. One could usually find 2-3 on a given weekend. My favorite nights to go were Monday nights, after all the tourists had gone home, and the townspeople let down their hair.
I still order wine about once a year from my favorite winery, Weingut Eduard Kroth. I've been a customer of theirs for 45 years. It's a family owned business, dating back to 1503.
Having gone to both a CC and then a university, having kids who went to both, and knowing many other people who went to both, I've found the idea that CC is easier a myth.
“Having gone to both a CC and then a university, having kids who went to both, and knowing many other people who went to both, I’ve found the idea that CC is easier a myth.”
Having gone to both, it is no myth.
I knew an engineer who went to CC first and then transferred to a university. He did very well and landed a good job.
Many successful people I’ve known went to CC first.
Most people go to CC to save money - not because they can’t handle the coursework at a university.
How long ago did you go to both, though?
How long ago did you go to both, though?
:-) A long time ago... but, based on what I’ve observed through my own kids in recent years, CC coursework isn’t easier.
Depends on specific institutions and then of course classes and instructors, but as a rule it is as I say.
I definitely agree. Best money ever spent!
Even better than CCs, get as many of the courses you need by enrolling at www.wgu.edu
It’s about $3,500 every six months to take as many classes as you want, on the time you choose. Certainly there are in person classes you will need to take in person, but you can knock out some required classes in a week or two; maybe even a 3-4 day weekend.
Typically CC’s offer one level of a course where universities offer several.
“Even better than CCs, get as many of the courses you need by enrolling at www.wgu.edu”
Limited course offerings. Not suitable for those wishing to transfer to university.
Depends on your career goals, but a student can get through all the college BS classes in very short order.
Not as good for hard sciences, except for the basic classes; but for accounting, finance, teaching, and quite a few other degrees, it’s just fine.
For degrees that require certification exams, it can be a great alternative.
“Not as good for hard sciences, except for the basic classes; “
NO basic classes offered.
It's a French wine, not German, but do you like Sauternes?
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