Community College

[jai6638]

hey.. am considering going to this community college in summer for doing my precalculus course... that way, my HS will be able to give me credit for it, enabling me to do a calculus course next academic year..

I wanted to know how community colleges are in general ?? are they good or should they be avoided?

thanks much...

 

[tec699]

I went to community college for 2.5 years before attending Rowan University. The tuition is much cheaper and the classes tend to be smaller. I don't have anything bad to say about my community college experience. In fact, I took a stats class last summer and transfered those credits towards my Rowan credits.

 

[jai6638]

i see.. what i heard about community college is that its a cheap way of doing university electives but not recommended for mainstream courses... is that true?

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: jai6638
i see.. what i heard about community college is that its a cheap way of doing university electives but not recommended for mainstream courses... is that true?

During your first 2 years of college everybody has to take classes that are mandatory. For me they included Communications I and II, Algebra, History, Psychology and so on. I transfered those credits over and took my specialized classes at Rowan U: Special Ed I and II, Multicultural Issues, Public School Law and so on. It worked for me and I saved a bundle.

When you say mainstream do you mean regular classes or the classes you're going to take that directly relates to your major?

 

[jai6638]

Originally posted by: tec699

Originally posted by: jai6638
i see.. what i heard about community college is that its a cheap way of doing university electives but not recommended for mainstream courses... is that true?

During your first 2 years of college everybody has to take classes that are mandatory. For me they included Communications I and II, Algebra, History, Psychology and so on. I transfered those credits over and took my specialized classes at Rowan U: Special Ed I and II, Multicultural Issues, Public School Law and so on. It worked for me and I saved a bundle.

When you say mainstream do you mean regular classes or the classes you're going to take that directly relates to your major?

By mainstream courses, i mean classes that directly relate to major...

 

[HermDogg]

It's a cheap way of taking required classes that everyone takes, then you take electives and classes relating to your major at the U.

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: jai6638
i see.. what i heard about community college is that its a cheap way of doing university electives but not recommended for mainstream courses... is that true?

I'm about to finish a B.S. degree from a private university, and can honestly tell you at least half the classes I was required to take were not from my major field. One of the more popular ways to do it here (RIT, up in NY) is to attend the local Community College (MCC) for two years. They have a specific program with RIT to transfer the credits, and save you >$15k a year, at least for those first two years.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: jai6638

Originally posted by: tec699

Originally posted by: jai6638
i see.. what i heard about community college is that its a cheap way of doing university electives but not recommended for mainstream courses... is that true?

During your first 2 years of college everybody has to take classes that are mandatory. For me they included Communications I and II, Algebra, History, Psychology and so on. I transfered those credits over and took my specialized classes at Rowan U: Special Ed I and II, Multicultural Issues, Public School Law and so on. It worked for me and I saved a bundle.

When you say mainstream do you mean regular classes or the classes you're going to take that directly relates to your major?

By mainstream courses, i mean classes that directly relate to major...

Ok then. In my opinion I'd take those clases at a University and to be honest I doubt a community college would even have those classes on their campus. Remember that a community college is only for 2 years and people take their first 2 years of college at their local community college before transfering their credits to an established 4 year institution. My community college has a direct relationship with some very good colleges and upon graduation the student can transfer all of his credits and he in-turn will enter as a Junior. The one college that I can think of that does this is Rutgers University.

As I stated community colleges are good for the first 2 years of higher educationa and then I would transfer the credits to a reputable 4 year University or State college.

 

[rocadelpunk]

i took calc 1 at community college during summer transition between h.s. and college, I liked it a lot. Teacher was very good, small class size and the college itself was quite nice. (columbus state). The material was a bit of a breeze, but the teacher covered everything and it's not like the later calcs test you on the finer points of things. That being said, I had a 98% average at the community college class, when I went to osu I went to the math department and asked if i could still take the first calc..again b/c I honestly had figured that it was "too easy." There really wasn't much difference between the community college and osu's first calc class other than having a prof/t.a. I got an A at osu's course as well.

so yah, I'd recommend it as a good way to get rid of some pre-req's. If you are going into something like engineering though, I'd save the general ed courses..i.e. psych/english/history b/c you'll need those your junior/senior years to bump up your hours to fulltime when your labs are only worth a couple hours.

Just make sure your h.s. or college you plan on attending will accept credit from that community college. Also, you won't be able to transfer grades to count towards your gpa...accred. purposes.

 

[shopbruin]

i took some community college classes one summer to knock out some of my ge's at UCLA.

easiest classes i ever took in my life.

 

[rocadelpunk]

general ed courses are the easiest courses in your life period.

 

[Mo0o]

Community College courses are fine to get high school credit or to get credit at a state school. But alot of private insitutions do not recognize them, especially the better ones.

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: tec699
I went to community college for 2.5 years before attending Rowan University. The tuition is much cheaper and the classes tend to be smaller. I don't have anything bad to say about my community college experience. In fact, I took a stats class last summer and transfered those credits towards my Rowan credits.

Holy crap...I'm in the process of doing that next semester!

 

[Yossarian]

it can be a very wise investment, just make damn sure the school you're going to get your degree from will accept the cc credits.

 

[jlee]

A lot of people here go to Santa Fe Community College because they couldn't get into UF, or they want to transfer. I've heard that some classes are much easier at SFCC (statistics, for example) -- and class sizes are much smaller..most I'm in have about 25 people in them. UF's classes are in the hundreds.

Not to mention it's cheaper..

 

[clamum]

I think it's a good idea to take general classes that your major requires (math, writing, history, etc)... you save money and in my experience, the classes were less work. Just make sure the credits will transfer to the university you plan on attending.

 

[PoPPeR]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Community College courses are fine to get high school credit or to get credit at a state school. But alot of private insitutions do not recognize them, especially the better ones.

what private institutions dont recognize community college courses? The only way they'd be able to do this is if they basically didn't allow transfers (with the exception of transfering from other universities).

 

[jlee]

If it's an accredited community college, it should count just the same as any other 'university' course.

 

[whalen]

Taking summer classes at a community college is a good idea. They are much easier than the equivilant university courses. Also, it depends on the university, but mine only transfers the credit, not the grade. All you need is a C to get the credit. In my case, i'm a terrible public speaker, so i took speach at a CC to avoid hurting my GPA. (I still got a A somehow)

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: PoPPeR

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Community College courses are fine to get high school credit or to get credit at a state school. But alot of private insitutions do not recognize them, especially the better ones.

what private institutions dont recognize community college courses? The only way they'd be able to do this is if they basically didn't allow transfers (with the exception of transfering from other universities).

From what I know, you can't take summer courses at a community college and have it be counted as credit here at my school.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: jai6638
i see.. what i heard about community college is that its a cheap way of doing university electives but not recommended for mainstream courses... is that true?

It seems to depend on what state you're in. Supposedly Mississippi has some of the strongest community colleges relative to the universities.

I'm in community college. The teachers seem to care a whole lot more than those at university.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: jai6638
hey.. am considering going to this community college in summer for doing my precalculus course... that way, my HS will be able to give me credit for it, enabling me to do a calculus course next academic year..

I wanted to know how community colleges are in general ?? are they good or should they be avoided?

thanks much...

I go to community college. Recently Connecticut community colleges changed all their number systems to match each other, so you can go to any community college in Connecticut and it will all work towards your degree and credit list.

I can't vouch for that one, but the one in Manchester near Hartford is really nice. It has had a lot of work done on it recently. It's gotten very high tech. I've had some great teachers there.

Community colleges are fine in general. They teach the same stuff as 4-year colleges and you can save a bundle by getting your AS at a community college. It costs me about $1500 a semester with books and I'm full-time.

Just remember a college is just a business. Community colleges even more so - the majority of the students there will never get a degree and will continue to retake classes and earn the college more money. It's not like high school either, where they push you through a curriculum - if you don't sign up for the classes you need, nobody cares. Half of the work in college is researching degrees and classes, signing up for classes, and doing all the things you need to do to graduate and get a degree. If you don't talk to an advisor and pay the fee to graduate, you don't graduate. It's a lot more responsibility than high school in that way.

Professors are sometimes not as good as those at a 4-year college. Most good teachers seem to go to bigger universities, although I have had several excellent teachers at my school. Mostly, it's about how much you apply yourself. 90% of the stuff you will learn will be from studying, so if you establish the habit of doing your homework and studying right after school, you'll be set for your college career. Same textbooks as a university, just different setting. There's also the "oh gee it's community college so you must be dumb" mindset of airheads across America. If peer pressure is too much for you that way, just go to a university. It sounds dumb but some people are so concerned about that that they will never go to a community college. Preferably, if you can go to a university, go, but if not, you won't be missing much at a community college. I'm going both to save money and because I had kidney problems and I was sick for about a year and didn't want to live on my own during that time. I stayed with my parents and went locally till I got better, discovered I really liked my school, professors, and programs, and decided to stick with it and get an AS before moving on to get a Bachelor's and Master's. One more year to go, w00t!

 

[jai6638]

thanks much for your help people.. appreciate it..