Community college or straight to four year university? (POLL)

Which do you think is the better option? Going straight to a four year university, or spending your first two years at a local community college and transferring

If you're not familiar with the American education system after High School you have the option of applying straight to a four year university, or spending your first two years of general education studies at a cheaper community college and then applying to a university for your last two years of your education.

I'm doing community and then four year. Much, much, MUCH cheaper, and I prefer it this way.

There are so many factors: what major you plan to go into, your current financial situation, what college you plan on go to, etc.

A lot of people will do community to finish up GE then transfer to a 4-year, as it's cheap. Some majors though require classes even as a first-year that can't be take elsewhere meaning even if you did community then transfer, the result is you'll be behind other people who stuck it out through the first two at a 4-year.

Personally, I think most people, especially those that don't know what they want to do, who finish high school should take a year off before college (gap year) and figure out what they plan on doing. College isn't for everyone. I know people who are "lifetime" students because they can't figure out what they want to do.

go to community college, then transfer. good luck with finding a job after college. i push carts and bag.

@CRAzYKiLL3R93:

CC is cheaper, and it's easy to transfer afterwards. Your grades don't have to be as quite as high. Also, many CCs have agreements with 4 year schools to get you preferential consideration come transfer time.

I don't know what a community college is, but it sounds like where you go when you have no qualifications. Please correct me if I'm wrong. My answer is straight to Uni anyway.

Another option: get your certificate, see if you can make a career that you'd enjoy out of it, and if so, forget about regular college all together.  In fact, the number of people that have bachelors or above are going back to community colleges to get a certificate or license because of the shitty job market.

@iam3green said:

go to community college, then transfer. good luck with finding a job after college. i push carts and bag.

What did you major in?

Also on topic it all depends if you know what you want to do or not. If you do not know what you want to do with your life, then go to community college for now. If you are dead set on what you want to do already, then get your ass in gear and go straight to a 4 year uni. Simple stuff!

In California at least it makes way more sense to go to community college first. All the University of California schools (except UCLA and Berkeley) guarantee California community college students admission if they have a 'B' average gpa, considerably lower than the 4.0s and above most UC's require if you want go straight from High school

Fees are about $1000 a year for California community colleges (living at home) compared to the $20,000 a year to live on campus in the California State University system (The lower tier four year universities) and $30,000 a year for the University of California system (The higher tier research school system)

so four years at UCLA is $120,000+ compared to two years at CC and then two at UCLA which is $62,000+

@iam3green said:

go to community college, then transfer. good luck with finding a job after college. i push carts and bag.

What did you major in?

Depends. Pardon the following elitism.

In my neck of the woods, going to CC essentially meant that you screwed around in high school, then couldn't get into a 4-year establishment. Such was the mentality, that you'd basically be unable to transfer to any university that carried a "brand" or big name with it. Personally, one of my friends attended our local CC, then moved on to a 4 year college through a deal worked out at the time of admission in his senior year of high school. Others just either didn't apply anywhere else, or just attended CC instead, seeking to transfer after (some failed to transfer).

When I went to college, it's a totally different story. I met plenty of transfers from CCs from various places, and I learned that my high school's "word on the street" was complete shit. However, most people that I know went to CC for financial reasons only; they had the academics to back up their application.

Personally, I went straight to university.

Honestly the only reason I could see forgoing community college is if you want the dorm experience.

@Aus_azn said:

Depends. Pardon the following elitism.

In my neck of the woods, going to CC essentially meant that you screwed around in high school, then couldn't get into a 4-year establishment.

It's what I did ;_;

I finished college twice, and I've been working full time for 6 years after that. In the last couple of years, I've been working towards a degree part time (now in 4th year).

It totally depends on your personal situation, there's no clear cut/one-fit answer. If you described your situation in greater detail, the feedback provided would be a lot more relevant for you.

@Aus_azn said:

However, most people that I know went to CC for financial reasons only; they had the academics to back up their application.

That's the reason I personally chose to go to Community College first and that I could end up going to a better school in the long run. My high school gpa wasn't bad, but going to Community college first will also give me a greater opportunity to go to the likes of UCLA and San Diego rather than my less than reputable local Cal state university that I would have gotten into straight from High School

Grad schools usually prefer that you went to a 4 year institution the entire way.

I went University straight, but that's because I can afford it. I know great people who went to CC first, and I know great people who went to the university first. If you wanna be a snobby asshole you can say that smart people go to the University immedeatly, but I don't think so. If you ask me, as long as you do good in school, your chance to get a job is about the same no matter which route you take.

I can't afford a four-year state school and yet here I am anyway. HELLO JOBLESS DEBT-RIDDEN EXISTENCE I'M COMIN' FULL SPEED BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some majors though require classes even as a first-year that can't be take elsewhere meaning even if you did community then transfer, the result is you'll be behind other people who stuck it out through the first two at a 4-year.

@AlexW00d said:

I don't know what a community college is, but it sounds like where you go when you have no qualifications. Please correct me if I'm wrong. My answer is straight to Uni anyway.

Community College yeilds a way better practical education because of smaller class size and hands-on with teaching staff. I am good friends with all my teachers and have known them for over 3 years; this equals glowing references from multiple highly qualified individuals. References/Contacts > pieces of paper.

I went from a small high school to a community college before going onto a university, and I was absolutely miserable there. I lived on campus and barely knew anybody at the CC, but I made all the best friends I've ever had once I went on to a real college. As for the argument of references/contacts: I believe if you spend four years in one institution, your chances of having more and better of them are greater than if you spend two years each in two different places.
 
Skip CC. Straight to uni. Thank me later.

@Hobosunday said:

If you wanna be a snobby asshole you can say that smart people go to the University immedeatly

love it.

On topic, if you're considering a good university vs. a community college, be prepared for the fact that CC is essentially high school part II. For general education liberal studies type stuff you can usually get away without doing much of the reading and just bullshitting written work because so many people around you are so far removed from any sort of real academic ambition, they're just going to school because that's what you're supposed to do. That said, plenty of 19 and 20 year-olds at universities act the same way, the difference is at a university they're C students where at a community college they get As.

In short, if you've got the maturity to handle going through what is essentially a bullshit experience (gen ed classes at a community college) while still being motivated to get a proper education afterwards, do it to save the money. If you think a couple years of blowing off school is going to stifle your momentum, jump straight into university. And if you don't care about the education you receive and just want the degree for a job, blow the whole thing off and take as many shortcuts as possible. Degrees are purchased, education is earned.

Depends on your major. I went straight to university because the credits i needed either weren't offered or couldn't be transferred.

@BoringK said:

I went from a small high school to a community college before going onto a university, and I was absolutely miserable there. I lived on campus and barely knew anybody at the CC, but I made all the best friends I've ever had once I went on to a real college. As for the argument of references/contacts: I believe if you spend four years in one institution, your chances of having more and better of them are greater than if you spend two years each in two different places. Skip CC. Straight to uni. Thank me later.

I agree that life at Community college is pretty grim. It's almost impossible to make new friends unless you participate in clubs or a sport because you go there specifically to learn for 2 hours and then immediately leave, the only friends I have now are the ones from high school that stayed behind for CC and didn't leave for university, most of my friends left however. On a side note, my community college is really shabby.

It's kind of a motivation though, part of the reason I'm trying so hard is so I can leave my crappy community college and go to a good university miles away. Otherwise I'll just end up commuting to my local university that's easier to get into and be stuck in the same situation in a better looking campus.

I also dislike community college because I don't understand why majority of the students show up. Most of the students there aren't motivated and treat community college like it's high school. It just seems like a good percentage of people attending are about to drop out or are barely getting by.

I just hope that in the long run, the financial benefit of attending community college will be worth it

@CRAzYKiLL3R93: I did two years at community college, and now I've transferred into UC Berkeley. I've saved a ton of money compared to people who came here as Freshman and didn't have issues with classes transferring over. I'd definitely do it again if I had to.

@ReyGitano: Yeah, going to a community college in California seems alot more streamlined than other states. Almost all of the classes transfer and my community college is very clear about which ones do and dont. I'm trying to transfer into UCLA and UCSD and http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html has been really helpful.

I took a year off before coming to university, but I came straight to university after high school. I'm liking my decision so far, but I don't have enough life experience to really tell you.

@Aus_azn said:

Depends. Pardon the following elitism.

In my neck of the woods, going to CC essentially meant that you screwed around in high school, then couldn't get into a 4-year establishment.

It's what I did ;_;

I would say that especially if you're still unsure of your major to go to a community college, universities have begun charging students out of state fees for changing their major more than once. Being able to shop around at a far more affordable cost is really great and the one on one time that can be had with teachers by the small class sizes should not be understated. Now that I've transferred to a university I can see just how much they want to rush people through the entry level courses. A class with over a 100 students is just unacceptable.

Im probably going to a four year university first...

Some universities don't like transfers.

Military.

@hoossy said:

@CRAzYKiLL3R93:

CC is cheaper, and it's easy to transfer afterwards. Your grades don't have to be as quite as high. Also, many CCs have agreements with 4 year schools to get you preferential consideration come transfer time.

@CRAzYKiLL3R93 said:

In California at least it makes way more sense to go to community college first. All the University of California schools (except UCLA and Berkeley) guarantee California community college students admission if they have a 'B' average gpa, considerably lower than the 4.0s and above most UC's require if you want go straight from High school

Did a counselor at your high school or at a UC college give you this information? I graduated a couple of years ago at UCI, and from what I was told when sending in applications and what I saw from seeing friends go to CC first is very different. While going to CC and then transferring to a good UC is definitely possible, the success rate of students going from high school to a UC is lower than CC to a UC (although this probably heavily depends on the quality of your high school). Anecdotal observation of people I know who went to CC and tried to get into a UC was congruent with this trend. Furthermore , with the education cuts that all the UC and CSU are getting, hearing that all CC students who average a 3.0 GPA are guaranteed UC acceptance is surprising.

Also, don't knock CSU colleges solely because they are CSU and not UC. Anyone who graduates college will tell you it's not the school but what you do during your four years that grants you success. Meanwhile, some CSU schools have a leg up on UC schools; it just depends on your focus/major. For example, I've had a few friends from CSU Northridge beat out UCLA and Berkeley grads for jobs in news media, as CSUN has a well-respected journalism and broadcasting program.

I got my first year paid so i went straight to four year

@Andorski said:

@CRAzYKiLL3R93 said:

In California at least it makes way more sense to go to community college first. All the University of California schools (except UCLA and Berkeley) guarantee California community college students admission if they have a 'B' average gpa, considerably lower than the 4.0s and above most UC's require if you want go straight from High school

Did a counselor at your high school or at a UC college give you this information? I graduated a couple of years ago at UCI, and from what I was told when sending in applications and what I saw from seeing friends go to CC first is very different. While going to CC and then transferring to a good UC is definitely possible, the success rate of students going from high school to a UC is lower than CC to a UC (although this probably heavily depends on the quality of your high school). Anecdotal observation of people I know who went to CC and tried to get into a UC was congruent with this trend. Furthermore , with the education cuts that all the UC and CSU are getting, hearing that all CC students who average a 3.0 GPA are guaranteed UC acceptance is surprising.

Also, don't knock CSU colleges solely because they are CSU and not UC. Anyone who graduates college will tell you it's not the school but what you do during your four years that grants you success. Meanwhile, some CSU schools have a leg up on UC schools; it just depends on your focus/major. For example, I've had a few friends from CSU Northridge beat out UCLA and Berkeley grads for jobs in news media, as CSUN has a well-respected journalism and broadcasting program.

Yeah, I was surprised about it too. It's not a straight 3.0 though. For UCSD I believe it's a 3.5 to be guaranteed admission while for UCI, UCSB and UCD it's a 3.2 for guaranteed admission, I should have clarified that In my post. UCLA only priority admission to honours programme participants while Berkeley has a small scale priority programme with a few select Community colleges.

I presume you meant that transferring from High school to University rather than Community college to university has a higher success rate and I don't doubt that. My theory is that most students that would be motivated to do well in community college already transferred to university straight from High school. Of course some motivated students stayed for CC for financial reasons ect. but most are the students that aren't motivated and are going to College because it's the next hoop for them to jump through.

And I shouldn't knock all CSU's, you're right. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is on par if not better than most UC's. My nearest CSU (Cal state long beach) is actually a great school, the only reason I don't want to attend is because I want the college experience after commuting to school for two years, the same reason I'm not applying to UCI. Some other of my local CSU's don't share the same reputation, but that's bound to happen when you I have so many campuses (It's 23 I believe).

@Knetic2341 said:

I'm doing community and then four year. Much, much, MUCH cheaper, and I prefer it this way.

true through experience

you can save money by going to college and having an average above 75% in all your classes. for example if you wanted to do business law, doing intensive law clerk and intensive business (such as administration, or general business) could allow you to get about 30 university credits (you get about 2 years of university towards completion of a 4 year degree), and skip your 1st year. This is also significantly cheaper. However, something to think about. Doing two 1 year courses with double the workload would be the same as going to university for about a year and a half. And, intensive college courses typically have exams at the end of each course which is usually every 2 to 4 weeks.

Its better to consult a university and see if your college accredits your program towards university.

4 years of college does not necessarily equal 2 years of university (the courses i mention are intensive and specialized). ask your counselor at the university, high school, college. some 2 year college courses can be worth less then 6 months. just be careful. college is much cheaper, but you need good grades.

in Canada 2 years of college gets you 1 year of university guaranteed as long as your average is high enough, and they have a spot open. sometimes you still need to meet minimum course requirements, but college allows them to see if you can pass, or whether or not you could handle it (thus taking a spot of someone else)

It depends on your situation.

@ajamafalous:

It depends. In New York, for example, a Liberal Arts degree from a Community College will transfer over with all 60 credits (BY LAW, NOT POLICY) to a four-year school. Your general education is considered finished, so you can begin with your major---and only your major; you're labeled a Junior in college. However, I'm sure some exceptions exist.

(I've worked at a Community College for two years now, assisting the Deans. Learned a lot about the system.)

@CRAzYKiLL3R93 said:

@ReyGitano: Yeah, going to a community college in California seems alot more streamlined than other states. Almost all of the classes transfer and my community college is very clear about which ones do and dont. I'm trying to transfer into UCLA and UCSD and http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html has been really helpful.

I also applied to UCLA and UCSD and got in. The other nice thing about transferring from a community college in California is that your odds of getting into a great school are so high.

From my own experience, it really comes down to 2 things. Money advantage vs. social experience. The community college is the smarter option if money is an issue, and I also believe that doing well at the CC will lead you to just about any option you want in terms of transferring to 4 year schools. I don't think that's the issue here. The one thing about a 4 year university that nobody is really mentioning is that starting in the dorms as a freshman basically sets-up the rest of your college experience. And over the 4 years, especially if you become a member of a significant commitment like an org, frat/sorority, sports team(could be club), or whatever, there is a unique experience you get from spending 4 years at the school. In general its stupid how people behave, but what I noticed from college is that most people met their group of friends within their dorm their freshman year and basically stayed within that group until they graduated. As a transfer student I had a really difficult time finding friends and even though I only missed the freshman year I always felt like I missed the most crucial time.

And the general studies are typically uniform everywhere, but if you plan on graduating from a competitive 4 year university you might find that certain "colleges", like the business school for example, within the university have unique requirements that might eithe rmake it harder for you to get into or might set you back into 4.5 years.

@ajamafalous:

It depends. In New York, for example, a Liberal Arts degree from a Community College will transfer over with all 60 credits (BY LAW, NOT POLICY) to a four-year school. Your general education is considered finished, so you can begin with your major---and only your major; you're labeled a Junior in college. However, I'm sure some exceptions exist.

(I've worked at a Community College for two years now, assisting the Deans. Learned a lot about the system.)

@ajamafalous said:

@Bruce said:

@ajamafalous:

It depends. In New York, for example, a Liberal Arts degree from a Community College will transfer over with all 60 credits (BY LAW, NOT POLICY) to a four-year school. Your general education is considered finished, so you can begin with your major---and only your major; you're labeled a Junior in college. However, I'm sure some exceptions exist.

(I've worked at a Community College for two years now, assisting the Deans. Learned a lot about the system.)

Just to contrast that, I'm a Junior at the University of Texas doing Electrical Engineering and I've had to take 2-3 EE courses per semester. There are very few non-EE classes required in my major. There would probably be enough non-EE classes to fill two years worth of community college, but the problem is the way the EE courses are laid out is such that you'd still have to spend 4 years here if you transferred in, because of the way that the EE courses line up and the prerequisites work out, with one EE course being a prereq to the other, which is a prereq to the other, which is a prereq to the other, etc.

Yeah I would understand going to university in that situation

In california the public universities coordinate with the California community colleges for their major prerequisites and offer the equivalent course. Still for some degrees many people have to spend 3 years at the CC to finish their general ed and major courses.

Unrelated, another reason I chose Community college was that they recognise my AP credit for my general ed, while university would only give me elective credit. Those AP credits will oddly enough count as GE if I transfer and the university will recognise them. If I went straight from high school they wouldn't and I'd have to take the same course over again

I did community college first, now I'm at a university.

Community college was good in regard to getting used to college.

@dudeglove said:

@CRAzYKiLL3R93 said:

so four years at UCLA is $120,000+

Does... uhh... that include living costs and basic day-to-day shit?

That includes fees, books and room and board living on/near campus

Community college is definitely the way to go. Gets you used to the workload and college life in general. It's also less expensive than a University and you get a head start when you transfer credits towards your major.

You'll save a lot more money transferring from Community College.

But...you won't have that integral college experience, either.

Either way, you won't be able to get a job after you graduate, so I suggest taking up drug-dealing.