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So I know financially, Community colleges are better. However, I feel like everyone who asks about them gets the response that "the first two years of college you'll be doing core classes anyway" and this answer, in my experience, applies to everyone including kids who already have college credit.
Now my question is, is my school special because I took my first major related course second semester of my freshman year? Or is this more common, if so, wouldn't one technically be behind if you went to a CC?
Just looking for experiences I guess, was just curious
I took all of my major related classes first so that I could get more internships. I took the core classes my junior/senior years. It worked out great. All the other seniors were working on the hard stuff and I had classes like biology and literature. Having less intense classes during senior year made working on finding a job much easier.
Its awesome that your major is flexible enough to do that. For me there is a huge line of prerequisites and all of my courses are essentially lined up for my 4 yeara
I chose a university where the core requirements could be fulfilled within majors. Occasionally I went outside of my majors due to interest (like my creative arts requirement falling under the philosophy department), but it allowed me to completed one of my majors, one of my minors, and all of my distribution requirements except studying abroad by the end of my sophomore year. That way, I could study abroad my entire junior year without concerns about how my programs fit into my academic life and instead could focus on making them personally and professionally fulfilling. My senior year was about internships and tying up loose ends - but I was also able to complete and entirely new minor in my senior year alone.
Doing a bit of research before you apply to colleges saves a lot of stress and additional coursework down the line. I don't think I applied to a single college that had 2 years (or even 1 year) of strict core requirements.
A big part of it is how structured you degree program is. There is a big difference in flexibility between a chemical engineering major and a history major.
No, people that say you are only doing your "core classes" the first 2 years really don't understand how college works. I honestly don't know of ANY college where that is the case. I know of some students that don't know what they want to major in freshman year so they take core classes, but some of those classes will count toward their majors as well. Our kids all have taking classes toward their majors starting first semester freshman year. I did the same back in the dark ages when I was in college as well.
Community college is NOT less expensive....but people rarely add up all the costs so they think it is...
Community college is less expensive if you do it right. Most people do it wrong.
Look up the curriculum at your university and take only the classes from your curriculum. The reality is, if you take your major related courses at a community college, it won't affect you negatively in any way. If anything, it will HELP you get accepted to a better university because it shows that you're already on the right track and succeeding. Community colleges don't offer courses higher than the 200 level, which means all of the important classes that actually mean something in your major will be taken at the university.
Get good grades and the community college path is a great route.. just don't mess up.
Its awesome that your major is flexible enough to do that. For me there is a huge line of prerequisites and all of my courses are essentially lined up for my 4 yeara
This is the way it is for my son's major. Community college would have put him behind and would have cost us more in the end. There is zero wiggle room for certain classes.
So I know financially, Community colleges are better. However, I feel like everyone who asks about them gets the response that "the first two years of college you'll be doing core classes anyway" and this answer, in my experience, applies to everyone including kids who already have college credit.
Now my question is, is my school special because I took my first major related course second semester of my freshman year? Or is this more common, if so, wouldn't one technically be behind if you went to a CC?
Just looking for experiences I guess, was just curious
I started my "major related" courses my first semester... Technically, because chemistry is required for the major even though not directly related, and I had to take that in the fall.
I'm doing summer school, with major classes only. I actually have no more core classes to take at this point, despite *almost* being a sophomore, but I'm a junior with credits (61). Even last semester I had to get a minor because I ran out of classes to take and yet could not get into my major classes.
For me, community college would only have been beneficial for one semester. I still had a couple gen eds to take when I graduated high school. But now I have to take 200/300 level courses not offered at my CC that I have to take at the Uni so I can graduate on time, with some courses I could take at the CC (like biology and physiology), but since I can't mix the two schools easily I just take them all at the Uni.
I would have been behind if I did a full year of CC, especially two. My major has a lot of class sequencing so it would have been tough to only have major classes at the lower level, but not be able to have a full load because they had to have been done before starting the upper-levels.
So I know financially, Community colleges are better. However, I feel like everyone who asks about them gets the response that "the first two years of college you'll be doing core classes anyway" and this answer, in my experience, applies to everyone including kids who already have college credit.
Now my question is, is my school special because I took my first major related course second semester of my freshman year? Or is this more common, if so, wouldn't one technically be behind if you went to a CC?
Just looking for experiences I guess, was just curious
No. If you intend to graduate in four years, you do need to start courses in your major freshman year. Of course, if you have no idea what your major will be, you will take other courses to fill up your schedule if you're a full-time student. There's no such thing as a two year "core" at most colleges.
When my husband was a student at Caltech, all the students did take the same courses the first two years. I don't know if that's the case now. However, all those students intended to major in STEM subjects, so they were taking first year science and math courses, not just a bunch of unrelated stuff. Then they specialized according to major the last two years, already having taken some courses in their major.
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