Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People good with finances will go to/send their kids to a CC due to costs. Besides you take the basics at CC. English 101 is the same at a CC or Harvard. The parts of speech don't change. Same with math.
Go the CC route. Live at home. Save money. Then go off to the 4 year school to finish up.
Bypass the CC route if you get a full ride at a 4 year school.
Many immigrant parents in my area deliberately send their kids to the local community college to save money on the first two years and to drive up their GPAs before transferring to more rigorous Bachelors programs as juniours. (That is if they hadn't already earned the credits in high school.)
These are students that are above average but did not get the top 10% spots or bright students that have conservative parents that don't like the idea of sending their 17-year-olds someplace where they won't have some control. After sophomore year, these kids cram into the local commuter college (University of Texas, Dallas), ace their BA then pursue their master's degrees at some pretty impressive and expensive places with all the money they saved. Many remain at the local school as it gives scholarships for its masters and STEM programs.
Rinse and repeat for a couple of decades and this commuter school has become a local STEM and Business powerhouse and I have no doubt will be a choice school for many in another decade or two .
I learned this strategy from a co-worker that went this route and is currently a C-Suite executive at a national investment firm. As long as you don't stop there, nobody ever has to know you attended one. And when it comes to employment, most employers won't care where you spent your sophomore year. They are missing out on the true college experience but these schools do not attract those that are looking for that anyway.
Moral of the story: There are many paths to success. Some include community college.
I agree with this assessment. The one thing I would add is that CC is fine for a start if that makes sense for someone, but if it is the only degree someone has, there is definitely a stigma.
People good with finances will go to/send their kids to a CC due to costs. Besides you take the basics at CC. English 101 is the same at a CC or Harvard. The parts of speech don't change. Same with math.
Go the CC route. Live at home. Save money. Then go off to the 4 year school to finish up.
Bypass the CC route if you get a full ride at a 4 year school.
People with knowledge of higher education aren't worried about spending the least for classroom time. They are in it for the education.
English 101 is the same at CC or Harvard, sure. But you aren't going to college for English 101. You're going for the college education -- which most of occurs outside of the classroom. People tend to focus just on the classroom work for some reason and miss out on the education.
Your point is completely valid for people who are in it just for the piece of paper.
I lived at home and worked in the dorm kitchen. I pitied people who lived in the dorm. My son's friend went to Yale and lived in a dorm and my son visited and took pictures. His room was constructed of shiny tan painted concrete blocks. It looked like a prison cell to me.... I worked 20 hours a week and full time in the summers. I dated. I got drunk at the college beer parlor. Went to off campus clubs and bars. I'd like to know what I missed out on, but I don't think I missed out on anything.
This is part of the problem. People are expecting to live like kings when attending college. The reality is that you live in a 400 square foot room you share with someone. Which is fine because you don't actually spend much time in your room.
There's nothing wrong with living at home if you are very close to campus. You having lived at home close to Yale is the same as living in a dorm while attending Yale. But living at home attending a CC vs attending Yale is a big difference.
It continues to amaze me that people think college is more than the piece of paper. You can have friends, good times, socializing, anywhere. Smoking pot in the dorm is no different than doing it at home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IDoPhysicsPhD
People with knowledge of higher education aren't worried about spending the least for classroom time. They are in it for the education.
English 101 is the same at CC or Harvard, sure. But you aren't going to college for English 101. You're going for the college education -- which most of occurs outside of the classroom. People tend to focus just on the classroom work for some reason and miss out on the education.
Your point is completely valid for people who are in it just for the piece of paper.
It continues to amaze me that people think college is more than the piece of paper. You can have friends, good times, socializing, anywhere. Smoking pot in the dorm is no different than doing it at home.
It continues to amaze me that you think college is at all about socializing and smoking pot. That's what it may have been to you, but to many, it's about getting a college education. It's not just about the piece of paper to everyone either. If all you want to do is smoke pot and get a piece of paper, then yes, a CC will do just fine for you.
It continues to amaze me that you think college is at all about socializing and smoking pot. That's what it may have been to you, but to many, it's about getting a college education. It's not just about the piece of paper at the end of it either.
I read all the books, took the tests, participated, got the diploma. The "education" had nothing to do with life, work, or making my way in the world. Pretty much like high school but with less rules and more independence. The education was interesting, but no more so than the internet or PBS, both of which are available for the rest of your life at a very minimal cost. School was a challenge but it had nothing to do with real life once schooldays were over.
I read all the books, took the tests, participated, got the diploma. The "education" had nothing to do with life, work, or making my way in the world. Pretty much like high school but with less rules and more independence. The education was interesting, but no more so than the internet or PBS, both of which are available for the rest of your life at a very minimal cost. School was a challenge but it had nothing to do with real life once schooldays were over.
As the other poster mentioned, you weren't in it for the education. That's ok.
Education at a university is nothing like high school. If that is your understanding, you simply don't have a good understanding of higher education.
We haven't really solved how to provide a college education over the internet or TV at scale, which is why it simply isn't done.
It continues to amaze me that you think college is at all about socializing and smoking pot. That's what it may have been to you, but to many, it's about getting a college education. It's not just about the piece of paper to everyone either. If all you want to do is smoke pot and get a piece of paper, then yes, a CC will do just fine for you.
Here lies the actual problem. People pay money to schools (generally low quality schools) to party, attend class, read books, and take tests.... just so they can earn that diploma you speak of.
When you attend Yale or Harvard (the two schools mentioned in this thread), you spend more time in a research lab learning from the best professors and phd students in their field than you do in a classroom or even doing readings and homework. Assisting the research and the actual experience you get in the development of unique work that is scrutinized by de-facto experts in the field over and over until your work meets a certain criteria and is published is where this "college education" you speak of comes into play. Your contribution is small in comparison to the professor and graduate students, but what you've learned in that process is so much more valuable. Four years of this builds a solid education.
You can go about it different ways, but simply passing classes to get the "piece of paper" is doing just that and nothing more. And if that is your goal without regard to an actual "college education", CC is one way do it....
I know a lot of people who went to CC and then transferred to a 4-year college and am late Gen X. I don’t think there was a stigma about it back then and there still isn’t a stigma about it now. A lot of people I know who went this route went on to have very successful careers.
I think CC is better for some students, as it tends to provide a smaller classroom environment while the 4-year university tends to have many larger lecture settings. I know people who ended up going the private school route because of that, but unless you can get a really great financial package, that isn’t a feasible option for most of the population. I took several courses at CC and generally found them to be pretty decent. The class size was small enough for you to get enough personal attention that you didn’t get lost.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
