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.
WalkingLiberty: Your daughter is only in highschool? At this point it can go either way and none of it would affect the outcome if she's really dedicated to a BS. MD or any post-grad in N. America is way after and starting her first two years in college doesn't affect her chances to get into med school. She can just as easily transfer to a university later on in her BS provided the credits are transferable and she satisfies other requirements.
Coming to the discussion late... I'm sure the price tag of community college versus university has been covered ad nauseum. It doesn't make sense for individuals or students of modest means to go to university when smaller colleges offer smaller classes and a more hands-on approach while being a fraction of the cost of these larger universities. I didn't have the opportunity to go to a smaller college but can see that it saves quite a lot of money and the flexibility for students to transfer credits later on makes it very appealing. I did my degrees at larger universities but was jealous of the fact that many of my classes were not as small (they were large at the standard 200-300 students per course) in the first year or two until I reached senior years and post-graduate classes.
I think many community colleges offer superior teaching to universities in this way and the accessibility to much better teachers in first or second year surpasses what is offered in first year level courses in university. To answer your original question, I don't stigmatize college. I've envied fellow students or cohorts who had exceptional access and better teaching in first year level courses. Overall now as an adult and career-person/professional, I have a lot of respect for a person's professionalism in the workplace. I couldn't care less where that person has graduated from if they can apply themselves in a business or professional environment.
I'm curious about what your daughter's thoughts are. She may not want to go very far or commute or live away from home. Programs offered or flexibility in that field and gaining references are also some points to consider. If your child or a potential student excels wherever they are enrolled in it also bolsters confidence and has a snowball effect in the way that student is also able to achieve more. I know, at the time, there were a lot of students who were culled per semester and dropped out in university because they didn't have enough support and felt like the jump was too large between highschool standards of learning and university level requirements. More confidence overall during the college/university aged also leads to more extracurricular perhaps? More work experience? More leadership experiences? Become more all-rounded? Run for various positions on student boards or associations? All these count besides a grade point average.
If you feel choosing university overall is a better choice and your family can afford it or she has access or can apply for student loans and that's the best choice, then that's what it is. Whatever conviction she has studying her field has to carry her through for years so as long as that passion is there, it doesn't matter how she starts off the first one or two years.
Last edited by Oceanside_M; 10-09-2020 at 04:44 PM..
The bold is what we are finding too, but we are very early in our search.
My daughter wants to major in applied math with an eye toward data analytics or actuary science and possibly pursuing an MD after her BS degree (she is considering being a pathologist or medical examiner. I know it sounds like a stretch from data analytics, but it's very similar in many ways. Medical school is hard to get into though so we shall see). Anyway, math classes from a CC wouldn't transfer to most applied math programs and some math major programs.
She's been doing AP classes and has one college credit in history from last year (for colleges that take a 4) so far. She's taking 3 more APs this year and plans to take 3 more next year. A good strategy to keep costs down might be to simply do the AP classes in high school and hopefully pass the AP test with a high enough score to get credit and then do CC classes in the summer that will transfer to whatever college she ends up going to. She might be able to shave a year off a four year degree that way which would end up being nearly the same or even cheaper than two years of CC followed by three at a university to finish a degree.
Again, we are considering CC and haven't ruled it out. But it doesn't look promising for my daughter's interests.
In that case her best bet may be go straight to the university. More likely to offer the variety of math courses she'd need those first two years to prepare her for upper division courses. Something to consider if available in your area, is instead of AP, do dual enrollment with with a CC. That way she can knock out some college gen eds while still in high school. You'd have to look but might be a better option than AP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
My oldest daughter went to a California CC because despite being a straight-A student who was the valedictorian of her (admittedly small) private school, she had no idea what she wanted to major in. (My husband and I are adamantly against paying through the nose for kids to go to university to "find themselves.") We heard many, many good reports of the CC path from friends and acquaintances whose kids had done the same thing and transferred to various universities with great success. In fact, a couple of my doctors told me they also started off at a CC and they recommended it.
The California community colleges are excellent and have a guaranteed admissions program with the UC and CSU schools. If a student completes their GE and a set list of prerequisites for their desired major, while maintaining a certain GPA, they are guaranteed admission as a junior to one UC/CSU school. Our daughter is transferring as a Materials Science & Engineering major. She's had five semesters of advanced mathematics, four semesters of chemistry, and three semesters of physics, plus all of her GE, at a cost to us of basically pennies compared to what we would have paid at a university. The quality of instruction has been excellent and the CC is equipped with new and top-notch science equipment. Several of my daughter's CC professors also teach concurrently at UCI.
Of course if you are in a state where CCs are not so stellar, the experience might be entirely different. Here in California, they are deservedly popular.
My wife attended a California CC and I'll say the campus was excellent, with better facilities than some four year schools. However most states are not like that.
Another good aspect of CCs is if you're trying to "find yourself" or have no idea what you want to major in, you won't burn nearly as much money. Most CC instructors are pretty committed to their disciplines and you'll get a good feel for it. It won't hurt you that much to burn $2000 taking 5 classes at $400 a pop over a year to get a feel for what some subjects are like. I've wasted that much money on worse. It will hurt you if you're paying university tuition that's $500 per credit hour plus various fees. Now you've spent $8-10k.
There may be a stigma attached but there should not be. Many kids choose CC because of the lower cost and they can remain at home and save even more money. We all know our first few years in college are mostly basic, required classes and what difference does it make if you took the required economics class at CC, State university, another public university or a top rated private university. Is this going to determine your success in life or is it something you will be discussing at the cocktail part when you are middle aged
Young people should know what they want to major in when they are in high school. They should have it narrowed down at least.
It really isn't that hard to figure out after a dozen years of school.
Some do, some don't. There really isn't a "should" here.
Pushing kids who are uncertain to choose a major and go straight to university often results in kids who drop out, as they weren't committed to their studies in the first place; kids who change their major repeatedly--wasting time and money; and kids who complete their degree at great expense and then decide that what they really want is a different degree.
My daughter started CC thinking she would be a Biology major on a pre-med path. Through the next two years, as she took more math and science classes, she considered Mathematics, Chemistry, and Mechanical Engineering before settling on Materials Science. I don't know if many high school students have already decided for sure that they want to study Materials Science and have taken the requisite classes to feel sure it is for them.
High school doesn't even come close to exposing you to the majors available.
If a high school senior can’t figure which college majors are lucrative and which ones they have an aptitude for, then they are not smart enough to be attending college.
I don't subscribe to the idea of going to college to "find oneself." A high school student may not know the specific major and classes, but they should have a pretty good idea of what they want to do.
If a high school senior can’t figure which college majors are lucrative and which ones they have an aptitude for, then they are not smart enough to be attending college.
This is really unnecessarily harsh and dismissive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnff
A high school student may not know the specific major and classes, but they should have a pretty good idea of what they want to do.
I do agree with this. A high school senior probably knows what general area they are most interested in and suited for (for my daughter it was STEM) without having it narrowed down to a specific.
This is entirely different from saying, in effect, that if a high school senior isn't sure precisely what job they are going to get with which specific degree, they are too stupid for further education.
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.
