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I've been to a community college and a top 30 university. At the community college, I was taking higher level courses like calculus 4, organic chemistry 2 and other engineering type courses. The students are just as motivated to do well, if not more motivated because they know they have to get high grades to transfer in to a good college.
As I said though, it depends on the classes you teach.. there are also a lot of... well terrible students at community colleges who are just there because of some financial aid or whatever reason. You'll still see idiot cases in a 4 year university if you're teaching 100 level classes though.
I would say that a community college will have a higher amount of low level thinkers.. but you can't take it away from a community college because there are MANY smart people that go to them. A lot of the ones I went to class with back in the day are now in Medical school and Pharmacy school.
Also, majority of credits transfer from a community college. Word of advice.. if you want a class to transfer don't take a remedial course that's lower than a high school level and you'll be just fine.
Depends - will you be teaching the entry level / remedial classes at a CC?
My father taught at a community college, my brother teaches at a 4 year - My father definitely had a more relaxed job - and the quality of students varied widely, depending on if he was teaching a remedial English class, or an advanced transfer level class.
I would posit that the real difference are the internal politics and publish or perish mentality. My brother is expected to publish on a regular basis, and promotions and tenure are based upon that... and how much money you can bring into the department in grants - that's a real big one, too.
Depends - will you be teaching the entry level / remedial classes at a CC?
My father taught at a community college, my brother teaches at a 4 year - My father definitely had a more relaxed job - and the quality of students varied widely, depending on if he was teaching a remedial English class, or an advanced transfer level class.
I would posit that the real difference are the internal politics and publish or perish mentality. My brother is expected to publish on a regular basis, and promotions and tenure are based upon that... and how much money you can bring into the department in grants - that's a real big one, too.
One of my professors taught at both a state university and also a community college. He said he would never consider going back to a 4 year university. He loves his job. I think it depends on what you want to do, if you really want to teach, the community college could be your best bet. You're probably not going to be doing too much research at at a CC though.
There are a lot of idiots and deadbeats in community college.
People who attend 4 year universities seem to make more of a commitment, while cc students on average not as much.
There are a lot of cc students who are just going just to learn, not even too focused on a degree which is nice.
But it sickens me how many have dead ends jobs, that they halfass because they are a "student" at the same time they are on. 4-6 year AA degree because they "work so hard"
So they half ass both claiming the other segment is the fault. While they enjoy their early 20s
I know the OP has made up his mind, but I want to clarify some things.
The biggest difference in between a CC student body and a 4 year university is Diversity. And I don't just mean ethnic diversity.
Within one CC class, you're much more likely to get:
Students who drive BMWs parking next to students who live in their car
Students with a disability (but who still may or may not kick a$$ in your class)
Students who just took math in high school last year with students who haven't taken a math class in 25 years
Students still IN high school sitting next to students whose kids are in high school
Students who are working at McDonalds sitting next to professionals who work almost 40 hours a week
Students who haven't worked a day in their lives
Students from about every ethnic and religious background
15 year old homeschooled geniuses sitting next to retired grandmothers
Here's my experience teaching at a 4 year school:
26 white, 4 black students. All upper middle class. All aged 18-21.
I know the OP has made up his mind, but I want to clarify some things.
The biggest difference in between a CC student body and a 4 year university is Diversity. And I don't just mean ethnic diversity.
Within one CC class, you're much more likely to get:
Students who drive BMWs parking next to students who live in their car
Students with a disability (but who still may or may not kick a$$ in your class)
Students who just took math in high school last year with students who haven't taken a math class in 25 years
Students still IN high school sitting next to students whose kids are in high school
Students who are working at McDonalds sitting next to professionals who work almost 40 hours a week
Students who haven't worked a day in their lives
Students from about every ethnic and religious background
15 year old homeschooled geniuses sitting next to retired grandmothers
Here's my experience teaching at a 4 year school:
26 white, 4 black students. All upper middle class. All aged 18-21.
Very true.
And it can drive you to the brink of insanity.
But after a while you've seen it all. And you are prepared for whatever type of student is registered.
As somebody who has been to both. There does tend to be a lot more age, ethnic, religious and income diversity in students at CC, there are a lot of "adult learners" so there is a large presence of adults into their 30's, 40'sand beyond going back to school. In most 4-year colleges, they are not nearly as common (except for in Grad/Phd School), the vast majority of people are people under 25. The user who made post #25 did a good job at explaining this.
I would say that 4-year [non-Ivy league] college students are not more intelligent than CC students. Heck, I actually think that going to CC is one of the most intelligent financial investments that one could make in their entire lifetime taking into account the whole student debt crisis.
Yes, a sizeable population of CC student bodies are HS students who didn't apply themselves at high school BUT at the same time, a sizeable percentage of the student body at "better schools" just went there to get away from mom&dad and get drunk, play beer pong and sleep around (plus many 4-year schools are also extremely easy to get into with very high acceptance rates and low GPA/SAT requirements).
And I think the quality of education is just as good in CC as it is in a 4-year school, it is just that the standard for passing a class are usually a lot more lax in CC. But if you're motivated to learn as much as you can in CC then you will get the same quality of education as somebody whos motivated to learn as much as they can in a 4-year school. The only difference is that it's a little easier for the unmotivated students to pass classes in CC due to the more lax standards.
Last edited by LongIslandPerson; 04-21-2012 at 10:20 PM..
I began at an inner city CC, and it was a bad environment. Students would act hostile towards professors and other students, welfare moms, and lots of thugs. Granted, most of those students were weeded out after the general education courses, but for the rest of us who wanted to learn, it was hard to deal with. Many students couldn't write a coherent paragraph, solve a simple math problem, and appeared to have the education and personality of a 6th grader.
When I transferred to a 4 year state university, it was like night and day to me. The CC served its purpose, but I was happy to leave.
As somebody who has been to both. There does tend to be a lot more age, ethnic, religious and income diversity in students at CC, there are a lot of "adult learners" so there is a large presence of adults into their 30's, 40'sand beyond going back to school. In most 4-year colleges, they are not nearly as common (except for in Grad/Phd School), the vast majority of people are people under 25. The user who made post #25 did a good job at explaining this.
I would say that 4-year [non-Ivy league] college students are not more intelligent than CC students. Heck, I actually think that going to CC is one of the most intelligent financial investments that one could make in their entire lifetime taking into account the whole student debt crisis.
Yes, a sizeable population of CC student bodies are HS students who didn't apply themselves at high school BUT at the same time, a sizeable percentage of the student body at "better schools" just went there to get away from mom&dad and get drunk, play beer pong and sleep around (plus many 4-year schools are also extremely easy to get into with very high acceptance rates and low GPA/SAT requirements).
And I think the quality of education is just as good in CC as it is in a 4-year school, it is just that the standard for passing a class are usually a lot more lax in CC. But if you're motivated to learn as much as you can in CC then you will get the same quality of education as somebody whos motivated to learn as much as they can in a 4-year school. The only difference is that it's a little easier for the unmotivated students to pass classes in CC due to the more lax standards.
A four year University has sione entrance requirement at least unlike CC. The teachers at a university are much better educated as well. At some point a good CC meets a poor University. That is somewhere with tier 3 schools though.
It can be a good financial plan for a top student but most there aren't on their way to top universities after two years.
A four year University has sione entrance requirement at least unlike CC. The teachers at a university are much better educated as well. At some point a good CC meets a poor University. That is somewhere with tier 3 schools though.
It can be a good financial plan for a top student but most there aren't on their way to top universities after two years.
All of the science and math professors I've had at my CCs are PhD's from highly reputable universities.
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