2 years at community college or straight to 4-year university?
Question:
Everything my parents saved up for me to go to college was used up trying to pay for DeVry. Now, I applied to a four year school and got accepted, along with all of my redits from DeVry. I can go there in Fall 2007 if I continue with the registration.
However, my dad is complaining about money and wanting me to go to community college since it's wiser financially. I have a friend in Daytona Beach who offered me to come room with him in an apartment and go to Daytona Beach Community College. If I do that, I've got to arrange to have my college transcripts sent and apply.
I really want the social life of a university. Community college can't give me that. But I'll be in debt until I'm 70 if I do 4 years at a university. So what's the better option?
Answer:
Dude, I don't know. It's your decision. Here's what I'd break it down into:
4-Year University: Lots of money, dorm social life (which you want), good education (but very hard), don't have time to work a job or get off campus much, come out with a lot of debt
CC: Save money, earn money working the whole time, moderate education (high school all over again just to get the basics done), may not get the social life you want if you don't work hard for it, risk that credits may not all transfer to university causing you to go to school for 5 years instead of 4, and in your case, DAYTONA BEACH!
That's a very hard decision. I don't even know what to suggest for you. But if it's the social life you want most, I have a feeling you can find it both places, especially since you'd be at Daytona Beach. Living in a dorm basically gives you a social life whether you want it or not. Community college forces you into a commuter lifestyle, so you'd have to work harder to make friends with your classmates and co-workers. But it can be done.
Good luck with that, Man. Wish I could suggest one to you, but it's entirely your decision, and it's suh a hard one to make, if I was in your shoes, I'd be lost. So, for that, I wish you the best of luck.
This isn't research-based... just my personal experience and opinion.
I went to three different colleges and the transfer process is horrible. So many of my classes didn't transfer, or else they were just a "blanket credit" and I had to take the same kind of things twice. I ended up in school for five years as a result. Plus, anytime you have to submit your transcripts in the future, you have to get them from every college you attend.
If I were you, I would go straight to a four-year program. It may seem expensive, but in the long run you may end up saving money if a lot of your classes don't transfer.
If money is a concern, then I'd definitely do the community college route. Unless you're really confident that you can work off your debts in a timely matter after graduation, I don't think the social life of a university is worth being knee deep in debt!
However, keep in mind I'm not sure how your transfer credits would work though, since I don't know anything except the UC system and the TAG program.
This i a choice YOU have to make and live with.
If cost is a very big factor, consider this. CC's are a hell of a lot cheaper. True, the social life sucks, but are you there to have a social life or collect some credits??
Most courses are easily transferred to a 4 year college.
In 10 years, what will have been more important, the degree or the social life. You have the rest of your life to party, and considering the disaster at DeVry, it might be better to give 100% to the college work.
This is just my opinion. You have to do what's beft for you.
Good luck.
PS, Don't feel alone. This is not uncommon.
Depends on a few things
If there's ANY doubt that you'll be a serious student, then go to community college for the basic courses first.
If you're planning to major in art or social work or something, go to communtiy college first.
If you're majoring in computer science or engineering or achitecture or something, and you're a serious student, then go for the 4-yr school right away if you want to.
Go to a community college! They are pretty much just gen ed classes anyway. (math, science,writing) 4 yr colleges are harder and cost more. When you make a decision what your major will be then contact the next college you will go to right away. They have requirements you must have to transfer.
So much of your question is wrong! Worry about getting the diploma, not a buzz, or a piece of tail!
I suggest that you examine all of your options.
1. 4 year college---and work between classes.
2. 2 year college and get your intial studies done at a lesser rate.
3. Either one: apply for pell grants and scholarships.
I think you need to think about what you want for education before you start thinking about the beer.
(Animal House was Hollywood...)
I had a LOT of fun at my first college (2 year campus, and I lived on campus) but the social scene is ALWAYS secondary.
If you are concerned about the cost of your education, then maybe you should look at the military first.
Not just the regular duty or reserves, but the Coast Guard as well. Do 4 years, grow up, and then go to school.
Do the community college first and save money as well as get your GPA to a good start. It's easier to get better grade with smaller class sizes and you can get rid of your required courses and breeze through them. Do not worry about a good social life. There are many people in your exact position and they know how to socialize and have fun like any kid at a 4 year university.
Go to a commnunity college, get your grades up, save money AND have fun, then get your university experience too. You can do it all and end up better off than if you only did one.
Tough choice, huh? If you are already accepted, maybe finding the tuition and transcripts should be the way to go. You have to do the work for schooling, you will be responsible for the loan, right?? You aren't making your parents take out the loan? Well, that's a family discussion. However, Many community colleges lately do have a small campus scene, you just have to look for it. You can still join clubs, join student government, be on the newspaper or play sports maybe. Often campus jobs pay in reduced tuition or cash stipends if you have good grades. Ask at the financial aid office. They university probably has a website for frequently asked questions, or an 800 number for finance office. Then again,
the more classes you take at community college can allow you to transfer into university at a higher standing in your credits, more than the credits you take from the computer school.
. However, you have to decide for yourself. If you have your heart set on moving up to a big university, will you still be considered a Freshman? As your parent probably already mentioned, you also have to understand moderation in your social scene. Studying has to be a priority or else you will be wasting money if you don't apply a fair amount of time and dilligence in attending classes and working on every assignment/projects.
Whichever type of school you choose, check out the web, ask around, or look for a list at the city library or the school of your choice's financial aid office for loan information and qualifications for grants. Use the laws to your advantage as for tuition. sometimes you can qualify ahead of time for a grant or loan you don't need to repay. If you can get a grant, go for it. Send for the transcripts and get going. if you take a full load of classes you can finish sooner, plus taking summer school...which usually isn't covered by grants or loans unless you ask for it up front beforehand, but then again, often it's out of your own pocket for summer school because summer's not mandatory. Good luck and Look to the Future!
My best thought is this; put all the pluses and negatives on a paper--one for each option of schooling and see which comes out on top.
There are 4-year state colleges which don't cost as much.
The answer is, of course, "it depends."
I know many successful career people who got their start at a 2-year community college, and many who went straight to the four-year university program. I also know a scattering of not-so-successful people who took either tack. The truth is, who you are professionally twenty years from now will not likely depend much on which path you take, all other factors being equal (i.e., assuming either path would have taken you to graduation).
Having said that, there are a number of factors to consider in your decision:
High-school academic performance: If you had grades and SAT scores in the 85th percentile or better, it will matter little whether or not you take the CC route. If your grades were marginal for admission into the 4-year program, you may be better served going CC; the caliber of learning is comparable (that is, for the units that are likely to transfer), but because your competition for grades is not so strong, your chances of "washing out" are reduced. Plus it will give you a sample of expectation before you need to face the added pressure of competition for grades.
Caliber of CC: Heed the advice of other posters who warn of CC units that don't transfer; in the worst case you might have to make up as much as one of your two years taking remedial classes at the 4-year school. Be smart: talk to an admissions counselor at your prospective 4-year school next week, and shown them the curriculum you plan to take at the CC. They'll tell you straight up what will transfer and what will not.
Out-of-state tuition (you didn't say where you got accepted): Remember, paying out-of-state tuition can be highway robbery and you'll have to take the hit until you've lived in the university's state for a year. If you got accepted to a Florida school, then it might make better sense to go to CC for _one_ year and then transfer; if you got accepted to a Georgia school, then you'll have to worry about your residency in Daytona Beach; you could easily get spanked with a year's worth of out-of-state fees and burn whatever gains you thought you had by going two years in a CC. Be smart. Do the math and find out the path of least cost to you. And if you decide to establish residency before transferring to the 4-year school, be thorough and leave a clear paper trail: change your vehicle registration, get your name on your friend's lease, register to vote, get a new driver's license and do all of this the moment you move. You don't want the 4-year to deny your state residency eligibility on a technicality.
Oh, yeah, one other thing: this "out-of-state" tuition issue might apply at your prospective CC as well. Check first.
Disclaimer: I suppose there might be some states that have out-of-state "reciprocity privileges", where you don't have to pay out-of-state fees for the partner state. For all I know, Georgia and Florida might have such an arrangement (I'm not from either one, so I don't know).
Debt management: Chances are, if your parents spent all they saved for DeVry, there's little they will be able to do for you regardless of whether you go two years or four. That means it's likely that if you want to get through the 4-year program, you're going to have to incur at least some debt. How much debt you can handle ultimately depends on your marketability when you graduate (comp sci, EE, physics are all very good; social ecology, maybe not so good). Remember, intelligently managed debt is _the_ best path you have toward improved long-term quality of life. There's nothing wrong with paying Sallie Mae every month until you retire (and in most circumstances it's tax-deductible). Med students and law students do it all the time.
Personal example: my wife went $35K in debt to get through graduate school, and our payment schedule will continue after I've retired. She pays $240/mo. Why did she do it? Her salary margin for finishing grad school is an additional $15K a year. Amortized over her 35 productive professional years by accounting for, say, 4% annual inflation, she'll net an additional $714K, bare minimum, during her career. She'll pay less than one-tenth that in student loan principal and interest. It's an absolute no-brainer.
Social life: Candidly I have mixed emotions on this matter. I went to a 4-year "commuter university", that is, high prestige but most people drove to and from school. That meant almost no social life in the sense you'd expect in, say, a "college town". There's a part of me who regrets not having the experience, and there's a part of me who thinks that having the experience would have been a distraction at best, and an academic liability at worst. My guess is that if you go 2/2, you'll still have the social life of a university; you'll just have a bit less of it than you would if you'd gone four years.
The thing of it is, though, you could be in Daytona Frickin' Beach for two years. What social life you'll lose most of the academic year you could more than make up for in the six or so weeks when Spring Break comes to your front porch. Just be sure to wear the right gear (hint: it should say "gator", "tide", "dawg", or "trojan", yes, double-entendre intended) and you'll be set.
Anyway, there's lots to think about, and in the limit the choice you make is not likely to influence too heavily who you are professionally when it matters. Good luck.
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