[Ironbound]

I've heard my fair share of people say that CC is definetly worth it, as you get your pre required courses out of the way, and for very cheap. What do you guys think? I have the chance to attend CC for free for the next 2 years or so, and was wondering a few things.

1) anyone here attend CC? How was it?
2) Can one actually land a decent job with just a degree from CC?

[Alpharius]

(01-28-2013 02:56 AM)Ironbound Wrote:  

I've heard my fair share of people say that CC is definetly worth it, as you get your pre required courses out of the way, and for very cheap. What do you guys think? I have the chance to attend CC for free for the next 2 years or so, and was wondering a few things.

1) anyone here attend CC? How was it?
2) Can one actually land a decent job with just a degree from CC?

If you get your 2 year in a specific field the AA degree is worth it. It'll provide you with more job security than a generic two year degree. A lot of the medical and (pathetically few) law enforcement entry positions require a 2 year degree. I went to a CC before switching to a four year school. Saved myself a shit ton of money.

The downside was CC was filled with people who couldn't make it in a 4 year school - either they just weren't capable and talented enough for it, or they were too fucking lazy and any decent school would've given them the boot. You also miss out on all the crazy shit that goes down in the dorms during freshman year of college, but whatever.

[Sonsowey]

I had several friends go to CC

One got straight A's his first two years and transferred to an Ivy League school for his final two years, and now works in a large bank.

Most of the rest didn't finish, or did finish but work in as waiters or in grocery stores.

If you're going to CC, definitely get straight A's, which shouldn't be hard given your competition. And definitely transfer to a better school.

If you have straight A's you can usually get a great scholarship to most places. My Ivy League friend got his whole education paid for because his family's income wasn't that high. They pay your way if your family makes under 180k a year or something like that.

[UrbanNerd]

Of course, being on a big active campus of a university is ideal (in my humble opinion). You have the most fun an experience, but....if you are short on money, I HIGHLY recommend community college to knock out those first 2 years. No need paying a bunch of money to take world history and the rest of those "general education" courses. After that, transfer to a bigger school. You don't really need a "big name" school if you pick the right major.

Now I may be a little biased, but the applied mathematics/computer science major is the BEST choice :-)

[savvylurker]

Definitely will save you money wnd when you get a bachelors you only need to that college on your resume.

[Giovonny]

Do you want to go to college?

CC is just your freshman and sophomore year of college.

[BIGINJAPAN]

I went to CC for the first 3 semesters of my post secondary career then transferred over to a big University in Canada. I think it worked out well. I saved a shit load of money, although our tuition costs are way less than in the US. It also gave me a year and half to mature more and learn to balance school, homework, working out and playing college volleyball. Also some major partying in there as well.

I felt like when I got to University I was almost 20 and had grown up quite a bit more. I didn't feel overwhelmed at all in University, the classes and homework were double what they were in CC.

If I could do it all over again, I actually would never go to school in the first place. I graduated with an engineering degree and didn't even last 2 years in the field before I got sick of it and started my own companies. But if I had to go to school I would go the same route. Just make sure ALL your courses are transferable. I ended up taking 2 or 3 courses that were not and I had to do some spring semesters to catch up

[Cincinnatus]

Almost everyone I know that graduated from community college is working in their field (everything from news media cameraman to airplane mechanic).

Almost everyone I know that graduated from a four year school is not working in their field. People with art degrees working as barbecue cooks. Sociology majors working as baristas.

Pick something worth studying, work your ass off, then hit the real world.

[Frost]

I have a friend who did his first two years at CC, then transferred to a top tier school. Saved a ton of cash, and went to a better school than he could have gone to if he'd applied straight out of high school.

So yes, the CC -> Uni -> Success path is definitely wide open, and you can save a ton of money.

But... you'll inevitably make some lifelong friends in your first two years of post secondary education. If you start off in Uni, those friends will be smarter, higher class, better backgrounds, ie the sort of friends who will have more to offer later in life.

Maybe that sounds cynical to you, but it is what it is.

[thebassist]

(01-28-2013 09:55 AM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

Of course, being on a big active campus of a university is ideal (in my humble opinion). You have the most fun an experience, but....if you are short on money, I HIGHLY recommend community college to knock out those first 2 years. No need paying a bunch of money to take world history and the rest of those "general education" courses. After that, transfer to a bigger school. You don't really need a "big name" school if you pick the right major.

Now I may be a little biased, but the applied mathematics/computer science major is the BEST choice :-)

Hey dude, can you give a little more detail as to why you would recommend applied mathematics? I'm curious

[UrbanNerd]

(01-29-2013 11:23 AM)thebassist Wrote:  

(01-28-2013 09:55 AM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

Of course, being on a big active campus of a university is ideal (in my humble opinion). You have the most fun an experience, but....if you are short on money, I HIGHLY recommend community college to knock out those first 2 years. No need paying a bunch of money to take world history and the rest of those "general education" courses. After that, transfer to a bigger school. You don't really need a "big name" school if you pick the right major.

Now I may be a little biased, but the applied mathematics/computer science major is the BEST choice :-)

Hey dude, can you give a little more detail as to why you would recommend applied mathematics? I'm curious

Quantitative skills are the most sought after skills in the job market. On top of that, math majors can go into many different areas including engineering, finance and software development. The "applied" part means that you did not focus on the theoretical part of mathematics...that limits you to primarily academia. Applied mathematics is more focused on using mathematics in various industries like engineering, finance and software development.

I may be biased in saying this, but I have actually HEARD it from recruiters and the like, but employers feel that if a person can handle higher mathematics....they can handle most anything else in the job market.

[CaP7]

I took some accounting classes at Cal State East Bay just because my bank paid for it and I wanted an accounting degree to go along with my finance degree. I had a relationship and was too dumb to cheat on her, but that is a great idea for getting on campus to meet college girls. I was 29 at the time. Tons of approach opportunities. I would love to get back to a community college now at 35. There may be opportunities to teach if you have some experience in a field. I could definitely teach some Finance classes as a way to get at the 18-20s in the future. Only downside is that it takes away time from making real money.