I've been applying for colleges and I'm feeling pretty torn. My situation is that I live incredibly close to a UC (I feel like I could get in without too much trouble), but I'm bothered with the idea of paying tuition for a four year school - yes, I'm frugal! However, I also live relatively close to a community college. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles (definitely not highly ranked), but it offers programs in my areas of interest. At the UC near me it's a different story, as the only majors available are mostly science oriented and I'm a humanities person. My top two or three desired majors aren't offered at the UC I live near, so I would be making an educational sacrifice if I went (even though the quality of the courses themselves would probably be better overall). The community college I live by, however, is a total commuter school. No clubs, certainly no GSA or pride related stuff. I don't know; a small part of me thought college would be this magical, wonderful place to make a bunch of gay friends and all that other good stuff. But now I'm not so sure. The UC near me has plenty of clubs, including a few lgbt ones, but I doubt I could join if I wasn't even a student there. Then of course, there's the stereotype that if you go to community college, you'll be committing social suicide. Forget about friends or the 'college experience.' I never wanted to be a part of the drinking and partying scene, but making really good friends was something that appealed to me (especially since I wasn't too lucky in that area during high school ) To be honest, at the start of this all, I didn't even want to go to college nearby. I thought moving away would give me a good shot at "personal growth" and becoming more of an adult. I have a close relationship with both of my parents, and I'm not terribly independent either, but I know they feel uncomfortable around gay people, and if I lived at home during college, I could basically slash any hope of getting comfortably involved with the lgbt community. Not to mention the fact that I would feel pretty awkward and uncomfortable with the possibility of coming out while living in my home town. News travels kind of fast, since it isn't a large city, and to be in such close proximity to old teachers, parent friends, younger siblings of classmates.... eh. So, what am I getting at here? Do you think attending a community college means throwing your 'college experience' and social life down the drain, especially as an LGBT student? Or is there hope (and not just a sliver of it).
A community college is what I attended, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone, who thinks I'm an idiot, or wasted my time. Besides, there is one major advantage, to attending a community college. When it comes to financial aid, it's processed, as if you are going to a big-named university, so you'll wind up receiving more spendable money. You can either use this money, as you will, or save it, over a semester or two, and throw it towards a bigger college. Also, you can get a lot of your basic courses out of the way, and for a lot cheaper. This is nice, in the event you need to drop a class, or fail one. It won't cost you an arm and a leg, just an elbow and a knee, LOL. But seriously, if you want to save some money, community college isn't a bad option... That said... don't expect anybody to be more than, high school adults. That's how my community college experience felt, for the most part. However, you'll meet some exceptional people, so, who knows? Ultimately, though, it's what you feel is best. Which is more comfortable to you? Each has their pros and cons.
Mmmm I have a lot I could say about this, since I started at a community college and just transferred to a UC this quarter. I can't help much in the social area as I'm not terribly social... However, I'd be shocked if there really is not any clubs at your community college. Mine was a fairly large community college, I suppose, but there were plenty of clubs and I think even an GSA. I never really attended any (except a few clubs) but they did exist. It was also completely a commuter college. However, if you decide to attend a UC nearby and commute it won't make a huge difference IMO in your college experience. The main difference to me is whether you move out and go to a new place or live at home. I do like the people better at UC, but I met good people at my community college too, many who are at UC with me now. I personally think education is better at community colleges. Teachers are teachers because they (often) want to teach. It's what they chose to do. Teachers at UC are professors who are forced to teach, when many times their main interest is research. Sometimes professors are muh more knowledgeable at UC but you don't get to really know them on a first name basis either. I had amazing professors at CC, and having access to your professor is very nice. The lectures at UC right now are about 400 people. It's a much better learning environment at CC. You'll learn the basics of your major very well. I would choose CC again if money was a big issue. If money was not a huge issue, I'd say go for the UC. CC was very impacted and hard to get classes and sometimes it feels like you may never be able to get out because the classes you need are full. You pay at a lot for UC and while I was never a freshmen, they seemed more helpful in figuring out a schedule to get you to graduate on time at UC. Also, you have to do fairly well at the CC to get into a UC. If you're already at UC and get an average GPA you're already in. less stress. I'm kinda rambling but I'm on my phone so typing is hard and I can't go back and edit as easily, if you have any more you want to know from me let me know!
I would go with CC. That's what I do, and it's just fine. UC just voted to raise tuition 5% a year for five years. No need to pay that for lower division that's just as good at CC.
community college. you can always go out of town and hit up bars and clubs. most clubs that are near campus only require you to be a student if you're under 21. there's a lot that will let you enter if you go with someone who's a student. so just makes some friends that are students at UC and you probably wont have many problems if you want to enjoy the nightlife scene before you're 21. there's no sense in going to a giant school that doesn't even offer the major that you truly want and will cost you thousands and thousands more. plus, you'll meet plenty of new friends at community college, trust me.
I have a number of friends at three of the local community colleges here in the Sacramento area. All three schools have GSAs and quite a few other clubs. They are all pretty much commuter schools, but there's nonetheless a pretty vibrant social scene, and my friends have many other friends and activities they have developed as a result of going to these community colleges. That said, there's no question there is more of a social scene at non-commuter schools because the enclosed environment definitely fosters a deeper sense of connection. If you want that connection, though, you really need to live on campus, in a residence hall, and not even 10 minutes away at your family home if you want the "college experience." So it really kind of goes to what is most important to you. You could easily go to the community college, knock out the core classes and distribution requirements, then transfer to a UC or Cal State school and live on campus for the last two years to have the campus/college experience (which does have some value.) That would save you a bunch of money and, honestly, will likely be just as good... the core distribution requirements are quite similar everywhere. Also, I don't know about your particular community college, but there are articulation agreements with the ones here in Sacramento that guarantee you admission to the UC or Cal State school you choose provided you meet a minimum GPA and take specific classes. The only downside is, the guaranteed admission is for a specific major, and you have to take all of the specific courses in prep for that major, so you have to start planning early, and changing majors can be a complicated pain in the ass. Hope that helps!
In my area, a lot of people do their first year or two of college at a community college as it is much more economical. If you plan on doing this, though, make sure to talk to the advisors for BOTH the community college, and especially the university you want to transfer to, to be sure you can transfer your credits. I recieved my AAS at a community college, and later went to go back for a BS and found out that I would have basically would have been starting from scratch as only about 3 classes would have transferred over. (The joys of switching from an IT degree under the electrical engineering college to trying to transfer to an IT program under a health college)
