Wednesday, September 2, 2020

5 Reasons Why Community College Is The Way To Go

After my son graduated high school, he decided to attend the local community college. I never understood when people turned their noses at community college. There are many reasons why it's a beneficial choice:





1. Community college is much cheaper. This can be helpful for those without a ton of money.


2. There are smaller classes. Sometimes at universities students are packed into these huge rooms so it's hard to get one on one time with the professor. But community college classes usually stop at 30 people so it feels more personal.


3. You can transfer to a bigger college after two years towards a bachelor's degree. This is my son's plan. He can knock out his other classes at a cheaper cost before moving to a larger school.


4. It's more flexible. If you have a job, it's easier to do community college. Right now my son only has classes in the afternoon.


5. You don't have to take the ACT or SAT. This can be a bonus for those who don't do well with those kinds of tests.



So far my son has been going well in community college. At the moment it's virtual throughout the fall, but he's hoping he'll be able to attend in person classes by the spring. It's a gorgeous campus, and he's hoping he'll be able to experience it. He was only able to walk through it during a tour back in March.


Did you attend community college?



44 comments:

  1. I couldn’t agree more. My son is going to be a junior this year and I keep telling him to do two years at a local community college to save money!

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  2. What a great idea and he can always transfer when he knows what school he wants to go to. My daughter is in a four year schoolb ut this is great for so many young adults.

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  3. I think a community college is a great way to get the education process started. It's more affordable and helps kids ease into this new part of life.

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  4. This is a great post - I haven't really understood the difference not coming from the UK, I am glad it is working well for your son.

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  5. This is so smart. I bet it saves a lot of money too.

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  6. Love this and I totally agree with you. My daughter is going to our local community college and will transfer afterward to a nice university. It is fabulous as she is debt free through the first 2 years. She will go for her nursing degree and I love it as she is still home. My sister makes great money as a nurse and she went to a community college too. Thank you for the wonderful post and good luck to your son :)

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  7. That's so interesting, I didn't know it since it works differently but I'm glad it's working for your son and I hope he will experience campus next year

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  8. I went to a University, only to drop out 2 semester's later and enroll in Community College. I felt like the transition from high school to college was better at the community college.

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  9. I think community college is a great way to go, especially if you can transfer.

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  10. We have a lovely community college in our area that allows high school students to attend college while still in high school, it's a great program.

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  11. You are so spot on and I will recommend community college as a great ground to prepare oneself for the higher education

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  12. Community college is a great option! One of my kids attended community college for the first two years. He is a (medical) doctor now.

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  13. As for #3 that is what I did! If I recall, I even got some kind of transfer scholarship. College costs so much, so this is a great option!

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  14. I went to a community college because it was cheaper. It just didn't make sense to pay double or even triple the cost for tuition. I had to pay for my classes myself as my parents didn't have much money. The community college was affordable and I was able to make it work with my job too. I ended up getting an associates degree and then later came back for my bachelors degree. Due to my health problems, my bachelors degree ended up being a bit useless.

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  15. I love the idea of a community college as well. I know they can be so much cheaper too. I also love that they're usually a lot closer to home. I believe community colleges are wonderful choices.

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  16. For me, the concept of Community College is very new because in Puerto Rico there's public colleges and there's is private colleges and some vocational and technical institutions. And this is something great if I'm on my way this is something great to look for on future education.

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  17. This is an excellent article. Some folks believe they have to go to a 4 year college right away, but as you point out there are many benefits to a community college.

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  18. Well I'm sure the Community College is much cheaper so can be a good choice right now x

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  19. I went to College of Lake County for a year before heading off to Illinois State University. I loved it! It was the perfect choice for me because I wasn't quite ready to flee the coop yet. It had awesome classes and professors. I highly recommend community college!

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  20. I could NOT agree more!! I wish I would have just done this for the first couple of years.

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  21. I agree with all these chooses, my daughter decided of N.C. State University and we couldn’t be more blessed. Although I will always see the benefits of community college. Sharing with my friends.

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  22. I did community college for the last two years of high school, and it was *gold* (and mostly free tuition through a program from the high school) - but I would note that if you're planning to transfer, it's worth checking your systems ahead of time to make sure about what credits will count. I also felt a bit rushed in university since I had so many credits already but also had a lot of classes that were required within my major - it would have been easier to have more balance rather than a final year and a half with zero electives (aka: all the classes are making you think in the same way instead of being able to give one part of your brain a rest by working on a different type of intellectual activity - math and lit are a break from each other, but three classes of the same kind: not so much).

    I'd also note that since the community college had enormous diversity of ages and exact goals - high schoolers, people who were attending community college straight out of high school, second-career people, people who were taking a class for their current career, retirees (in addition to diversity of different kinds!) - it was clearer how not-vital it is to fit in with your peer group; it was more normal there to value the learning, because a lot of people there weren't just trying to check a box or get a good grade for the sake of getting a good grade. This year's peer group opinion of you only matters very transiently, and that was helpful when I went to the university dorms for a year with a crew full of freshmen: This Is Not The Extent Of Real Life.

    If planning to go somewhere small, though, where you're supposed to form your Primary Friend Relationships all within your class year when you are a freshman (and where your friendships will lead to business relationships, etc.), then community college, except as a gap year where you're brushing up skills so that your college classes are easier, would not make anywhere near as much sense. So! Different people are served better by different things.

    But I'd definitely endorse community college transfer credits, especially for the 101 classes you'd otherwise be in a 100+ person class for, and *especially* for English or anything else where meaningful feedback on homework is seriously useful.

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  23. I am not familiar with the community college because we don't have it in my country. After highschool young adults usually either go to uni or start working. However, unis do have programs for students who opt to get a job, or more mature students who come back to school, usually in the evenings or weekends, and they are cheaper than the normal day classes.

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  24. I went to a community college my first year and loved it. Small and quaint and I didn’t feel over whelmed.

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  25. Mama Maggie's KitchenSeptember 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM

    Community college is really wonderful. If my son wants to be there in the future, then it's really okay with me. Thanks for sharing this.

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  26. I started my college career at the Community College of Philadelphia. This made me a big fan of the value and worth of community colleges.

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  27. I believe that when something so clever and intelligent is combined with flexibility and affordability, it is a great choice.

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  28. I went to University of Cincinnati and Ohio State. They are HUGE! However, I did take some classes at the satellite campuses of UC and LOVED it! I really do like the smaller class sizes! In my degree at the satellite campus there was only 3 of in the class!

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  29. I went to community college prior to transferring to a bigger school and I feel like my tech school offered me a better education at a fraction of the cost to be honest.

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  30. These are all really great points. I am a big fan of small class sizes.

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  31. Community College is a wonderful start and alternative. I know plenty of people who started off at a Community College.

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  32. Community College is a great place to start our education. I always recommend young people to first attend a community college and if necessary transfer to a university. Excellent information.

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  33. I haven't attend a community college. Thanks for sharing the advantages of it.

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  34. Thanks for the information. I haven't attend one. But I agree it's better if your kids will attend one first.

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  35. I am not familiar with the community college because this doesn't exist in my country. Once you finish high school you either go to uni or start work, there isn't any alternative. It's good that in the US young adults have a third choice.

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  36. I completely agree with this. When my son attended college a few years back, he went to a local community college and it was very good for him.

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  37. My son's thinking about doing that too - community first then move to a university after two years. -LYNNDEE

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  38. These are for sure good reasons to attend a community college. Thanks for sharing!

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  39. My son is taking classes at the community college and he will use those to transfer later for his degree at MIT

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  40. I went to community college and then worked at the same college for 8 years. I got to watch the opportunity of community college bless countless people on a daily basis.

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  41. I think this is a great option, or a state school. We are still paying off college debt in our 40's. I really wish we had made different choices, because we could totally be saving for other things.

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  42. This is a great post. I like the reasons on why a community college is a way to go. Personally I find that they are more personal and focused on the students. It definitely makes a transition from a smaller school to university better overall and then getting a feel to try and move into a bigger university.

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  43. Perhaps community college is nice in the US. But not here in the Philippines. Unless one has an enterprising spirit, the jobs of people who finish from community colleges here are limited :(

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  44. Indeed this is such an eye opener. People should not judge whether you go to an University or a community college. Whatever school you attend to, it still depends to the person how he/she will deal with the real world.

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Thanks for the comment!

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