Ektaylor

Lol, I know exactly what you mean, samus. That's one drawback to CC. I personally love discussing my major and holding intellectual conversations and the like; but at CC, profs desperately attempt to fill that quintessential college trait of discussion, which, almost invariably turn into an incredibly topical conversation inundated with undeserved pretension.

During my first semester I generally participated in every discussion, but after listening to circular arguments, shallow points, and tangential anecdotes ad nauseum, I gave up and have now found myself quite comfortable observing the quasi-intellectual train wrecks which discussions tend to become.

Unfortunately, some profs think giving participation a grade will spark willing discourse, but, as I have observed, this method usually ends up forcing contrived conversation coupled with students interrupting the profs with what he/she is about to say attempting to instill a sense of involvement to get that grade.

Thomas_

I'm going to SMC and I love it. All my professors have PhD's. Last semester I had a Physics Prof with his PhD from Yale, a Chem Prof with his PhD from MIT and a Math Prof from UCLA. This semester I have another Physics Prof with his Degree from MIT (but his PhD from somewhere else). They are all great teachers and know what they're talking about. They have time for their students and stay late after class. I really can't say anything bad about the professors here, haven't had a single bad experience.

Well, counselors suck, of course. But who here listens to CC counselors anyway?

I can't complain about my social life either. I'm living close to UCLA, so my friends are mostly UCLA students and there's always something you can do here. But yeah, if I didn't live close to UCLA my social life would probably suck, CC really doesn't offer much socially.

It also really depends on what kind of classes you take. My first semester wasn't that good either. I was taking more popular classes (Eng1, Calc1, History, Gen. Chem) and most people there were not serious about transferring, kind of like High School. But once you get into higher classes both people and professors get better.

dragondawg

AdamantineX- i went to pcc too if you're talking about Pasadena and hated it cause of no parking, too crowded, and scheudle of classes just sucked and classes always closed really fast so you could end up with a bad scheudle. I hated high school and hated my first semester of cc also, i left my first cc and now am happier at another cc. I agree that there are some good professors and bad ones and the people are more mature unlike high school. But yeah cc is a commuter school with no social life.

Woman.Of.Troy

Thomas_:
That's extremely depressing PHD's from Yale and MIT teaching at a community college. I know SMC has nice facilities but that doesn't change the fact that they've spent forever in school to not teach at least some UC or private insitution with college students that probably won't drop out after a couple of months. I think CCC has just made me a tad cynical. It's impersonal and no wonder people leave, the administrations should do something about this.

Thomas_

Oh, they taught at other institutions before. Actually I asked my Physics Prof about this and he just replied "I'm living close and I love the weather here"

To teach at a good university they must also get into research again. Universities hire professor not because of their teaching, but because of their research. Maybe they simply want to focus on teaching, that's why they're at a CC.

alansda

I have a linguistics teacher that got her BA/MA from Stanford and is now teaching part-time at my CCC, and part time at a nearby CCC. She's traveled around the world and met many famous researchers. I haven't asked her the reason she's not teaching at some Ivy-caliber institution but she seems pretty content to have a small class and loves the weather

Doryx

OCC is cool. Great mix of everything. Some super rich kids, some super poor, some retards, some smarts, and mostly druggies. I loved OCC!

Woman.Of.Troy

Thomas_:"True that." I guess I erroneously assumed one would attend a pricey university to land some high paying job. I have a cousin that goes to SMC and loves it for the same reason.

nuveen

Far more PhD's are produced every year than there are academic openings for. And I don't even believe that teaching at a CC is a bad job. The pay for PhD's, at least at my school, is very good with respect to the hours, so for those who value leisure, California weather, or have side projects or jobs, CCC's are very attractive. While science PhD's have been mentioned here, in conservative fields, CC's are often a haven for professors with ideologies that transgress the orthodoxy of their profession, like feminist philosophers and Marxist economists.

Of course, it doesn't seem likely for someone to go through the process of getting a PhD with the aspiration of teaching at a community college, so I understand where you guys are coming from.

lreds4life

Santa Monica College is pretty cool so far. I've completed 8 classes, and I'm in 5 new ones right now, and all of them are great. The counselors definitely don't know what they're talking about unless you ask them about UCLA...figures haha. Most of the students here transfer there. Socially, it pretty much sucks, but I've met a few cool people that have similar ambitions as I do.

Obdeboondocks

lol samus... my friends and I call them "gunners". I personally like to call them "the thieves that steal 1/4 of my class time while giving their professors a water break".

My cc has had tons of gunners that interject and if there was a way to shut them up I would tell you.

The professors at San Joaquin Delta College were great! At first, I would get nervous about how some of the professors I had would be boring and/or difficult from that website ratemyprofessors. To my surprise, this was only the case for one teacher, but even this so called boring teacher gave some valuable tidbits spread throughout his lectures. Honestly, there are no complaints from me.

Met interesting people of all ages and aspirations. Sure there are some students that are there for no reason at all, but I'm glad to say I met a lot of down to earth people that made me proud of coming from a cc. I just hope that my uni friends I make are just as cool as my cc friends.

es four

I really don't care for mine. However, I feel as though it's because I'm a bit older and new to California. Having to pay ~$65 per semester to park, and having to spend 30-45 minutes to find a spot just doesn't sit well with me. In addition, having to fight for the classes I want to take can be a bit frustrating. I also wonder about the motivations of some of my teachers. My English teacher mentioned that least semester he only gave one A... That concerns me a bit.

Torrancecali

it's good enough.... but the bad thing is you get easily distracted and get lazy..

Dam Its Johnny

es four- I think the parking problem is at a lot of cc campus.Ive seen people start fighting in the middle of the parking lot for a spot.Ive seen people get arrested, people taken the hospital over a parking spot its crazy.

es four

Johnny,

I've noticed parking seems to be a problem everywhere in CA... It's just consistently bad at the CCs.... Particularly PCC where I attend.

I just don't think I've gotten used to the parking fiasco that is just a part of CA living.