<p>For financial and maybe academic reasons, I may decide to go to a CC for 2 years and then transfer for a prestigious college (not Ivy League).</p>
<p>Is this an ok decision? I am really considering because community colleges have somewhat of a deficient reputation. Are the elites right?</p>
<p>Do you believe CCs are inferior in education or not? Why?</p>
<p>What matters most when you apply for your first job is where you received your final degree and not so much how you got there. That you went the CC route for the first 2 years and then completed a 4 year degree at an academically respected university can in some situations be viewed as a plus. This can be the case if you were to graduate with honors at the 4 year university, that you’ve successfully taken a rigorous set of courses at the 4-year university, and that you’re clearly (through the courses you’ve taken, intern positions, etc.) focused on a career that’s in demand.</p>
<p>These people wouldn’t agree that a CC is a bad place to start:
<a href=“The Most Famous Community College Students”>The Most Famous Community College Students;
<p>No one needs to know or care that you ever went to a community college once you graduate from a 4 year university. The argument over community colleges (which vary a lot city by city in quality and purpose so be careful generalizing without sitting in classes at the community college and talking with the advisors) has been largely over whether for courses beyond the 1st year basics (e.g. Physics, Chemistry, Calculus for someone going STEM or premed) will be guaranteed to transfer and whether the prereqs will be offered to allow for graduating on-time after 1 year of community college. Obviously for STEM majors it is even harder for those who spend 2 years rather than 1 year at CC to graduate on time because of lack of exact matches for some prereqs. In addition, the rigor of a Calculus or Physics course could be wildly different between community colleges much less between a random community college and the state flagship. Without sitting in classes and comparing it is hard to generalize, but for many students a year of community college seems to work out ok based on some of the earlier posters - beyond that have to be even more careful as the risk of not graduating on time goes way up (I don’t know of any of the relatives or friend’s kids who went to CC who were able to graduate in 4 years - although various posters have noted that it is more common in some other areas of the country).</p>
<p>Thank you, fogcity. 
Great help.</p>
<p>However, it’s not always the FIRST job for people after they graduate. I have several classmates in high school right now who have basic jobs like working at the grocery store and fast food places. </p>
<p>So I hope you don’t mean THOSE types of jobs. Jobs like being a psychologist, yes that would be a first job. But not FIRST FIRST job.</p>
<p>It’s best if the CC has a guaranteed pathway to a good 4-year university.</p>
<p>Depends on the CC and your goals. If you are a California resident (which may be the case, since your other posts mention schools like UCs and CSU Sacramento), then many CCs in California are good for preparing to transfer to a UC or CSU.</p>
<p>See <a href=“http://www.assist.org”>http://www.assist.org</a> for course equivalencies between CCs and UCs and CSUs.</p>
<p>Do you know if NYC community colleges are good?</p>
<p>NYS has a great cc system. Check the websites of colleges that interest you to learn about their articulation agreements. Our local cc has agreements with both 4-year SUNYs and schools like Cornell, NYU, Ithaca, Northeastern, Syracuse, RPI, Pace, and RIT. The CUNY system works the same way. Each website should have a list of colleges that have agreements with them. Good luck.</p>
<p>There are some strong community colleges and some weak community colleges. It is important to distinguish between them. Going to the school local to your community may not be the best option.</p>
<p>Personally, I have no problem with recommending kids go the community college route but it is important to understand the students and how they will fit in there. There is a lot less structure at community colleges and there are a lot more distractions.</p>
<p>Some students I would discourage from going that route because I think they will get caught up in the wrong things and with the wrong people (there are a lot more people that lack focus and direction at community colleges). But there is no doubt that community colleges are a great option. If a kid comes out of high school with a handful of APs, they can often get a lot of credits out of the way at a community college. In these instances, I sometimes advise high achieving students that are price conscience to go to a community college with the goal of earning their associates degree in one year. Enrolling right after graduation in a few summer courses and then taking a full load in the fall and spring semesters. </p>
<p>You can then finish your bachelors in two years at the school you really wanted to attend and can even feel comfortable having more flexibility in your scheduling so you can focus on the majors and minors that really interest you and take three years to graduate (which is right on time with your high school classmates).</p>
<p>Sometimes it is in your interest to discuss delayed enrollment with your preferred four-year school and see how they will handle this.</p>
<p>I know a few engineers that have gone to two-year schools fore the basic math and sciences before graduation from quality schools like Johns Hopkins, Georgia Tech, Clarkson, and RIT. </p>