I’m a home-schooled student going into my junior year and am planning to take classes at a local community college. My mother and father are pushing me towards getting an associate’s degree in about a year by way of taking as many CLEP tests as I can; but, I’m worried that an associate’s degree will mark me as a ‘transfer student’ and hurt my application to schools that I’ll want to apply to in my senior year. (e.g, Williams, Amherst, Vassar, Swarthmore)
So, my question, rather simply is this: Can I get an associate’s degree from a community college and still credibly apply as a freshmen to a selective LAC and, in addition, will an associate’s degree help my application more than taking a non-matriculating course of classes?
As a side question: the courses I’m planning on taking are Psych, Bio and Economics, is that a good distribution of subjects or would I be better served by taking some sort of humanities class?
Each school has its own rules on how they count associates degrees. You should contact the colleges directly (admissions offices). I know that some of the colleges you list have special programs to accept community college transfers in order to encourage diversity on campus and to offer opportunity to the types of students who often first attempt college at the CC level. (Often CC students are first-general college-bound students, for example, or non-traditional students. These and other CC students offer diversity for many elite schools.) Vassar, for example, has a program to encourage CC students to apply. Google “Vassar” and “community college” and I’m pretty sure that program will come up. Most of all, you should start the dialogue with the admissions offices about your particular program and how that may or may not fit the schools’ models of education. You will learn more about that college’s culture and academic philosophy. You will build a relationship with that school, so they know you as a person as you apply. And you will know the best approach for your CC curriculum. Best of luck.