<p>LOL, mom2collegekids, yes life IS swell. </p>
<p>I appreciate that you told the OP to at least apply to schools that offered good financial aid.</p>
<p>I don’t think Pace is better than a state university.</p>
<p>Even if you’re not wealthy, make yourself strong enough to get accepted into a top 20 school and get excellent aid. Or focus on (national) merit aid, or athletic scholarships etc. Community college is only for those who can’t achieve any of the other options.</p>
<p>Post your stats, and if you’re not accepted into a school with great aid, it’s not the world’s fault.</p>
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<p>Wow, your attitude is so arrogant. I have a high school friend who went to CC for two years, then a directional in our state for the last two years. He is a senior VP at fortune 100 company now. It is NOT inferior. It isn’t the “college experience with dorm and drinking” that is what seems to be what an awful lot of kids get out of freshman and sophomore year anyway. But it isn’t a road to ruin and low income, either. Would the OP possibly be better off for 16 months (because that is about the length of 4 semesters) in classes with somewhat higher performing students? Possibly. But will it ruin their chances for life to attend CC, especially if they work hard and keep their eye on the prize? Nope. Not even close.</p>
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agree</p>
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If the OP is dedicated and hard working, there is more upside to working with higher performing students. That’s EXACTLY what makes CC inferior to a school with higher performing students. </p>
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Never said it would. Just that going to a good 4 year school is better. </p>
<p>That’s what makes a good 4 year school SUPERIOR and a CC INFERIOR. </p>
<p>No absolutes, just a relative judgement in my opinion. </p>
<p>And we’re talking about the products (the education). Depending on the costs, it may or may not be worth it. The OP needs to explore FinAid options at schools and see if s/he can gain access to the superior education.</p>
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<p>I disagree on the first point. I learned much, much more from tutoring my peers than I did from studying with people smarter than myself. I didn’t go to CC myself so I have no idea if it’s “inferior” to the coursework I did at a 4yr university. I can say that I knew many students who transferred to my university (a good state school), who were very capable, mature, and driven students.</p>
<p>Also, I wouldn’t call being 120K+ in debt a “better option.” No one is saying that the OP shouldn’t go to a 4yr university, if they can realistically make it work. We’re saying that their opinion of community college is misguided, and if they would have to go into serious debt to go straight to a 4yr university, it’s not worth it.</p>
<p>The OP didn’t ask for advice on financial aid, schools that offer great merit or need-based aid, etc. They asked if they had the wrong mindset, and in my opinion, you should never let pride make your decisions. So yes, I do think they have the wrong mindset.</p>
<p>I want to thank everyone for their response, I took heed into every comment and I really appreciate the advice.</p>
<p>“What state are you in? What are your test scores?What is your GPA?What is your major/career goal?”</p>
<p>I’m from Pennsylvania
G.P.A is 3.41 (unweighted) I’m also in NHS if that helps
I have misplace my SAT scoresheet so I can’t tell you what I have on SAT
I want to major in Finance and minor in accounting or vice versa/I want to be a financial analyst or work in the finance section of a bank or a firm</p>
<p>“I see you have Pace down as the school you want to attend. Pace gives lousy aid.”
I’ve already taken Pace University out of my list of college choices</p>
<p>Colleges I’m considering:
University of Pittsburgh (in-state)
Penn State (in-state)
Duquesne (in-state)
DePaul
Indiana University
University of Wisconsin
Seattle University
Rochestor Institute of Technology
University of Oregon
Don’t have any community colleges (yet)</p>
<p>I guess I said would take out 120K+ because I am very frustrated about my financial situation and I will do anything to get out of it</p>
<p>“Wow, your attitude is so arrogant. I have a high school friend who went to CC for two years, then a directional in our state for the last two years. He is a senior VP at fortune 100 company now. It is NOT inferior.”</p>
<p>You’re right, I haven’t done any research about community colleges and I’m sorry if I offended you. </p>
<p>Everyone, I also want to apologize for my ignorance for saying that I consider CCs inferior to 4-year colleges and I will definitely have an open mind to Community Colleges.</p>
<p>I appreciate that you told the OP to at least apply to schools that offered good financial aid.</p>
<p>Well of course a low income serious student should apply to a variety of schools that give excellent FA. But, we also know that it’s a crapshoot getting admitted, and getting widely gapped at a school like Pace won’t be a good thing (won’t be swell 
)</p>
<p>So, this student’s safety may likely be his local CC.</p>
<p>Run the NPCs on those OOS publics. They won’t likely be affordable. </p>
<p>Run the NPC’s on your instate schools. </p>
<p>What are your test scores?</p>
<p>Your GPA might keep you out of the schools that give the best aid. </p>
<p>Look at DePauw…they often give good aid to low income students. Run their NPC. Also look at Loyola Maryland…they promise to meet need.</p>
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<p>You can log into your college board account and get it. It would really help us help you find schools where you can accomplish what you want. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, PA has recently suffered severe cutbacks in public higher education funding under the current governor. Penn State has even investigated going private. </p>
<p>In PA there is another layer between community college and the flagship universities. Both Penn State and Pitt have regional campuses where you can potentially commute your first two years and automatically transfer to the main campus. This might be an affordable option that you should seriously consider. </p>
<p>Get that SAT and we can help you find private schools that might offer sufficient financial aid for you to attend a better school for less money than PA public schools.</p>
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<p>Oh, OP, I didn’t mean you! I meant ClassicRockerDad. Just his comment about CCs being “inferior”. Now… I do think you have the wrong mindset. 
But I don’t think you are arrogant, just maybe not up to speed on how many students make the transition (very successfully) from CC to four year college. You may still end up at a four year college, but CC is a very valid option for students with very limited financial means or who don’t want to take out a lot of debt.</p>
<p>Your SAT scores will make a big difference in your options, so hopping online and providing those could improve the advice you get out here.</p>
<p>For those that have been asking, I just found out that my score is 1380, I know that’s low and I going to retake the SATs this year.</p>
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<p>Then you should be studying. Use Xiggi’s method which you can find on the SAT thread.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Penn State is not very good with financial aid, even for in-state students.</p>
<p>Try running net price calculators on all of the schools on your list to get an idea of what you are looking at.</p>
<p>If you live in PA and want to work in finance, I agree that the CC is NOT the right path. In PA, there’s the mid-level system like Clarion, Slippery Rock, or West Chester (the better of those), which are very cheap. Class discussion won’t be stimulating and they’re not well-funded though so if you’re hard working, keep them for your safety schools.
The typical “CC+2 year at state school”, in PA, is accomplished via the Pitt or Penn State branch campuses (2 years at branch campus, 2 years at main campus). PA CC aren’t for the purpose of transfering, although you can certainly try and transfer. It’s just not as common as in some other states.
However if you can go straight to Penn State UP, it’s better - they keep you on your toes right away and it’s less of a shock (the students I know who started at the branch campuses said it was like discovering they had been placed in college prep when everyone else at the other campus was in honors, and then jump into the 3rd year with them, or similar comparisons.)
Look into the private colleges - PA has TONS of them and many provide good financial aid: Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Ursinus may all be within reach.
If you apply to a private college 500+ miles from home, your odds are good for nice aid since you bring “geographical diversity”. Look into Guilford, Doane, Millsaps, Rhodes, or Ripon, for example. They’re different from the schools on your list but you’d likely qualify for a good financial aid package.
In addition, if you’re low income, apply to one or two “top 20-40” LACs - they’re actually looking for more low-income applicants. You never know…
(Same thing for top national universities, but you don’t have the stats for them so don’t waste your time).
If you are a girl, don’t neglect the women’s colleges, too.
ETA: just saw your SAT score. Is that CR+M+W?
You definitely need to study before the retake.
If it’s just CR+M it’s fine.</p>
<p>Is that 1380 out of 1600 (which would be ok for private schools that offer good aid), or out of 2400 (which is not ok for those schools).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s 1380 out of 2400. I was really nervous that day and the speed in which you had to finish each section, really threw me off.</p>
<p>To Myos1634, I’m a guy and thank you for taking the time out to list your suggestions of colleges, I will definitely look into them and everyone else’s too.
It’s funny you mentioned Slippery Rock because not only do I live 30-45 minute away from there, I stayed at their campus a couple days for football camp. It’s really nice.</p>
<p>I think studying for the SAT is the most financially lucrative thing that you could be doing right now. </p>
<p>Seriously, you probably have a million dollars in future income at stake. It’s August 20th, and the test is offered in October, November, December and January. Do as many as you can.</p>
<p>I’m a big fan of community colleges. It seems like half the Berkeley grads I know went to CC first.</p>
<p>I only took a few CC classes a long time ago when I was in the Air Force, but I thought the classes were pretty good. The chemistry classes I took at Yuba College in Marysville, CA. were a lot better than the chemistry classes I took at Ohio State, mostly because the CC classes were so much smaller.</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad, what is your opinion on the ACTs? I got a 19 on it and I was REALLY sick that day. The biology section was the last section but by that time, my sickness was uncontrollable so I just bubbled in whatever answer without going over answers.
In hindsight, had I not been sick and I actually tried on the Biology section, I would have probably gotten a 22-25 composite score.</p>
<p>I’m not sure. </p>
<p>Right now, your SAT and ACT are roughly equivalent and probably not good enough to get into a college that will meet your financial need. </p>
<p>I would take all of them. I’m not even sure if a 25 is going to get it done, but you’d be a whole lot closer to having a fighting chance. </p>
<p>People have said that the SAT is easier to study for because you are studying tricks on specific types of questions. The ACT tests basically what you should have learned in school, so it’s hard to improve your score. </p>
<p>In your case though it’s probably actual knowledge that you need to study, so perhaps, studying for the ACT might be the better move. You might want to post another thread on the parents forum (that’s the most read forum in my opinion), though they might move it to the college admissions forum.</p>