<p>Some students chose to go to community college over the summer so they can
accumulate credits and graduate college a semester or a year early. Of course, each college has different transfer policies and degree requirements, but reducing the length of college seems like a good thing for a student to do if the job/internship market is tight and college costs are high. Your good/bad experiences?</p>
<p>I guess there is minimal concern about what is actually learned and experienced in college. Getting a degree quick and at low cost should suffice.</p>
<p>Graduating early might work for some students. But it really depends on the college, the student, and the circumstances. D1’s college won’t permit transfer credit unless the outside course has been approved IN ADVANCE. D2’s college avoided this situation by not permitting transfer credits. YMMV.</p>
<p>Son’s school must preapprove the summer courses. They also only allow summer courses at the community college prior to Jr year. My son went to summer school last summer and will do so again this summer. This will be the last year he can do this. He is not planning on graduating early. His program requires 18 units a semester to grad in 4 yrs. He takes less so needs the summer classes to keep on track.</p>
<p>Our son has taken summer courses (through his college the first summer and didn’t attempt to get credit the second summer so no transfer issues) as well as two J-terms (a short January course offered for 3 credit hours) but has done this to get in fun electives he doesn’t have time for as an engineering major rather than to graduate early. </p>
<p>College is such a special time, I would think twice about trying to rush through it unless you had a serious financial need to finish quickly.</p>
<p>Daughter’s college must also pre approve summer classes other than their own and it is not easy to get approval. And there is no such thing as graduating a semester early there; the rule is a student must carry at least 12 credits final semester and attend graduation.</p>
<p>I am sorry to ask that why do you want to graduate early? </p>
<p>After her 1st quater at school, DD made it very clear that she will graduate in 4 year, not one quater more nor one quater less, because she loves the school experience.</p>
<p>With her AP credit and some lucky placement exam, DD has over 40 credits under her belt and the graduation requirement is around 180. So, DD is taking some fun classes alone with math and science. Last Q, she took a tennis class, this one, she is taking a dancing class, etc. </p>
<p>College should be fun and enjoyable, why rush it??</p>
<p>Because it costs $50,000 a year.</p>
<p>I graduated in three years using one summer term in community college along with an extra class both semesters of my senior year. Why? Because I knew that I wanted to go to grad school, I had exhausted the interesting classes in my major, and I wanted to be closer to home.</p>
<p>Has it worked out for me? Absolutely, I’m now 500 rather than 3,000 miles from home, I can spend a weekend there if I want to, doesn’t happen often, but I’m going home this weekend. I love my PhD program, and I’m in absolutely the best city for what I want to do when I graduate. I am happier and more socially active in my new city, where I can imagine myself being for the rest of my life, I have a job that is pretty satisfying outside of school, and I have good friends. There are things I miss about undergrad, especially some of the people, but I see them and keep in touch. My last year of college was really rough, including the death of a good friend, so by the time it was over I was ready to be out of there.</p>
<p>I think every student has their own circumstances and priorities. Some students want to genuinely get done early and I think that’s okay if that’s what they want. Others are taking a heavy schedule, for example engineering plus a difficult minor, that might force them into a fifth year if they don’t take some courses in the summer and in this case it makes sense to do so. Also, not all students are having the time of their lives at college or are getting burned out by a heavy difficult schedule and just want to be done earlier.</p>
<p>If one is going to a top college it doesn’t seem to make sense for the those who clamored for and pay a lot of money for the ‘top college’ to end up taking courses at a CC to avoid taking them at their college since they’d be somewhat circumventing their work and reasons for attending the top college. OTOH there are a lot of students who are not paying 50K at a top college and/or are more focused on getting a degree and entering the workforce. In this case it may make some sense to take some classes at during a summer session. </p>
<p>In addition to taking courses at a CC, you may be able to take summer courses at your college or equivalent colleges or others that are part of that college system. For example, if you were in part of a system like the UCs, you can usually take a course at another UC (ex: you live in San Francisco but go to UCLA - you could take some courses at UCB in the summer while you’re home). This can be interesting for the student to get a chance to take a course on a different campus yet still at a top college on par with their own. However, this will be more expensive than a CC - at least comparing a UC to a California CC.</p>
<p>Regardless of where you go, make sure you get approval for the course from your college beforehand since they don’t always accept credits from certain other colleges or certain courses. Lots of students do this though.</p>
<p>I think everyone’s situations are different and that taking CC classes can be great for some as long as their University will accept the credits. We know kids that come home to CA in the summer and take a class or two because they have a difficult time getting the classes they need at their University.</p>
<p>We have friends with 3 kids and when their oldest did not get into UCLA because of freshman class size reductions they sent kid to USC for one year. Since kid had AP credits they finished 1 year at USC and were able to then enter UCLA as a junior. Kid spent two years at UCLA and graduated and went on to law school. Parents paid for 1st year of law school (4th year of college for kid) and now kid is in second year and is paying their own way. Parents told each of the 3 kids they get four years of college paid for and then they are on their own. Their next 2 kids may have to do some CC classes to make sure they graduate in 4 years!</p>
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<p>For some, it is a “special time”; for others, it’s something they have to get through to get on to much more interesting things. Sometimes, there are considerations beyond the financial; not everyone loves the rah rah college experience.</p>
<p>One important thing to remember about summer classes – whether they are taken at a community college, one’s own college, or elesewhere – is that taking them precludes doing something else with that summer.</p>
<p>In general, a student who is taking summar classes is likely to have a routine part-time job at most. There wouldn’t be time for a full-time job or internship or for research leading to an honors degree. Yet for many students, summer jobs, internships, or research make important contributions to their overall education (not to mention their resumes).</p>
<p>I’m not saying that summer school is necessarily a bad idea, just that it’s important to weigh all of the pros and cons.</p>
<p>Don’t you have to pay for summer classes also? Just wrote a check for D to take a summer class. Luckily the class is in NYC where she could commute to rather than pay for additional room and board. For people that are on financial aid, wouldn’t you have to pay for those CC summer classes on your on? That’s why it’s more economical for Dad II’s daughter to take all of her classes at Stanford.</p>
<p>My D will take summer classes to graduate in 4 years- Lit/Secondary Ed. Looking at the requirements it appears if you want to teach you either go during the summer, take an extra year or overload your schedule multiple semesters. </p>
<p>My D considers taking some Gen Ed credits at the CC but you only get the credit- the grade does not count- she has decided to take a Lit class each summer at her college. We will see if it works out.</p>
<p>It’s possible to work and attend summer classes, too. One summer, I took two classes, both requirements, in the morning, worked a part-time job for part of the afternoon, and then went to my full-time swing-shift lab job (which was excellent work experience for my major) later. The classes are only for, what, six, eight weeks or so? After they were over, I picked up more hours on my part-time job and continued with the full-time lab job.</p>
<p>Regarding summer classes and financial aid-none available aside from loans, or so I was told when I called Ds school last week. But there is a required summer field session for her intended major, so we’ll just suck it up and somehow figure out how to come up with the funding. She will probably have sufficient credits to graduate a semester early, and would certainly be a sound economic decision, given the cost of the school. But as she loves the college experience, and really is making good use of her time, I can’t imagine quibbling if she decides to stay on. With a double major, she may need time for all the requirements, regardless. </p>
<p>I had a rather productive summer way back when, taking science pre requs for my nursing degree 8 to 12, then working most afternoons. Was an efficient way to get some intense classes out of the way. </p>
<p>On the other hand, my son took one summer class when recovering from surgery and couldn’t work. His studies were stymied by the party atmosphere around here in the summer. Couldn’t say NO to the friends calling as much as would have been desirable.</p>
<p>Taking 1 or 2 courses at CC during the summer is common here among people who go to state schools; it wouldn’t have been possible for S, who is at a private U. If the college permits it and especially if it can be combined with some kind of part-time job, getting a distributional requirement out of the way can allow some flexibility in scheduling during the school year.</p>