Is it easier to transfer to a good university if your original school is a community college or another university.
Depends on the colleges you are aiming to transfer to.
Community colleges also vary in how well they cover the transfer preparation courses for each possible major.
Does the CC have an articulation agreement with the four year targeted ?
This is a total it depends, including the college targeted.
But if you are going to a 4 year hoping to jump higher - don’t. Go to the 4 year, excel, love it and plan to finish there.
You may or may not but having one leg out the door b4 you get there may hurt you in myriad ways.
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I have seen students do this both ways.
In some states (maybe all states?), the community colleges seem to have some sort of cooperation with at least some in-state public universities. I have seen students successfully transfer from an in-state community college to an in-state public university.
I have also seen students transfer from a university to a different university, even when the two schools had no particular relationship and were not even in the same state (or in one case not even in the same country).
For those students who go on to graduate programs, it is very common to get a bachelor’s degree at one university and then go somewhere else for a graduate degree. This might be more common compared to staying at the same university for a graduate degree, although again this can go either way.
For the very, very top ranked universities in the USA (eg, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford level), coming in as an undergraduate transfer student is very difficult and very rare. You should not be starting off at a community college thinking that you will transfer to a “top 10” or even “top 20” university. The one exception might be exceptional in-state CC students in California who might have some chance to transfer to one of the Universities of California (including the two flagships). However, getting a bachelor’s degree at a different university and then going to a highly ranked university for a graduate degree is relatively common (at least among students who are academically strong enough to pull this off, and who want to study in a graduate program).
Generally more information can allow us to give advice that is more closely related to your situation.
Potential Strengths of Two-Year Colleges:
Lower Cost, Location, Mission, Teaching & Learning Environment, Responsiveness & Flexibility, Open-Door Admissions
Potential Weaknesses of Two-Year Colleges:
Excessive Reliance on Part-Time Faculty, Academic Credentials of Faculty, Underprepared Students, Fewer Social Activities, Credit Transfer Acceptance Issues
Senior colleges prefer that you take your general education courses
at the two-year college and save most work in your major for the
senior college.
I think another exception could be Cornell. Not saying it is common, but transfers from CC to the state schools at Cornell is not unheard of.
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Princeton University has a transfer program for community college students.
Columbia’s School of General Studies.
Might be easier transferring from a CC/Junior College because there is a built-in reason or justification for transferring from a 2 year school.
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Some schools offer a transfer (like Cornell) upon application and rejection. I think BU is another.
It would help if OP would explain the context of why they are asking the question.
I seem to remember in years past, some applicants were admitted to Cornell under some sort of transfer plan: IE, they would start off at another university, and then be admitted to Cornell in year 2 or 3 (?) as long as they met certain academic benchmarks at the initial school. (being in good standing, perhaps maintaining a minimum GPA, etc.)
Kids who got in under this “guaranteed” transfer plan seemed as stoked, or nearly so, as kids who were admitted directly.
Princeton and Stanford appear to focus on non-traditional students for their transfer intake. While non-traditional students commonly start at community colleges, this does not mean that a student immediately out of high school will necessarily be at an advantage (or disadvantage) attempting to transfer to them based on the type of college they start at.
In contrast, Harvard does appear to take most of its few transfer students from other highly selective colleges and universities, without any emphasis on non-traditional students.
The UC and CSU “business model” targets having students who started at community college be about a third of those who eventually graduate with bachelor’s degrees.
Cornell has some very specific transfer pathways. One is from Tompkins County Community College for the Ag School for certain majors: Signature Pathway Program | CALS
There is also a program from Broome to an online Cornell degree:
Cornell also offers a Transfer Option for a subset of applicants that were not admitted where they complete freshman year at another 4 year college and then can transfer to Cornell. I don’t think that’s what the OP is asking though.
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Do Cornell applicants offered the Transfer Option have to do their first year at a four year college before transferring to Cornell, or can they do their first year at a community college?
My understanding is that Cornell just says an accredited two or four year college.
As others are saying, there is no generic rule about this, it depends on each college and what they are trying to do (or sometimes have committed to do) with their transfer program.
Personally, I would always advise that IF you can afford it AND get admitted, you choose a decent residential four-year college with your intended major rather than a community college. Where it gets tricky is if that is not affordable, or your only four-year options would be commuter colleges that may not have your desired academic program. But if an affordale and suitable four-year residential college is an option, start there and see how it goes before assuming you will need to transfer.
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@John77777 what is the plan you are thinking about that prompted the question ?
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