<p>Well, I see a few…not issues, exactly, but possible negatives in his plan. Before I detail these, let me assure you that his plan could definitely work out for him, and I certainly hope that it does, but it is certainly not flawless. Here are the concerns I would have:
- Is it <em>easy</em> to transfer? That depends on the state. I know that it is in some states, but I haven’t heard anything about Texas in this case. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t easy to transfer for Texas–I just don’t know. </p>
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<li><p>I think he is being overly confident in his ability to get a full ride period, regardless of his standing as a transfer student. I checked UT-Austin’s website, but it was hard to navigate, so admittedly I didn’t glean much info about the scholarships that they offer. Mainly, they seem to offer a scholarship in each college (architecture, business, communication, etc.). These didn’t seem to be huge scholarships–$5000 seemed to be the largest sum that I found. There <em>are</em> a lot of scholarships, but one student couldn’t apply for very many of them. Using my own state school (University of Illinois) as a benchmark, I can say pretty confidently that even for very accomplished students, big scholarship $ is hard to come by. The most I have heard anyone get is about $5000/yr, which is a little more than 1/4 the yearly bill at U of I. Now, again, UT could be different, but…I personally have not heard of them as a hugely generous school that way. </p></li>
<li><p>How are you at an advantage/disadvantage…well, you will be shelling out more money for your first two years, which some would call a waste, since you will likely be taking GenEd type courses for much of this time. On the other hand, these courses may be more rigorous than Community College courses, and might prepare you better and get you used to UT’s standards. You will also have the opportunity to form relationships and carve out a niche for yourself at UT–your friend might find the transition into UT as a Junior tough.</p></li>
<li><p>His theory is flawed in two fundemental ways, in my opinion. One, which I already outlined, is that he seems to be overconfident in his ability to receive big scholarship $. The other is that he is very sure of his ability to really ace his Community College coursework. I am sure that it seems like a sure thing to him, being that he has done excellently on his HS coursework. However, the eventual graduation rates for Community Colleges are not great. He may find it difficult to be as motivated in a place where people will often come and go and may not be as prepared/serious about their education as the average student at a relatively prestigious college like UT. Basically, I think that he is a bit too cavalier–I’m not saying that he definitely will strike out in CC, but it seems like he is not being as careful as he probably should be. </p></li>
<li><p>I doubt this. I would think that colleges favor CC students who have excelled over un or underprepared HS seniors, but not to be cruel about it, I doubt that they are swooning over CC applicants in general. Again, a CC student who has excelled and shown that they can handle themselves academically and extracurricularly will set themselves up well to transfer, but I find it a bit naive to think that this is an open-door way into UT, unless they have an automatic admissions policy for qualifying CC students. </p></li>
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<p>I certainly believe that your friend’s plan <em>could</em> work out. But it is not a plan without risk, and if you can handle the financial and academic aspects of a full year college, I would recommend going that route. Also, it seems to me that he is undervaluing the college experience. Maybe not! Maybe he really will be fine going to CC while many of his friends start a whole new experience at their four-year colleges. But this is by no means a situation that would work out for everyone, and it might not be as easy for him as he thinks when fall rolls around.</p>