<p>My making a list earlier this year of criteria including support systems for learning differences, schools that are a good fit financially as well as academically & schools that are close enough so that family and friends can lend support ( not looking for walking distance- just same coast)- didn’t make my daughters final list as much as I had anticipated.</p>
<p>As a lot of the parents, but perhaps not many of the students realize, schools that meet 100% of need, are very academically competitive & schools that offer merit, don’t necessarily offer enough for the school to be affordable.</p>
<p>After watching my older daughter and others graduate college into jobs that aren’t well paid ( although my daughter is putting money away- and she is able to pay on her loans), I am even more determined not to see her sister take out huge loans, and be aware that schools that meet 93% of need, may include selfhelp, which can include Stafford loans, but also school sponsored loans as well.</p>
<p>Recently however, I mentioned to my daughter how attractive my community college campus is. No, it isn’t the East Coast like old brick and grotesques ambiance of Reed, but then it isn’t $50,000 a year either ;).</p>
<p>Many of buildings are well designed, they are adding dorms and the golf course next door is designed in a way that it seems part of campus ( the neighborhood also enjoys walking through and around).
I don’t know where they get their money, but with all the construction going on, it is quite reminiscent of LACs we’ve toured. ( which isn’t always a good thing- at least if you are trying to find parking)</p>
<p>She was surprised to hear that they have dorms, not many do, and the cafeteria isn’t set up for live on campus students, but there is a Trader Joes even closer than the one by Reed, and several nearby amenities that could make CC life much like a residential campus.
[They even have study abroad](<a href=“http://studyabroad.edcc.edu/”>Study Abroad Programs | Edmonds College)</p>
<p>Another CC which is adding new facilities is in the other direction from us [Our brand new, 2,500 square-foot facility, due to reopen for Spring quarter 2008, situated on a 260-foot pier over the Puget Sound, will offer public space, classroom, laboratories, and office and research areas. With more than 2,000 gallons of flow-through saltwater tanks, holding more than 80 species of local marine life and easy access to a huge diversity of nearby habitats, and state-of-the-art equipment, the opportunity for research and education is almost limitless.](<a href=“http://flightline.highline.edu/mast/index.htm”>http://flightline.highline.edu/mast/index.htm</a> )</p>
<p>Compared to behemoth schools, where she will be competing with hundreds of students vying for acceptance in the same program, or where students are more concerned with proving their independence by forgetting why they are there, I’m hoping that I can show her that no SATs required, doesn’t mean that the offerings are subpar.</p>
<p>Attending a great community college and transferring to a great school to get your 4 year degree, can be a way to have your cake and eat it too.
( Ive seen students earn diplomas from 4 year schools that were above their reach when they graduated high school, plus save 1/2 of the tuition by using community college credits)
[She really wants to go to school in California](<a href=“This Page has Moved | California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office”>http://www.cccco.edu/find/dormitories.htm</a>)</p>
<p>Hope this at least will give some food for thought for students whose pocketbook might say junior college, but who are worried they won’t get a * real* college experience.</p>