Should I go to Community College

College Life
1

<p>I know there’s this negative stigma with community schools. I was against it at first because I want to have a new experience meeting new people, and not make it like high school with going to school then go home. But, not many schools offer Forensic Science, and its something I really want to do with my life. So, my point of asking this is, would this be a smart plan. </p>

<p>Go to the Borough of Manhattan Community College, after two years I will get a automatic acceptance to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and get a MS in forensics. Not only will this save me up to $20,000-$40,000 in tuition fees at a University, i’m also going to one of the the best in that major. I also probably have to pay about $10,000 in total, but making more then $70,000 for income. And not only that I get to stay in my home city of New York.</p>

<p>Is this idea good?</p>

2

<p>How are you going from a two year school to a masters program? </p>

<p>I went to community college and was bored silly and lonely the entire time to the point of it triggering a depression, but some people do enjoy it and it can be worth it if it affords your opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise.</p>

3

<p>well after you get your associates in forensics, you get automatically admitted into John Jay for your masters in forensics.</p>

4

<p>Are you sure? I looked at the John Jay and the BMCC websites briefly and it looks like the joint degree program allows you automatic admission into the BS program after completing your AS, but it seems very strange to be admitted to a masters program with no bachelor level work.</p>

5

<p>you get your BS at John Jay.</p>

6

<p>The experience isn’t as good, but you do save a ton of money. Not a bad way to go.</p>

7

<p>So then you are not transferring from community college into a masters program. You are talking about paying for two more years of school to complete a BS, applying to the masters program, and then paying for that, too. Is that included in your calculations?</p>

8

<p>it doesn’t matter I can apply directly to John jay and not have to go to BMCC, the only issue i have is that it’s a commuter school and has no social life. And forensics is not in all universities I know it’s in Penn State, but it’s to expensive for me.</p>

9

<p>Well, you’re right, the social life at commuter schools tends to leave something to be desired. Nobody can tell you if you’ll be able to handle that. I managed and it was worth it because I got to go to a college I couldn’t have afforded otherwise, but I was miserable and friendless for two years. It’s up to you.</p>

10

<p>yea that’s what I’m afraid of I’m a very social person and to see all my friends away and me being alone is a nightmare, that’s why I’m leaning on getting into Penn State instead, I herd their forensics course is excellent. But this is my back up in case i don’t get accepted there.</p>

11

<p>It was very, very hard for me to watch all my friends go off to school when I knew I would be staying home. Come Spring, all anyone can talk about is what college they are going off to, and I felt extremely left out. There are things you can do to make it better, though. Make it a point to join clubs, start study groups, and hang around in common spots on campus so you can meet people. It is common around here for the community college students to “adopt” a nearby university to “visit” on weekends, if any of your friends are going to universities nearby maybe you could go up to visit sometime and they can bring you to a party with them or something. Some people do so well at this that they aren’t even really bothered by the commuter school, if you’re a generally socially successful person you may be one of those people. For the introverts, though, it can be really rough.</p>

12

<p>If you want to, then I suggest it. Be prepared for a lack of a social life, as Twisted mentioned.</p>

13

<p>I would suggest not doing this. It doesn’t sound like you are just unable to afford a 4-year university, and from everything I’ve heard the community college social experience tends to suck hard.</p>

14

<p>Yea, I guess CC isn’t for me since I love being social. Thanks to the people who replied.</p>

15

<p>@TheyCallMeGill</p>

<p>I would consider going but it’s a commuter school and i want a full college experience, it is my back up school though.</p>

16

<p>I really don’t understand people who pass up community college so they can get the have a “social life” at a university. Is it really worth paying thousands of extra dollars for a better social scene? I don’t understand that line of reasoning anyway, my community college has dozens of clubs to meet people with common interests and although there aren’t parties at the college, there are plenty of places nearby to go out and dance, get drunk, whatever. I’m so glad I went to community college. It’s much bigger than my high school, but not as intimidating as a huge university would have been. Plus, like someone else said, you can always visit your friends at their university on weekends. To be honest, weekends should be the only free time you have anyways if your a serious student, especially in the field of forensics.</p>

<p>I highly, highly recommend going to community college first. Just because it’s not considered as exciting, it’s still an experience to have. And it doesn’t say anywhere on your degree that you started out at community college anyway. It only shows where you eventually graduated from. And if someone does find out, they might just think of you as financially wise. There is nothing wrong with community college. </p>

<p>Also, I find it is more diverse population than a huge university would be. I know it sounds odd, but hear me out. I’m around people who are like me, my age, and I’m also around much older people who are going back to college after starting a family, trying to get a job before getting a degree, or already have a degree and are taking classes for the joy of actually learning. I’ve learned a lot from this diverse population at my school, much different from major universities where pretty much everyone in your freshman class is an 17/18 year old just like you, fresh out of college, with no real life experience. </p>

<p>It makes you appreciate the value of education much more. After meeting a guy who tried to get a job somewhere but was severely limited by his lack of a college degree, made me realize that even though I’m exhausted and annoyed at 3 in the morning, studying for a midterm because it’s the only time I had to that week, I know dropping out simply isn’t an option because I’ve learned from his mistake, I know how hard it is to get a job without a degree. And after meeting a few single moms, I’m grateful that all I have to worry about is studying, not supporting a child as well. I don’t know how they do it, but I really admire them. It must be hard. And some people I’ve known that already have degrees but are coming back simply to take classes to learn. (An older man in my computer class working for decades in his profession but learning about new technology to “catch up with people your age” lol, plus a software designer taking philosophy because he wanted to learn more about the subject, not as a prerequiste for a major. That guy was brillant, and he taught me a lot about the subject. He could have been a co-teacher, he was an ideal student. I admired his study habits and dedication.)</p>

<p>I think community college is a great way to begin your higher education. I recommend giving it at least one year. Who knows, you might really like it even more than the four year school, and you’ll pay much less.</p>

17

<p>“I really don’t understand people who pass up community college so they can get the have a “social life” at a university. Is it really worth paying thousands of extra dollars for a better social scene? I don’t understand that line of reasoning anyway, my community college has dozens of clubs to meet people with common interests and although there aren’t parties at the college, there are plenty of places nearby to go out and dance, get drunk, whatever.”</p>

<p>That’s why you don’t get it. Many community colleges are NOT like that. We had like four clubs, so if you weren’t black, christian, a beekeeper, or a gamer there were no clubs for you. No parties, nowhere to go out, and pretty much nobody in town your age. I had classes where I was the only person under 40, and while that wasnt the norm I was usually surrounded by the numbskull addicts I went to high school with. Everyone at the CC was busy going to class, usually working full time, and taking care of their own business. There was no social scene whatsoever. It was also MUCH smaller than my high school and much less diverse, and the classes were so dumbed down I was literally bored out of my mind. I got LESS SMART while I was there. It is a damn good thing that I was really academically prepared going in, because if I had relied on community college to prepare me for upper division work at a university I would have been screwed. I did not learn a single thing the whole two years I was there.</p>

18

<p>Okay, but I have to ask, is it really worth paying THOUSANDS of dollars for a better social scene? I don’t care where you live, there has to be some kind of place to socialize nearby. And maybe there weren’t a lot of groups to choose from, but did you ever think of going to the student activities or advisors or even the dean and trying to MAKE a new club to suit your interests? Sometimes you have to push to get what you want, instead of just sitting back and saying “this sucks, must be because it’s community college”.</p>

<p>"and pretty much nobody in town your age. "</p>

<p>I’m guessing that’s an exaggeration, because there must have been others from local high schools going there, plus the people who decided not to go to college, people who decided to start families first, etc. What you mean is, no one that YOU know. Well there’s pretty much no one that you know at a huge university either, so it’s really not that different.</p>

<p>Also, whose to say that every community college is like yours? What if the one next to someone reading this message is like mine, which I admit seems to be a bit more social friendly? You</p>

<p>“Everyone at the CC was busy going to class, usually working full time, and taking care of their own business.”</p>

<p>Haha. And people don’t do that at a major university? Most people are busy going to class because THAT’S WHAT THEY PAID FOR! Duh! And some people have to work full time. I’ll bet a lot of people at major universities have to work full time to pay their huge tuition costs.</p>

<p>“There was no social scene whatsoever. It was also MUCH smaller than my high school and much less diverse, and the classes were so dumbed down I was literally bored out of my mind. I got LESS SMART while I was there.”</p>

<p>It seems to me that your implying community college is for people who couldn’t get into other colleges. Of course there will be some people like that, but who says you can’t learn from them as well? Everyone has a different perspective. You can’t say there’s no diversity. There’s less diversity at a university where most people are the same age and often the same finanical status, especially in the more privleged schools. At community college, there are many kinds of people- older people going back to learn to enhance their effectiveness at their current job, people who made mistakes and missed out on their education going back to learn for the first time, and of course, students you age who find nothing wrong with community college and are perhaps more financially wise and better planners than their peers going to universities and paying much more and possibly not being able to finish due to cost reasons, or else spending years trying to clear themselves of debt. Especially now, where a masters degree is pretty much essential to any profession. (Or will be in the near future).</p>

<p>It’s pretty obvious your biggest complaint it the lack of social life, aka, partying. “social life” can be found anywhere, partying is what your refering to. And if partying is such an important part of the college experience, then why is it that many people drop out because they get caught up in the social scene and neglect studying? If partying is that important to someone, then maybe they should consider putting college off for awhile until their emotionally mature. </p>

<p>Their GPA will certainly appreciate it.</p>

19

<p>"Okay, but I have to ask, is it really worth paying THOUSANDS of dollars for a better social scene? I don’t care where you live, there has to be some kind of place to socialize nearby. And maybe there weren’t a lot of groups to choose from, but did you ever think of going to the student activities or advisors or even the dean and trying to MAKE a new club to suit your interests? Sometimes you have to push to get what you want, instead of just sitting back and saying “this sucks, must be because it’s community college”</p>

<p>Yes, I did. Could not get the school involved. Everyone was too busy working or not on campus enough or they had too long of a commute to stay after classes. I have been at my new school fora semester and a half and am already president of a new organization I founded and we have 15 active members. It just wasn’t going to happen at the old school.</p>

<p>“I’m guessing that’s an exaggeration, because there must have been others from local high schools going there, plus the people who decided not to go to college, people who decided to start families first, etc. What you mean is, no one that YOU know. Well there’s pretty much no one that you know at a huge university either, so it’s really not that different.”</p>

<p>The vast majority of students were in their mid 20’s or older, and everyone in the clubs except for one or two people were late 20’s+ and had been in community college for several years. The officers in the club I did manage to get going were all married and had kids. Cool and all, but we didn’t have much in common. It would have been nice to get some friends my own age out of that experience. </p>

<p>“It seems to me that your implying community college is for people who couldn’t get into other colleges. Of course there will be some people like that, but who says you can’t learn from them as well? Everyone has a different perspective. You can’t say there’s no diversity. There’s less diversity at a university where most people are the same age and often the same finanical status, especially in the more privleged schools. At community college, there are many kinds of people- older people going back to learn to enhance their effectiveness at their current job, people who made mistakes and missed out on their education going back to learn for the first time, and of course, students you age who find nothing wrong with community college and are perhaps more financially wise and better planners than their peers going to universities and paying much more and possibly not being able to finish due to cost reasons, or else spending years trying to clear themselves of debt. Especially now, where a masters degree is pretty much essential to any profession. (Or will be in the near futur”</p>

<p>I am well aware of that, I got into several other colleges myself and went to CC for financial reasons. I am simply telling you who most of my classmates were. Most of them were 30+, druggies from my high school, or kids who went away to college and partied too hard and had to come back. And it was mind numbing to be around them. There were plenty of bright kids there who were in the same situation I was in, but that didn’t make it any easier to ignore the fact that the maturity level of most of my classes was WAY far below what it should be in college-- except for when everyone was old and coming in in business suits.</p>

<p>My CC is also in one of the whitest cities in America, and though I am white myself I am very accustomed to always having different cultural events and clubs and at least getting to SEE people that look different, but most of the school was just white druggie 18-19 year olds, the occasional normal person, and old people. There is certainly value to be had in the experience but that doesn’t mean it is ideal for everyone.</p>

<p>"It’s pretty obvious your biggest complaint it the lack of social life, aka, partying. “social life” can be found anywhere, partying is what your refering to. And if partying is such an important part of the college experience, then why is it that many people drop out because they get caught up in the social scene and neglect studying? If partying is that important to someone, then maybe they should consider putting college off for awhile until their emotionally mature.</p>

<p>Their GPA will certainly appreciate it."</p>

<p>Uh, no dear. I do not party, at all, in any way. I meant that nobody had any interest in having a community feel to the school, at least enough to actually pursue it. People would come to school, go to class, and go home. It was like pulling teeth to even get a study group together. We had a student activities board and nobody would participate or do anything, I was a chairperson in the group for a semester and by the time I left nobody had even bothered to learn my name because nobody gave a **** about putting anything into the school besides doing what they needed to do to get out. I left community college with a 3.7 GPA and transferred to Umich, so your assumptions couldn’t be more wrong.</p>