Its been recommended to me to urge my granddaughters to go to the local college[A two-year school]and move on to a university as a Junior. Reason: An 18 year-old is not mature enough to say NO! to marijuana, alcohol and random sex in the current college and ‘Greek Row’ environment.
Others say the Ivy’s are closed to JC transfers. They are only welcome at the University of California and the national service academies in the top 15 schools.
Is this true?
If a student is mature enough to make smart choices while away from home is a case by case, individual thing. Nobody should make such a blanket statement. I believe students who make good choices in high school will do so in college.
Agree with the above. There is no one age when every student is mature enough for college. If your granddaughter has shown maturity in her decisions to date, there is no reason to expect otherwise when she gets to a college. If she hasn’t shown maturity in her decisions to date, there is no guarantee that two more years at home will change that.
At some point you have to trust that your child/grandchild has listened and paid attention to the lessons they have had and the morals they were taught growing up.
Also FWIW I think service academies require that students go through 4 years of college at the academy.
Community college students have been known to do drugs and have sex too! Unless your granddaughters are already into sex and doing drugs in high school and their parents are worried about it getting worse in college sending them to a community college is ridiculous.
Agree with both the above. It depends on the maturity level of your young adult. I had no hesitation sending my sons away at 18. They have demonstrated responsibility and we have had many discussions about it. An 18 year old can be mature enough to say no to marijuana and any other drugs. They also have good friends who are mature enough to make decisions for themselves.
Transferring is usually harder than applying outright. Realistically ivy’s are impossible to transfer in. I think University is too important to worry about such things. It is on her, if she messes up.
I agree with everyone else.
First, community college students are perfectly capable of being exposed to and pressured about drugs, alcohol and sex, even if they’re living at home.
Second, plenty of 18 year olds and, in fact, plenty of high school students are capable of making good decisions, even in the face of peer pressure.
Finally, not every college has the same atmosphere around drugs, sex and alcohol. You’ll find all 3 at the overwhelming majority of schools, but schools vary greatly in how much social life revolves around them and how much pressure there is to engage. And Greek life ranges from an overwhelming influence on a school’s social scene to be literally non-existent.
More misinformation there than I know what to do with. But starting with – there was a lot more marijuana use among my HS classmates who headed off to CC than those who went to 4 year schools. My kids were able to go off without falling into those traps – a kid who is going to party too hard is likely to do it whether at CC or at a 4 year school. They also skipped Greek life. Also think they skipped “random sex” (one is marrying her boyfriend of 8 years she met freshman year of college, other dated a total of 3 people during her four years – so hookup culture was not for either of them).
Most four year schools EXCEPT the service academies accept at least some transfers. But it is harder to transfer to a top school than to get in as a freshman – partly because so few students leave (so they clearly aren’t mostly partying their way out of school).
I will say that if your granddaughters are legitimate contenders for Ivy admission as freshman, they are very unlikely to fall into the problems you are worrying about in a big way – no one with the work ethic to develop the credentials needed for Ivy admission has THAT much time for debauchery in high school, and few change dramatically when they get to college from that perspective. It would be a huge shame to keep a kid at a CC who could get into an Ivy unless (1) they find it unaffordable, or (2) the kid has some other issue (health, for example) that make a 4 year college very difficult.
But I will also say that it is tremendously difficult to get into the very top schools today – the competition is stratospheric compared to what it was even 30 years ago. But even if they don’t go to a very top school, there are MANY fine 4 year schools in this country, and they will likely make closer friends, develop better mentoring relationships with professors, and enjoy their college experience more if they are able to start at a 4 year school. CCs make sense for some students, but your acquaintances are fear mongering about the perils of a 4 year school.
Plenty of kids at Ivy League schools drink, smoke marijuana and have sex in hook ups. Many kids experiment with their newfound freedom but tire of it after awhile. And use is different from abuse. Kids need to learn self-control and sometimes they learn it through mistakes. They certainly cannot learn self-control if you provide the control.
“Most four year schools EXCEPT the service academies accept at least some transfers”
One kid that graduated from my kid’s high school transferred to a service academy I think. He either went to a school with ROTC for one year or was in the reserves for one year before he was accepted into the academy a year after he graduated. He was recognized at my kid’s academic award’s ceremony.
You make it sound like the only places you would consider for transfer are the Ivies.
There are TONS of colleges who welcome CC transfer students.
But to your question…there are also thousands upon thousands of 18 year olds who have none of the issues you describe in your OP.
The academies will accept students who attended other schools. However, no credit is given for past coursework. The student enters as a freshman and must attend the respective academy for 4 years.
@CrewDad and others above are correct about the service academies. None of them accept any prior schooling. A new cadet or mid must be younger than 23 when s/he reports to basic training but, by 23, that new cadet or mid could have a bachelors degree from some other college; that student will still start out as a freshman/Plebe and complete all four academic years same as if s/he were showing up fresh from high school. Academy validation exams might enable that student to start further along in course content, but no credit is given for prior work and no time is shaved off those four years.
Our son was a platoon sergeant at Beast (basic training) this summer. He had a 22-year-old prior enlisted Ranger with an associates degree in his platoon. Ranger got no special recognition and did not pass any of the validation exams he took. He’s just a miserable Plebe, like all the rest. Oh, and a cadet in our son’s class was sentenced to 21 years in Leavenworth last term for not being mature enough to say NO! to raping another cadet.
Kids who drink, smoke marijuana, or have sex do not “have issues” unless they are abusing the substances and/or having random hook ups that are harmful. If you want to protect your kids from such temptations, they might need to stay in the house.
I used “has issues” because that is what the OP implied those things were.
But I clearly stated that…the vast vast majority of 18 year olds entering college don’t have the concerns the OP presented.
Honestly…wondering why this OP thinks this is the case.
I wonder if “GrandpaTom” was just trying to stir things up – a one time poster who hasn’t been back since starting this thread.
I call…a post that was created in jest.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
I call… a hit-and-run post. And since I have access to the “close thread” button, I’m planning to do just that.