It’s no secret that community colleges get a bad wrap. Whether it’s from your high school advisor, your aunt who went to an Ivy League school, or in popular media, community colleges are rarely treated as a viable option.
Most of the time they’re treated like a joke.
I’m not going to lie: I loved the show Community as much as the next guy — hell, I can remember community college professors talking to each other about how much they liked it — but the general idea that community college is for deadbeats and students who couldn’t make the grade is, at points, classist, and others just wrong.
This is probably the main “pro” you’ll hear on any junior-college attendee’s list, and it’s there for a reason. Growing up, I was very aware that for all their hard work, my parents were not going to be able to afford to send me to college. And while this is true of many (many) kids who go to a traditional university anyway, it was also instilled in me not to take on loans, and to avoid debt at all costs. Because of this, and my own lack of idea of what I actually wanted to do in school, I went from high school to Golden West College (GWC) instead.
Now, I realize even community college costs money, but with my family’s income, I was able to have a fee waiver to make it more affordable for me (and, eventually, my brothers) to take classes as well. Your state’s community colleges are supposed to be for everyone: don’t be afraid to visit the financial aid office or admissions as many times as you need to in order to make things work. There are even work-study options sometimes, or other student jobs on campus, too.
Pro-tip: For you older transfers out there, if you transfer after 24, you will be considered an “Independent” and can potentially get more financial aid at your future university. This ultimately really helped me, as I transferred at 25.
As I mentioned before, I really didn’t know what I wanted out of college, and luckily I went to a junior college first before anything else because boy did it become apparent in my grades and conflicts of interest. I knew that I liked art, but I struggled at it, in a different way than I struggled in classes I didn’t like (like math or science) but it wasn’t easy for me just the same. If I had gone straight to one of the art schools I’d been looking at, I probably would have been “stuck” in the major I’d chosen after the first year.
At community colleges, you don’t have a limited time to make sure you take every single specific class in order to graduate in four years. Now, obviously, some people still do — they get in and out in two years with their associate’s degree and transfer, which is great for people who already know what they want. But for the rest of us, it’s encouraging to know that we can take a class outside of our fields to try them and, and see what it is we really want.
Speaking of figuring out what it is you want to do — every community college should have a strong academic and career counseling department to help students get on the right track for what they want to do. One of the awesome things about this (and about community colleges in general) is that they are used to nontraditional students, students from all walks of life, and will help you without judgment.
As someone who got overwhelmed the first time around and took a break from school to work, I went back to community college with my self-esteem in the basement. My counselor, Stephanie Dumont (who eventually came to my graduation) would later tell me that I couldn’t even look at her, I was so embarrassed. Luckily, she was able to help me figure out which classes to take to get my academic life on track… she would later help me switch majors, from Art to English, and then help me in my journey of applying to four-year universities, too. Stephanie has since passed away, but I know I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.
Protip: Take a Career and Guidance class if possible! This can help you narrow things down and discover even more about yourself.
With counseling out of the way, you’ll have an academic game-plan in order to get things done. In California, this is called the IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum), which will tell you exactly which courses you need in order to prepare to transfer to a four-year college. No matter what school you go to, having to do general ed classes (classes that have nothing to do with your course of study) can be irritating…but they can be incredibly valuable too.
For a long time, I hated that I had to take math and science courses and thought that I would never be able to pass them (low self-esteem, remember?) but (bonus tip alert) going to the tutoring center really helped me out. Along with general ed, you’ll also get to take some classes in your area which can help you clarify what it is you’re hoping to do when you transfer and graduate, and help you have less to do, ultimately, at your next destination, getting some of those classes out of the way for way, way cheaper than any public or private college.
Another stereotype about community colleges can be that you’ll have a less quality education and teachers or professors that couldn’t get jobs at “real” colleges. Yikes. In my experience as a transfer student who met many other transfer students from all over California, this couldn’t seem further from the truth. If someone chooses to teach at a community college, they are generally not currently preoccupied with their own pet projects in the way that professors at research universities can be (not always, naturally). Instead of teaching just to pay for their own research, they’re there generally because they’re excited about the subjects they’re teaching, and they want to talk about them with you.
Of course, there are especially good community college professors and especially bad ones, like there are in any field, but I know that two of my biggest cheerleaders were English professors I met in my time at GWC. They really helped boost my confidence in myself and my abilities and encouraged me to apply to schools and go for things that I never would have tried on my own.
Protip: If you’re nervous about attending office hours or having one-on-one time with any professor, make a friend in class that you can bring with you. They might have questions too!
Now, there’s always the chance, too, that as you attend class or find yourself searching through the course catalog yet again, you might find yourself more drawn to certain courses or areas that don’t necessarily lead to a traditional degree. Community colleges offer trade and tech school options that can be difficult to find elsewhere, certifying you in areas like auto-mechanics, hair and beauty styling, graphic design, certain computer and business skills, and more.
Not everyone is set out for getting a traditional education, and that’s okay. Speak to an academic advisor and maybe you’ll find yourself going down a path you’ll find even more fulfilling than the alternative.
For those of you who decide you want to transfer to a four-year school, community colleges do a lot to help prepare you for that next step. Once you do transfer, you’ll be going in as a junior, and preparing to take (at least mostly) major classes in your field of study.
When I transferred to UC Berkeley, I was scared and excited all at once. I never would have believed that I would find myself in a school like this (or any school for that matter) after having once felt so low, but I know that it was my experience at my community college that really helped me ge ready for the next two years of my life.
After all of the doubts, I had about myself and my abilities, and in spite of my own path meandering and taking its time, I was able to do it. And if I can do it, you can do it too.
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