community college rating

[wagmanager]

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Hi Guys
Does anyone know of a reliable website where community colleges are rated. I don't believe US world news does this and I googled it but didn't find anything.Thanks

 

[TexasPhysician]

Community colleges are just that.....for the local community. No point in ranking schools established for the purpose of educating only those nearby.

No service would bother to study CC's and if there is a study out there, I would question its reliability GREATLY.

 

[Sesom]

It is irrelevant anyway, CC are taught by alot of non phd teachers. The ranking would most likely go along with how much funding the CC pulls in. So naturally the larger student body would have more funding. Salt Lake Community College comes in 3rd according to what a teacher there says but it means absolutely nothing, we also have probably the largest student body of any college.

 

[chman]

It is irrelevant anyway, CC are taught by alot of non phd teachers. The ranking would most likely go along with how much funding the CC pulls in. So naturally the larger student body would have more funding. Salt Lake Community College comes in 3rd according to what a teacher there says but it means absolutely nothing, we also have probably the largest student body of any college.

I doubt the cc's in Salt Lake are bigger than the greater Miami area, Vegas, and LA cc's. Those are huuuuuuuge.

OP, while it would be pretty pointless to rank them, all cc's are not created equal, regardless of what some may say. You can generally tell by how much funding the school gets, what kinds of programs they have, etc. If there has not been a new building or program added in the past 20 years that is a really bad sign.

I know for a fact that the cc's here in WA and in CA are top notch. Beyond that I can't really say.

 

[smarttee88]

OP, I can't think of any legitimate reason why a premed student would care about the ranking of a CC. It's simple, if u must, attend a CC for a year or two, make good grades, and transfer to a 4 year university.

 

[chman]

OP, I can't think of any legitimate reason why a premed student would care about the ranking of a CC. It's simple, if u must, attend a CC for a year or two, make good grades, and transfer to a 4 year university.

I agree that rankings don't matter...However, it is not a bad idea to check up on which cc is best in one's area because faculty and facilities can vary greatly. For instance; my cc has a brand new science and engineering building. It also has a partnership with the University of Washington for cadavers for biology classes blah blah blah.. you see what I'm getting at I'm sure.

 

[docelh]

Pointless to rate sub-mediocrity.

 

[maxx52188]

Pointless to rate sub-mediocrity.

My JC has a math and chemistry department that it has been recognized by deans of colleges and past students for better preparing their students during their fresh/soph years than school like Cal and Davis.

We have transfer agreements with Irvine, SC, Davis, etc for an automatic acceptance with only a 3.0gpa.

More than half of the faculty in our math, bio, and chem depts have PHds


You mad at my 20 dollar per unit sub-mediocrity?

 

[docelh]

Someone's very sensitive.

CC is a financially smart move, but my point is that there is no purpose in rating schools with capped ceilings.

The agreement with UCs mean nothing as that is how California systematically deals with its over-enrollment crisis. As for PhDs, a few of them even teach at high schools....

 

[maxx52188]

Someone's very sensitive.

Just the meritocracy part. CCs seem to get little respect on this board, like they think an A from a CC is given out in a chemistry class if you can draw a circle in crayola.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Just the meritocracy part. CCs seem to get little respect on this board, like they think an A from a CC is given out in a chemistry class if you can draw a circle in crayola.

I've gone attended CC, Cal State, and UC. There is no difference in the quality for the majority of the classes. Sometimes the CC classes are a joke and sometimes the university classes are even more of a joke. As far as the teachers are concerned. I've been taught by M.A.s at all three levels and I've been taught by PhDs and MDs at all three levels. My physio teacher for this past semester actually teaches physio at a UC med school. So I don't know where the anti-CC comes from.

What is really funny is that I scored easy A's on the o chem exams and exercises on MIT's online opencourse resources. Yet for my CC tests I scored Bs and some Cs. If I wouldve taken the class at MIT I would have received an A in o-chem I and II, but at my CC I received two Bs. So what is so prestigious and challenging about "prestigious" schools? 🙄

 

[nicolemeooow]

I've gone attended CC, Cal State, and UC. There is no difference in the quality for the majority of the classes. Sometimes the CC classes are a joke and sometimes the university classes are even more of a joke. As far as the teachers are concerned. I've been taught by M.A.s at all three levels and I've been taught by PhDs and MDs at all three levels. My physio teacher for this past semester actually teaches physio at a UC med school. So I don't know where the anti-CC comes from.

What is really funny is that I scored easy A's on the o chem exams and exercises on MIT's online opencourse resources. Yet for my CC tests I scored Bs and some Cs. If I wouldve taken the class at MIT I would have received an A in o-chem I and II, but at my CC I received two Bs. So what is so prestigious and challenging about "prestigious" schools? 🙄

mhm, we have UCLA graduates coming back to our CC taking the Gchem classes. They get Bs and Cs. Go figure

 

[pavlovb]

Hi Guys
Does anyone know of a reliable website where community colleges are rated. I don't believe US world news does this and I googled it but didn't find anything.Thanks

try google

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

mhm, we have UCLA graduates coming back to our CC taking the Gchem classes. They get Bs and Cs. Go figure

University = Curves.
CC's = no curve.

University classes as such give you a higher chance of getting a A. At cc's its basically 2-3 A's per class tops.

 

[chman]

try google

Seriously though, that's how I found the right cc for me. Plus you don't have to deal with the yahoos on here.😉

 

[st2205]

CC is awesome. I would also state that if a community college opened a med school, I would go there.

 

[iceman55]

CC is awesome. I would also state that if a community college opened a med school, I would go there.

What? this wouldn't even make since lol, but I see what your saying.

As for Community Colleges, I think the ones that you guys are mentioning are exceptions and may be even rare cases. I have always looked at community colleges as a preparation for ones who aren't mature or focused enough to handle university life on their own, away from parents and family, which would otherwise help them stay focused and on top of things. Now this does not mean that community colleges should then be expected to be a piece of cake, but in all honesty most are.

Lets take Maryland for example, the state I live in. For every county in MD, there is a community college and they all differ from one another in every aspect. And in the more populated counties There can be a CC for every city. Now there are around 18 CC in MD, and having taken a science class at probably the best CC in MD, I would say that may be only one of the CC in MD come close to the caliber of the University of Maryland-College park science department courses. (can't comment on other departments)

The CC that you guys have mentioned may very well be exception, but i think its fair to say that the MAJORITY (90%) of CC are much easier than Universities. And I mean UNIVERSITIES, haha not those weird never heard of small town colleges that are highly comparable to CC or even way worse (just kidding, but for real tough). Their are some small town colleges out there that are a complete joke compared to CC

 

[Sesom]

What? this wouldn't even make since lol, but I see what your saying.

As for Community Colleges, I think the ones that you guys are mentioning are exceptions and may be even rare cases. I have always looked at community colleges as a preparation for ones who aren't mature or focused enough to handle university life on their own, away from parents and family, which would otherwise help them stay focused and on top of things. Now this does not mean that community colleges should then be expected to be a piece of cake, but in all honesty most are.

Lets take Maryland for example, the state I live in. For every county in MD, there is a community college and they all differ from one another in every aspect. And in the more populated counties There can be a CC for every city. Now there are around 18 CC in MD, and having taken a science class at probably the best CC in MD, I would say that may be only one of the CC in MD come close to the caliber of the University of Maryland-College park science department courses. (can't comment on other departments)

The CC that you guys have mentioned may very well be exception, but i think its fair to say that the MAJORITY (90%) of CC are much easier than Universities. And I mean UNIVERSITIES, haha not those weird never heard of small town colleges that are highly comparable to CC or even way worse (just kidding, but for real tough). Their are some small town colleges out there that are a complete joke compared to CC

Your post is a complete joke.

 

[iceman55]

Your post is a complete joke.

yeahhh and behind every joke stands the truth

 

[Sesom]

yeahhh and behind every joke stands the truth

And behind ever truth stands a joke and so on.

 

[eablackwell]

I agree that all CCs are not created equal. I've done all of my postbacc at a CC. I have yet to have a non-phd professor. Also, when I retook chem 1 the prof gave me a harder run of it than at Duke, and that one almost killed me, lol.

At the CC we started with 30, by final withdrawl we had 15, of those 15 there were 2 As, 2 Bs, a smattering of Cs, and 7-8 Ds/Fs (the prof actually kept a public grade program so we could keep up and compete for grades).

 

[TreeOfSouls]

Where I am, this is untrue. All of the science classes are taught by PhD's. In fact, there's often overlap in that some associate profs at the university also teach adjunct at the CC's where they can actually get to know their students. The only classes taught by Masters level profs are usually in arts and social sciences where there are areas of expertise that don't have a lot of PhD's to teach or vocational certifications where PhD is irrelevant. I have never heard of a science course being taught by a non-PhD at the CC's in my state that feed directly into the university system. Most also have quite a bit of research and/or industry experience- much more so than the university faculty that generally went B.S. --> PhD/research --> teaching uinversity. It's pretty well known that you'll actually get more from a CC course with maybe 30 students than from the university class with your class of 300 students, given that the faculty is often the same and certainly equally qualified.

BTW, at the university, they have UNDERGRADS teaching the lab sections- would NEVER happen at the CC's here b/c they are taught by the PhD professors themselves. I was stunned taking the science core at university when I realized that! I'd been prepared to be taught the sciences by grad students rather than the PhD profs, because that's now the norm at many colleges. But, the whole undergrads teaching- and grading- their peers was really surprising. So, it's definitely hard to see how the university science pre-reqs would in ANY way be better taught at university than the CC's here.

Maybe it's different elsewhere...

It is irrelevant anyway, CC are taught by alot of non phd teachers. The ranking would most likely go along with how much funding the CC pulls in. So naturally the larger student body would have more funding. Salt Lake Community College comes in 3rd according to what a teacher there says but it means absolutely nothing, we also have probably the largest student body of any college.

 

[476515678234896]

What? this wouldn't even make since lol, but I see what your saying.

As for Community Colleges, I think the ones that you guys are mentioning are exceptions and may be even rare cases. I have always looked at community colleges as a preparation for ones who aren't mature or focused enough to handle university life on their own, away from parents and family, which would otherwise help them stay focused and on top of things. Now this does not mean that community colleges should then be expected to be a piece of cake, but in all honesty most are.

Lets take Maryland for example, the state I live in. For every county in MD, there is a community college and they all differ from one another in every aspect. And in the more populated counties There can be a CC for every city. Now there are around 18 CC in MD, and having taken a science class at probably the best CC in MD, I would say that may be only one of the CC in MD come close to the caliber of the University of Maryland-College park science department courses. (can't comment on other departments)

The CC that you guys have mentioned may very well be exception, but i think its fair to say that the MAJORITY (90%) of CC are much easier than Universities. And I mean UNIVERSITIES, haha not those weird never heard of small town colleges that are highly comparable to CC or even way worse (just kidding, but for real tough). Their are some small town colleges out there that are a complete joke compared to CC

tl;dr (type up an abridged version and maybe I'll read it while on the pot)

CC is awesome. I would also state that if a community college opened a med school, I would go there.

closest you'll find is Caribbean schools 😀

 

[Sesom]

Where I am, this is untrue. All of the science classes are taught by PhD's. In fact, there's often overlap in that some associate profs at the university also teach adjunct at the CC's where they can actually get to know their students. The only classes taught by Masters level profs are usually in arts and social sciences where there are areas of expertise that don't have a lot of PhD's to teach or vocational certifications where PhD is irrelevant. I have never heard of a science courses being taught by a non-PhD at the CC's in my state. Most also have quite a bit of research and/or industry experience- much more so than the university faculty that generally went B.S. --> PhD/research --> teaching uinversity. It's pretty well known that you'll actually get more from a CC course with maybe 30 students than from the university class with your class of 300 students, given that the faculty is often the same and certainly equally qualified.

Maybe it's different elsewhere...

Yeah it probably is different in certain places, at my CC I have to look into whether the professor has a phd before I take there class. but regardless, I have had teachers without their phd that were better at explaining concepts. Totally depends on the individual teaching the class.

 

[TreeOfSouls]

Also, at CC, there are sometimes honors high school students taking more advanced science/math/language classes than their high schools offer. So, they're pretty mature in terms of academic focus!

As for immaturity, that's another myth. There are ton of mature kids that went to community college to save money. I would argue they are the majority. Another group is there because they don't want to go to college and just don't have anything productive to do. At UC, I met a lot of responsible kids, but I also met tons of freshman *******es getting kicked out or being in academic probation with 1.0 GPA because they were too immature to handle it.

 

[TreeOfSouls]

What it really comes down to is what you value- is having a PhD professor the priority or is understanding the material for the MCAT? Are you applying to schools that won't accept CC credits or do the schools you're applying to not care? Those are the criteria that ultimately matter.

Yeah it probably is different in certain places, at my CC I have to look into whether the professor has a phd before I take there class. but regardless, I have had teachers without their phd that were better at explaining concepts. Totally depends on the individual teaching the class.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I kinda wish the community college near my house would upgrade to a 4 year already. I would be much happier commuting 10 minutes a day rather then 40- 50 to UMD.

 

[wagmanager]

I know that in the CC by my house most of the profs are Phd holders, the labs are taught by the profs themselves not grad students who are forced to teach and probably hate it.
I would beg to differ that every chem 101 course is harder or more thoroughly taught in every 4yr uni across the country rather than a CC

 

[UNMorBUST]

At the CC I attended I had an unbelievable staff. A majority held Phd's. Several held posistions at local 4-year institutions. A few others had outside research, books, careers that only allowed them to teach one or two classes so the CC was a better fit for them. Just to give an example of the difficulty of a math class: 32 students started, 8 made it to the final, 4 passed. I later learned that the professor was a notorious weedout teacher at the local state university. I was never so excited for a C.

 

[chman]

What? this wouldn't even make since lol, but I see what your saying.

As for Community Colleges, I think the ones that you guys are mentioning are exceptions and may be even rare cases. I have always looked at community colleges as a preparation for ones who aren't mature or focused enough to handle university life on their own, away from parents and family, which would otherwise help them stay focused and on top of things. Now this does not mean that community colleges should then be expected to be a piece of cake, but in all honesty most are.

Lets take Maryland for example, the state I live in. For every county in MD, there is a community college and they all differ from one another in every aspect. And in the more populated counties There can be a CC for every city. Now there are around 18 CC in MD, and having taken a science class at probably the best CC in MD, I would say that may be only one of the CC in MD come close to the caliber of the University of Maryland-College park science department courses. (can't comment on other departments)

The CC that you guys have mentioned may very well be exception, but i think its fair to say that the MAJORITY (90%) of CC are much easier than Universities. And I mean UNIVERSITIES, haha not those weird never heard of small town colleges that are highly comparable to CC or even way worse (just kidding, but for real tough). Their are some small town colleges out there that are a complete joke compared to CC

Judging from your abundant grammatical errors, maybe you could stand to gain from some remedial English courses at these "inferior" institutions.

I am not one to feel too hurt when people generalize about cc's, because I know the truth. But when this kind of BS gets posted on a forum that many take seriously I feel I need to say something.

Your post does not provide any evidence whatsoever for your "claims." Further, your comments regarding demographics is highly questionable. Most students at cc's go there because they are either non-traditional, go part time, or it is the only place they can afford. If anything the demographic at state colleges is more similar to what you are suggesting.

 

[eablackwell]

I had the same experience with undergrads teaching labs at duke. Also, the professors weren't much better. I specifically loved the engineering prof that hooked up his comp every class and accidentally displayed porn, saying "oops, someone must have hacked my laptop." He told us he was the head of OIT, I seriously doubt his laptop was getting hacked every week. And then there was my grad student calc instructor, whose claim to fame was doing hour long problems on the pullout whiteboards and then looking at the answer and saying "hmm, well that's not right."

All I can say is I'm glad I was on scholarship, because I'd have been pissed if I was dropping 35k a year on those people, lol.

 

[UNMorBUST]

And then there was my grad student calc instructor, whose claim to fame was doing hour long problems on the pullout whiteboards and then looking at the answer and saying "hmm, well that's not right."

Oh i know how this is.

 

[Hope0913]

I kinda wish the community college near my house would upgrade to a 4 year already. I would be much happier commuting 10 minutes a day rather then 40- 50 to UMD.

same here

 

[eablackwell]

same here

I'm lucky because right before I started taking my prereqs the cc I was going to go to got upgraded/accredited as a 4-year. So even though I say I took my prereqs at a CC, it's now a 4 year state college, and the name no longer has cc in the name. Any idea how ADCOMs look at that? Do they even know it was a cc if the name doesn't say it and it's an accredited 4-year?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I'm lucky because right before I started taking my prereqs the cc I was going to go to got upgraded/accredited as a 4-year. So even though I say I took my prereqs at a CC, it's now a 4 year state college, and the name no longer has cc in the name. Any idea how ADCOMs look at that? Do they even know it was a cc if the name doesn't say it and it's an accredited 4-year?

It'd be amazing if that happened. Though, a few teachers including a few really good ones with M.S's would have to leave which would really suck. And I haven't a clue I think if the name change happened then you'll be fine as credit will shown as the new college.

 

[wagmanager]

i had the same experience with undergrads teaching labs at duke. Also, the professors weren't much better. I specifically loved the engineering prof that hooked up his comp every class and accidentally displayed porn, saying "oops, someone must have hacked my laptop." he told us he was the head of oit, i seriously doubt his laptop was getting hacked every week. And then there was my grad student calc instructor, whose claim to fame was doing hour long problems on the pullout whiteboards and then looking at the answer and saying "hmm, well that's not right."

all i can say is i'm glad i was on scholarship, because i'd have been pissed if i was dropping 35k a year on those people, lol.

lol