Community College vs. University

[tesfawMD]

Hey guys,

I'm a senior in high school, and I am taking community college classes, and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it'd be. My question is how does community college compare to a UC or other 4-year institution?

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[Fedekz]

I'm wondering as well, I am a Junior in high school; however, I take 15 credits/quarter at a community college . . . I was expecting a lot more in terms of work. I study the night before the tests for about 5 or so hours, and do perfectly fine on the tests (GPA, 3.9). Will I be able to do this at a 4-year university?

 

[JamesBond15]

University classes are much harder than CC classes. Part of that is due to the to competition in the class. I found CC classes to be easier than some of my high school classes.

 

[musicalmedicine]

Short answer is no. Although if you get the right instructor at a CC you will get the same information in the class as you would it its comparable university class, you also have much more face to face time while compared to at a university where you are in huge lecture halls for many classes. At universities you have to do a lot of the learning on your own rather than having the luxury of being able to talk directly to your instructor before or after class. Don't be too scared because at the same time if you get a good professor at a university they will be there to help you succeed and will help you during office hours.

 

[njbmd]

Hey guys,

I'm a senior in high school, and I am taking community college classes, and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it'd be. My question is how does community college compare to a UC or other 4-year institution?

This depends on the community college and the coursework that you are taking. Many community colleges have very strong and transferable courses in the humanities and sciences and many have coursework that is not comparable. Community college work makes good sense in terms of reducing overall cost of your bachelors degree but pick and choose your courses wisely.

If you know that you are transferring to a four-year school, I would first, skip the Associates Degree, take the pre-req general education courses such as humanities and math but leave the pre-med coursework until you get to university. Community college faculty do not have the research requirement to achieve tenure and thus they are supposed to be excellent in day to day teaching. You can take advantage of this if you have weaknesses in things like math or english and be very solidly prepared to enter your pre-med courses at your university.

If you already have a degree, then taking your pre-med courses at a community college (as long as they are of sufficient depth and breadth) is not much of a problem for most medical schools in this country. Again, the strong teaching mission and emphasis on excellent teaching of most community colleges can be an advantage for the student who struggles a bit with the sciences. Just be sure that the coursework is of high quality.

Community colleges in many states (California, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia come to mind) are very strong and have strong transfer links between their coursework and their state universities. This is a win-win situation if money is tight or if you need close attention from faculty.

 

[tesfawMD]

This depends on the community college and the coursework that you are taking. Many community colleges have very strong and transferable courses in the humanities and sciences and many have coursework that is not comparable. Community college work makes good sense in terms of reducing overall cost of your bachelors degree but pick and choose your courses wisely.

If you know that you are transferring to a four-year school, I would first, skip the Associates Degree, take the pre-req general education courses such as humanities and math but leave the pre-med coursework until you get to university. Community college faculty do not have the research requirement to achieve tenure and thus they are supposed to be excellent in day to day teaching. You can take advantage of this if you have weaknesses in things like math or english and be very solidly prepared to enter your pre-med courses at your university.

If you already have a degree, then taking your pre-med courses at a community college (as long as they are of sufficient depth and breadth) is not much of a problem for most medical schools in this country. Again, the strong teaching mission and emphasis on excellent teaching of most community colleges can be an advantage for the student who struggles a bit with the sciences. Just be sure that the coursework is of high quality.

Community colleges in many states (California, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia come to mind) are very strong and have strong transfer links between their coursework and their state universities. This is a win-win situation if money is tight or if you need close attention from faculty.

Have you heard of West Valley College in Saratoga, California? How does that rank in terms of pre-med coursework?

 

[Tin Man]

It's silly to assume that just because a class is easier that the student learns less in the class than they would at a 4-year university.

As has been said, the only REAL reasons why one can automatically assume that a class at a community college would be easier is due to the lower number of students generally enrolled in each class, and therefore an increase in interaction with the professor. Professors can generally take time to answer questions, go over classwork carefully, and meet with students before and after class. This luxury is not present in many four-year schools, which in some classes can be equated with the class being "harder."

But the quality of the education is not dependent upon whether or not it is a CC or a 4-year school. A CC professor is not automatically less knowledgeable than a 4-year school professor. A student taking inorganic chemistry at a CC isn't automatically less skilled at it than someone who took it from a 4-year. If anything, the extra interpersonal time with the instructors would make a CC MORE beneficial than a 4-year school. A student actually has the opportunity to learn better according to individual needs.

So no, anyone who's worth their salt in an admissions board will not automatically discount a community college simply upon it's status AS a community college. Rather, each school SHOULD be rated according to its academic merit. For instance, the community college I attended for a year and a half is one of the best in the entire country, and almost every class transfers to most of the major nearby 4-year universities.

However, because the bias still exists, it might be on the safe side to take most of your pre-reqs, especially classes like organic chemistry, at a 4-year university. That way, the question of whether or not you know what you're doing, however unfair it might be, won't even have to come up.

 

[packofneurons]

I feel like CCs require less course work and more time spent conceptualizing during lectures.
At university, I feel like I have to independently study and put more time into the information than just covering the surface.

I feel like they are both a bit different, as mentioned previously, the student to teacher ratio is smaller at a community college (something I preferred).

I also felt that the environments were a bit different. Community colleges were mostly attended by people who had full time jobs and didn't have time to socialize or study as much. At the university I'm at, it is very catered towards schoolwork and students succeeding.