University student tried to tell me CC is way easier

[Fakhter]

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I asked him if he ever even attended a CC and he said, "no". This such a subjective thing to say because every professor is different. Anyone else care to agree or give a reason to why you disagree? Thanks

 

[amazing tekkers]

curving is less frequent at a CC than a university.

and as you stated, it is pretty much subjective.

 

[TangoDown]

Here we go.

You're going to get a lot of flak here because a lot of people here have bias against CCs.

I am a CC student. There are many variables that determine the "easiness" of the class.

From MY limited experience, certain GEs may be easier depending on who is in the class. That depends on the CC and the professor.

The science courses and college level math courses are different because those people have put in the work to get there, or had the background to attain acceptance to that class as opposed to failing a remedial course.

In terms of the difficulty of the material in science/math courses, it again depends on the professor which depends on the school.

Again, what people who attack CCs fail to realize is that to get into General Chem or Calculus, you NEED to have the baseline. Whereas many at a university may start out at those courses, many people at a CC start in lower level math courses or science courses and hence learn what people learned in high school. Hence, when people show up in Calc, Gen Chem, Physics, O-Chem, etc, they went through the gantlet of courses preparing them for these courses and displayed enough dedication to place into said courses.

This is why those people who make it to Gen Chem or O-Chem by in large are not idiots.

Unfortunately, most people who bash CCs don't understand the above because they've never step foot in a CC or understand how they work.

 

[LaughingMan]

A friend of mine who was an Engineering student (who now works for GE), helped me with some of my Physics topics that I struggled with. He said my CC homework was harder than anything he did in his Introductory Physics courses at our university. My class started with about 25 people and we were down to 10 by the end of the semester.

Professor was great though---graduated from UC-Santa Barbra with a PhD in AstroPhysics. He just wants to teach at CC for the rest of his career. I asked him why not look into teaching at a University, but he said he doesn't wanna do research and just wants to teach.

It's all really subjective. The classes I took at CC I don't think were easier--but the professors were WAYYYYYYYYY more willing to meet with me and offer tips. All my university science classes had 200+ people in them.

 

[music2doc]

I asked him if he ever even attended a CC and he said, "no". This such a subjective thing to say because every professor is different. Anyone else care to agree or give a reason to why you disagree? Thanks

Frankly, the general rule is that CC courses tend to be easier than university courses. Period. It's a general trend. Are there exceptions? Sure, there are plenty, but the overall trend is that way. It's also how med school adcoms are going to evaluate your work so might as well get used to it now.

 

[darkjedi]

As with anything, there is a bell curve of difficulty as far as with different community colleges and different universities.

Generally speaking universities will have more competitive students as compared to most community colleges. Of course you will always find outstanding students at CC's and terrible students at universities, just as you will find very tough courses at some CC's and very easy courses at universities.

It seems that overall however, grades in most CC's will be more favorably curved than at most universities. This is also the general consensus that adcoms will have.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Looking at your profile stats OP, you've started 53 threads, basically every one of them is about the same thing. Should you take or not take classes at a CC. Don't you have an answer to this question by now?

 

[487806]

I asked him if he ever even attended a CC and he said, "no". This such a subjective thing to say because every professor is different. Anyone else care to agree or give a reason to why you disagree? Thanks

You just answered your own question. It's subjective. Not sure what you want us to say.

 

[Slowpoke]

In my personal experience, it was much easier to get As at the university (due to curves) than As at my CC (where no curving happens). Curving helped me because as long as I knew the material well enough I could do well. No curving punished me because even if I knew the material well enough, I would need to know random factoids to break the 90% barrier - I hated memorizing random factoids. So to answer your question, people will have varying opinions - doesn't mean we're wrong or right.

 

[Koosalagoosagoo]

In my personal experience, it was much easier to get As at the university (due to curves) than As at my CC (where no curving happens). Curving helped me because as long as I knew the material well enough I could do well. No curving punished me because even if I knew the material well enough, I would need to know random factoids to break the 90% barrier - I hated memorizing random factoids. So to answer your question, people will have varying opinions - doesn't mean we're wrong or right.

This is the one thing I hate so much at my CC, good thing its my last semester heh. Calculus and Organic Chemistry with no curve is brutal because I have to actually do mass amounts of problems. At my local university as long as you know what youre kind of doing and beat the curve you will be all right...

 

[JustinD]

I'm a community college student and like others say it depends on the professor.

For example, my English professor who teaches at a fairly prestigious private catholic university in addition to community college says he grades exactly the same, and the coursework is exactly the same. And yes, that was a runonn sentence.

 

[911 Turbo]

Never realized how many people on SDN go to CC lol

 

[Jwalker]

I would venture to say that my best learning experiences came from CC like classes (~30 students in a classroom) as opposed to being with 400 of my closest friends in a lecture hall.

 

[La Presse]

I nearly failed my Introductory English course at a CC over the summer, taught by a lawyer on a graduate level.

Edit--

This has been the hardest course I have taken to date in my undergraduate career. No joke.

 

[Gigantron]

In my experience, CC courses were very easy, but only because they were general ed courses and I took them over the summer. Though, like everyone has already said, this is very subjective and depends on the professor/actual CC.

 

[MilMD01]

It's definitely subjective. I took Physics l & ll at a CC.

Physics l was a breeze, while Physics ll was far more difficult than any other course that I've taken (mainly due to the professor IMO). Especially with the lack of curving at CC's.

 

[callcar]

It's easier.

I've experienced it....

🙄

 

[Loveless]

Maybe it was just my CC and/or the professors I took (I'm a huge fan of ratemyprofessor 😎), but I found the lack of curving was made up for by "easy" grading. It also helped a lot that my CC professors were available for the all the questions I had and then some. At the end of the day, the difficulty comes out to about even IMO.

 

[Doctor Strange]

What is this "curving" people speak of? No such thing exists at my university....

 

[metview]

Well it matters what type of university you are comparing CCs to. A small state school that many people may not know would probably be comparable to a CC in rigor, but comparing a top 10 university to a CC is not very fair.

 

[PennDippody]

For all intents and purposes, it was easier in my experience - No question.

 

[cookiemonsters]

I'm honestly surprised how many people there seem to be attending CCs on SDN... I don't think I saw a single CC on the nametags at my interviews.

 

[LaughingMan]

I'm honestly surprised how many people there seem to be attending CCs on SDN... I don't think I saw a single CC on the nametags at my interviews.

...?

If they are at the point of applying--then that means they most likely have already transferred to a four year university.

 

[Like]

😡😡😡😡😡
I've taken 60+ credits at a CC, and 60+ credits at a 4-year college, both of which are part of a city university. In no other way did I find my classes at the CC easier, except for the level of the courses being lower. I've taken mostly science and math classes at the CC, so that speaks for itself. It's the people taking the not very profound classes that later transfer to a 4-year college and say the CC classes were a breeze. I worked my glutes off to earn good grades at the CC.

I'm pretty sure when I become a DO, people are going to say it was easier for me in school than for MDs.

 

[Fakhter]

I'm honestly surprised how many people there seem to be attending CCs on SDN... I don't think I saw a single CC on the nametags at my interviews.

Please tell me you're just being sarcastic

 

[Loveless]

I'm pretty sure when I become a DO, people are going to say it was easier for me in school than for MDs.

Such is life. Some people are as attached to labels as addicts are to their drug of choice. 🙄

 

[music2doc]

😡😡😡😡😡
I've taken 60+ credits at a CC, and 60+ credits at a 4-year college, both of which are part of a city university. In no other way did I find my classes at the CC easier, except for the level of the courses being lower. I've taken mostly science and math classes at the CC, so that speaks for itself. It's the people taking the not very profound classes that later transfer to a 4-year college and say the CC classes were a breeze. I worked my glutes off to earn good grades at the CC.

I'm pretty sure when I become a DO, people are going to say it was easier for me in school than for MDs.

Not gonna lie, I sorta want to take the bate and just see what happens....

DOs don't have it any easier but, like CCs, the admissions requirements are lower to get in. That means the curve is easier to beat and med school is largely graded on a curve of sorts (i.e., many programs are pass/fail with rank, so your grade is a P but just how good a P you have depends upon how good of a P everyone else has, so they might put you in quartiles, quintiles, or straight numerical rank).

 

[PennDippody]

😡😡😡😡😡
I've taken 60+ credits at a CC, and 60+ credits at a 4-year college, both of which are part of a city university. In no other way did I find my classes at the CC easier, except for the level of the courses being lower. I've taken mostly science and math classes at the CC, so that speaks for itself. It's the people taking the not very profound classes that later transfer to a 4-year college and say the CC classes were a breeze. I worked my glutes off to earn good grades at the CC.

I'm pretty sure when I become a DO, people are going to say it was easier for me in school than for MDs.

Relax - everyone takes CC classes for different reasons - some to build up credits or save money before transfering, some because they had to for differnt reasons. Others still, including myself, took a few summer courses to be near home during that time but still be progressing in school -Plus I saw it (and successfully did so) as an oportunity to throw a few more A's in the mix for applications. The CC courses I took were far and away easier in so far as the material was not nearly as compreshensive as my uni courses nor were the tests so demanding. Perhaps others had different experiences but you're definately the first person I've ever heard of to say other wise. Thats not to say, though, that you still don't have to work hard in CC to get good grades, but that 4.0 was far more elusive for me in any of my Uni courses.This whole thing is probably dependent on which CC's and which uni you're comparing as everyone has basically said.

 

[Beargryllz]

CC is way easier to pay for, therefore it is way easier.

The content is pretty much identical, having split ochem at CC and a university I see absolutely no difference in the difficulty. You might be motivated to work harder at a university where the tuition is 10x higher though, so it might seem harder.

 

[KnuxNole]

What is this "curving" people speak of? No such thing exists at my university....

When everyone fails Ochem or physics, they gotta adjust things or else noone would walk away passing 😛

 

[Drogo]

Way too many variables. I will agree with the overall consensus that CC courses can be a bit easy in terms of some prof at times spoon feeding stuff to students.

When I was at a CC I always sought the most reputable prof's with fair, but challenging/engaging coursework. So in the end I made the best of it. I always get a good laugh when I overhear students asking around for the prof's who hand out easy 'A's' with minimal amount of work as if to deliberately undermine the goal of attaining knowledge. Must be nice to pay tuition only to cheat yourself and the system towards a degree. Aw humans fascinating creatures indeed.🙂

 

[Plue00]

Wtf is everyone saying? CC classes are infinitely easier than college classes. People who are saying they had a harder time or the same amount of difficulty in their CC classes compared to their university classes probably went to a crappy university(as in, most colleges).

I bet any of the top 50-100 colleges have much harder classes than 99.9% of CCs.

 

[Drogo]

Wtf is everyone saying? CC classes are infinitely easier than college classes. People who are saying they had a harder time or the same amount of difficulty in their CC classes compared to their university classes probably went to a crappy university(as in, most colleges).

I bet any of the top 50-100 colleges have much harder classes than 99.9% of CCs.

This whole reply is just arrogant and hilarious. Thanks.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I asked him if he ever even attended a CC and he said, "no". This such a subjective thing to say because every professor is different. Anyone else care to agree or give a reason to why you disagree? Thanks

It's definitely a myth that CC has to be easier than a university. I've taken courses at CC harder than UC courses and vice-versa. The majority of my friends that attended CSU tend to have a harder time in the science courses at CC because UC here has an agreement on standards for CC. This is not to say that CSU as a whole is easier or harder than CC/UC in every course, but it is to point out that the balance is not necessarily on one side over another.

Wtf is everyone saying? CC classes are infinitely easier than college classes. People who are saying they had a harder time or the same amount of difficulty in their CC classes compared to their university classes probably went to a crappy university(as in, most colleges).

I bet any of the top 50-100 colleges have much harder classes than 99.9% of CCs.

My opinion is based on UC Berkeley and UC Davis lower division coursework. Since upper division is not taught at CC, I can't compare those.

 

[Jewels86]

It's definitely a myth that CC has to be easier than a university. I've taken courses at CC harder than UC courses and vice-versa. .

It may be that the instructors at the CC want the student to learn whereas the instructor at the UC may be "teaching" to get a discount while working on their PhD.

I'm doing coursework at both a CC and UC and I think the CC instructors are much more approachable than the UC I attend. I feel that my CC instructor wants me to learn the info and will take the time to explain things whereas my UC physics class/instructor is a disaster, preoccupied with their research, making errors all over the place yet expects me to get it right on the exam. It's a sad state of affairs 😡

 

[TangoDown]

Wtf is everyone saying? CC classes are infinitely easier than college classes. People who are saying they had a harder time or the same amount of difficulty in their CC classes compared to their university classes probably went to a crappy university(as in, most colleges).

I bet any of the top 50-100 colleges have much harder classes than 99.9% of CCs.

I hope you are trolling.

Do you have any evidence at all or are you just pulling all this out of your ass? "Adcoms look down on CCs" or "My brother's girlfriend's cousin went to Podunk CC and passed O-Chem while on PCP" are not examples large enough to utilize as basis for your assertion.

 

[Plue00]

I hope you are trolling.

Do you have any evidence at all or are you just pulling all this out of your ass? "Adcoms look down on CCs" or "My brother's girlfriend's cousin went to Podunk CC and passed O-Chem while on PCP" are not examples large enough to utilize as basis for your assertion.

Then why is it that the general consensus among adcoms is that CC classes are not on par with real college classes?

 

[Beargryllz]

Then why is it that the general consensus among adcoms is that CC classes are not on par with real college classes?

I would say they are

 

[TangoDown]

Then why is it that the general consensus among adcoms is that CC classes are not on par with real college classes?

I'd like you to qualify that claim. Where have Adcoms said that in mass?

Or is that a highly perpetuated rumor started by people on these forums who don't know what they're talking about?

 

[Eiot]

There've been a plethora of threads detailing individuals that took all four years of undergrad at a CC and got into medical school without any issues.

 

[TangoDown]

There've been a plethora of threads detailing individuals that took all four years of undergrad at a CC and got into medical school without any issues.

You mean 2 years? That's not really possible lol. CCs don't offer BA/BS degrees.

But I (think) I agree with your point.

 

[darkjedi]

What LizzyM has stated is that it is poor-form to take your pre-reqs at a CC instead of your home institution.

However if you are someone who is going to a CC in order to transfer to a 4 year university, AND you do well at the 4 year university, it will not hurt you.

 

[music2doc]

Then why is it that the general consensus among adcoms is that CC classes are not on par with real college classes?

I would say they are

I'd like you to qualify that claim. Where have Adcoms said that in mass?

Or is that a highly perpetuated rumor started by people on these forums who don't know what they're talking about?

Yes, many adcoms have expressed a preference for students to complete all prereq coursework at a 4-yr institution. I would have thought that was pretty settled at this point. Go look at some SoMs' Admissions websites. They tend to be pretty clear in their FAQs. Is that to say you can't get in? Of course not, but it does give them reason for pause on your app. Individual applicants' overall circumstances and reasons for attending a CC are important, though. There is often more to the story than a simple "he went to a CC."

 

[Apoplexy__]

Some interesting stuff I'd like to throw into the discussion: Me, my brother, and my mom all went to the same community college for 2 years to satisfy prereqs, then transferred to different universities in California.

-My brother went to a CA state college majoring in Business and saw no difference in difficulty.
-My mom went to USC (ranked higher than #30 I think) and saw no difference in difficulty...forgot her major though.
-I went to a private school ranked around #50 and it was x4 or so more difficult at the university. Absolutely, positively, completely harder. I majored in Chemistry. Interestingly, I took OChem at both my CC and at my undergrad (my undergrad didn't accept the credit for some stupid reason) and thought both were immensely easy compared to the other classes I was taking at my undergrad in Junior and Senior year. You could argue that that means the OChem classes were roughly equal, or you could say the OChem class at the university was only easy because it was my second time around (even though I took them 2 years apart).

 

[TangoDown]

Some interesting stuff I'd like to throw into the discussion: Me, my brother, and my mom all went to the same community college for 2 years to satisfy prereqs, then transferred to different universities in California.

-My brother went to a CA state college majoring in Business and saw no difference in difficulty.
-My mom went to USC (ranked higher than #30 I think) and saw no difference in difficulty...forgot her major though.
-I went to a private school ranked around #50 and it was x4 or so more difficult at the university. Absolutely, positively, completely harder. I majored in Chemistry. Interestingly, I took OChem at both my CC and at my undergrad (my undergrad didn't accept the credit for some stupid reason) and thought both were immensely easy compared to the other classes I was taking at my undergrad in Junior and Senior year. You could argue that that means the OChem classes were roughly equal, or you could say the OChem class at the university was only easy because it was my second time around (even though I took them 2 years apart).

Or was it more difficult because, besides O-Chem, you were taking upper division courses at your university and lower division courses at the CC?

 

[Eiot]

You mean 2 years? That's not really possible lol. CCs don't offer BA/BS degrees.

But I (think) I agree with your point.

Well for starters, there are CCs now that work with four year institutions to provide a BA/BS to a student without requiring them to leave the CC. That aside, there ARE community colleges that offer BA/BS of their own accord. It's not as uncommon as you'd think.

A link for thought- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/...eges-issue-four-year-degrees-amid-controversy

 

[dessimay]

Totally subjective. I took bio 1 at a CC in the summer and it was one of the best classes I have ever taken throughout my undergrad career. Teacher was passionate and we got through the same amount of info as a fall/spring semester.

Another teacher I spoke to said he teaches chem part time at the university I went to (top 20). He follows the same curriculum/template he would at my private university, which is also the same curriculum as the state schools. He also joked that students who do think they'll cheat the system and take these "easier" classes are always in for a surprise when they take their prereqs at the CC because it's part of the state school system. So the classes are all the same anyways.

I'm really tempted to take more CC classes because after shelling out 40k a year for undergrad, I'd prefer to spend as little as possible when I can.

 

[TangoDown]

Well for starters, there are CCs now that work with four year institutions to provide a BA/BS to a student without requiring them to leave the CC. That aside, there ARE community colleges that offer BA/BS of their own accord. It's not as uncommon as you'd think.

A link for thought- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/...eges-issue-four-year-degrees-amid-controversy

Didn't know that; thanks for enlightening me. But it's nowhere near the majority. There are thousands of CCs in this country that only offer articulation agreements and associate degrees.

 

[Apoplexy__]

Or was it more difficult because, besides O-Chem, you were taking upper division courses at your university and lower division courses at the CC?

I would have thought that too if it weren't for both my mom and brother taking only Junior and Senior courses at their colleges like me and not noticing a change in difficulty.

The lesson, I think, is that it varies by school. There are CCs better than universities and vice versa. And, for the most part, it seems the anti-CC bias is only due to the often stark gap in commitment and output from students. Just because there are a significant portion of people who roll out of bed to attend class to qualify for the student aid money and take stupid/grade shool-level/worthless classes doesn't mean that CCs don't offer quality, high-value classes too.

 

[Eiot]

Didn't know that; thanks for enlightening me. But it's nowhere near the majority. There are thousands of CCs in this country that only offer articulation agreements and associate degrees.

That is correct.