By Jessica • 10 Comments
I can tell you from experience that the reasons to go to community college before a university are incredibly relevant! College is so important, not only for your future career but for how your mind develops and how you see and perceive the world. I believe college prepares you for life and the future connections you'll make! So, let's explore the important reasons to go to community college before a university!
Higher education is ridiculously expensive! Even with scholarships and financial aid, all the other added expenses and living costs can really add up. Community college is approximately 50% less expensive than a 4 year university! This is one of the great reasons to go to community college if you ask me!
If you've ever walked into a packed lecture hall filled with hundreds of students, you'll understand this advantage. Smaller classrooms means more focus, more time to ask questions and less frantic note taking. Instructors at a community college speak more freely and give examples more readily than in a university classroom, where professors and instructors generally need to just get their information out because of other responsibilities.
Because of the smaller class sizes, there is more time devoted to group discussions and at times, discussion as an entire class. For a lot of learners, verbal processing is key for optimal content absorption which is an area lacking in lower-division courses at a university level.
There's no doubt about it, university level education is far more difficult overall than community college. This is due in many ways to the formatting of test taking and grading. I was actually blindsided by how difficult my first university class was and I went to a community college for 2 years first! For me this is the biggest factor for going to a community college first - it prepares you for the next level of education at a 4 year university.
A precious commodity of being a college student is having your teachers give you personal feedback on your work! It is immensely helpful for honing your abilities to learn and to accomplish. Not only that, community college instructors are at times more relaxed about make-up work and extra credit or debating grades because they have the time and passion to do so! Their goal is primarily success of their students individually rather than achieving a bell curve. Now, there are some truly amazing university professors when you reach higher level classes - this is mostly for prerequisite classes that everyone has to take.
Community college is a great option for those students who perhaps weren't able to finish high school or just didn't do well overall but want to have an education and career. You can start at a community college, receive your GED, and then transfer over to a 4 year university after 2 years!
So many 100-200 level courses at community colleges transfer over to universities. Wherever you plan on going to school, it's pertinent that you check with your university of choice about credit transfer. Otherwise you can end up having to take the same class twice! What a waste of time and money! Also make sure you don't take classes that can be taken as upper level credit at a university. Most majors require you to take a certain amount of upper level credit and you want to save those classes for a university to fit both the credit AND level requirements!
I really hope this shed some light on the advantages of going to a community college! What are some of the reasons to go to community college before a university that you've personally found useful? Any experiences that would be helpful for current and future college students?