Posts tagged Transferring

Consider Community Colleges

You know what college is? Expensive.

If you’re having problems trying to figure out how to afford four years of college at a big four year university, there’s another option that lets you get a lot of work in while also costing you barely a fraction of what most four year university’s cost. Consider spending your first two years after high school at a community college, getting your general education classes out of the way.

A lot of community colleges have really good transfer programs and partnerships with four year universities, some of which include fantastic financial aid options. Don’t hinder yourself by thinking that community college is only for people who can’t make it; sometimes it’s a matter of being money smart and exploring your options before you jump into a big commitment.

I’m going this route myself, and there is nothing more frustrating to hear people telling prospective college students that community college is just for people who can’t get in anywhere else. It’s not.

The thing about community college is that it’s exactly as hard or easy as you want it to be, and you make your own program. If you’re only going to college to get your parents off your back, and you want to just cruise—well, you can. You’re not going to get very far with it, but you can. But if you want to do well and get yourself a transfer to a great college in two years, you can do that too. I’ve been in classes that I literally worked less than half an hour on in a week, and I’ve been in classes that I put in 80 hours or more for just trying to get studying and projects done.

Don’t automatically write off community college because it has a bad rap—for the financially unable and/or untraditional students, community college is a god-sent. You’ll never meet a more diverse group of people than you will in your average community college, either.