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Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

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Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#11

Post by mtalantikite »

unignorant wrote: post #8

> you will receive just as good of an education Not if one wants to get involved in academia or research. Frankly, I have gotten far more from working/talking with various professors and grad students then from actual class (in CS). Networking, I think, is another reason one might attend a better university. Otherwise, I would argue that most skills can be self-taught (or self-refined), and I agree that the author ha…

Yeah, most of my best learning came from self-directed study under the guidance of a professor. Overall, I'd say my experiences outside of the classroom were the best part of being at a University though, and it's really what the individual makes of it.

I'd say a good public university is the best compromise, as you can get all the experiences of an expensive private school while saving a ton of money.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#12

Post by kingkawn »

Not thoroughly addressed was connections. You could make arguments about the relatively equal quality of education (usually not the case), but the social capital and connections you get from attending elite universities has great value in our world. The morality of that can be debated, but it is true nonetheless.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#13

Post by anuleczka »

biznerd wrote: post #10

Interesting article that brings up some valid points but did this author attend a community college? Whenever I see a generic "Top 10" post on a blog I get really suspicious. This is going to sound condescending, but remember those kids who had no inclination to try in school and go to a good 4 year college? That's going to be at least 75% of the students there. My brother took some summer classes there and he said t…

>I would expect to find this especially true for a math-oriented subject like programming or engineering.

Why do you say so? I would think that this would be more true for the humanities. If your peers aren't interested in having stimulating discussions in class, there's almost no point in being there -- whereas in technical subjects, you could always choose to work on side projects individually if the coursework isn't challenging enough.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#14

Post by epall »

biznerd wrote: post #10

Interesting article that brings up some valid points but did this author attend a community college? Whenever I see a generic "Top 10" post on a blog I get really suspicious. This is going to sound condescending, but remember those kids who had no inclination to try in school and go to a good 4 year college? That's going to be at least 75% of the students there. My brother took some summer classes there and he said t…

Programming has always seemed like a language-oriented, not math-oriented subject to me. I think my three years of Spanish have helped my programming more than any of the calc or linear algebra I've done.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#15

Post by e40 »

I went to a community college before going to UCB. I treasure my time at both, but for the first two years I am totally glad I was at a CC. There is no comparison to the attention you can get, if you want it, at a CC. I made more friends at CC, too. I found UCB a cold and competitive place compared to CC.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#16

Post by gamble »

anuleczka wrote: post #7
rauljara wrote: post #5

"you will receive just as good of an education." Pretty bold statement. In my personal experience, having good professors, and smart hard working students in a class with me makes all the difference in terms of how much I learn. While its true, just because a professor or student is at a university doesn't mean he/she is good (just like community college doesn't automatically equal bad) a university (particularly a g…

I'm wondering if professors at community colleges are in fact better at teaching, since they aren't under the pressure to "publish or perish". And at the freshman-sophomore level, isn't that more valuable?

Many community college classes are taught by grad students or post-docs who haven't landed a tenure-track position yet. A friend of mine taught English and composition classes at CC for a few years; judging from her experience, there was plenty of pressure. (It doesn't help that the pay is terrible at colleges) OTOH, they do attract some people who are interested in teaching for its own sake.

I think it's hard to generalize about teaching quality in CC. The professors who teach at colleges are largely the same people as universities, either on their way up or down from the tenure track. It would be as easy to disengage as become enthusiastic about teaching.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#17

Post by InclinedPlane »

anuleczka wrote: post #2

This is something I wish I had considered before going to an engineering school. Not only could I have gotten practically the same education at the local community college for much less, I may have avoided the 100+ student lecture classes my freshman and sophomore years. This was probably the most difficult adjustment for me when starting college (along with the lopsided gender ratio in engineering). Unfortunately, a…

Community colleges and Universities typically have opposite cost/benefit curves. At most Universities the first maybe 2 years or so are spent being taught by graduate teaching fellows in giant lecture halls, you're definitely not getting your money's worth at that point. In later years you'll probably end up in smaller classes being taught by competent professors at which point you're probably getting well more than your money's worth. In community colleges you'll get an equivalent or better experience in the first few years (classes taught by actual professors) at much, much lower cost but the quality in higher level classes are lacking. If you want the best of both worlds you can pursue an associates degree at a community college and transfer to a University of your choice after to pursue a Bachelor's degree.

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#19

Post by anuleczka »

eventhough wrote: post #18

#9 Employers don’t care what college you got your degree from, only that you have a degree. Why go into debt paying for university when it won’t help you in the long run? I could not disagree more.

How come? Maybe for entry level positions, a recent grad from MIT with no experience would get more offers than a similarly inexperienced grad from a second tier school or a community college. But what if the second grad worked co-ops or had more projects under his or her belt? Wouldn't that be more valuable to a company?

Re: Reasons to Choose Community College Over University

#20

Post by anuleczka »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #17
anuleczka wrote: post #2

This is something I wish I had considered before going to an engineering school. Not only could I have gotten practically the same education at the local community college for much less, I may have avoided the 100+ student lecture classes my freshman and sophomore years. This was probably the most difficult adjustment for me when starting college (along with the lopsided gender ratio in engineering). Unfortunately, a…

Community colleges and Universities typically have opposite cost/benefit curves. At most Universities the first maybe 2 years or so are spent being taught by graduate teaching fellows in giant lecture halls, you're definitely not getting your money's worth at that point. In later years you'll probably end up in smaller classes being taught by competent professors at which point you're probably getting well more than…

Exactly! So if this is such an obvious path to take, why don't more students consider it? Why do community colleges have a bad reputation (or at the very least, considered much less prestigious)?
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