Community College isn't as barren as they say it is... right?

May 24, 2009 8:35 AM

Give me your community college success stories! I'd like to know if you went to community college at a traditional age and had a blast.

For financial reasons, I'd like to start college at a community college. However, I'm worried about not making many friends and missing out on the "traditional" college experience.

For me, that experience would involve joining a greek organization, attending a lot of sports games, going to parties and making a lot of friends.

I do plan to transfer to a four year college, but I also worry that I'll never feel a true sense of camaraderie since I wasn't there from the start.

If you've had an experience negating all these worries, tell me about it!

posted by biochemist to education (20 comments total)

Why do you think you would not make friends? CCs are full of...people. (I met my future husband at CC.)
posted by sageleaf at 8:45 AM on May 24

I haven't personally had an experience with this, but at Penn State, a lot of the students attend a branch campus for the first two years and then come to main campus to finish their degree. My friends who came from a branch campus had no problem fitting in or making friends.
posted by stevechemist at 8:45 AM on May 24

I did not go to a community college, so I can't comment directly on that experience. However, I was greek (AEPi) at a regular 4-year university, and I know our greek org and any others affiliated with the IFC allowed people to rush/pledge/and join that did not go to our school. If you're college does not have a chapter of the greek org you want to rush, you're allowed to try and join your nearest chapter. We had a few people from the near by community college that planned to transfer to our school, join while they were in the community college. No one had a problem with it, and they eventually transferred to the 4-year college.

If you plan to transfer to the local University after attending community college, you could talk to the local greek orgs there and see if they allow this.

Additionally, we had quite a few transfer students rush and join as 3rd years after transferring in from community college. So going to a community college will not prevent you from joining a greek org.
posted by Arbac at 8:46 AM on May 24

I just graduated from a four year school, and after getting a masters I spent the last year teaching at a community college in my hometown. I've noticed a few key differences between the two universities- at the two year college the social environment is something closer to a high school. Where my college was in the middle of downtown, and therefore a very open and rich social atmosphere, the community college is an isolated campus where the young folks are all friends from high school and the older folks are just there to get the work done. This has some positive and negative aspects in my opinion. Things seem more 'clicky' than at any traditional four year college I've attended or visited. On the plus, you can very quickly form friendships with students who are in many of your classes. Given what you listed- wanting to join a greek organization and go to parties- you won't find these at a 2 year college, but in my humble opinion that's a good thing. Your social relations might be more mature and guided when you don't get drunk every night with a bunch of your buddies.

Many students at my community college are there to get 2 years in and then transfer, and the majority of them are intelligent, well adjusted, social people, and I think that they are getting as good an education at the community college as they would get at any four year college in our state. In the end, my take is that your college experience is exactly what you make of it, and a two-year school is going to have just as many intellectual and social opportunities as any four-year school, even if you have to work a bit harder to find them.
posted by farishta at 8:54 AM on May 24 [1 favorite]

It was like an extended high school, what with all the townies going too. But in the end, I saved about $10,000. So, so worth it. Besides, you're not there to live out Animal House. You're there to learn. You'll have to create some of your own shenanigans at a community college.
posted by theraflu at 9:01 AM on May 24

I went to a community college a *little* bit later than right out of high school (I went to a 4-yr school for a year right after high school, then quit because I knew it wasn't what I really wanted. Then 2 years later, I started at the local CC). So, I was 21ish when I started at CC.

Before I had gone there or knew anything about it, I was one of those people who thinks that CC stunk. But I loved it for a variety of reasons. While I wasn't interested in Greek life, I was able to make friends that I saw outside of school, and I felt very comfortable there.

My CC was in my hometown, so I still was close with the people that I had always been close with who didn't go away to school. Some of them went to the big local 4-year college, and I was kind of able to tag along and became friendly with their college friends. Obviously, I wasn't as close with them as the rest of the people who actually went to this school, but if I had decided to go to that school, I would have fit into that social circle seamlessly. (I didn't end up going, wasn't my thing.)

I'm a big fan of community colleges now. From what I've seen since I graduated high school (I'm 30 now), it's totally worth it. The first two years in most programs are mostly the same, and you're able to save a TON of cash going to CC. The coursework will be just as good, if not better. (My Bio 101 teacher taught the EXACT same course at Yale...same texts, same syllabus, same exams, everything...and did the CC thing on Saturdays.) Then, when you transfer to your 4 year with an Associates under your belt, you can concentrate on what you really want to be concentrating on. I transferred into art school for photography (after taking art & photo classes at CC), and while I was able to spend extra time in the darkroom, my friends were busy trying to make sure they had enough humanities credits, which I was exempt from because of the Associates.

Oh, and in my experience, the CC vs. 4 year school atmosphere was the exact opposite of farishta's: 4 year school was secluded, CC was smack in the middle of downtown and there was always stuff going on. There were lots of clubs and extracurricular activity groups, the school itself has a gallery that had pretty good openings from time to time, etc. I found it a lot easier to make friends and find things to do at CC (and I say this as a fairly introverted person). So maybe it's not about picking 4 yr vs. CC, it's about picking the CC that has the right environment for you.
posted by AlisonM at 9:18 AM on May 24

For me, that experience would involve joining a greek organization, attending a lot of sports games, going to parties and making a lot of friends.

Except for the Greek organization, all of the above were possible and done at the community college I went to because I got involved and did things. Those are some of the best college memories I have.

College, like life, is what you make of it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:27 AM on May 24 [1 favorite]

As far as transferring to a four year goes, I transferred from one four year to another, and had no problems making friends and getting involved at my new school. I definitely felt the same camaraderie as I did at my first school.
posted by firei at 9:40 AM on May 24

I enjoyed my many years at community college far more than my years at university. Because of the low cost of classes, I was able to try out different things until I really knew what I wanted to commit to. Also, I found more often than not, the students *wanted* to be there, and the professors were far more approachable (smaller egos and all!).

I wasn't interested in the greek/sports/party aspects of college, though, so there's that. But in terms of academic experience bang for the buck, community college definitely was better than university for me.
posted by chez shoes at 9:44 AM on May 24

The CC is going to have a larger number of people who aren't doing the full-immersion college thing. Some will be doing it after working a full-time job, lots older, returning after being out of education for a while, lots just taking a class here and there for fun. It won't be as all-Animal-House-all-the-time (not that University is either, summer movies notwithstanding).

On the other hand, going to sports games and supporting your team is WAY more fun at a smaller place - better seats, cheaper, easier to get to/from, you get to know all the other "fans" and throw bashes, etc.

You'll make plenty of friends at CC. Then, when you transfer to the bigger school, you'll be the interesting person. Everyone won't already know your whole story, all your faults, and all that. All your potential romantic partners will say "wow, who's that?" You'll fit in just fine.
posted by ctmf at 9:51 AM on May 24

CCs vary greatly. The two examples I know about are Santa Barbara City College and Cuesta City College, in Santa Barbara, CA and San Luis Obispo, CA, respectively.

I went to SBCC in high school, during summers and a few evenings, too. Class ages vary greatly, which seemed so mature to me back then. There were a bunch of folks who seemed like they were slightly older versions of high school kids, talking about drunken weekends and complaining about homework, but there were those who seemed to be on track for other things. And then there were working folks who wanted to go back to school, or were looking to take some interesting classes for a very reasonable price (vs. universities).

SBCC is on the beach, and I even met some folks whose son left his hometown to come to SBCC, because their programs are well regarded (and you can get into UCSB with some ease, if you do well in your courses). There are neighborhoods around, and I'm sure there are plenty of parties and such (that was never really my scene). There were kiosks with the usual variety of fliers for events and clubs.

Cuesta is not near anything, except a park and a golf course. Everyone has to drive, ride their bikes, or take the bus to the campus. There are some great programs, but it doesn't feel like the lively 4 year college campus experience I had at Cal Poly. There are some really great programs, and I'm sure you can meet some great folks, and the community is intertwined with Cal Poly students, so there are plenty of parties.

I don't know about greek life, but it sounds like you could figure something out if you went to a CC that was near a university, or some CCs might even have their own chapters of fraternities. Parties happen everywhere, regardless of campuses. CCs have sports teams, and if you can make friends in high school, you'll be fine in CC. Plus you'll save a lot of money, and if you're not sure about what to do next (in terms of majors or jobs), you can sample classes without being penalized for not being "on track" as many universities do.

In short: community colleges are great, and if you look at the community around the college, you can have that "college experience" without the big 4 year college campus and college fees. Choose a CC like you would a typical college - remember that you'll be living there for the next two years.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:16 AM on May 24

Also, in terms of academics: class sizes are usually a lot smaller, and the professors might even teach the same material at a 4 year institution for a fraction of the cost. There was a math prof at Cal Poly who told one of his classes about a high school student who was enrolled for one math class, but could have saved bundles by going to the CC a few miles down the road, because the prof taught the same class there.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:18 AM on May 24

For me, that experience would involve joining a greek organization, attending a lot of sports games, going to parties and making a lot of friends.

People at CCs do these things (except greek; I haven't looked hard, but I doubt that they do).

I do plan to transfer to a four year college, but I also worry that I'll never feel a true sense of camaraderie since I wasn't there from the start.

This is false. People, friends , and groups turn over constantly in undergrad. Get involved in some groups, and bam. Nobody cares that you transfered. Unless you're at an institution small enough that everybody, it makes no difference at all. Since you mentioned going greek, my fraternity liked transfers and transfers liked us. They tended to be less entitled jerks, and we lend that structured guided place in the community. Our transfers were ones who knew they would end up doing something that took them 3 years (my school was picky on transfer credit, and 5 year ba+masters were popular).
posted by a robot made out of meat at 11:58 AM on May 24

I work at a community college (faculty). It is what you make of it. Some of our students are very active with student government and activities, some just go to class and leave. It is not like a university in that most students do not live on campus (we have really great dorms though). The demographic is different than a traditional college, many more older students.
posted by fifilaru at 12:27 PM on May 24

I went to a community college (as part of a high school dual-enrollment program, but that doesn't really matter because I was there full-time for two years) and had a great experience. I really can't deal with the whole "extended high school" full of "townies" talk (no offense to anyone talking along those lines) because, really, anytime you get a bunch of college freshmen together, it's going to kind of be like extended high school, right? And what are "townies" anyway, except people who are from the town the school is in, as opposed to people from... uh... another town?

Certainly, at a community college, there will definitely be people who are more checked out, academically and socially, than others. In my experience, there is definitely a small group of students within the larger student body who are trying to have more of a fun, collegiate experience, and they are typically the ones who have reasons to be on campus for more than just courses. If you drive in, go to class, then leave, you'll feel like a commuter. I hung out at the gym, got a part-time job on campus, got involved in a play, wrote for the newspaper, did a student-government type thing. There's actually a ton things going on at community colleges, you just have to seek it out, once you do, you'll find that there's a smaller scene of students who are also involved, and you'll feel like you're at a "real college."

However, try not to get "stuck" at the community college. I just knew a lot of people who kept changing their major or taking semesters off and wound up taking forever to graduate, becoming community college "lifers." you know? I would definitely recommend knowing all the requirements for graduation and transfer well and not staying more than 2 years at the community college. Even if you wind up being on the five or six year plan, make sure the bulk of those years happen at the 4 year university you wind up transferring to.

I also did an honors program, which allowed me to replace some required gen ed coursework with more interesting stuff (i.e., "The Canon and Criticism" and instead of English 101 and an evolutionary biology class instead of Biology 101), which made the coursework more interesting. Also, when you're involved and you get to know the scene, you also find out which profs and classes are the most fun and worthwhile. The teachers are just as good at community colleges and the honors classes and such just gave them an opportunity to pursue their interests a bit more.

Next, I transferred to a 4 year state university, where I also had a great experience. It didn't matter at all that I hadn't been there for the first two years. In fact, quite a few people from the community college transferred at the same time I did, though I didn't necessary stay friends with only them. Because people get into their majors junior year, new friend groups form at that time anyway. This may be less true at a smaller school, though. I was not involved in a Greek organization, but I was involved in lots of other things, and there was no problem at all. In general, I encountered very little snobbery or cliquishness, but I would say that I have heard people express it. To be perfectly honest, this seemed to be more prevalent in the Greek system than in the art/music kind of scene I was involved in. This might be a case of different groups stereotyping each other, though.
posted by lalalana at 1:03 PM on May 24

I didn't go to CC but my husband did.

He loved several of his profs there.

When he transferred to a prestigious university after his 2 year CC stint, he ended up dropping out because he found the quality of the teaching and classes declined.

I know it's just one person's experience, and probably a very special case, but I thought it was interesting.
posted by The ____ of Justice at 2:22 PM on May 24

I do plan to transfer to a four year college, but I also worry that I'll never feel a true sense of camaraderie since I wasn't there from the start.

Also, I went to a four-year, and never felt a true sense of camaraderie the entire time. Just sayin'.
posted by The ____ of Justice at 2:25 PM on May 24

I had a great experience at Lake Tahoe Community College in California. Small class sizes, low prices, the teaching faculty varied greatly but I did have a few great professors. If you really want to go college so you can join a frat, go to parties, and watch sports... well that is your choice. I will say that when I did eventually transfer to a four year school, my focus was on learning and excelling academically and I never really connected as much with my peers as I might have if I had gone there as a freshman. Worked out for me though, I got my craziness and partying out for cheap at community college, figured out what I really wanted to do, then went to a great four year university to finish off my degree.
posted by sophist at 3:01 PM on May 24

My qualification: I attended a state 4 year university, and now work for a community college. I did attend, in the sense that the CC gave me credit for advanced high school "College $FOO" classes.

First, all community colleges are different. They reflect the local community's needs and the aspirations of the faculty and staff. Due to the short term programs and teaching focus, the amount of money they pull in varies per college, which affects the instructional resources you'll find available.

My personal observations working at a CC in an affluent suburban neighborhood: the students in a CC fit into three profiles:

* traditional college students looking to save money
* non-traditional students looking to enter a trade (nursing, plumbing, electrician)
* continuing education; people with a job and attending specific courses for skills and training related to that job

You sound like the first category. What you should know is that CCs are usually commuter campuses, and as such have difficulty retaining people on campus for activities. Students with non-traditional backgrounds will likely have jobs or children and other responsibilities. Students with more traditional backgrounds might be enrolled at a 4 year program and commuting to the CC for cheaper credits to transfer (or to keep off their 4 year GPA).

Being a Community College, many traditional students will be living at home and keeping close friendships from high school (see AllisonM's comment). You may feel at a disadvantage when people recognize each other on the first day of class and hit it off. The other thing is, our college has small class sizes, so you may find yourself in a situation where two or three high school cliques corroborated schedules and fill the majority of the class.

Outside of class, student activities are sparse. Since most programs are 2 year, there's little time to find, form and propagate clubs. Anyone can start a club, but it takes skill to recruit the next generation of leadership in a year. Many of the clubs we have that are fruitful are faculty driven professional organizations. AIGA, for example.
posted by pwnguin at 3:13 PM on May 24

My sister went to a community college for three years. She majored in Marine Biology. The Marine Biology program at the community college had better and harder classes than the four year school she went to when she completed her Bachelor's. She ended up having to take some extra classes at the four year institution and refers to some of them as, "a complete joke" in relation to the work she had to put in at the community college classes. Through her community college, she landed an excellent three week internship one summer on the Great Lakes. She spent three weeks on a boat in the middle of the lake studying the ecosystem --- I think she was getting her hands dirty with fish puke and poop, not my thing, but she loved every second of it. The four year institution didn't offer or have any type of internship connections.

She played on the soccer and basketball teams at her community college. There were a bunch of other extracurricular activities she could have participated in, too, but she's a sports girl. and since it wasn't NCAA, she retained her eligibility if she had wanted to play sports when she transferred.

She had no problems making friends at the four year institution and is in regular touch with her friends from the community college ---- indeed, she's probably better friends with the people from the community college. One of her good friends from the community college, now that I think of it, went on to study at Smith College with an amazing scholarship. She's doing biochemistry now.

So, I think it depends on the community college and how the community around it views community colleges. For my sister and her friend, it was the best thing they could do for their education after high school, but then they also made sure to make the most of it.

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(That was Baby Zizzle adding his thoughts on the matter...gotta get this kid his own keyboard.)
posted by zizzle at 5:31 AM on May 25