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Community College or Universities?

Applying to colleges is stressful. One thing i'm thankful is that ever since 6th grade my school made us focus on college. I used to complain but i've never been so thankful. Now i need to make a decision if i want to attend a community or University. I have the grades but not the money. What advice would you guys give me?
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Kellee’s Answer

Hi Solidad! It's wonderful that you are weighing your options. In general, it's not so much about how you begin, it's how you end. If you need to start at community college because of finances, it's fine. While at the community college, work closely with their counselors to help you transfer to a university to finish your degree. Grades and activities at the CC should be focused with this goal in mind. Your grades and activities will be even more important for transfer, so do well.


However, if you have good grades, and did well on the ACT/SAT, I would ask have you considered casting a wider net of schools? California has great CC's and Universities, which makes Californians stay in California, which makes them a rarer commodity outside of California. Schools in the Midwest, south, and east (not including ivy leagues. they get more than their share of interest), would love to have more Californians in their population as a point of diversity, and often offer scholarships/housing for so rare a find. If this option interests you, speak with your counselor. Think about the area you'd like to study and "google" schools that have your program of interest. You'd be surprised with the options out there. If you don't want to go too far from home, consider great schools in Seattle, Nevada, Texas, and other near-ish states.


I hope this is helpful at least as a starting point. My niece just started a CC because the College to which she was admitted did not offer enough aid. She has opened her school options and will be applying to her dream college again, as well as added a few schools she didn't consider initially, as a transfer student.


All the best,

Kellee


Kellee recommends the following next steps:

Talk to a counselor about a CC to University transfer plan
Consider exploring schools outside of California. Decide how big a geography you'd like to consider
Start thinking about what you'd like to study, and explore schools that have the program you seek.
Once you narrow down your programs, find out the percentage of students coming from the west, and specifically California if possible. The smaller the percentage, the more likely they would offer incentives to increase the percentage (scholarships, stipends....)
Thank you comment icon Thank you Kellee for the advice! soledad
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Simeon’s Answer

Do both! Do some planning with both universities ahead of time to get the details right, but many people do their first two years in community college to get the general classes out of the way before taking their classes for their major at the university. See how many of your hours can be done at community college; the more you can get done at community college, the better.
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Richard’s Answer

Save your money during the first year or two by going to community college. Many classes will be the same regardless of where you attend. When it's time to commit to a major you can transfer to a 4-year university.
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Ken’s Answer

 It really does not matter what school you attend, as the most important factors are how well you do with the school work, which is an indication to an employer about what kind of employee you will be, and the effort that you put forth in your networking to set up networking connections that will help you throughout your education/career journey. Here is an important video for you to watch: ## http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education ##


Here are some good ways to reduce the cost of an education: ##  http://www.educationplanner.org/students/paying-for-school/ways-to-pay/reduce-college-costs.shtml

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The most important thing for you to do is to determine what is the most appropriate career area for you to pursue and then meet and talk to people who are doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can see what they do, how they got there, and what advice that they might have for you. Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .
The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Thank you comment icon Here is a site that will give you some food for thought: Should You Go To College https://medium.com/the-mission/high-school-is-over-should-you-go-to-college-b5b6db6f6712 Ken Simmons
Thank you comment icon Here is another interesting site to visit: My Biggest Regret: Going to College https://medium.com/the-mission/my-biggest-regret-in-life-going-to-college-ef2068f179cf Ken Simmons
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