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I went to community college because my family was "middle class poor". Income just too high to qualify for grants or scholarships, but too low to afford to send

by nvarsj 9y ago

I went to community college because my family was "middle class poor". Income just too high to qualify for grants or scholarships, but too low to afford to send me to university (for various reasons). Community colleges are great in many ways. They provide a low cost option to get a four year degree. They give a second chance if you messed around in HS. It's less competitive to transfer into a top tier public university than it is to apply out of high school. Community colleges are more diverse - you'll meet a lot of older, experienced people, people working full time, and all ranges which just isn't possible at elite universities. Community colleges in California can also pay teachers more than the corresponding UC - so you'll find UC professors doing classes at the local college to make extra cash. However, I would always recommend to go to a single university for 4 years if you can afford it. Some of the teaching quality in community colleges is just atrocious, unfortunately. A close friend of mine transferred into the UCB physics program, and he really struggled - the undergrad math prep at community college was a joke compared to what most of his fellow students had done. I also believe it's better to experience the full curriculum as intended. And there can be huge benefits to the dorm life.

SubiculumCode 9y ago
My experience at a community college was quite different. The physics professors were known to kick people's asses but you learned a lot, and the math courses ->calculus were really good. However, not all classes had the same level of rigor. I took grammar course at the community college, and all we did was watch videos of flying saucers with the instructor going on and on about the conspiracy cover-up. WTF, it was a grammar course. So a mixed bag.
- nvarsj 9y ago
  My physics professor at CC was an ex surfer whose son was a famous world class surfer. He would spend most classes telling us about surfing, mixed with warnings to never go into Physics unless you loved it because there was no funding. We did lots of fun labs, but nothing too rigorous. He was an amusing guy. My worse teacher was for CS. He was supposed to teach us about assembly language, but he had absolutely no idea what he was doing, and it was obvious to everyone. He would just babble nonsense for hours every lecture, trying to pretend he understood. The class revolted and petitioned to get him expelled from the college! I think he was one of the most senior lecturers there, he might have even been chair of the CS dept. Can't say I'm surprised, I think CS teaching quality is poor outside of 4 year schools.
jarjoura 9y ago
Most of the professors I had at my university also taught part time at the community colleges. I did all 5 years at a university but I can only assume that just like community colleges, every professor is different and their quality ranges quite heavily. So much of college life is about learning how to self-study anyway and knowing when you need to go to the TA, or spend quality time in the library.
epage 9y ago
CC is a mixed bag. CCs can shine in that the teachers are hired to teach rather than research and that they can be more practical / approachable than a specialized researcher. I had a really lucky CC. I lived in a R&D military town hours from any other town. Some of my teachers were literally rocket scientists from the military base who happened to love to teach. The other teachers tended to be the spouses of the rocket scientists (which biases towards them also being smart) who had no where else to teach because of how remote the town is. They were all smart, passionate about teaching, and were practical.
- nvarsj 9y ago
  That's awesome! I had one good math teacher for my differential equations class. He had worked on rocket propulsion systems in the Navy, had a Ph.D from MIT I believe. I wasn't quite sure why he was a full time teacher at CC - maybe he just loved teaching differential equations to the masses. But he was an exception, for sure.
DrScump 9y ago
the undergrad math prep at community college was a joke I had the opposite experience. I took the calculus sequence at CC. Taking more advanced courses (e.g. numerical analysis) at Cal State, I was better prepared than my peers who had taken calculus there. My Calculus I instructor authored several college math texts, BTW. Now that I think about it, the only instructors I recall having Ph.Ds who did their own lecturing were at the CC.

by nvarsj 9y ago

SubiculumCode 9y ago

My experience at a community college was quite different. The physics professors were known to kick people's asses but you learned a lot, and the math courses ->calculus were really good. However, not all classes had the same level of rigor. I took grammar course at the community college, and all we did was watch videos of flying saucers with the instructor going on and on about the conspiracy cover-up. WTF, it was a grammar course. So a mixed bag.

nvarsj 9y ago
My physics professor at CC was an ex surfer whose son was a famous world class surfer. He would spend most classes telling us about surfing, mixed with warnings to never go into Physics unless you loved it because there was no funding. We did lots of fun labs, but nothing too rigorous. He was an amusing guy. My worse teacher was for CS. He was supposed to teach us about assembly language, but he had absolutely no idea what he was doing, and it was obvious to everyone. He would just babble nonsense for hours every lecture, trying to pretend he understood. The class revolted and petitioned to get him expelled from the college! I think he was one of the most senior lecturers there, he might have even been chair of the CS dept. Can't say I'm surprised, I think CS teaching quality is poor outside of 4 year schools.

jarjoura 9y ago

Most of the professors I had at my university also taught part time at the community colleges. I did all 5 years at a university but I can only assume that just like community colleges, every professor is different and their quality ranges quite heavily. So much of college life is about learning how to self-study anyway and knowing when you need to go to the TA, or spend quality time in the library.

epage 9y ago

CC is a mixed bag. CCs can shine in that the teachers are hired to teach rather than research and that they can be more practical / approachable than a specialized researcher. I had a really lucky CC. I lived in a R&D military town hours from any other town. Some of my teachers were literally rocket scientists from the military base who happened to love to teach. The other teachers tended to be the spouses of the rocket scientists (which biases towards them also being smart) who had no where else to teach because of how remote the town is. They were all smart, passionate about teaching, and were practical.

nvarsj 9y ago
That's awesome! I had one good math teacher for my differential equations class. He had worked on rocket propulsion systems in the Navy, had a Ph.D from MIT I believe. I wasn't quite sure why he was a full time teacher at CC - maybe he just loved teaching differential equations to the masses. But he was an exception, for sure.

DrScump 9y ago

the undergrad math prep at community college was a joke I had the opposite experience. I took the calculus sequence at CC. Taking more advanced courses (e.g. numerical analysis) at Cal State, I was better prepared than my peers who had taken calculus there. My Calculus I instructor authored several college math texts, BTW. Now that I think about it, the only instructors I recall having Ph.Ds who did their own lecturing were at the CC.