Community College, Where to start?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have no clue how to help my daughter get started so I am turning to the Dope.

First she is 18 and works part time.

She was homeschooled since seventh grade, before that she went to public school.

She got her GED in August 2008 at age 17, so she technically finished high school a year before her graduating class. I tried to get her interested in some type of classes right away but she wanted to relax for awhile but she feels she is ready now to look into it all to start in the fall.

She is not sure what field she wants to go into but she likes working with people. I suggested social worker or maybe human relations. She has mentioned psychology but she is not sure if that is the way to go.

How do we go about finding out what might be the best career choice and then what classes she should start taking? Are there basic classes that are required even if they are not geared toward her career interests?

Do you just contact the college and apply? Do we need to or should we see a counselor first? Are they free?

What is the deal with SATs, etc? Does she need to take tests before applying?

What is the deal with financial aid? Can she be turned down and what may be the reasons? Her father is deceased so only my income would come into play and I don’t make that much.

Obviously I never went to college and nobody in our family has so I am at a loss on how to help her. I have looked at the college she wants to attend (Tri-C, Western Campus) but most of the info seemes geared to people that already know how to start the process.

Are there things I have I not even addressed?

Any information I can get would be great so I can at least have some knowledge before we take the leap. :slight_smile:

Well I see I am off to a great start. I meant to put this in My Humble Opinion. Can a Mod Please move?

2

I will get back to after my class- but I am a full-time prof at a Community College- I hope I can answer dsome of your questions.

3

Most 4-year universities have some kind of general education curriculum that all students are required to take, no matter what their major - stuff like freshman composition, college algebra, some kind of American History class, and basic political science. They’re usually half (or more) of the total classes an undergrad would take.

Many community colleges offer similar classes that readily transfer to public four year schools, at about half the price.

In my area, there are a surprising number of students who start out at Cincinnati State (2-year school) to save money and transfer to the University of Cincinnati (4-year) in their junior years.

4

Community college is a perfect place for her to explore possible options before committing herself to a career path. As black rabbit states, most students at community colleges get their general education course requirements out of the way before transferring. There’s also the option to explore a ton of Career and Technical Education (CTE, formerly known as vocational and technical education in our state) certificate and training options.

I don’t know what state you’re in, each state’s system runs a bit differently. In my experience, the counselors/advisers on campus are free, so don’t hesitate to contact them for assistance. Application shouldn’t be difficult - most CCs are open admission.

The counselors/advisers might have career counseling classes or workshops, or career interests tests (such as the Strong Interest Inventory) that she could take to get a better idea of her interests, strengths and weaknesses.

I’m not a financial aid person, so I can’t really help out with that information, but the financial aid office on campus again would be a wealth of information. There’s education funding in the stimulus package (if I recall correctly) that might increase the amount of assistance available.

The biggest piece of advice I have for her is…just start. Just go. You can figure out what you want to do as a career later. Jump in and starting taking some basic classes in a lot of different areas, see what appeals to you.

Hope this helps.

5

Where are you located?

I went to a community college in California. Community colleges were basically open admission, meaning as long as you paid for your courses, you’re in. And, at the time, community colleges were ridiculously cheap, as a class would cost about $15 (and this was in the early 90s!). Financial aid basically wasn’t an issue, but there should be people at any college to talk to you about costs and walk you through the application process.

Before I started attending, I visited a number of community colleges in my area, met with someone in the admissions office to ask all the kind of basic questions you asked, and then just chose the one I liked and signed up. You can certainly make an appointment with someone in admissions and go to have them answer your questions – no charge or nothing.

In terms of helping her determine what classes to take, there’s a couple of routes you can go. First, there will certainly be some core, or required, classes to advance to an associate of arts degree. Like an English class, some math, some social sciences, and hard sciences. Generally, if you take these classes at a community college, credit will transfer to a four-year university should she wish to continue her education. Start with those classes, she’ll start to understand what interests her, and that may help her choose other classes. There are also career counselors who can help narrow down interests and advise on particular classes, and sometimes even give those “what should I be when I grow up?” kind of tests.

Let me give you one word of caution as someone who went to community college. There are a hell of a lot of people who kind of get sucked into the system – they start by thinking that they’re going to take some classes, figure out what they like, and transfer to a 4 year school to complete their BA/BS. Five years later, they’re still basically goofing around, taking assorted classes, and while they may be learning things, they aren’t really progressing in their education.

If you want to get the most out of community college, my advice is that you need to provide structure for yourself, because the institution isn’t going to do it. IMHO, community colleges are more than happy to have people stay and take classes forever, because they serve two kinds of students: ones who want to transfer to a 4 year university and use the knowledge they gain to get a good job, etc.; and those who are interested in lifelong learning who really aren’t interested in moving through and up in the educational system. I think there is frequently a danger of the first type of student compromising their goals and ending up the second kind of student.

So, again, my advice is that if your daughter wants a “real” college education, she must buckle down and take it more seriously than many other community college students do. Commit to taking a full load of classes each semester, and keep on pace to earn an AA within two years, and apply to transfer to a 4 year college after the third semester of classes. Avoid the temptation to say, “I want to start slow, and just take two classes the first semester… then maybe three the second semester, if it goes okay… then maybe I can spend three or four years here to take more classes and save money before transferring to a 4 year… but first I’m going to take another break after being so stressed out by taking that GED last year, and go take a nap.” That’s the Student Strategy for Doom.

I don’t want to make community college sound like a mistake, because I loved mine and some of the best classes I’ve had in my education came in those two years. But it is like everything else in life, in that the more you put into it, the more you get out of it; and for better or for worse, there are a lot of slackers around.

Last thought since this is getting long: keep in mind that many community colleges also have great vocational training opportunities, like programs in nursing, auto repair, elder care, or law enforcement, that don’t need to lead to a four year degree. If those programs may appeal to your daughter, I think they are really great opportunities.

6

Gonna jump in and post this and then go back and read.

We are in Ohio, the Cleveland area.

7

There is a ton of info on the Tr-C website, for example you can see on the admission page that SATs are not required (you don’t even need a GED if you’re over 18). But the best would be to speak to an admissions counsellor and a financial aid counsellor on campus. Both are free.

8

I second what Hello Again said. I work on a two-year campus (we are technically not a community college but do have much in common with them). By all means, call Tri-C’s admissions office and make an appointment. They should be able to set you up with someone in financial aid, too, and perhaps a faculty member in an area she’s interested in.

9

Regardless of the college she goes to, the first step for financial aid is to complete the “Free Application for Federal Student Aid” (FAFSA). You can do it online here. There’s a standard formula for figuring out how much the student herself, and her family, should contribute, based on your income and assets. In my experience as parent of two college students, the college will come up with a combined package of loans, grants, scholarships, and work-study options to make up the difference between what you can “officially” afford and the estimated costs of a year’s school, including living expenses.

10

I don’t have any community college experience, but I’m a professor at a four-year school with a high population of transfer and first-generation college students. Here’s my list of the top five things students ought to know (and often don’t know if their parents are unfamiliar with the system):

– As other people have said, most students spend their first few semesters of college fulfilling general education requirements, so it’s not crucial to have a major in mind right away. That said, it is useful to have a rough road map in mind. One reason why first-generation students are fifteen percent less likely to graduate in four years than students whose parents attended college is that they may be unfamiliar with the process of planning a course of study and unaware that their advisor is there to provide help. Nearly all schools assign students an advisor upon enrollment; she should schedule a meeting with this person right away, sketch out a rough plan for how she’s going to fulfill the transfer requirements, and do her best to stick to it.

– Selecting a major is not the same thing as choosing a career. A few pre-professional majors, such as education and nursing, do translate almost automatically to a specific career path, but most degrees in the humanities and sciences do not. History or English majors, for example, are likely to end up in jobs that have nothing to do with history or literature (but which do require skills that these students typically acquire, such as reading quickly and accurately, conducting research, and expressing ideas in clear and concise prose). Often, students who aren’t clear about the major vs. career distinction tend to avoid fields that don’t have an obvious, practical application, even if their real interests and strengths lie in these fields; remember that many employers just want to see a bachelor’s degree, not necessarily a degree in a particular field.

– Students who are engaged and involved in the life of the campus tend to have better grades and a higher graduation rate than those who simply go to classes and go home. Even at a community college where most of the students are commuters, there are usually campus activities and events; your daughter should go to these, make an effort to get to know her professors and her fellow students, and generally become part of the community. This will give her a support network.

– Professors hold office hours when they are available to help individual students. Most campuses also offer free tutoring, study skills workshops, and other services. Many students never take advantage of these services, especially the ones who need them most. Your daughter should, at the very least, be aware that they exist. While there may be some sort of early-alert system in place to notify the advisors of students who are struggling, the responsibility for asking questions and seeking help usually falls on the student.

– Textbooks are insanely expensive; plan on budgeting at least $500 a semester for books alone. Financial aid may help with the costs if your daughter buys them at the campus bookstore; if that fails, bargains are occasionally available online or at secondhand stores, and some texts may be available through the school library. Under no circumstances should she try to do without a textbook, as tempting as it may be. She should also think twice before selling them back, unless she is absolutely sure she won’t take another course in the subject. Often, the same text is required for more than one class, so the pittance the student gets for selling the used text is wiped out when they have to buy it again.

11

All this information so far is helping a great deal. Thank you all. I am going to make sure she reads what has been posted so far and the suggestions that I am sure are still to come.

She has a good head on her shoulders and is self motivated. She studied for the GED on her own with very little questions and assistance from me which was what I was hoping for. She knows that she made it happen. For a seventeen year old that says a lot and she has has been at the same job for almost a year and a half so she is not afraid of work or commitment. I am very proud of her.

She learned if you work hard and study you can do it. She does enjoy learning. Class and book work has always come easy and I hope she will take the information I can gather here and apply it. Her self confidence was low for awhile, which is normal for teenage girls her age, but she has bounced back and is ready.

I have already commented on a couple things this morning to her that were posted and she was excited about us getting information so please any experiance and insight you have is welcome.

12

If you have any more specific questions, I’m more than happy to share my experiences and opinions.

13

I don’t have any experience in CC (I happen to live in the Cleveland area too) but I am the only person in my family to ever go to college as well.

My advice is to not fret about the fact that you, as a parent, don’t know what’s what when it comes to college. If your daughter is as smart and motivated as you describe her (it’s evident from her grades and her work history), then she will have no problems navigating the system herself, finding the resources to understand how it all works, and getting herself set up on the right path. I predict she will eventually be explaining it all to you.

So don’t let it drag you down - you guys will learn together.

Good luck!

14

This is the single best piece of advice here.

Also, by all means talk to the counselor and Financial Aid Office at the school. (The school wants you to go there and bring your money, so they’ll help you get as much free money and cheap money as they can within government guidelines.)

And yes, Community College is a great place to get some requirements out of the way, so long as it’s accredited (and the only ones that aren’t tend to be the hardcore Bible schools; pretty much any public and most private ones would be). She’s going to have to have English comp classes anywhere and most things that would involve working with people are going to require freshman history and freshman math as well, and most of these credits will transfer (particularly if she does well in the course). In my experience the quality of instruction at CCs and small colleges is often BETTER than at big universities because it’s set up for students who work or have kids or whatever and you don’t have the nightmare auditorium classes with 300 students and a professor who’s a dot with a microphone.

What I would advise staying far away from at this time, since she’s only had high school, is ‘online courses’. They’re becoming huge, there are many people who’ve gotten advanced degrees and never set foot on a college campus, but they are far far far from “easy A’s” and in fact the workload and discipline required are by all accounts much more than a regular college class, plus there’s a complete absence of personal interaction.

Good luck to you and her whatever is decided.

And another “there’s nothing wrong with not knowing how colleges work, just in not trying to find out when it’s needed”. You’re a good parent for taking the initiative.

ETA: What you’ll learn most quickly about college is that the college bookstore is the most evil money sucking place in the cosmos. The second most is the company that administers the SAT/ACTs and all that.

15

Sure.

How about making your way around a large campus? Was it as initimidating as it might seem? How long did it take you to know your way around?

Were other students generally friendly?

Any parking issues and student pass costs?

ETA:

Really personal experiances help as I know she is stepping into a new world that I can’t help her with as I have no experiance. It is kind if intimidating to me as well.

Kind of scary really. Letting your baby do something you never have and no way to guide her.

16

Let her take her academics - English, History, etc. - at the CC while she’s deciding on a major. They will transfer anywhere as long as the colleges are properly credentialed and they will help her get into collegiate study mode. They’re also a heckuva lot cheaper.

17

I’m guessing there were somewhere around 5,000 students at my community college, and the campus probably consisted of, oh, maybe twenty, twenty five buildings. Most I never set foot in. I knew my way around within a few weeks. As for it being intimidating, other than the “first day at the new school” jitters you probably remember from your education, I didn’t find it especially so, since my high school was probably like 3,000 people or so.

As far as the other students, I was struck by how many different types of people were there. Everyone from 17 year old high school grads like myself, to retirees taking the class they’ve always been curious about, working mothers, beach bums, and everyone in between. It was diverse and interesting

It is hard to find a good way to describe the atmosphere, but I’ve found, in general, that at the colleges and universities I’ve attended (went on to 4 year, small, private, liberal arts college, then to a major university abroad for a masters degree) differ from high school/public school primarily because people chose to go there to expand their horizons. Yes, there are some jerks, but it isn’t too different than you’d find in a real grown-up job, and far, far less than in high school.

Moreover, there are opportunities to do things in college (and make friends in the process) that are just a lot harder to find and do in “real life.” No matter if you want to join a club full of biology geeks, a raquetball team, a speech and debate club, learn fencing, or whatever, odds are that at any college you can easily find people who share your interests and want to meet similar people. In “real life,” IMHO, it takes considerably more work to put together a social network of people organized around shared interests like that. I think this is one of the greatest parts of going to college, makes an impression on people more lasting than any class taken, and exemplifies the phrase, “You get out of it what you put into it.” If you’re outgoing and interested in experiencing new things, there’s nothing else like it.

There are always parking issues (parking passes probably cost something, competition for spots can be fierce with many commuter students), but let’s face it: this is real life… lite. There’s always headaches like traffic getting to work/school, the new boss/professor isn’t as good as the last one; always another bill to pay, not enough time in the day to do everything, and wishes you could get more sleep. The biggest difference is that you don’t get fired from college unless you REALLY screw up, but it does add those life experience skills that you’ll need once you join the working world.

18

I saw advisers mentioned up thread and I’d like to add this. Don’t be afraid to request a new adviser if the current one isn’t working out for you and don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice from professors who aren’t your adviser.

Originally I was a computer science major and my adviser, though bang on with CS stuff, couldn’t tell me if exempting an English course with my AP credits would hurt me in later courses. I had to go find an adviser in the English department.

Later I changed my major to Education and was told by my assigned adviser it’d take me three more years (this would have put me in college for six years). Later I was given a new adviser (by luck alone) and he got me though in two. How? Because he knew the courses well, knew which classes really required the prerequisite classes they claimed they did, and had the pull to get the requirement waved if it wasn’t really necessary. There were many times that I took courses in reverse order or simultaneously that the course catalog said should have been taken sequentially.

I was reassigned form him once and my new adviser, though very nice, was not nearly as skilled so I got myself transferred back.

So to sum don’t be afraid to try and make the system work for you. It makes things much easier then just going with the flow.

19

I’ll jump into the fray, too. I teach English at a community college (two of them, actually, because I’m a lowly adjunct–I simply get paid by the class, so I have to teach as many as I can.) I’m happy to answer questions, though the advice in this thread has been spot on so far.

I started at a CC before transferring to a 4-year, private university. Did 100% of my graduate work online, so I guess I’ve been there, done that. Likewise, I was the first member of my family to go to college, so I had to learn the process firsthand.

Save a small group of fellow English majors that met once a week at a coffeehouse, I never participated in campus activities; I simply wanted my education. Looking back, I should have at least participated in intramural sports (if not the official teams themselves) because once you’re out, lots of those opportunities are gone. No adult leagues where I live, sigh.

I do want to reiterate one thing:

Your daughter needs to talk with her adviser, her professors, and anyone else that is there to help (FinAid people, etc.)

I state lots of things in my syllabus, one of which is that I have an open-door policy for students. Yes, it’s true that I don’t take late work as a general rule, but I would certainly want to talk with a student in trouble rather than failing them. I have so many students that need to get tutoring, or talk to me, or whatever…and don’t. Hell, every semester I end up failing students because they never showed up and never went to the office to drop my class.

Anyway, I’m available.

20

One thing people never say about the idea of “go to community college for a couple years, then just transfer to a four-year school!” is that you need to look into that four-year school you’d like to transfer to, to see how much the CC classes count for. The college I went to gave 1/3 to 1/2 credit for the majority of community college classes, so your four-credit class at Hesser or what have you netted you just two credits. I don’t know if UNH is extremely, unusually picky, but I’d be very sad for someone who tried to transfer to a school and ended up with similar results.