Читать книгу America's Best Colleges for B Students - Tamra B. Orr - Страница 12

For many students, one of the best options remains the local community college. Yeah, you still have to live in your hometown, and most likely, still at home with your family, but you benefit from a good education while saving some big bucks for the future or for transferring to a four-year college. Community colleges are more open to students with B or C averages than some four-year institutions, so they can be a great solution for you.

But hey, you’ve heard some rumors about community colleges, right? You’ve heard them called everything from “Only Chance College” to “Harvard on the Highway.” Like everything else, community colleges have a few myths surrounding them, and — here’s a real surprise — most of them just aren’t true. For instance:

 A degree from a community college is not as good as a university degree.That just doesn’t make any sense. An apple is an apple. A degree is a degree. You did the work and earned the diploma. Is it the same thing as a degree from Harvard? Okay, maybe not, but most of the time it will still get you through the front door and into the job.

 The people who go to community college couldn’t get in anywhere else.Not true. Students go to community college for a variety of reasons. Maybe it is more convenient and less expensive for some people because it allows them to keep working, giving them a chance to save money while providing a quality education that sometimes may even serve as a stepping stone to a traditional college.

 The faculty at community colleges is inferior to that of four-year institutions.The faculties and staff at community colleges and other colleges are quite comparable. They both have their degrees and years of experience to share with you.

 The credits from a community college will not transfer to other colleges.This is a myth. Credit hours from community colleges transfer in the same way that credit hours from four-year universities do.

 Since community colleges cost so much less, they can’t be any good.Community colleges are fine institutions. The difference in tuition can be due to many reasons, but it is mainly because community colleges do not have the incredible overhead that residential colleges have.

In 2004, the American Association of Community Colleges conducted a survey to see what the hottest programs at these colleges were. The survey found that the top five fields to study were allied health (46.6 percent), skilled trades/industrial, public services, information technologies and business.

The most important thing any student can do when searching for a college is to keep an open mind. When I make recommendations to students for a college, sometimes they say, “I haven’t heard of that one so it must not be any good.” They have this concept that only the ones mentioned in the papers are decent. It drives me crazy! You have to take the time to decide what YOU want from a school and then start choosing possibilities. Find a school that fits YOU and not the other way around. Look outside the box.

Also, please take the time to really understand financial aid as part of the college puzzle. The topic is near and dear to me because I grew up with a middle class background and I could not afford the state school. You do not want to graduate with $50,000 in college loans.

— Todd Johnson, College Admissions Partners