College: Community vs. Going away..?

Question

I'm not sure what I want to do, if I want to stay home and go to a community college or go away to a college. I don't know if I really want to leave, I'm sure it will be pretty overwhelming and stuff but if I stay and go from home, it would probably suck because I won't get to really experience the whole college life, and then when I'm done with my classes, I'll just go home and most of my friends will be gone and stuff. So...idk. I'm a junior in high school so I know I have time but I was just thinking about it. If anyones away or going to a community college, any advice would be great.

Answer 1

May be this site can help you

http://www.sgpak.com

Answer 2

You could always compromise. You could find a community college that's away from home and that has dorms - Monroe County Community College and Dutchess Community College, both in NY, have dorms, as do several ccs across the country. That could be an option. Maybe there's a cc nearish to you that has dorms, so you can be at a cc, be somewhat close to home, but still experience the full college life?

Or if you want to go to a four year college, maybe consider something that isn't too far from home, but live on campus there. In this way, you'll be able to get home when you want to, but you'll still have the full college experience.

Maybe, for now, you could look into both options - see if any ccs in your state or nearby have dorms, and check those out; and also find four year colleges that are closeish to your home, and which have dorms, and check those out as well. See which feels like the best fit to you.  

Answer 3

I went to a state school my freshman year of college and hated it because it was too close to home and didn't like the program i was in. I moved back for one semester and went to a community college. Personally, I liked it. It gave me a chance to figure out for sure what I wanted to do and i was wayyyy cheaper. After a semester there I transfered to a different state school. I'm gonna be a senior this fall.

I think Community college are good if you look at it as a stepping stone. If you find out you don't like college, then hey you only have 2 years to the associates degree, and if you really hate it then you didn't waste your money on tuition, books and picking out stuff for your dorm room.

If you like it then you have alot of options to choice from to get your bachelors degree.

Answer 4

I think it's good to just be apart from home.

It just gives the experience of a lifetime so don't miss out!

Oh, and this is really important.

If you're gonna live in a dorm, I suggest you take afternoon classes because people tend to party at night. So it'll be very difficult to wake up and stay awake during those morning classes.

Answer 5

i think you should go away for college, depending on how far it is from your home. if its a driving distance, you can drive home every other weekend and visit family and friends.  

Answer 6

Here's something better to worry about: make sure you get into college first, and then you can worry about your next move. You don't just walk into a four year university, it's a blood sport to get into a lot of them.

The only real advantage to going to a community college is that it's cheaper than a four year university. Also, you have more options of which four year university to transfer to. But other than that, people typically waste a lot of time at community college because they figure they don't have to try so hard and after all it's a JC. So they spend four years there trying to get enough units to transfer, and don't so there education ends with an associates degree from a JC (not going to land you a great job). But if you're serious about it, community college allows you to be at home, figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life and how you're going to go about doing that, it's less expensive, and you have the option of transferring to a university after you have an associates degree (or enough units to transfer). The down side, no college life, you're still relying on your parents, you have to commute (gas prices), the units are just as expensive as any state school, the professors aren't as good, the level of education isn't the same, you don't have the ability to spend time away from home and take up responsibilities. Plus, people gain so many experiences from going away to college and you miss out on the college life if you're at a JC. College life isn't just frat parties and couches on the lawn, there's so much to particpate in and get involved with. It's a great expeirence to go away to college (or so I hear).

Because you're a junior, you still have two years of high school left and a year and a half until college applications are due. You still have some time to decide. But aim towards getting into the four year university of your choice and several others, do well in school and be as well rounded as possible, take the SAT/ACT and the SAT II, take some AP classes, push yourself as much as possible. This way, you have your options open, and as the remaining time you have in high school winds down, you will have a better idea of where you want to go.

Consider majors also. Community colleges have limited majors, so you're basically being processed to fill a day job in a cubical somewhere.