Is community college really like high school?

Question

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Answer 1

unfortunately, it is MUCH more like high school than a typical 4 year college.

i went to a community college for the 1st 2 years of my college education before transferring to a university, and i definitely noticed that at the community college, people tended to be focused on things other than school.

this is to be expected, since you can be a community college student as long as you have a pulse. there are a lot of mid-twenties people still taking general ed classes, some 50 year old housewives who decided to go back to school, and a lot of people who are only going to a jc because they didn't get into the college of their choice.

but if you don't get distracted by parties, or the creepy guy ten years your senior trying to hit on you, or the stay-at-home-mom asking dumb questions way too enthusiastically, you'll be out in two years and onto bigger and better things.  

Answer 2

Not really, no.  It's like college, but not on quite as large a scale as a 4-year university.  Community College campuses are usually much smaller, and many programs are geared toward either very specific careers, or towards transferring you to a 4-year school.

But you still have to earn the right credits, pay your tuition, buy your own books, etc.  They don't hold your hand like they do in high school.  You're largely on your own to get everything sorted out so that you graduate.

Answer 3

I've attended a well-respected 4-year university, and it was more like high school that the community college where I occasionally pick up a course now and then.  It's all in the attitudes of the students and faculty and staff.

Course-wise, most community colleges are just as rigorous in their academics as the 4-year schools simply because their students are transferring to 4-year schools.  If the academics at a community college are not college-level, the courses don't transfer.  Nothing ticks off a customer (student) quite as much as being told that their 2 years of community college doesn't count and they have to start all over at the 4-year school!

Anywhere you go to school, you're going to get 18-year-olds who don't want to be grown-ups, who only want to party, who don't take their education seriously, and who don't have the attention span of a gnat.  This is the student who drags down an entire class because they're never prepared and they don't want to do any work.  So when you run into a group of these students, yeah, it feels like high school all over again.  

At community college as well as 4-year schools, it's up to you to know when registration is occurring, what you need to take next, whether you need an adviser's signature to take classes, when and where to pay your bills or buy your books or take care of financial aid.  No one holds your hand and walks you through your responsibilities.  If a professor assigns a big project on September 15 and it is due on December 1, he expects you to turn it in on December 1, no excuses.  And he may never mention the project again after assigning it on September 15.  You and ONLY you are responsible for your assignments and homework, preparing for class, reading ahead, doing extra reading, arranging for tutoring if you're struggling.

A community college can be a great way to get your first year or two years of college finished, with a much lower bill for tuition and expenses.  If that's the route that you need to take, then go to community college proudly, work hard, and know that you ARE in college.

Answer 4

Not for me. I didn't do any work when I was in high school. In college I have to study and bust my butt for good grades. I also have to work, when I was in high school I didn't work that much. It can feel like you're still in high school if you live at home, which I still do because its a hard economy right now and I need to save every cent and living at home just makes it easier for me while I'm in college.

I will be communiting to a 4 year university. I probably will move out when I get my first entry-level job. Like someone else said in cc you have to keep track of registering, your hw and projects, etc. You no longer have someone else holding your hand. That's very different from high school where I had teachers and guidance counselors telling me what to do.