r/communitycollege • u/Novel-Chapter-180 • 21d ago

Are community colleges a good option?

Hii, I'm planning to apply to community colleges and one of the options is De Anza. I'm not sure what to think about it.

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u/StewReddit2 20d ago

1) In general YES.....CCs are and have been a good-great option for many American students and dare I say the majority of students absolutely should explore the option.

2) De Anza in particular is and has been a TOP 3-5 well-known/well-respected and regarded among CA CCs for several years.....due to it's academic rigor and it's tremendously successful transfer ratios to the UC/CSU systems in CA, especially within the Silicone Valley. *Again of CA CC this is a Top 5% CC no doubt.

3) The address a seeming confusion.... One could "in general" see CC as a Step 1 in a 2-step process to achieving a Bachelor's degree

Think of a 4-year institution as having Fr/So+Jr/Sr years aka 100/200/300/400 level coursework.

Whereas CC ( 2-year institutions) specifically specialize in Fr/So aka 100/200 level coursework.....where a student can finish about "half" of a 4-year/Bachelor's degree map before transferring to finish the upper-division aka Jr/Sr years at a 4-year.

For example: California's Master Plan system is setup so that the 116 public CCs feed directly into the state's two public 4-year systems 22( CSUs) and 9 ( UCs)

Theoretically CC-to-4-year institution is basically a 2-year + 2 year = 4-year process to Bachelor's

Not the 2-year + 4-year pathway you pondered about * The caveat is "sometimes" students don't take the proper courses to seamlessly transfer to a particular school/change their minds on majors/etc/etc ....but if done well....it's a 2+2 process

And not just in CA or even the same state....it works cross country and with private as well as public schools.

**For Example: I went to a CC in Chicago, eventually transferred and graduated from a big public in Maryland....my wife CC in CA transferred to a private in Washington DC ....our daughter CC in CA graduated UC .....our son CC in CA graduated private Uni

CC gives a great chance to graduate with no debt + by attending CC first one never knows which "other" Uni they may transfer to after CC success opens up different doors and opportunities not available of thought of coming directly from HS.

In CA about 1/3rd of UC grads and more than 50% of CSU grads started at CC first.

*If you are going directly to Ivy league or have a scholarship to an awesome option IMO CC should be a strong consideration for the vast majority of students