ImHereToExplainTheJoke
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This one I learned the hard way. CCs are great to get your baseline education done. Your humanities electives, your pre-reqs, etc. but always contact the university you’re going to transfer to and be sure that they’ll allow you to transfer your classes. Universities find all kinds of shitty ways to invalidate classes you took elsewhere (credit hours not matching was a great one), so always make sure they’ll count before you waste time.
BlotterOtter
Username checks out hard with this post
ThomasThundersword
also remember sometimes a trade school can be better then college at all or a mix of CC and trade school for a rounded education.
ZombieDK
Can confirm.
jbilly90
Holy hell this so much this. And make sure youre taking the correct pre requisites.
Mihakuu
Yoooooo. Also transfer degrees, that basically slides you into the university program like you were there the whole time, not always awesome
ShaggySnatch7
The education system is fucked...
JollyGreenFE
Always get your diploma from the CC first - harder for a university to cherry pick which credits to take if the CC is accredited.
bananamourous
Sometimes it helps to come in another time to talk to a different counselor . Some are more lenient than others.
squirrelking
Also make sure you save some GE's. If you go straight from CC to all hard University classes, you will most likely "get wrecked"
AstroExplained
Also, check your wanted degree program. Some Science fields require 3-4 years of major courses ANYWAYS.
mabbo
I didn't plan to go to university afterwards. When I did, I only got to skip about 2 courses overall. But, I had study habits and had 1/?
mabbo
already partied myself out. I was through that experience and just worked hard on classes. Kids in my classes still had to figure that out.
Cats2cats
Save the course description book each semester. That saved me.
LordRazon
I had a list from CC of classes I had to take to transfer to the next University for my BA. Made life easy for each degree
anarchoFeline
Go to to a 2 year CUNY school and if you graduate the 4 year CUNY schools will accept all your credits.
SDog08939
If you go to community college get your associates. They have to respect that.
ridesbikespetsdogs
Your department head has more power you think. Go talk to them, they can override requirements or accept classes the registrar wouldn’t.
PutThePRNDLinD
Yup. Universities are in the business of selling classes, and they don't collect tuition for the ones they credit you with.
CompletelyUniqueUsername
I can say you will buy classes elsewhere turns out they will except your credits so that they can sell you classes . Get a prof to sign off
penzick
Yup. Universities are not educational institutions, they are for-profit corporations. The product they sell is degrees.
vauhtihirmu
Sounds like a bad system. It's not news, but still.
DrDiddler0nTheRoof
In Texas they took credits but only if you finished,(Associates). I did that & transferred to Texas A&M. Started at CC and now doing PhD :D
Urgalicity
There should be laws to prevent these kinds of shenanigans from four year universitys. Like that they have to accept all credits.
ImHereToExplainTheJoke
It’s a tricky situation. There are a lot of good CCs out there, but there are just as many garbage ones out there that teach nothing.
RenegadeSci
If possible, get accepted to the university you want to transfer to. I was able to register for a 6/9 course hr split. Checked the credits.
barnwolf
What if the university you're planning to transfer to doesn't accept you? Can you get like a pre-approval assuming 2yr of good grades/
Icouri
Also follow the University plan for what your degree needs. Com.College advisors may steer you in the wrong direction on accident
CyclopticColleague
Or because they don't know or don't care about their jobs.
Icouri
I was trying to err on the side of kindness, but yeah, it does feel deliberate at times...
ghettoalpaca
Amen, if i had a dollar for every advisor that screwed me, I'd have two dollars. Tried each out and both were wrong.
cheesypoof
Save Money: learn a trade
erbiumyttriumytterbium
California community colleges are tied into the UC system to avoid this. Is this different in other states?
Highschoolnickname
Illinois also has the IAI to coordinate classes.
TheoryOfRelativeTea
In NC, there's UNC, the NC community colleges and plus private. You can only transfer all credits if the schools are in the same system.
Marine0311
Its much easier than most state's systems. https://www.northcarolina.edu/transfer-students/nc-community-college-transfer
CriticalMinne
You need to be careful about the core prereqs for your desired 4yr program, too. They are typically designed for 4yr not 2yr.
AstroExplained
Exactly! My physics program was designed for 4 years. You could do it in 3, but then you tend to lose on research experience, which is bad
Marine0311
My state has a 2 + 2 program, so it makes it a lot easier to do this. You're automatically eligible to transfer if get the grades.
pheonyx
Absolutely. This is incredibly important for STEM degrees. 2yr schools don't always build the right foundation & students are behind.
ABluntForce
This is why you need to talk to guidance counselors at both the CC and Uni level -.-;
Hoffafiles
Yep it really sucks when they only offer certain classes in the fall, and you have to wait a year to get back on track...
namAehT
Or the school lies, my school "accepts" a ton of CC credits, but they're all for classes that don't exist and don't count toward your major.
freckledkink
Yeah, a lot of the kids that do dual enrollment in hs (taking CC classes while still in high school) have had this problem.
namAehT
Lots of people coming from CCAC get fucked over when the come here and have to do 4 years anyway.
ABluntForce
Fun fact, community colleges occasionally change their curriculum and the names of courses they offer, in order to maintain funding.
ABluntForce
This happened to me at mine; my major was phased out as the school prepared a new "direct to industry" curriculum, not for transfer.
ABluntForce
Some of the courses would still be considered transferable, but making it so would have required some finagling between the Uni and the CC.
ABluntForce
tl;dr talk to your counselor and your school's transfer office, or whatever equivalent department your school has. This is not the kind of
ABluntForce
thing you should be "winging it" on. You actually need help from the staff on campus to transfer.
Ustrello
Get you AA or AS, then transfer much easier that way
Noevilgifs
Yep, then you dont need to take stupid classes that you dont need and you already took equivalents of
ColdSquirrel
THIS! Most US universities are required to take a higher % of class if from a degree then from rando transfers
i3igpete
This is exactly what you should NOT do. Associates degrees often combine multiple upper level courses into a combined less-technical class.
Ustrello
Not what happened with me, I got my AA transferred to a state university and got all my credit hours honored
PersephoneGoddessOfSpring
Best to focus on general education credits than an associates since many are developed for that level of education 1/2
PersephoneGoddessOfSpring
And not for 4 year institutions, I learned the hard way. One way to do it is in the CA system they have a transfer version of 2/?
PersephoneGoddessOfSpring
The associates, AS-T or AA-T. Unfortunately they didn't have that at my CC until after I graduated a 4 year university 3/3
DerpKugel
Who the what now? As a Dane, this post made no sense
SetPriorityChaos
in the US of A, Accreditation is through the uni, the community college (CC) is cheap alternative but the uni can't always attach cc's 1/
SetPriorityChaos
credit to the degree without threatening the accreditation of the program... So it can be a bureaucratic nightmare getting it approved. 2/
SetPriorityChaos
A nightmare that almost every student is completely unaware of in the US. So they go to CC and then try to transfer and the uni says no.
AisforApple
Well, over here in the Land Of The Free...
penzick
"Free" lol.
highstream
My dad told me not to bother getting an associate's, only to find out that my university would let you skip generals with one.
Atharaenea
Associate will let you get a better job than if you have no degree too, which is great if life happens and you drop out before your BA or BS
TobySomething
Yeah, definitely do your own research. So much word of mouth advice is inaccurate or out of date.
Hoffafiles
Plus an associates could possibly open doors once you get your 4yr, depending on the subject. I kinda treated it like a minor.
Marine0311
They cant take away that piece of paper once it's on your wall.
Muunk
California makes this easy http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/general-education-igetc/igetc/index.html
boogablend
Assist.org
ABluntForce
*Some schools in California make this easy. Speaking as a former student in CA, the IGETC isn't the only standard.
Muunk
Right. I should clarify. All STATE run schools have a clear standard to follow (CSU, UC, CCs).
Hoffafiles
I mean my advisor explained up front the difference, and how they would affect me so I wouldn't make a mistake for future me
ABluntForce
Then you were lucky, both to have that assistance and to be able to make a prediction in advance as to what qualifies as a "mistake".
Syrpynt
Also make sure to keep the copy of YOUR graduation requisites! Sometimes they change drastically over the 4 years enrolled.Advising tries to
GIJew17
Like advising is somehow out to get people haha come on man it’s quite the opposite
mike13815
My advisor told everyone the classes transfer to a local university. They didn't. Kept telling people it, to up the numbers.
Marine0311
Mine was horrible. After myself and several others complained about how badly he was doing his job, they investigated and he got fired.
TylerWarranty
Seriously my advisor was able to really stretch how my electives counted so I could change major without adding more time
boogablend
Ive had dozens of counselors/advisors through my career, like one of them out of like ten was remotely helpful. Sure feels like they're bad
Syrpynt
pull some shady moves and say you need to take extra courses in order to graduate. Also, interning is more important than GPA. Hindsight...
fatbottomgirlsmaketheworldgoround
I had to take speech 100 the spring I graduated. some bs right there
AquaLeaderArchie
Yea had some shit with my classes that was funky due to changes but my advisor is damn saint and helped me put and made sure it all counted
Sassyfrance
Wait so if they change requirements do you have to take the extra classes or do they have to let you graduate with what was laid out?
Syrpynt
They should let you graduate with what was given the year you enrolled/joined the college. Otherwise it fucked the course pre-reqs.
ghettoalpaca
Fairly sure you can look up the old course pre-reqs aka "2014 Bachelor of Chemistry Requirements" for most major schools
Syrpynt
Back in 2012-2014 when I was still in college, my advising office had hardcopies only 4 years back, so when I hit my 5th year--goodluck! lol
Syrpynt
(Unless you're doing grad school of course)
MenloPart
One of my friends said "Cs earn degrees!" I asked if he earned Cs while earning his PhD.
MenloPart
I need a Master's and the worst program that I have found rejects 60% of applicants.
Syrpynt
Well, to stay as an active doctorate candidate at my old university, you needed a 3.0 GPA or higher. Anything lower and you were kicked out.
mustafalakalayum
Read somewhere interns don’t increase your chances of getting a job. I never had one and got a good salary job before graduating
willvasco
Greatly depends on industry
ProbablyDrunkAgain
Same, and any hiring decisions I've been a part of, internships or lack thereof were never deciding factors.
SomeWateryTartThrewASwordAtMe
My guess would be more for the networking vs the job experience
ArtemisFolly
When did you get that job offer, though? I did an internship and knew all through junior and senior year there was a job waiting for me.
mustafalakalayum
Got it halfway thru my last semester in my first attempt at a job in my field. Wasn’t even expecting an offer, just experience in applying