Here's why Community College Students don't transfer "well"

Note: This issue is NOT EXCLUSIVE to transfers - it's really an overall "college student" problem. Transfer Students can and are just as successful as first year admits. But success is not guaranteed and you still have to put in the work regardless of your status as a transfer or first year admit.

Only significant difference is that you might save a lot of money by going to community college :)

This seems like why YOU didn't transfer well, not why Community College students as a whole don't transfer well..

this is why florida has a better post secondary system. community college is heavily promoted here and the transition is seamless because everything here is standardized

I am thinking about attending CSUSM in the fall for one year and then transferring to CC like you did, but I’m worried my courses won’t transfer. (I’m a chemistry major btw) did all your GE courses transfer from CSUSM to CC?

Promo SM

I’m considering taking the cc route to a 4 yr university and I just wanted to ask what extracurriculars u were involved in at cc?

I transferred to Berkeley as well and was wondering how you were able to secure internships at media companies. I will be graduating soon and have found myself in a similar position.

While I understand the point you’re making, I feel like there are so much more factors that place in depending on the career path/industry to specific schools. You’re kinda making a very large assumptions (exaggerated even) and ruins the credibility of your argument.

For my personal experience, I actually started out 1at year in university, and due to Covid I had to move and decided to pursue my two year at a CC before transferring back to Uni. While in CC I felt the teachers were more attentive, the courses were more in-line with reality since these 2 year programs are aware they are preparing student for the work force instead of theoretical. I felt more prepared to work as a 2nd year CC student than an incoming 3rd UNI student. Not to discredit their level of knowledge but it’s very lacking of real life application.

nah that's just you bud

This is a great video, I see other comments misinterpreted your message but I completely understand! Ultimately the name of the school can only carry us so far, I really think it is much more important for advisors to focus on career centered activities and opportunities than worrying about a certain school! I also agree that long term goals is the most important!

I have a similar trajectory as you where I started from CC and then pigeonholed myself into just focusing on transferring to either UCLA/Berkeley. I eventually got into Berkeley and realized that it was tough for me to integrate at first because CC is almost always a smaller classroom setting which makes you visible to your professors and for them to understand you as a student. When transferring from that into a huge institution like Berkeley, it becomes more difficult for you to stand out in the crowd – especially if its now a class of 300+ kids compared to the 30 classroom size you are accustomed to in CC.

I can also see why some CC kids are at a disadvantage because from my background of Biology, there's not a lot of cutting-edge research opportunities in CC. You can probably get a lab technician job in CC, but contributing to a publication while at CC is difficult since not a lot of CC professors do research. So it was a struggle for me to get research positions once I transferred to Berkeley, which is why I had to do a postbacc for two years after.

With all that said, I managed to get into a PhD program now and am happy to see that there are other CC folks out there who are in the same program as me. So I agree with you that sometimes coming from CC can be a disadvantage, but there are plenty of advantages too like saving money, being closer to your professor so they can potentially write you a more effusive letter of recommendation if you are planning to apply to grad school after your BS/BA, and the quality of education is still great! :D

makes sense but ig cc saves money/u get to figure out what u want to do at the price of being a step behind

You’re literally just making shit up lmfao. Every single person in my program (engineering) who has transferred to university in the past 5 years from my CC is doing incredible with research and internship experience. I am going to CC and have an internship as a freshman with research experience.

I have no idea where you got this narrative that is easily disproven by minimal research 😅

I was also a CC student and I don’t agree with you. I found that I and many of the other CC student I met in college performed much better in classes than their 4 year counterparts, after an initial adjustment period. Although you might be behind in internships/lab experience, etc. overall CC students are not at a disadvantage. In fact they often have a better knowledge background because CC is a more conducive environment for learning.

If anyone who is reading this is feeling anxious about going to CC or feels less than because their friends are off at 4years, don’t CC was the best experience I made, and I have yet to meet a CC grad that regrets their decision.

This is literally made up. I’m excelling beyond university students because of my community college requirements.

I’d like to go to a good university but I am concerned about the high amounts of debt accumulated at those universities. Is this a problem for you?