Quote: (01-08-2013 02:24 AM)jdevoy Wrote:
1) Don't do CC unless you have no other financial options. Community Colleges vary widely; some have grade inflation while others have wicked curves where the 2 A grades go to non-trad moms who are trying to re-enter the workforce and have nothing else to focus on but school. Some of them tend to be overcrowded and difficult to get your core courses in, and may require more than a 2 year stint. Also, you're shaped by the people you surround yourself with in a profound way that you might not yet appreciate - *generally* (and this is not absolute, but *generally* speaking based on CC's admission profiles vs larger schools), CC students are not academic movers and shakers.
I will have to disagree with you about community colleges. They are excellent to attend if used in the correct way, especially if they have articulation agreements with larger 4-year schools. There is really no need to pay all of that money to take Geography-101 or Sociology-101 (courses used to fulfill general education requirements).
As far as being "movers or shakers", that depends on your major and career industry. If you are going to enter majors like pre-med or business/accounting/finance where there is high competition, then maybe being a mover/shaker will play a role.
In majors like applied mathematics/computer science and some (not all) of the engineering fields, you basically have to just graduate and employers will ring your phone....and you can be from a 2+2 program (CC for 2 years, finish at 4-year).
I have been in software engineering for 20+ years and the #1 thing I have liked about my career is not really having any stress to compete all the damn time. As long as you keep up on the technology, you will be a commodity. You don't have to take any sh!t on the job from superiors because you can leave an employer and goto somebody else the next day.
...and THAT'S the private sector. When I got older, I went the government contracting route for even better job security and more pay.