Are people really proud that they or their child went to xxx community college?

[Rob9874]

I know first hand the difference between a top university and a community college. After high school, I attended the University of Illinois, and majored in chemical engineering. At the time, U of I was #3 engineering school in the country (1992 - behind Stanford and MIT, accoridng to US News). It was so difficult, I was weeded out after 3 semesters. And I was a 4.0 student in high school.

I had ruined my GPA, so before I could get back into a 4-year university, I attended a community college to get my GPA back up. The difference is night and day. First of all, you DO NOT use the same books. My Chemistry book was written by my professor (Prof. Zumdahl...I doubt many CC instructors can say that), and was used in many universities, not just Illinois. I took Chem 101 at the community college (as D's didn't transfer), and it was a cakewalk compared to Illinois.

The tests are completely different. At the CC, the test is an hour long, and just a regurgitation of what you read in the chapters (i.e. Book: A+B=C. Test: What does A+B equal?) At the university, the test were 3 hour night tests (7-10pm), and the prof warned us that his grad student TA's didn't complete it in 3 hours. We were told to do our best, and there would be a curve. They wrote the test to that the average was a 50%. They wanted to push every student to their full potential. Not have 20 out of 30 kids get 100%. That's how you educate better.

Also, the labs were completely different. The lab assignments at the university are much more complex, and use much better equipment than the CC. And it's not just chemistry. I also took Econ and Accounting at the CC, to try my hand at Business (which I decided to major in later at the Univ.), and I had the top grades in all my classes. It was so easy. No studying required to pull a 100%. At the univ, I would study for days, and all night before the test, and be lucky to get a D. My ACC instructor met with me after the final, and asked if I had any accounting classes before, because I was his best student in years. It's just two completely different worlds. If someone can graduate from a top university with an engineering degree and a good GPA, they will be selected for jobs before the CC grad, as well they should be. My hats off to them. I couldn't do it.

I ended up graduating from Arizona State in Supply Chain Management (Business), and ironically got a job as an engineer. (Yes, engineering grads hate me!)

 

[jaeger66]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
There is nothing wrong with getting a community college education, but don't expect to become a senior executive with it. If you look at the top management of almost any Fortune 500 company, you'll see a lot of Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford graduates. Sadly, many of those managers aren't there because of their superior leadership skills, but because the shareholders of those companies like to see colleges with those names in the management bio section of their annual reports. When it comes to corporate marketing and public relations, perception is 90% of reality.

Yeah, but CC's aren't giving out MBAs. If you get an MBA from Stanford, who cares where you went your first 2 years? Many bright people simply can't shoulder the cost of 4-6 years at private school.

 

[tcsenter]

Are people really proud that their child is a mere honor student in their high school and not the class validectorian? Why do they even have graduation commencements for high school anymore? Whoop-de-doo, you graduated from high school.

There was a girl here in California who was one of only three or four students in the country who scored perfectly on both the SAT and ACT. How could any parent actually be proud of their child by comparison with that achievement?

Are people really proud that their child plays football or basketball or wrestles for a NCAA Division II or III college and not a Division I school? I know that if my son or daughter could only play at a school like Saginaw Valley State University instead of Notre Dame, I would be embarrassed to go to the games.

Why even celebrate things like city, or state, or conference championships. If you're not World Champion, you ain't sh-t!

Are people really proud that they or their child went to xxx community college?

Where is this XXX Community College that you speak of? Man I'd like to enroll there!

 

[LS20]

Originally posted by: dullard

1. Care to give any examples? I can just see a professor saying this to the class "I'm sorry we cannot cover chapter 3 as that material is reserved for MIT students".

2. Yes there are jobs where the school matters. A master's degree in finance for example is worthless unless it came from one of the top 2 or 3 schools. If you want to be a professor you had better get your PhD at a good school. But those are not the vast majority of jobs. You are thinking of the few and ignoring the rest.

3. There are some top medical schools that have agreements with some smaller community colleges - complete the program and you are guaranteed to be admitted. Yet they turn down students from other "higher rated" schools. They are trying to get a better representation of rural students. My brother is in one of those programs.

4. There are benefits of not going out of state too. Suppose you want to work in your home state - one that doesn't have an ivy league school. Many employers see a degree from one of those schools and think "this person is a self-involved snob" and then hire a locally trained person.

5. I could go on and on where it harms you to go to some ivy league schools.

I see lots of resumes and the ones that stick out the most are not the Ivys or top tier but the ones from people who went to CCs or lower tier schools and ended up doing the same work as people from Ivys. That tells me they busted their butts getting to where they are. Those impress me more.

Exactly what I was talking about. And once you have one job - it doesn't matter where you got your degree. Second employers only care about the work you did on your first job.

6. So honestly you are paying $100,000+ extra to possibly help you slightly in getting your first job, then the money is down the tubes.

1. firstly, no, you do NOT get the same education at a CC as you do at a 4-year school. they are even differences between 4-year schools of varying calibers. most classes are not as indepth, or they make tests easier to gear it 'to the lowest common denominator'..while classes might be said to cover the same material..the ones at CC do not do it as thoroughly

2. what are you talking about? firstly, as far as business degrees go, finance and accounting are probably the 2 most useful degrees (in terms of job placement and pay), secondly, there are a LOT of good business schools out there.. just check their stats... one from North Carolina can land you as good of a job as one from Penn.

3. no sound proof

4. oh PLEASE

5. yeah, but how will you be guaranteed that One job first? especially when the market is as low as this. NO WAY do they get the same pay. just check out the average salaries for similar grads between all schools.. i guarantee you there is a large distinction. ofcourse, with 5 or more years of experience, it becomes less of a factor. however, with equal qualifications, would you rather promote a duke grad or one from bumfack state?

6. 100,000$ extra? try more like 20,000$. schools like north carolina and texas give you top-notch education and a polish to your degree for 5000$ per year. wisconsin, washington, minnesota, penn state, etc are all cheap, too.

there is not one piece of truth in your post

 

[gopunk]

1. Care to give any examples? I can just see a professor saying this to the class "I'm sorry we cannot cover chapter 3 as that material is reserved for MIT students".

there is more to school than the textbook.

2. Yes there are jobs where the school matters. A master's degree in finance for example is worthless unless it came from one of the top 2 or 3 schools. If you want to be a professor you had better get your PhD at a good school. But those are not the vast majority of jobs. You are thinking of the few and ignoring the rest.

what does the "vast majority" consist of? are we talking about manual labor? secretarial work? i'll agree with you on those jobs.

4. There are benefits of not going out of state too. Suppose you want to work in your home state - one that doesn't have an ivy league school. Many employers see a degree from one of those schools and think "this person is a self-involved snob" and then hire a locally trained person.

just about any state has non-cc schools. furthermore that is what an INTERVIEW is for.

5. I could go on and on where it harms you to go to some ivy league schools.

I see lots of resumes and the ones that stick out the most are not the Ivys or top tier but the ones from people who went to CCs or lower tier schools and ended up doing the same work as people from Ivys. That tells me they busted their butts getting to where they are. Those impress me more.

Exactly what I was talking about. And once you have one job - it doesn't matter where you got your degree. Second employers only care about the work you did on your first job.

that doesn't exemplify ivy league HARMING you. just shows that if you work hard enough you can get up to the same level as people in the ivys.

 

[BlamoHammer]

If you are proud of whatever you do then advertise it! I laugh at the way people stereotype people who dont go to college here. Newsflash!! A degree is far from required to make a good life for yourself. Work ethic and people skills will do much, much, much more for you in the longrun. I dont have a degree and I would be willing to bet I earn more than most on this board that do.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
If you are proud of whatever you do then advertise it! I laugh at the way people stereotype people who dont go to college here. Newsflash!! A degree is far from required to make a good life for yourself. Work ethic and people skills will do much, much, much more for you in the longrun. I dont have a degree and I would be willing to bet I earn more than most on this board that do.

seeing as most of us are HS / college students, that ain't saying much

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: notfred
I like Adam Corrolla's view on community colleges. The other night on LoveLine he was suggesting that they take high school kids there to scare them straight. "This will be you if you don't get your sh!t together before you graduate!" hahaha....

Loveline rules.

 

[wfbberzerker]

it's pretty arrogant to laugh at someone just because they may not be as priviliged or cultured as you. what if they couldn't go to a "real" college because they couldn't afford it? i agree with everyone else, any college is better than no college.

 

[BlamoHammer]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
If you are proud of whatever you do then advertise it! I laugh at the way people stereotype people who dont go to college here. Newsflash!! A degree is far from required to make a good life for yourself. Work ethic and people skills will do much, much, much more for you in the longrun. I dont have a degree and I would be willing to bet I earn more than most on this board that do.

seeing as most of us are HS / college students, that ain't saying much

hehe, touche. you know what i mean

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: optoman
Its better than your kid not going to anykind of school after high school.

What do Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller all have in common (besides being some of the world's richest men)?

No degree.

In the end, your own intelligence, desire and hard work will make you or break you. A piece of paper holds no weight compared to your abilities.

 

[badluck]

What do Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller all have in common (besides being some of the world's richest men)?

No degree.

In the end, your own intelligence, desire and hard work will make you or break you. A piece of paper holds no weight compared to your abilities

You have to remember that those people were very special, and there are 300 million people in this country.....A piece of paper adds a lot of weight if you want to get in and climb the ladder. You can act like it doesn't mean sheat for a few people, but for the majority as a whole, it is very important.

 

[Marshallj]

Ok, maybe I should re-phrase that....

I'm surprised that people in this thread put so much emphasis on where they went to school, and such little emphasis on how smart they actually are.

Sure, someone with money may be able to brag that they got into Yale. They could be a dunce and got in due to a rich daddy who went to there for all you know.

On the other hand, you could have someone who could not afford to go to college, dropped out of college, or has no formal education for all you know, yet might have a 150 Iq. Due to their superior intellect they'll most likely be more capable at mental tasks than a person with an average 100 iq, regardless of where that person went to school.

I never liked sitting in school when I was younger, yet on every CAT, HSPT, etc. I was in the 98th-99th percentile. People were pissed at me because I could show up to class without doing the work and still ace the tests. I left community college to work for a motherboard manufacturer, I got to fly all over the country, go to Comdex twice, and test the lastest chipsets and CPU's. I make more than any of my friends no matter where they went to college. You can call it luck if you want, but I work for what I have.

So while they drive past me in their riced out Civic with their college stickers proudly stuck on the window, I pull away in my Twin Turbo Z not feeling too bad about it.

 

[Marshallj]

For those who don't feel like reading that whole post, I'm basically saying that not everyone is created equally, and someone's abilities will have more impact on their life than the school they choose.

Your employer will be hiring you, based on your abilities, and not the school you went to.

 

[crab]

Well, I goto a community college because I'm a C5-C6 quadriplegic...I can't walk, can't use my hands correctly, etc etc. I can't even survive on my own. Since I can't get about 99.99999% of the jobs out there available to somebody my age, I can't buy myself a van. I can't afford transportation, and can't find a free ride to anywhere further. Getting a ride isnt too simple either, remember I have a 300lb $20,000 powerchair strapped to my ass. Can't catch a regular bus, ask friends, etc.

Did you consider anything of the sort? In some cases it isn't a representation of a person's intellect or effort, but rather their situation and/or finances. I used to fly airplanes, I sure as hell can do better than a CC, but i'm very proud of my accomplishments, and have no problem saying so.

 

[SuperSix]

You might have a superiority complex, but remember this while reading the bumper stickers.. THEY are in FRONT of you.

You sound like a dick..

 

[Imdmn04]

many classes in college are curved, that means everybody is competing against each other.

people in CCs are simply not that competitive, even if you get an A in your local CC class, so what? that doesnt equal to an A in harvard or MIT. people who graduate from decent 4 year schools goes through way more competition than a student from a typical community college. heck most people that goes to the community colleges are already weeded out from 4 year colleges right outta high school through the admission process.

 

[stormbv]

I don't see anything wrong with community college. Some of the smartest people in my class went to CC for two years, because they couldn't afford to go to a 4-year school. Most of those 2 years were probably spent getting gen eds out of the way.

Also, I was the first person on my mom's side of the family to go to college, and the second on my dad's side. I could crap on the lawn and my mom would be proud of me.

Some people are SNOBS.

 

[gotsmack]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: optoman
Its better than your kid not going to anykind of school after high school.

What do Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller all have in common (besides being some of the world's richest men)?

No degree.

In the end, your own intelligence, desire and hard work will make you or break you. A piece of paper holds no weight compared to your abilities.

Billy G is a Harvard drop out and the other people you listed were born a long time ago. We live in a different age now where you need a degree from a 4 year school to get a decent white collar job.

 

[Marshallj]

Maybe I'm just too down to earth compared to most young people nowadays. I look at the person standing before me and judge them based on their personal qualities... throwing around credentials doesn't tell me much, and doesn't impress me much. I think a lot of people nowadays are just vain, they want to impress everyone around them.

The sad part is that if they knew I had some money it would probably make them view me in a higher regard, even though that doesn't mean crap to me. I wouldn't want to be viewed highly by vain people like that, because what would that say about me?

 

[gotsmack]

Originally posted by: Marshallj
Ok, maybe I should re-phrase that....

I'm surprised that people in this thread put so much emphasis on where they went to school, and such little emphasis on how smart they actually are.

Sure, someone with money may be able to brag that they got into Yale. They could be a dunce and got in due to a rich daddy who went to there for all you know.

On the other hand, you could have someone who could not afford to go to college, dropped out of college, or has no formal education for all you know, yet might have a 150 Iq. Due to their superior intellect they'll most likely be more capable at mental tasks than a person with an average 100 iq, regardless of where that person went to school.

I never liked sitting in school when I was younger, yet on every CAT, HSPT, etc. I was in the 98th-99th percentile. People were pissed at me because I could show up to class without doing the work and still ace the tests. I left community college to work for a motherboard manufacturer, I got to fly all over the country, go to Comdex twice, and test the lastest chipsets and CPU's. I make more than any of my friends no matter where they went to college. You can call it luck if you want, but I work for what I have.

So while they drive past me in their riced out Civic with their college stickers proudly stuck on the window, I pull away in my Twin Turbo Z not feeling too bad about it.

If that person is so smart why didn't they get a full ride to go to school?

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: gotsmack

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: optoman
Its better than your kid not going to anykind of school after high school.

What do Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller all have in common (besides being some of the world's richest men)?

No degree.

In the end, your own intelligence, desire and hard work will make you or break you. A piece of paper holds no weight compared to your abilities.

Billy G is a Harvard drop out and the other people you listed were born a long time ago. We live in a different age now where you need a degree from a 4 year school to get a decent white collar job.

I'm afraid that you're brainwashed into thinking the same way most other people do. Those that think outside the box will make the money. If you strive for mediocrity, following the same path as everyone else will get you there.

Let me pretend that I'm not making good money without a 4 year degree. Let me pretend that I cannot buy a new car if I needed to. Let me pretend that bragging about one's self is a good quality to have and will cause me to be widely accepted among the younger age group. Will that make you feel better? Would you feel better knowing that I was in special honors classes from 2nd grade to senior year? Or that I consistently scored in the 98th/99th percentile? To me, that is worthless information. My life is what I made out of it.

I'll be honest with you, I've never been the popular kid in class, I never stived to think like everyone else. I saw the results I got were better than nearly everyone else's, so why should I change my way of thinking to agree with people who scored lower than me?

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: gotsmack

Originally posted by: Marshallj
Ok, maybe I should re-phrase that....

I'm surprised that people in this thread put so much emphasis on where they went to school, and such little emphasis on how smart they actually are.

Sure, someone with money may be able to brag that they got into Yale. They could be a dunce and got in due to a rich daddy who went to there for all you know.

On the other hand, you could have someone who could not afford to go to college, dropped out of college, or has no formal education for all you know, yet might have a 150 Iq. Due to their superior intellect they'll most likely be more capable at mental tasks than a person with an average 100 iq, regardless of where that person went to school.

I never liked sitting in school when I was younger, yet on every CAT, HSPT, etc. I was in the 98th-99th percentile. People were pissed at me because I could show up to class without doing the work and still ace the tests. I left community college to work for a motherboard manufacturer, I got to fly all over the country, go to Comdex twice, and test the lastest chipsets and CPU's. I make more than any of my friends no matter where they went to college. You can call it luck if you want, but I work for what I have.

So while they drive past me in their riced out Civic with their college stickers proudly stuck on the window, I pull away in my Twin Turbo Z not feeling too bad about it.

If that person is so smart why didn't they get a full ride to go to school?

Maybe they didn't want to go school. Why don't you ask Bill Gates why he didn't finish what he started. Ask him why he's a dropout.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: gotsmack

If that person is so smart why didn't they get a full ride to go to school?

A little off topic, but I'm going to wager a guess...

You replied twice to my posts about people making it without going to college. Instead of admitting that it's a good possibilty for a capable person to be successful without a degree, you seemed to try to shoot down that notion. You seem to have a vested interest in school being the only way to go.

I'm willing to bet that you're a young guy who is still going to school, and therefore you are arguing with me because you see my suggestion as devaluing your decision to go to school.

If that's the case, I'm not going to argue with you, since my reality will never be as exciting as your possibility. It's so easy to say, "you're only making $XXX, while I'm going to make $xxx*2. It's the same as when I argue with someone about cars, they may put down my car and say the one they're going to get will be so much better/faster/more expensive. It's pointless arguing what already exists vs. what is possible... the possibilities are endless, and they're always going to claim they'll get the high side of those possibilities.

 

[masterxfob]

this is all about social status, is your head really that big?

i was accepted into a couple UC campus's but i chose to go to a JC instead. my family wasn't doing all that great financially at the time and one of my sisters (just a year behind me) wanted to enter a UC school. i made a small sacrifice for my sister and went to a JC, does that make me any less of a person than the person who's parents could afford to send their kid to Harvard or Stanford?

money isn't everything, it's about character.