should I go to community college before a four-year school? -- Virtually Advising Q+A

The Q: Should I attend a community college before I proceed to a university or just go directly to the university?

The A: Whether you should to go to a community college before heading off to a four-year college/university depends on your current situation and your personal feelings. A cc may be a good fit for you if:

-- You just can't afford a four-year school right now. (Community colleges are usually MUCH cheaper than four-year schools, plus they tend to offer really flexible scheduling that'll allow you to more easily work part- or full-time while taking classes.)

-- You don't have the time to commit to a four-year school right now, because of job/family commitments, personal problems, etc. (Again, because of flexible scheduling, it's a lot easier to go to two-year schools if there's just too much else going on in your life but you don't want to put off your college education.)

-- You don't feel you're ready for a four-year school yet, for any number of reasons: fear of the college workload, fear of leaving home, a feeling that you totally lack direction in your life, and other things that make the prospect of going to a four-year college too much to bear.

-- Your high-school grades or SAT scores weren't strong enough to get you into the universities you applied to. (A huge number of students use two-year schools as stepping stones to move up to four-year schools after they graduate.)

None of these, I just want to note, are necessarily reasons you SHOULD go to a community college. Lots of students, after all, go to four-year schools despite having some of the concerns I listed above, and lots of students also decide not to go to college at all -- sometimes just temporarily while they stabilize their lives and figure out what they want to do, and sometimes permanently, if they decide college just isn't for them.

—Myles Helfand, General Advisor