Parents
You want the best for your kids and so do we! Below we've broken down community college, how to use our website, and some links of our most helpful pages for you!
COMMUNITY COLLEGE?
Community College is often known as Junior College. California Community Colleges are institutions which offer associate degrees, trade and skill certificates, as well as accredited transfer programs and community classes.
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For those who are considering the transfer pathways provided by California Community Colleges, there are a few things you should know.
At a community college students typically spend the first two years of their college experience completing all their General Education (GE) requirements and major pre-requisites. By following a predetermined (but flexible) list of accredited GE courses and major pre-requisites, California Community College Students gain the ability to apply for the Transfer Admittance Guarantee (TAG) to six University of California Campuses. A similar pathway exists for California State Universities.
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This pathway guarantees admittance to the students choice of a University of California or choice of major in a California State University campus.
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Upon transfer to a four year university students will complete their upper division major course work and a handful of upper division General Education requirements.
BENEFIT
There are a lot of benefits to going to a community college that will be unique to everyone, however, here are some of the overarching benefits community college provides students.
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1. Cost: The cost per unit at a California Community College is $46 which means the cost per semester for a full time student (12 units) is roughly $552 in tuition. Add in books, or extra classes over the 12 unit minimum, and students would expect to pay anywhere from $1200-1450 in tuition, fees and books in a year before financial aid. Far less than a single semester at a CSU or UC.
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2. Stability and Predictability: Many majors in the California University system are impacted and result in students staying extra semesters because they weren't able to take the necessary pre-requisites for their major. Additionally, the impacted majors sometimes have a high GPA requirement in order to declare their major that is often hard to achieve due to low freshman and sophomore grades which resulted from adjusting to living on their own. Community College allows students the ability to register for classes without much worry that they will not get into a class they need and even if they cannot register for their first choice class they still have the ability to register for a different class that satisfies the same requirement.
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3. Personalized Experience: Some students and parents are worried that they will miss out on the college experience but students have the ability to work a part-time or full-time job, pick up an internship, join a club, or even join a sports team while in community college. The only difference socially is that you just might have to hunt for a party.
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4. Discovery: Community college provides many General Education classes that satisfy many different requirements which allows students to test out different fields of study without setting themselves behind their own timeline for graduation.
PARENTS
Our most helpful pages for you!
WORD ON THE STREET
Here you'll find stories from students who have taken the community college route. You'll find their story, high school/hometown, community college, and current path. They'd love to share their thoughts with you! They will offer insight on how to be successful and why community college has made a difference in their lives.
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Don't believe us? Hear from the experts! On our College Resources page we have several links to other sources used by students, counselors, and parents which are all recommended to find information on the different college options! Links to lower out of state tuition, example transfer pathways, and course articulation by campus.
OUR WEBSITE
Traditionally Untraditional is built with the goal that it is used as a simple platform to give students and parents a starting point away from the mass of information found on traditional college websites. Use our pages to find basic information about community college, study abroad, and personal experiences of community members. We hope to make your search for information simple and give you answers to questions maybe you didn't even know you had!
WHAT YOU'LL FIND HERE
WORD ON THE STREET
Here you'll find stories from students who have taken the community college route. You'll find their story, high school/hometown, community college, and current path. They'd love to share their thoughts with you! They will offer insight on how to be successful and why community college has made a difference in their lives.
RESOURCE PAGE
Come check out our resources page for a basket full of tips, tricks and more! You'll find our college application tool kit for students who are applying for the first time or for transfer. You'll also find resources to help you understand the community college system and even a few pages about reduced tuition at 4-year universities.
