Things no one tells you about community college
Not everyone is given the same opportunities in college, let alone the opportunity of going to college in the first place. Here are four harsh truths I wish I realized before beginning my journey that some of you might have to face. If you can relate, I hope these find your way.
1. Nobody tells you how hard it is paying for your own education. If you begin your journey at the community college level, your financial aid and scholarship / grant money is limited. Because you are attending a community college, your tuition is much cheaper in the long run, but you’ll find yourself paying more upfront and more out of pocket until you make it into a university. If you, yourself, are paying for your classes, you will find yourself struggling between working to keep yourself enrolled and the school work with it.
2. The textbooks cost just as much no matter where you go. The same textbooks they use at the university level is the same as going to a community college, making them no less cheaper either. Buy your textbooks used, or rent them and use transparent sticky notes in order to write in them. The only textbooks you should be buying new are the ones most important to your major for long term purposes, if any at all.
3. Don’t get distracted. I know this might sound harsh, but you are not going to make a lot of friends attending a community college. Everyone you make friends with is either trying to transfer out, or drop out. Not to say there aren’t good people there, because here you are :) , but to not let yourself fall behind in work because of the connections you’ve made on campus.
4. Finish your General Ed Classes before anything else. Odds are, you are not going to stick with the major you started off with. Taking General Ed Courses are a good way of exploring the other majors without wasting any money on units that won’t apply later on. They are the most secure units you will earn when transferring to a University.
