/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.8002831]

What does sci think about starting at a community college and then transfering to a four year college for a chemistry degree? It seems like you get the same degree for half the price

[Anonymous No.8002832]

>>8002831
>It seems like you get the same degree for half the price
If you end up going to a good enough university, it is likely many chemistry classes you took at a CC would not be able to fulfill the requirements of a chemistry major at said university.
Also you would miss out on research opportunities.

[Anonymous No.8002836]

>>8002831
>cc first
yes
>chemistry
don't do that to yourself

[Anonymous No.8002846]

>>8002831

I would strongly encourage you to do so. I wish I had done that, as I did have a hard time adjusting straight out of high school. Similar argument if you're older and have just been working labor jobs, it's a big change.

However, be prepared for a jump in difficulty depending on your program. Talk to both schools first and make sure you're not the first person trying to do what you're doing. If you can look up upper year courses and study their notes. It's daunting I know, but if you're on the right path it'll make more sense as you go.

For example, most of the calculus stuff seems irrelevant, but if you can find some upper year math and it looks scary to you, you're going to work all that much harder first.

Anyway, good luck to you. You're right, you do save money. Look into internships as often as you can. They matter a lot. Join a robotics/science/hacking club too in university. Surround yourself with people on the same mission as you.

[Anonymous No.8002847]

>>8002831

>>8002846

Here. I missed the part where you said chemistry.

Don't do that...It's rough out there for general science kids. At least do chemical engineering or double major in CS.

Or follow your heart and be the best chemist you can be I don't give a fuck.

[Anonymous No.8002851]

>>8002847

Actually a lab technician degree isn't that much extra either. Pretty sure you can do that at community colleges. Pair that with a chemistry degree and you might be employable. Be prepared to work close to minimum wage for the first 5 years though.

[Anonymous No.8002862]

>>8002846
OP here
Would I be dumb to turn down a four year college just to save money? Am I missing out on the college experience? That's what all my guidance counselors say but I don't buy it, I just see a cheaper option

[Anonymous No.8002864]

I would definitely recommend it if you can maintain your sanity living at home. I did CC for only a year since I really needed a new chapter in my life. Also, be aware all of your credits will only be recognized at an in-state public college. Many privates do but more don't.

[Anonymous No.8002873]

>>8002862

Is it a degree or a diploma? Degrees are generally valued higher.

I think you have nothing to lose if you plan on switching and start at a community college. If after 2 years you think maybe not, then it's no biggie.

Please go for a government subsidized one if you can. I live in Canada and people will get in 40k debt just for an office administratration or "audio engineering" diploma.

[Anonymous No.8002877]

>>8002862
If you're happy living at home, go for it. What are your plans post-graduation? Being at a university would allow you more opportunities for internships, and if you plan on going to grad school it would allow you more time to get research projects under your belt and good letters of recommendation.

[Anonymous No.8002879]

>>8002862
There are people that really feel they need the college experience, the really social people that go out every weekend and hang with Bros all day

Considering you're on 4chan I doubt that applies, stick with the CC and knock out your gen ed

[Anonymous No.8002937]

>>8002877
OP
I'm actually between chem and chemE so grad school isn't totally off the table if I decide to go the pure chemistry route. I really have no idea which so am I closing a door in terms of research opportunities by going to CC?

[Anonymous No.8002945]

>>8002879
That's what I thought. I'm not in a sealed box because of CC. I'll have less fun sure but I won't be miserable if I try to meet people (in and out of college)

[Anonymous No.8002947]

>>8002831

I did exactly this and it worked out very well. Have a 3 year external graduate research fellowship at my top choice University for my PhD right now.

[Anonymous No.8002950]

>>8002947
OP again
Did CC hold you back in any way? Did you seek out research or internships in your first two years?

[Anonymous No.8002954]

>>8002873
I would be going for a degree (chem or chemE, I'm not sure). And I would just be going to my local CC, nothing fancy.

[Anonymous No.8002960]

>>8002846
>hacking club
AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA what the FUCK are you talking about

[Anonymous No.8002971]

>>8002831
A Chemistry degree already is like a 3 year degree.

[Anonymous No.8002977]

>>8002960

It's the nickname for the programming club at my university. They just try different programming challenges and present their solutions to each other.

[Anonymous No.8002983]

>>8002977
you would be well served to undergo proper ICPC competitive programming training instead of solving "random programming challenges" as it sounds

[Anonymous No.8003041]

>>8002831
I did this, chemistry as well. The only chemistry classes I took at CC were general chemistry 1 and 2, as I felt anything beyond that would be better at a university and there's better labs at a university. Getting my gen ed classes out of the way at CC was probably one of the best decisions, as those classes at a university are much more expensive and more demanding (for example an English comp class). I did undergraduate research my final two years with different research groups and they generally want people exposed to more of the advanced classes anyways so not too many opportunities are missed research-wise. I accepted an offer at my top pick for my physical chemistry/chemical physics doctorate where I start in the fall. Just develop good habits early on and you'll do well

[Anonymous No.8003083]

>>8002831
I did something similar and it worked out well for me but it really depends on your specific situation.

How good is the university that you've gotten in to? If its a top university and you can manage it financially, even if it means taking on debt, I would just go to a proper university and enjoy that experience.

If however you you didn't get in to somewhere really good than the CC route seems much better. Again, assuming you didn't get accepted to a great school, you'll probably be able to get into a better school after spending two years at CC in addition to saving a ton of money.

One big aspect to consider is how motivated and disciplined you are. CC can be really easy but remember that its a place that can make you really lazy/complacent as well. You will for the most part be surrounded by absolute unmotivated dumbfucks. If you can handle that while keeping your shit together than there really isn't much of a downside aside from not getting the full college "experience".

Also keep in mind that many of your science based classes won't transfer over and you will probably have to repeat certain coursework. It may well take you more than two years after transferring to complete your degree.

Also, no matter how well you do at CC, the coursework at a real university will be more difficult and may take some getting used to.

I spent two years at a CC and it still took me 3.5 years after transferring to get my degree.

[Anonymous No.8003104]

I'm doing this for electrical engineering. My advice? Talk to the university you want to transfer to ASAP. Doesn't matter if you haven't applied yet. Hear from them which credits transfer, and which classes you need. Because the CC will try to upsell you on a bunch of bullshit courses that won't actually do you anything for your bachelor's. So the associate degree credit requirements they hand you? Straight in the trash.

[Anonymous No.8003127]

>>8002831
Considering the cost of a four year college it makes a lot of sense. Make sure you go to a CC that has a transfer program for your university/ major of choice though.

You don't want to end up doing Calc 3 at CC and then your university telling you they won't accept it because you had to multi-variable calculus instead. Or you took O chem at your CC and it's listed as O chem and the university won't accept the credit because they require Organic chemistry. Just be weary is all I'm saying.

Also CC are well known for being 13th grade. So don't fuck around either.

[Anonymous No.8003132]

>>8002937
You'd have to make opportunities, community colleges are not research oriented in the least. You'd have to come up with a rough thesis and then consult a professor to work on it. even then you're not guaranteed to have them sign up for it, they would have to want to do it. even then, you'd still have to consolidate the recommendation letter problem. Two years can be enough but you want to gather as many letters as you can to sort through the poorer ones. I highly highly suggest you go to a four year if you want to go to grad school.

[Anonymous No.8003150]

>>8003127
The last part is vital. Don't get lazy and think you don't need to do anything, because a lot of the time the professor will understand the reputation CC has, proceeding to dump a ton of work on you. This happens a lot at my community college. I had about three chapters a week in my non-science biology class for example (also don't take non-science courses for anything, they just give you bookwork without actually telling you anything important about the processes behind it).

[Anonymous No.8003209]

>>8002831
Depends on your CC and the programs they offer. Some have pretty good technical programs. Mine has a decent manufacturing and electronics engineering department. The associates degrees are good enough to get you technician positions at many local industries and the pay can be surprisingly good. I know one of the Alums went to work for the local power company, he does something in the control room handling distribution and switching and makes somewhere around $80,000-90,000 per year now. That's even more impressive considering our program isn't even focused on high voltage stuff and distribution stuff but more on small signal electronics.

We have:
DC Circuits
AC Circuits
Electronics I (Diodes, BJTs, and their applications)
Electronics II (BJTs cont., JFETs, MOSFETS, op-amps, SCR/TRIACs, and their applications)
Instrumentation (learn to operate oscilloscopes, meters, function/signal generators, etc. and how they work)
Digital Electronics (binary, logic gates, adders, multiplexing, etc.)
Advanced Digital (latches, flip-flops, counters, ADC/DACs, memory, FPGAs)
Microcontrollers (professor is awful, I'm not learning anything, there's at least one course like this anywhere)
Control Systems (relay logic, PLCs, motors, etc.)
Calculus I, II, III and Differential Equations
Some entry level labview and orCAD capture PCB editor courses

Obviously you can transfer too. I'm aiming for the "go to work for a decent company and have them pay for the rest of my bachelors" path.

[Anonymous No.8003232]

>>8003209
I should add Electronics 1 is more about proper biasing of BJTs and I think we touch on JFETs too actually.

Electronics II focuses more on how they can be arranged as amplifiers, buffers, etc.

And obviously AC and DC circuits covers all the basic theory, ohms law, Thevenin/Norton equivalent circuits, Kirchoff's laws, nodal analysis, and then AC stuff like reactance and impedance, properties of inductors and capacitors in AC circuits, transformers, passive filters, three phase power, etc.)

No analog or digital signal processing stuff or LTI systems. We did get a bit into Fourier transforms in one course though and my design project for one of my courses relies on MFB active filters so I'm picking up a bit of stuff on that on the side.

I think that's pretty good for a two year degree. I guess I can't truly call myself an engineer until I get the bachelors degree but I think this is decent exposure. Loads of lab work and exposure to equipment too. I've been hearing a lot of the four year engineering graduates come into jobs with a lot of theoretical knowledge but very little exposure to instrumentation because most of their lab work involves simulations rather than building and testing physical circuits. Hopefully this will give me a little leg up on them.

[Anonymous No.8004684]

>>8002831
Irishfag here, what's the difference between a community college and uni in America?

[Anonymous No.8004762]

Circumstantial. I had a full ride to my CC out of HS, and the CC is pretty big and partnered with most 4year schools in the area. After i got my AA for free, I transfered to a 4year program and have the first 2 years completed (AA counts for all lower level requirements).

Made a lot of sense in my case, and no regerts at all

[Anonymous No.8006516]

>>8004684
Community College is like grade/year 13 and 14 of High School. Most of it is remedial stuff.

[Anonymous No.8007750]

it's a good idea just make sure you know what the admissions of your desired uni require when you transfer. CC advisors can be shit with making it clear as to what you need. Usually an AA will satisfy the essentials and allow an easy transfer.

Also take summer classes because that will reduce the amount of time you spend at CC by a lot. wish I knew that going in

[Anonymous No.8009380]

>>8006516
Lol no.

It's a cheap alternative to 4 year college, where you can take college classes and transfer the credits to a university/senior college. You take classes at a CC for two years then transfer to a 4 year to complete your degree.

You guys must have shitty CCs. I went to a CC in NYC and transferred 80 credits to Baruch to finish my finance degree

[Anonymous No.8009435]

>>8009380
College class these days are remedial

[Anonymous No.8009467]

If you can get As in chemistry at a community college, university chemistry would be fine.

Now if you are strughling with orgo, you arent going to do well at uni if you dont really kick it into 5th gear.

Most community colleges and state universities have the same expectation of you. Community is great because of small class sizes and smaller campuses. universities may have better professors, better labs and better resources.

But a bachelor's degree for 4 years at a uni has the same weight as one from the same uni if you took 2 years community.

Im happy with my decision because i got into community college first because i got my associates, so when i applied for internships, i was already a degree holder, which gave me more choices.

[Anonymous No.8009520]

>>8002831
Depends on the program and your area. Check to see if your local CC has a credit-equivalency program in place with the nearby Big State U, or if nearby universities have evaluated credits previously (they should have a list of on the university website.)

Additionally, starting out a 2-year institution may not be a bad idea as you'll have an associates degree and a decent paying jobs available if you are decide not to go to university. You wouldn't not have the same luxury after 2 years of university.

I attended a 2-year engineering technology program at a community college because I moved out of the US at 18 and could not afford $30,000/yr international tuition. Basically, I did the equivalent of the first couple years of an engineering program with a bigger emphasis placed on solid modeling. I tried to transfer to the local university, but they accepted none of my credits, so I worked for a couple years at an EPC firm instead. I made OK money (around $35,000 US a year) but I hated being an engineer's bitch with no career prospects

I moved back to the US and it turns out the niche specialty I had been doing commanded a salary of around $80,000-$100,000 at my 3 years of experience with a lot of more respect than what I was previously given. Still, I had my credits evaluated at my local university, and about 1/2 of them where transferable (dynamics, mechanics of materials etc did not have enough of a calculus emphais apparently). Still, better than none. Currently I'm working until I have enough saved up to cover 3 years of school

So to conclude this lengthy blog, just do your research and make sure you won't have to re-do credits. Also, an associates degree can give you a very good career, but you have to work harder to find it.

[Anonymous No.8009546]

Unless you got into the likes Harvard or MIT and know what you want to do it's not a bad choice. You'll save money by just getting rid of gen eds and deciding what you want.

[Anonymous No.8009557]

>>8009546
You still have to do the gen-eds if you transfer.

[Anonymous No.8009564]

>>8009557
You do them before you transfer