Community College transfers - any success stories?

[Anonymous]

I know DCUM might bury this, because all of our kids are exceptional, but I would love to hear any success stories or experiences with Nova CC transfers to four year universities in VA. Anyone?

[Anonymous]

I have heard of kids with not a lot of money doing this to UVA. They have to be very motivated though, and you really do miss out on the college experience.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to hear stories, though! Our family can self fund state school costs; however, our kid could finish an associate's degree in two semesters and transfer in to a state school as a junior but only be 19, essentially shaving a year off of undergrad and spending less than 10k for a year of study, leaving room for money to spend on grad school. Asking because good luck getting in to flagships from Nova, even with good stats.

[Anonymous]

Your shaving a year off plan might not work depending on the planned major and how the classes are sequenced.

[Anonymous]

I was a NOVA transfer to GMU. I got into JMU and VT, but money was tight so I went to GMU and lived at home.

PP is right: you miss out on the traditional college experience, more so if you live at home like I did though. I had friends who lived in an apartment with other students and their experience seemed to be more “traditional”. I think I got a decent education, and transferring into a public VA school from a VA community college is a really streamlined process. There is also usually financial aid available specifically for transfer students.

[Anonymous]

I think the Nova transfer option is a good choice if needed financially but is not ideal. My concern about what you miss out on is not the living-on-campus part but missing out on two years to build relationships with professors that then give you opportunities to work on research or other projects, and to get involved in campus organizations and advance to leadership roles.

One of my kids has been doing research junior-senior year and got that gig because she was in a class with the professor sophomore year. The other started working on data projects on campus in 2nd semester of freshman year into junior year, and started TA'ing for a math professor in 2nd semester of sophomore year. If they'd just started at their colleges in junior year, they would not have these opportunities. Maybe some could come senior year but they wouldn't have under their belts by they time they were applying for rising-senior summer internships.

With the current dismal hiring market for new grads, you need to build as much experience and connections as you possibly can during undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to hear stories, though! Our family can self fund state school costs; however, our kid could finish an associate's degree in two semesters and transfer in to a state school as a junior but only be 19, essentially shaving a year off of undergrad and spending less than 10k for a year of study, leaving room for money to spend on grad school. Asking because good luck getting in to flagships from Nova, even with good stats.

Doable for uva. Approx 15 credits need to begin the summer after HS graduation and then 15 in the following fall and spring. https://admission.virginia.edu/transfer/guaranteed-transfer-admission

15 credits in the shortened summer term is hard. There may be a very short winter term, too.

[Anonymous]

My nephew screwed around in HS and did the CC to UVA route. He did a lot of growing up going to CC while his friends were at 4 year colleges. He's got his head on straight now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My nephew screwed around in HS and did the CC to UVA route. He did a lot of growing up going to CC while his friends were at 4 year colleges. He's got his head on straight now.

That's awesome! Sometimes it takes a while.

[Anonymous]

Parents love it. Students hate it.
Or tolerate it. Parents who do it just to save money (when they otherwise should have had the money) imo suck. Or parents also suck if their mentality is: whatever gets the student into UVA

[Anonymous]

Kid 1 just finished year 1 at Nova. They had a rough high school journey and needed some additional time to get themselves together before heading off to college. Accepted at both W&M and UMW for the fall (didn't apply to UVA). Didn't use guaranteed admissions route. W&M guaranteed admissions required 45 post high school credit hours but kid 1 already has an associate with just 1 year post high school thanks to DE/AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents love it. Students hate it.
Or tolerate it. Parents who do it just to save money (when they otherwise should have had the money) imo suck. Or parents also suck if their mentality is: whatever gets the student into UVA

OP here: my DC has no interest in UVA. It is not a good fit. Lots of things factoring in, beyond cost, mostly acknowledging that it is very hard to compete from a NoVa high schools for seats at DC's desired school (W&M)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid 1 just finished year 1 at Nova. They had a rough high school journey and needed some additional time to get themselves together before heading off to college. Accepted at both W&M and UMW for the fall (didn't apply to UVA). Didn't use guaranteed admissions route. W&M guaranteed admissions required 45 post high school credit hours but kid 1 already has an associate with just 1 year post high school thanks to DE/AP.

Congrats and thanks for the info about the required credits for guaranteed admissions.

[Anonymous]

Don’t do it unless you have to.

The odds are against you child making it, something like 15-30% end up with a 4 year degree after enrolling to community college. Most take longer than 4 years to get a degree. It’s easy to lose motivation and end up wandering aimlessly. If transferring to a regular college you might need time to adapt to the rigor level which is definitely above community college classes. Some majors that are in demand may be difficult to transfer into.

Going to community college you’re taking a lot of risk for saving some tuition money, which over two years amounts to $30-40k compared to in state. You’re also missing many other opportunities like research, being part of organizations on campus, relationships with potential employers for internships etc.

There’s no significant benefit in going to community college if you already got into a state college.

[Anonymous]

I know plenty of kids that has success transferring from Community College. Most of them boys, but I have boys so my sample may be skewed. There are lots of reasons kids do a year or two at CC. Some kids don't have great igh school grades. Some need more time to mature. Some have no idea what they want to major in and use CC to explore. For all these kids, a year or two at CC make them more successful at a 4 year school. Having "the college experience" doesn't equal success.