My first degree was at a top tier 4-yr university in a non-science field. But five yrs ago, i took a series of basic science courses at MC to serve as pre-recs for a second degree RN BSN program I wanted to do at a more competitive school.

The quality of the MC classes was excellent. They had a good mix of online vs traditional classes, which really helped accommodate my schedule. And it was amazing to see how many different kinds of students there were: teens still in HS looking for more challenging classes, MC students repeating a class, students taking a semester or two off from a 4-yr uni who needed a less expensive way to get basic/transferable classes completed, students aiming for transfer into UMD, & older students (like me). Most were pretty motivated.

All were 101 level classes, so not too hard by nature. But teaching 'how to study' seemed to be just as important as imparting the knowledge. For example, several profs handed out outlines with fill-in-the blank cues for taking notes, many were quite blunt about what to expect on exams & incorporated frequent review in lectures, and most held extra open lab times or q&a sessions to help prep for exams. I thought these were great ways to teach study skills, esp for students who didnt get a solid grip on them in HS.

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery College was a very real choice for my magnet HS MCPS student. The reasons were the quality of instruction, the small class sizes, convenience (location), cost. The reason my student did not go the MC was because of full merit scholarship in first choice school.

I think CC is an excellent route for ANY student.

I totally agree with this post, but maybe I'm biased given that I, on occasion, adjunct at MC. I'm a high school teacher with a PhD in my field, and I have found the curricula I've taught at MC to be extremely well-designed and challenging (I don't design the courses I teach- they're department-designed). The student body is diverse, many of the students pay their own way, so they are very invested in their education and take it seriously. The cost is amazingly cheap when compared to 4-year schools, and if a student does well at MC, she can certainly do whatever she wants from there. To me, this is a no-brainer. My own children are young, but when they are of college age, I will most certainly explore this option for them as well.

Anonymous wrote:Many students in California do two years at a CC before transferring to a 4 year school. If fact, schools like Cal encourage students to do this because of overcrowding and high tuition. I have plenty of friends with degrees from Cal who did two years at a CC first. I wish I'd been that smart in retrospect. Think of the tuition savings!!

I did this. I did it for financial reasons and I don't regret it for a second! I'm an attorney now. I hope my kids do it too! I'm saving assuming that they won't (my parents couldn't for me) but if they do, I'll be happy to use that money for other things! And the education was great-- better than at Cal for first two years.

What is her GPA now? What is her ACT score?