[quote=davelj]I have some friends who have a son that was a very mediocre high school student (with marginal test scores). He went to one of the local community colleges for two years, did reasonably well (mostly A’s and B’s), applied to UCSD and was accepted, with credits transferred, without incident. I think it only took him two years to graduate from UCSD. If this kid is any indication, going the community college route is both cheaper and easier. It seems a hell of a lot easier than applying with every kid that wants into the system straight out of high school.
I agree with this approach, davelj. I think my last kid is leaning this way due to recently noticing how much “predecessors” have had to pay to live away from home and how long it has taken them to graduate due to work commitments.
The GE requirements of the first two years of college can be obtained anywhere and the CC’s are much cheaper (and far less crowded) in these classes than universities. At the end of the day, the ink dries the same color and at the same speed on the university diploma, whether the student spent two years or four years at the university they graduated from. It’s actually faster to do it this way, IMO, due to the agreements UC and CSU have with the CA CC Districts.
