Community college has its advantages

There are three words/phrases that scare seniors — especially Clark seniors — who want to go to a four-year university from high school: Common Apps, SAT, and college acceptance. These are words that bring no fear to seniors who plan on first going to a community college.

“The pros about going to a community college first right after high school is the financial aspect of it,” said Karine Turdjian, Clark’s head counselor. “It is less expensive to take classes at the community college level compared to a four year university, especially the private ones.”

There are a few disadvantages of going to a community college. For one, it is can be easier to “slack off” at a community college than at a four-year university. Because most people feel like GCC is an extension of Clark, some might take community college lightly. Also, it is said to be extremely difficult to get classes at GCC, extending students’ time at GCC from two years to three or even four.

Still, the pros of going to a community college first can outweigh the cons for many students. According to Turdjian, 63% of Clark’s 2014 class planned to attend a community college in California.

For GCC and former Clark student Sevan Hacopian, the choice was simple. “I chose to go to GCC first because it’s cheap and close to my house,” Hacopian said. “It was a no-brainer.”

2012 Clark graduate Vahe Baboomian knew that he was going to Glendale Community College first then transferring to a four-year university since the start of his senior year. “I wanted to go to a community college first because I knew I would be paying a lot less for the same education for the first two years,” Baboomian said. “There was no point in me going to a four-year university straight away.”

Baboomian also knew that by going to GCC first, he would be able to skip freshman and sophomore housing at a four-year university. Students who plan on going to GCC then going to a university just for their bachelor’s degree might be able to get everything done at GCC very soon.

According to a recent article in the Glendale News-Press, 15 community colleges will be chosen to offer bachelor degrees in vocational fields. It hasn’t been said whether GCC will be one of those 15 schools yet; however, if so, GCC would start offering these bachelor degrees no later than the 2017-2018 school year.

Even though Baboomian had the grades to go to a four-year university first, he chose to go to a community college, which is what Turdjian advises most students not to do. “I encourage my students to apply to a four-year university if they qualify for admissions,” Turdjian said. “When they get an acceptance letter from any college, they need to take a look at their family’s expected contributions to their educations.”

Baboomian did not want to apply to a four-year university during his senior year because he knew that he wanted to go to GCC first. “There was no point in me applying to universities if I wasn’t going to go right away,” Baboomian said.

Going to GCC for Baboomian was like a reunion for him. “I saw all of my friends from elementary and middle school on the first day,” Baboomian said. “It was really cool seeing how much they had changed throughout the four year I hadn’t seen some of them or talked to them.”

Referring to a scenario of applying to a dream school during senior year but not getting in, Turdjian said, “If your dream school is Yale, UCLA or USC, then you should go to community college and complete the transfer requirements so the transfer will be really smooth.”

Turdjian also advises seniors who want to attend a community college to get in touch with the transfer center counselor at the community college they want to attend.

When answering the question of whether students should attend a community college if they do not know what their major is, Turdjian said that four-year colleges are open to undecided majors as well. “During the first two years, they are taking general education classes, which could be done at the community college level or the four-year university level,” Turdjian said. “But by the end of the second year, they must come up with their major.”

Not knowing what major to pursue also leads some students to choose GCC first over a four-year university. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do in high school and I thought I’d figure it out at GCC,” Hacopian said. “After looking at all the choices and looking at all the classes I had taken so far, I felt Econ was the best for me.”

Baboomian entered GCC with the intention of majoring in Mechanical Engineering, but after his first year of attending GCC, he changed his mind and decided to major in Organic Chemistry. “My heart was set on mechanical engineering for a while, ever since sophomore year,” Baboomian said. “But then I somehow grew to like chemistry much more so I chose Organic Chemistry as my major.”

Even though many do not finish their general education within the two-year mark, Baboomian finished in exactly two years by also taking summer and winter courses at GCC. He is now attending UC Irvine and is happy with his choice of going to a community college first. Hacopian will be finishing his GCC classes by the beginning of next fall and start his courses at CSUN.