42.Deciding between community college and a four-year university: An In-Depth Look at the Decision-Making Process

What if there were more paths to success than just a four-year university degree? As we embark on this fascinating exploration into the decision-making process of choosing between a community college or a four-year university for your teen, we aim to debunk some of the myths you may have heard. The choice isn't simply black and white - each option has its own unique benefits and challenges that we will explore in depth to help you and your teen make the best choice for their future.

During our discussion, we highlight the often overlooked benefits of community colleges: financial savings, flexible structure, smaller class sizes, and a more personalized learning experience. But we also dive into the comprehensive experiences that a four-year university can offer, such as in-depth study, diverse extracurricular activities, and networking opportunities. We even tackle the tough conversations you need to have with your teen about their aspirations and career goals. This episode provides you with valuable insights and tips to navigate this crucial decision-making process. So let's embark on this journey together and explore the exciting world of college and career readiness.

Episodes mentioned: Anxiety, my personal experience + Conquering the chaos within 

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Transcript

Sonia: 0:00

Welcome to the College and Career Ready podcast. You go to resource for all things related to preparing our students for success in their college and career journey. My name is Sonia Cacique and I will be your host and guide on this exciting journey towards a bright future. Our mission is simple to empower our parents and students by elevating their confidence and resourcefulness. We believe that you deserve all the tools and support necessary to open the doors to endless possibilities of success and, with our community, you don't have to do this alone, so come with me and let's get started. Welcome back, dear listeners, to another episode of the College and Career Ready podcast. I'm your host, Sonia Cacique.

Sonia: 0:51

Today we are diving into a topic that's often on the minds of parents and students alike the age-old decision of whether to choose a community college or a four-year university. We'll explore the benefits, challenges and, most importantly, how to make the right choice for your teen's unique journey. But before we get started, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of our audience members joining us today, whether you're driving your child to and from school, in routes to your workplace, enjoying coffee, a soothing tea break or during a workout session. Thank you for tuning in. I love welcoming new parents or anyone who also works directly with our youth, because together we are making sure our teens are college and career ready. If you know of someone who would benefit from joining our community, invite them by sending them the direct link to our podcast and if you share it within your social media, make sure to tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me spread the word. And lastly, make sure you follow and subscribe to the College and Career Ready podcast. All you have to do is go to collegecareerreadyorg, where you can sign up for all of our news and updates.

Sonia: 2:15

So let's dive into today's episode. I want to give you some backstory. I was following a parent group on Facebook the other day and a parent was sharing with our group how pressured her husband and herself were feeling when speaking with family and friends about the decision to have their son go to a community college. Some even gave them a look that actually made them feel belittled and as a parent, that can be a horrible feeling. I honestly was heartbroken just reading that. How could family and friends do that, rather than asking more about the goals and aspirations of the child, they make it seem like going to a community college or technical school is something to look down upon. So I really really felt that I had to bring this topic and this conversation to our podcast.

Sonia: 3:11

And let me tell you this comes from someone who went to graduate school but I started as a community college student and honestly I saw myself in that story when she was sharing about that child because at that age I honestly didn't see anything past the technical certification or a two year degree and, as I have shared in the previous episode, I dealt with much anxiety all of my childhood and part of my adult life and this probably was the best decision ever. To be very frank and honest, that's not the reason why I went to community college, but in hindsight I'm so glad I did because I don't know if I would have been just as successful if I would have jumped into a four year university, given what I know now of the circumstances that I had with my anxiety. But that's not the point of my story. Just wanted to share that with you because it can be very limiting for a parent to feel that their child has to go to a four year university. I will have to share that episode that I did, specifically speaking about my anxiety and my experience with that if you want to listen more about it. But again, I had limited myself at that age by my own beliefs, my own limitations and, of course, the dreaded imposter syndrome. Now I share this with you, just to say that neither going to a community college or a four-year degree is nor good or a bad choice, but rather I want to bring light to some pros and cons of each, ultimately helping you and your child make the best choice for what's right for him or her, and always remember that if you feel that a community college or a technical school is the best choice for now, it does not mean that they won't one day complete a bachelor's degree, a master's degree or even their PhD one day, right? So this is just the first step and I really encourage everyone to, of course, go to college, because that experience is something that's going to go with them and can really open a lot of opportunities.

Sonia: 5:31

Now the second thing I really want to highlight is that success is not directly measured by one parameter of going to a four-year university or not. As a matter of fact, it has multiple and great variety of parameters and in fact, the definition of success varies greatly by individual and their own individual metrics. This is actually probably a full episode in itself, but I did want to mention this Now. If you were just strictly speaking about financial success, you'd be surprised to know how many people are, let's just say, financially successful with less than society's expectation of a career level, such as John McKee, ceo of Whole Foods, anna Winter, editor in chief of Vogue, and, of course, the ones you probably already know, like Bill Gates, steve Jobs and others.

Sonia: 6:31

As parents, we will always strive, through our children, to reach the success that they wish to reach and that they maybe sometimes need to push a little bit outside of their comfort zone, but not at the risk of just trying to prove to society that we are following society's norms. You are your child's greatest advocate, so never let someone make you feel otherwise. You always know what is best for them, especially if you had open and honest conversations with them along the way. Okay, so let's get right into it the pros and cons Community college versus a four-year university. So, parents, as we start this journey, it's important to understand the options available to your teen.

Sonia: 7:18

Community colleges and four universities each have their own set of advantages and challenges, so let's start with the benefits of community college. Of course, it lowers the cost and let me tell you, I'm a big proponent of spending less in education and really making sure that our children are financially successful from the beginning. And being in a huge debt just because they wanted to go to these universities at the expense of really having high costs or high debt, I don't think that's a really good choice and we can definitely talk about that in another episode. But, of course, community college will lower your costs. The community college can be a much more budget-friendly option and always remember this doesn't mean that they won't go to a four-year university. As a matter of fact, if they decide to go to a four-year university, at the end of the day, their bachelor's degree is going to say the university where they're graduating from. So always remember that where they end up graduating is something that you might want to consider more as a long-term goal rather than immediate goal Flexibility. So that's another big benefit. Students can work part-time, they can commute or explore various career options or career paths while they're going to a community college, because we all know that the frontal nob is not even fully developed until the age of 20 to 23 years old. So, considering that, of course, our teenager might still be exploring their options and so that's always a good choice to go to community college as they're exploring their options.

Sonia: 9:04

Now, personally, my favorite smaller class size is it's more personalized attention from instructors. Now my personal experience, as I have shared with you my past experience with anxiety and thankfully I can now say that it's predominantly in my past, not to say that I might not have moments of anxiety, but not the type that will make me freeze, literally freeze, and sometimes even give up on my own dreams. Well, thankfully for me, I did go to a community college track for the first one or two years of my college experience and, honestly, that experience has served me greatly over the years as I became a certified pharmacy technician Before I pursued completing my bachelor's degree and later my master's degree, and maybe, just maybe, I can almost guarantee, knowing now what I know of myself from back then, that this low transition helped me in reaching my later success in completing my undergraduate and graduate degrees. So parents definitely consider this as an option based on what you know from your own child. Now there are definitely benefits of a four-year university. They have a very comprehensive experience. It's a holistic college life with diverse extracurricular is in campus activities. They can definitely have a lot more networking opportunities, connections that could last a lifetime in various fields, because, of course, a university is much more larger and they can definitely build a lot more network opportunities and a lot more connections there. And, of course, the depth of education it's a little bit more of an in-depth study in their chosen career major and so the experience might be slightly more in-depth at a four-year university.

Sonia: 10:54

Now, the challenges of a community college they do have limited program offerings, so it's always good to make sure that you check the transfer requirements for the four-year university that your child is planning to go to, so that's something to consider in the process. Some specialized programs might not be available as well at the community college and, as I just mentioned, the transfer process Transferring credits to a four-year university can be complex. So always make sure that you have a working relationship with the college counselor, both at the community college and at the four-year university where they plan to transfer to. And the social experience it's a little bit less of a traditional campus life and residential experience. However, a lot of our community colleges nowadays are really changing this and doing big changes to make sure that they do have a little bit more of the traditional campus life.

Sonia: 11:55

Now the challenges of a four-year university, of course, we mentioned this a little bit earlier. Higher costs, the tuition room board and other expenses can definitely add up, and one of the things that I talk about in my free college and career ready guide is about cost. Okay, that's definitely something to consider. If you have not grabbed that guide, make sure you go to the collegecareerreadyorg website where you can get access to that free parent and student guide. The pressure of a four-year university can definitely be intense because they have an intense academic competition and high expectations. So, again, if they go straight into a four-year university, they might feel a lot more pressure rather than transitioning from a community college, and in the graduation timeline, four years is a significant time commitment. So if you or your child feel unsure about their future career goals, then maybe going to a community college might save a little bit of time and money.

Sonia: 13:05

Now, those were the pros and cons and I really want to take an opportunity to talk about how to find what's best for your team. So, as parents, we all want the best for our children, right? But it's crucial to remember that there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Your team's passions, strengths, aspirations should guide their decision. So how can you, as a parent, approach this decision? Know your team, understand their interests, learning style and goals, and this starts with open and honest conversations.

Sonia: 13:45

It is crucial, if you have not started this already, to start building open-ended conversations with your children, no matter what age they are. And, again, the open communication is just being about open and honest about their strengths, their weaknesses and their expectations. Together, you can explore options so you can research both community colleges and universities together. Again, this is something that should be done together, not your team telling you where everybody else is going and where he or she should go, or parents dictating where the child should go. It really should be a cohesive, collaborative work between parents and child. And, of course, you can always visit campuses, attend open houses, talk to current students and get a feel for the environment.

Sonia: 14:42

Finally, I really really want you to consider their career goals, and this is again something that I also mentioned in the College and Career Ready student guide that you can access for free. Focus on the programs that align with your team's career aspirations. I hear so many parents and students really focusing on the college they want to go to, really leaving out of the picture what their ultimate career goal and aspiration is, and this should be in the forefront of any conversation in regards to college and being career ready. So my final thoughts okay, my dear listener, whether your team graduates from a community college or for your university, what truly matters is that they're equipped with the skills, knowledge and determination to chase their dreams. It's not about conforming to societal expectations, but about carving their unique path. Their college and career experience is probably not going to be linear, and if you expect it to be linear, I think that is a path for anxiety, stress and ultimately affecting not only the child but the parent as well in the journey. As parents, your role is to guide, support and help your team thrive, no matter which path they take, remember, success comes in many forms and it's the journey itself that holds the most valuable lessons. If you have any questions along the way, I am always just a click away. You can reach me by email at info at collegecareerreadyorg or any of my social media platforms. I always love hearing from you.

Sonia: 16:35

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the College and Career Ready podcast. Until next time, my friend, stay well, be present and enjoy the journey Until next week. I'll talk to you then. Hey friend. Thank you for tuning in.

Sonia: 16:49

If you enjoyed this episode in our podcast, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to send me a direct message and let me know what you enjoyed most about this episode. If you want to help us grow our community, share our podcast with a friend by texting it to them right now so they can join us as well. Let's embark on this journey together. I'm truly grateful for each and every one of you. Let's stay in touch and I'll talk to you soon. Adios. Hey friend. Thank you for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode in our podcast, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to send me a direct message and let me know what you enjoyed most about this episode. If you want to help us grow our community, share our podcast with a friend by texting it to them right now so they can join us as well. If you'd like to embark on this journey together, I'm truly grateful for each and every one of you. Let's stay in touch and I'll talk to you soon. Bye.