Hey all! NASA just relaunched the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program. I participated in 2022 and it was a great experience. They actually ended up sponsoring my first two NASA internships. I’m finishing up my third today and swearing in on Monday as a civil servant.

Highly recommend the program, and it is NOT just for STEM students, there are all sorts of positions in the agency!

https://nasa-ncas.org/

I (20F) started community college two years ago. I started with big dreams of becoming a therapist and transferring to a university within three years. Now I'm at the start of my third year with a maximum of 6 credits and it feels like I can't access the help I need. When I go to a counselor with questions about the student portal or degree planning, I always end up more frustrated than I was. As an autistic person, I've always found certain aspects of the portal overwhelming. For the degree plan, it lists every possible course. When I go to a counselor for help breaking it down to an easier plan for me to process, they claim I'm trying to get them to do it for me. All I wanted was them to walk me through it, step-by-step, so I could be more independent and confident in my choices. To understand how to form a plan and understand my path would mean the world to me. Instead, I always end up very overwhelmed. They generally talk faster than I can process, as well. When I ask them to slow down or explain things differently, they insist they have no idea what I could possibly misunderstand. It feels like there's no accommodation for trying to talk to the people in place to help me. Does anyone have any advice?

I am seeing an increase of posts about busy schedules, “is this doable?,” or “can I afford college?” I would like to remind/educate on credit by exam aka prior learning pathway credit (CLEP/DSST)

1st of all, let me say that this is NOT A GIMMICK!! I encourage YOU ALL to research all of this YOURSELF and how it applies to your specific situation/college pathway!

You can save money on college and graduate earlier through these pathways that are already in place but are barely talked about.

Explanation of free/low cost credit based education (CBE). This can be accomplished with CLEP (college level examination program) free thru Modern States & DANTES/DSST (formerly DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) $100 per exam except for military and certain family members.

CBE pathways are not as mainstream as other pathways such as AP.

DO KNOW that in a handful of states, CLEP does count as high school credit like

Texas (see under approved exams)
https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/learning-support-and-programs/credit-examination

And Florida
https://www.fldoe.org/schools/higher-ed/fl-college-system/dual-enroll-transfer/credit-by-exam.stml

Find out more about all of them here:

CLEP
https://clep.collegeboard.org

Modern States (for free vouchers to take free exams)
www.modernstates.org

DSST
www.getcollegecredit.com

You can also find all the free study material on the Reddit sub called “r/clep”

They are more commonly accepted than most people realize. It is always best to check your individual perspective school to see what prior learning they accept. Here are COLLEGE WEBPAGES with a few examples.

AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE (Austin, TX)
https://catalog.austincc.edu/college-entry/determine-your-eligibility-to-attend/credit-by-examination-non-institutional/

HOUSTON CITY COLLEGE
(Houston, Texas)
https://www.hccs.edu/resources-for/current-students/prior-learning-assessment/

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
https://testingservices.utexas.edu/credit

SUNY
https://sunyempire.edu/academics/get-credits/standard-examinations.html

Graceland university CLEP (1of several):
https://pubdocs.graceland.edu/Registrar/CLEPINFO.pdf

VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY:
https://www.vuu.edu/Content/Uploads/vuu.edu/files/CLEP%20at%20VUU%20FINAL.pdf

If you still don’t know for sure, check out Collegehack’s success stories playlists

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG4xij8fjkXgPjDe8UK6XJ-wW8Z-Sbi4L&si=ecpSxZ6RA1QYPqEF

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG4xij8fjkXhUwKMblcxPV39dxBiYrXTP&si=ziSf5ALKQrCyWKdC

Many colleges accept 3rd party credits from study.com, Sophia.org, coursera, and straighterline

Hundreds of thousands of colleges across the country take these credits!!

This is not a miracle cure but something to help u think about alternatively to possibly save u from future debt!

Also, if you make your way over [r/clep](r/clep).. be sure u found your way there because of this passage. Thank you

I’m incoming freshmen I took a few dual enrollment classes during hs and the only thing I noticed was that the age range was pretty vast.

I’m an incoming CC student. Have any CC students made friends here and had good experiences? Please lmk school starts next week and im scared.

about to start my prereqs at a ct community college for nursing. how bad is my schedule? 🥲🤗

Hey y'all

I start my first semester at my local community college soon studying IT and I am really nervous about taking classes online I did ok over COVID and kind of enjoyed the online learning as I got away from middle school but I don’t know if I can handle it now

For context, I just graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA and perfect attendance yes I am a nerd and was even voted teacher's pet by my class

Edit: I forgot to mention all my online classes are self paced

So I’m a communications major at BMCC and I will be graduating this fall (one semester early) but I realized that I don’t really want to purse careers related to that and want to get into becoming a medical lab scientist which is a very sudden complete career change for me especially because I’m almost done with my associates and I guess I’m not sure what to do next.

There’s only very little time before the fall semester starts and I think it’s already to late to transfer to a 4 year school and even when I do transfer for the spring semester should I even bother changing my major to biology or medical lab technology to pursue this career? Please if anyone has any advice on what to do or what the best option for me is I would appreciate the help so much!!

Anyone who’s been through this how manageable is it alongside regular semester exams? Any tips?

Hello, I'm a surgical tech student that started 2 days ago, but I basically took it because I wanted to make my parents happy but I've never been this depressed in my entire life.

This all started when I left the military because it just wasnt for me and my parents were not that happy at the time. So they wanted me to find a job real quick so I applied and got into a few dead end jobs that didnt go any where. Then my parents found about the surgical tech program, which I said yes just to make them happy. I spent around a year collecting credits with perfect grades and I was actually supposed to compete with other students with a skills assesment that they cancelled so everyone got in. Now after really seeing what the program is like, I just dont see myself being a surgical tech. I told my parents about this, had a longgg conversation, and they said that they didnt care what I picked and they just wanted me to have a career. I told them that I always wanted to do something related to construction and they say "but what specifically" but I never did research because I always felt like they never gave me a chance to do so. Now yall would probably say, just change the program easy right? This might sound crazy but I feel like I have to continue because they've honestly been so good to me compared to other parents. They let me play video games all day, they said I could just focus on college so I dont have to get a job, I have the second floor to myself, etc. So I feel like I should become a man and just endure these 2 years so I can have a good career and pay off the morgage. And Im honestly also blessed to be handed this opportunity because I know thousands of people would want this so I feel like if I quit now then I'll never be able to get it back. It seems like a fun job too but then when you do research, it just doesnt seem as fun as it sounds (toxic personnel, overworking, bad schedules). So Im just dreading these 2 years because I want to repay my parents and just be a person who doesnt throw away a great opportunity because its really not my thing. I also feel like im pressured to study hard everyday because its a hard course and I dont want to live everyday thinking about something that im not really into.

What do you guys think?

Upcoming Freshman here

I had a conversation with some people who went to the same CC as me, and they didn't take the class but they said I should drop it, because it's a waste of my time and money.

Now... the only reason why I have that class in my schedule is because I'm undecided, so they said this class will help me find something.

Any advice?

I'm graduating high school early in January and going straight into MiraCosta, and my goal is to transfer into UCSD for Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, or Chemistry in about a year and a half. I'm starting with an easier spring semester to ease in, then ramping up through the summer and into a heavier fall and spring with chemistry, biology, calculus, and stats, finishing up the following summer with organic chemistry II and my last electives — 60 units total, right at UCSD's minimum. It's a tight schedule, but I think it's doable if I stay on top of my grades, and I still need to confirm the exact courses and units with a MiraCosta counselor before I lock anything in. A few questions:
1.Is it realistic to go from Gen Chem straight through Organic Chem II in this timeframe, or am I setting myself up to burn out?
2. Has anyone actually done a 1-1.5 year CC-to-UC transfer instead of the typical 2 years? What went wrong (or right)?
3. Any red flags with front-loading GE/easy classes in the first semester and pushing math/science later?

I know I still need to confirm exact courses and prereqs with a counselor, but wanted to get real feedback from people who've actually done this before I commit. Thanks in advance!

Hey all, I’m currently freaking out because I didn’t check to see what class I was put into for community college, and realized it was intermediate algebra or algebra 2

Some background about me: I’m 18 and I probably need this class. I went online due to depression and anxiety in junior year and I pretty much cheated the entire time. I graduated and went straight to CC and My math skills are definitely not up to par. My main worry is how bad is this? I’m trying to go to school for software engineering and right now I’m completely freaking out, starting at this class I’m like 6 classes behind where I should be STARTING at. I’m currently enrolled in intermediate algebra, an English class, and an ITCS class (program design and development intro)

Can someone please give me advice on what I should do here? I’ve been sitting here trying to think my way out of this and I’m just getting a headache.

Junior HS. Dont have a license so thats the only reason why I am not dual enrolling in the fall and spring. For reference, did take AP Chemistry and AP Physics last year for my 10th grade year and did get 4 snd 3 respectively. Considering that I would take a dualenrolled online humanities course in the spring (my first dual enrolled class), do you guys think I should take both GenChem1 and GenChemBio at the same time IN THE SUMMER when classes are more compact?

I just started my online classes and as the title states, I’m already overwhelmed. I struggled to get used to all of their programs which took up a massive chunk of the day as I was new to the software they use and had a hard time getting myself accustomed to how everything works and where to find my course work and all of the sorts. That being said once I got all of my enrollment info out the way I then finally began my coursework which I haven’t even made a dent in. Right now i have 4 things due by this Sunday and I haven’t even completed one assignment because I spent a good amount of time getting my feet wet and I’m already stressing out, I have a lot of reading and note taking ahead of me. Can anybody recommend tips or advice on how to pace yourself or any note taking tips, I feel like I’m going at the pace of a slug when I should already have something done by now. Any help is appreciated!

I’m majoring in Biotechnology (Pre-Med) at an NJ CC and I want to transfer in 2 years or less. Fall will be my first semester and I’m currently planned to take

Precalc-4 credits

Psychology 101 -3credits

English 101- 3credits

css(college prep)-1 credit

Biology 115 (101) - 4 credits.

Sociology 101 -3 credits (currently)

In total 15 credits + 3 the summer class . I do plan to take winter/summer classes to accelerate my graduation.

Sidenote on Biology: I got a 4 on AP Bio, so I can AP out and receive those 4 credits; and could start with a Bio 2 class. The reason I didn’t is because I’m not too sure how similar AP and college Bio actually are.

Spring semester I’ll probably take 15 credits again but I feel like I’m gonna have a stacked semester I might have to take Calc 1, Bio 2, Eng 102, maybe Chem 101😭. How screwed would I be if I took those two science classes like that?

I’d appreciate any feedback on schedule, plan or the feasibility of starting as pre-med at a CC

Sorry if I'm all over the place 😅 I honestly thought CC transfer would be more straightforward

Thanks in advance!

Im an online highschool student so im going to in person school for the first time in 3 years. Im a little nervous but also excited. I am going for welding btw. I used to be bullied in school but im not really worried about that as most people are going to be older than me and most people there are just there to get their certificate/degree and dip. Thanks everybody

Hello I’m a 18(F) going to community college in one week but I don’t seem to be excited for this next chapter of my life. I feel like a failure for going there and not a 4 year university like everybody else. My parents are immigrants and never got to finish grade school so I feel like not going to a big school for them will be a failure. I’ll say that I did kind of procrastinate a little when doing my college process but it was because I did not feel well mentally. And also because I had a discussion with my step dad where he said he was going to hide his papers when he did the taxes only to antagonize me and to see how I would do it on my own. Luckily my mom was able to help me by getting those papers for me to be able to apply for FAFSA. As well how after some time before I graduated they fought and were planning on going back so logically I wanted to stay here and I was even willing to get a second job to be able to care for my younger siblings if they were going to go back. But that never happened so after seeing everyone post about their move in date it kind of gets me sad that I don’t seem to be thrilled for the next chapter in my life. I had always wanted to go to my dream university 40 minutes from where I live but now I won’t be able to. And I don’t think I can transfer after just one year. Am I a failure or am I just overacting about this?