community college classes = easy GPA boost? Forum

[darrow17]

Since GPA is such a big factor in admissions, why doesn't everyone take a few classes at community colleges over the summer? It seems like an easy GPA booster.

[Unitas]

Since GPA is such a big factor in admissions, why doesn't everyone take a few classes at community colleges over the summer? It seems like an easy GPA booster.

Community college is not as easy as you think. Try it and find out. The professors there don't care if they fail you and expect work to be perfect. A lot of those same professors were taught at highly ranked schools.

Some are (of course) really easy.... If you can find them, but then again you can find them at any 4 year college too.

[notanumber]

Since GPA is such a big factor in admissions, why doesn't everyone take a few classes at community colleges over the summer? It seems like an easy GPA booster.

FYI, my worst undergrad grades are from community college and not my fairly prestigious undergraduate institution. And they were often from "easy" classes (geography, sociology, etc...).

[phoenix323]

My GPA would be .2-.3 higher without terrible community college grades. Worst semester of my UG career. 3.7 GPA once I started attending a highly ranked UC.

[traehekat]

I had 3 semesters of community college - pretty easy. Only one or two classes can I say were actually difficult. Go for it - boost that GPA!

[kurla88]

Since GPA is such a big factor in admissions, why doesn't everyone take a few classes at community colleges over the summer? It seems like an easy GPA booster.

Hopefully, most people think about things other than law school admissions during four years of undergrad. Like having a summer vacation, interning, working etc etc.

However, I think taking some community college classes (to replace basic requirements) is a great idea just because of how much money you save. No guarantees on grades, though.

[chocho]

yeah boost away. just remember to take the easy classes, all the above that says its hard must be referring to harder classes. you cant get away with taking just easy classes at ur udnergrad bc ull never graduate. butttt, at these summer classes you can take whatever you want, all my buddies who have done this said it was cake...but remember to take the right classes....no post modern philosophy.

[darrow17]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

[shock259]

CAn't speak to community college, but I can say I have done the absolute worst in the most general classes. My "Intro to Finite Math," Geography 001, and Intro to Russian History classes were all by far my worst grades. Comparatively, my upper level classes with actual curriculum/writing requirements/etc landed me the best grades. Grrr.

[r6_philly]

CAn't speak to community college, but I can say I have done the absolute worst in the most general classes. My "Intro to Finite Math," Geography 001, and Intro to Russian History classes were all by far my worst grades. Comparatively, my upper level classes with actual curriculum/writing requirements/etc landed me the best grades. Grrr.

I was going to comment on this. Lower level stuff are graded more strictly on following instructions and adhere to requirements where upper level courses promotes critical thinking and understand more. If you have gotten used to the grading style of many upper level professors, you have to be careful and make the adjustments to meet the expectations of a gen ed/lower level/cc professor.

[OmbreGracieuse]

I started my UG at a two-year adult-study night-class school. My LSAC grades are going to go WAY down when they get that transcript. Most of the students- in my school at least- don't care about anything other than graduating. They aren't looking to expand their education, and are just floating through. I will say I learned a lot, but it might NOT be a good idea. In my school because the students didn't care, the teachers didn't either. While this may not be true for ALL cases, it is definitely good for a few of them.

[CMDantes]

My GPA would be near or at a 3.7 if it weren't for a disastrous community college experience that brought my GPA down to a 3.25.

Really, really bad teachers with little English proficiency, ridiculously high expectations, and a terribly inaccessible campus/faculty all contributed to this.

I guess it depends on your community college, but I'd recommend just taking classes at your regular UG where you know the expectations.

[HBK]

I took a CC history course. It was easy, I literally opened the book four times and there were five tests.

I screwed myself when they offered the following options:

A) Write a paper, get an A
B) Take a final, get a B
C) Do neither, get a C

Knowing that only the credit would transfer back to my UG, I opted for C. Little did I know that those grades actually count for LSAC. However, at the time, I wasn't the least bit interested in LS.

[Cavalier]

Community college classes can vary quite a lot in terms of difficulty (like classes at four-year colleges), so I would look into your local community colleges first before you decide to do this. I know at my undergrad, many prerequisite classes, like calculus, were curved to a 2.8 to weed out aspiring scientists and engineers, so I would certainly take those classes at a community college instead. Of course, that problem could be avoided entirely just by choosing a liberal arts major.

Use word of mouth and http://www.ratemyprofessors.com to find easy classes. That's what I did.

[Lawyerwannabe18]

Ive found that community college classes require significantly more busy work than the classes at my UG.

[lostjake]

http://www.ratemyprofessor.com

problem solved.

[jpSartre]

Ive found that community college classes require significantly more busy work than the classes at my UG.

This is a good way to put it. But I'd also add that if you're determined enough to get a good grade, DOING the busy work usually pays off.

[Unitas]

http://www.ratemyprofessor.com

problem solved.

You could do the same thing at your UG though. No need to go to community college... All colleges have some joke professors and joke classes.