Community Colleges in General

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I have bad social skills, yes, but I have worse sensory problems. I guess if I go to uni, I will need to deal with it...

Do we go to college to learn, or to make friends and build networking foundations for a future career? Just wondering.

I am reminded on an almost-daily basis that if you don't have the networking foundations, all the learning in the world won't matter as far as having a career goes. As for friends, I think just having friendly acquaintances would suffice.

My sensory problems are an ongoing issue at uni. Yes, you will need to deal with it, but you don't have to deal with it alone, nor should you. Be very proactive about getting a support group in place as early as possible, a few months ahead of time if possible. That way, when you get overwhelmed, you know exactly who to go to and they have already met you and know a little bit about you. I absolutely would not be still in school right now if I hadn't had that support!

One week into my second semester, I am still dealing with severe anxiety issues caused in part by repeated sensory overload. We are currently working on getting me in to a doctor (psych) here at uni who can tweak my meds. That is another option you may wish to pursue.

Again, my main point is that a support team makes a huge difference when one is dealing with the many sensory issues that are an everyday part of university life.

Thank you. I feel wasted in high school as I did not make any friends there. Perhaps I should make new friends in college wherever I go, or take part in social activities. I should also try to eat more with others no matter how awful I feel.

I did a 2 year stint at community college, then moving on to 3 years at a state university to wrap up my degree.

FOR ME, it was the right move. I would have been socially lost at the larger school, and would have much less chance to interact directly with my professors those first 2 years. Classes that would have been taught by 'Mr Staff' (IE: a teaching assistant) at a state school are taught by actual professor at a CC. Also, class sizes for your core classes are much better at CC. Classes that had 3-400 students at a state school had 20-30 at CC.

I did my schooling from 82-87, so was not formally 'an Aspy' then, but I had teachers who recognized that my learning patterns were not fit to the standard schooling processes, and went the extra distance on their own to get me though. By the time I got to the state school, I was working in upper level classes with smaller class size and more formal and direct interaction with the instructors. The few 'auditorium classes' I had were painful and mostly a waste of my time.

There are schools at every level that have caring staff and workable programs. and likewise, there schools that just want your money for a piece of paper. Take your time, make visits, and get to know some of the staff in your field of interest anywhere you are looking. Nothing bad about admissions folks, but once you get in the school, you won't see them again. Find the folks you WILL interact with on your own. If they care about what the do, they will be willing to meet and talk with you about how they work, and what they expect.

Its also for those who have financial concerns (i'll take $1000 per semester over 5-8k per semester any day). The only down side is that for some reason, businesses dont seem to want an "Associates Degree" on their payroll <shrug>. Least thats the trouble im having right now with the job search.

That's largely because education has been so over hyped that they've made BA/BS degrees in stuff that you don't really need to go to school for, creating the illusion of value. Add in the fact that a lot of college graduates are underemployed or unemployed and having an AA/AS degree just has no weight to it short of a job that only needs specialized skill training and doesn't care to hire people with more education than is needed.