Mira Costa may seem appealing, but it’s not the best option for all students.

As a senior, I often find myself considering my post-secondary options. As any senior can tell you, one of the big decisions you have to make is whether you want to go straight to a four year university or to a community college for two years. Not everyone is meant for the route directly through a university, which is where a community college comes in.

At community colleges, you can receive a good education and still have enough financial resources to buy a nice home and support a family. They’re great because they are cheap, have flexible schedules, give students an opportunity to explore different major options, have smaller classes for those who need more one-on-one help, have qualified professors, and are transitional.

Community colleges are also great for people who want to pursue a trade such as plumbing, electricity, or fire-fighting so you can get into the workforce sooner.

However, there are a few drawbacks to community colleges that students aren’t always aware of. They offer only a limited curriculum, so a student can only take so many classes that will put them on track for a four-year degree (these are often the general education classes universities would offer).  Students often have a significantly lighter workload compared to normal universities. Students are also often uninvolved in the campus community.

Even though community college is cheaper, has a lighter workload, and allows for more flexible schedules, it is imperative to think of the consequences one will face once they transfer to a university. This may be very stressful; many of your classes are at exceptionally hard levels since the standard requirements have been satisfied and most of the remaining courses are core curriculum classes.

This may be just one factor, but it is a huge problem that isn’t usually conveyed to students during informational sessions on Mira Costa. For example, students need to maintain nearly perfect grades or better for the duration of their time at Miracosta. Additionally, students are usually not aware that they need to take honors courses and be involved in the community if they want to be accepted as a transfer into another university or college. Many students believe that they are “guaranteed acceptance” through a grandfather system into the University of California or California State school by merely going to Mira Costa, which is not entirely true. Without straight As, many universities will not accept you because you will not be as competitive as other students.Many students believe that they will still get into good universities even if they did poorly in high school and showed some improvement at Mira Costa.

Senior Dominic Gullotta will be pursuing his post-secondary degree at a four-year university, but he does see value in attending a community college.

“I believe this pathway is best for kids with unfortunate financial situations or kids with mediocre grades who just cannot quite qualify for a university admission, and they can have a chance to boost their value at Mira Costa,” Gullotta said.

Sage Creek counselor Megan Corazza helped to clarify this issue by describing why students should choose the four-year path versus the community college path.

“Mira Costa does not guarantee you full transfer access to all universities, just the ones in the local area. I feel it is whatever is right for the individual, if they feel they can jump into a four year and are able to handle the academic rigor and emotional stress they should totally do it, but if they feel they are not able to handle these things then they should wait and do the Mira Costa pathway,” Corazza said.

Corazza and Gulotta views on this issue opened my eyes and hopefully others’ as well with the important information they had to say about the community college pathway.