Essay: Pressure Of Getting into College as a High School Student

As students near the end of high school, the pressure to get into college becomes more apparent everyday. Every class, every grade, every statistic is accounted for. But does it matter what level of college you take after? To some people, it does. Universities are often seen as more prestigious, especially compared to community college, however the less noticed facts show otherwise.
Conventional wisdom tells us that university students are smarter than someone who attends a community college. Community college has a reputation for being less academically serious than a four year university. Teachers are commonly not as qualified as a professor from a four year college because the qualifications to teach at community college is different than a university (Community College vs. Universities). They are often not as dedicated to furthering students knowledge past the curriculum because of the students enrolled in the classes. It is frequent that students are not looking to transfer after they finish their classes and do not take their school work seriously, invoking teachers to only put in as much work as their students do (Scholarships).
Getting into a university is a big deal for many high school students and even their families. Why is it not the same when students get into a community college? There is numerous reasons why they are considered so different such as difficulty, the student life, and the teachers. There are endless stories of college students having a blast at a university, but there are rarely stories of a student at a community college having the best years of their life. For some, this experience is a need and a desire and cannot be reached at a community college. Even though the university experience seems like the best time of your life, having a smaller environment can also be helpful. With a small environment comes a small class size giving you the opportunity to have more one on one time with a teacher, rather than being in a huge class and your professor barely knowing who you are (Riskey).
It is much easier to get into a community college than a university. They have different, less strict administrative requirements, giving the impression that only people who can’t get into a university go there. However, that is not always true. Tuition plays a major role on where high school graduates can further their education. Universities tuition grows 19x faster than the median family income (Lipson and Stern). Community college offers much cheaper tuition and the option to transfer to a university afterwards. When transfering, universities often don’t look at GPA, SAT, or ACT from high school, giving you a chance to start over. Students who transfer statistically have a higher GPA than students who have attended a university since freshman year (Mathur).
Community colleges are typically a two year school where the workload is considered lighter (Scholarships). To some, this aspect seems like the easy way out. For others, this could be the best opportunity. While students are enrolled in community college, they can do most things and sometimes even more than they could while in high school. Students can work and even provide for their family while attending because of the flexibility of their schedule (Lipson and Stern).
To make an assumption that someone is not smart because they attend a community college is wrong. Numerous statistics can prove that some transfer students even exceed university students GPA. The conventional wisdom that university students are smarter is something that many believe to be true. The underlying reason for people’s college choices sometimes does not have to do with their academic ability. Community college students can be just as intelligent as a university student.