Rose State College or Oklahoma City Community College

[Tylerwilliams16]

Hello all, I'm rather new to the forum. So, a little background about me. I'm 16 years old and I live in Del City. I am home schooled through OKCA and intend to go to community college once I graduate.
So I ask, Which community college is better? Rose State College in Midwest City OK or Oklahoma City Community College in South Oklahoma City? Which one has better quality education, affordability, professors etc. I'm leaning toward Rose State but OCCC looks promising as well.
What should I do?? If you are and or was a student at one of these schools, what was you're experience like?? Was it good or bad?? You're response is welcomed.

[BoulderSooner]

From what I know cost/education. Would be equal. You live much closer to rose. ? Is a state 4 year school out of the question? Are you planing on working?

[Pete]

Welcome to the forum Tyler!

I don't have much to share in terms of comparing the two community colleges but I'm sure others will chime in.

Good luck whatever you may decide.

[BrettM2]

The biggest thing to think about re: 2- vs 4-year college is the scholarships. Many of the best scholarships are reserved for students who intend to complete their education there. There are transfer scholarships, but very few are full-ride and even fewer cover very much tuition.

[Tylerwilliams16]

I'm considering transferring to a 4 year institution when I graduate community college. And yes, I am considering working on campus to be close to my classes and school work.

[Paseofreak]

Check out www.okcollegestart.org

[Tylerwilliams16]

Thank You.

[Tylerwilliams16]

The biggest thing to think about re: 2- vs 4-year college is the scholarships. Many of the best scholarships are reserved for students who intend to complete their education there. There are transfer scholarships, but very few are full-ride and even fewer cover very much tuition.

I don't think I'll have a scholarship to college. However, that is fruit for thought while I'm still in high school.

[betts]

My son took some classes at Rose State the summer before he started college and I thought they were really quite good for intro freshman classes in terms of material and professors, based on helping him edit his papers for them and his comments! He never took any at OCCC so I cannot comment on them.

[Midtowner]

I'd just pick whichever is closest. If you're planning on going to UCO for your bachelor's, I know Rose has something set up with UCO.

[shawnw]

All Mid-Del students get a certain amount of free education at Rose, just like all OKCPS students get 61 free hours at OCCC. So, first I'd call Rose and find out if it's for students within the district or if you actual had to attend. Sometimes homeschoolers get the privileges of non-homeschoolers (e.g. with sports teams).

If they say you qualify, then I'd go to Rose, then transfer after you use up your free hours.

[LandRunOkie]

OCCC is the largest undergraduate college in the state and thus has the better variety of degrees between your two choices. Just be sure to pick a degree designed to transfer to a four year school, as associates tend to carry little weight in the job market and not all community college classes transfer. I've been thinking of writing an e-book on picking the right college if there's enough interest.

[SoonerDave]

Amid the nationwide explosion of college debt, a great many families and financial planners are doing exactly what Land Run talked about - leveraging the community college for an associate's degree and most if not all those hours transfer to "bigger", traditional 4-year schools like OU, OSU, etc. There are caveats - don't aim for an unusual degree (one a 4-yr school likely won't have), and perhaps not 100% of the credits will transfer.

Many years ago, the larger schools tried to circumvent these schools by refusing to accept their credits, and while I don't know the specifics, apparently there's been legislation in the intervening years that precludes their refusing to accept credits merely because they're a junior or community college.

A financial advisor I know relayed to me a story that one of his clients, who lives in the pacific northwest, has four daughters - all of whom plan to attend Orgeon State University. He started to crunch up the numbers of the cost, and realized what it would take to finance all four daughters - and then immediately decided to route them through a comparable community college before heading to the "big" school and saving thousands of dollars in expense. Combine that with a good car, and close proximity, they avoid the additional expense of external housing. Now, some think part of the college experience is in "being on your own," so that's obviously a personal preference that depends on the family, the student, and their own desires. But it's a non-trivial factor in my book.

I want my kids to get a good education/degree, but I also don't want them sacked with five-figure debt when they graduate. And you find that so many schools have monstrous fees and tuition that they can offer what seems like a huge scholarship, yet find out that it doesn't even cover 1/3 of the total annual attendance costs. So my first kiddo is taking the OCCC-to-four-year route, and we'll see how it goes.

[mmonroe]

I wouldn't focus so much on the details of the individual schools, but focus on the degree programs of the field/major you're interested in.

[Tylerwilliams16]

I wouldn't focus so much on the details of the individual schools, but focus on the degree programs of the field/major you're interested in.

That's a little bit challenging at the current time because I am undecided on what degree program suits me.

[Lauri101]

Hi Tyler and welcome!
As others have said, knowing your overall degree goals would help. I went from Rose State to UCO (25 years ago) and worked closely with a counselor at Rose to make sure that all credits transferred. Plus I'm pretty sure you can get tuition waived, even as a home-schooled student. Call Rose State financial office to confirm.
Good luck on whatever choice you make. I commend you on planning to continue your education and hope you extend your goal to include a 4 year degree!

[betts]

There's one other factor and that is the young person's personality. People who are gregarious probably aren't as affected as people who are shy or somewhat introverted, but there are some social reasons to go to the same school for four years. The first year in a dorm or fraternity, some kids make friendships that last a lifetime or certainly that persist for years. If you come into a four year school as a junior, people are now living in apartments or fraternities/sororities and it may be harder to find a friend group. If a student has lots of close high school friends there, it may not be an issue or if that person is very outgoing and a joiner of clubs it may not be an issue. But I think personality of the child needs to be part of the evaluation package.

[GaryOKC6]

I have a daughter at OCCC who is majoring in music education. I think they are both very good schools and that you should look at which as the strongest major that you are interested in. My daughter chose OCCC for their music program. Another advantage to Rose State is that it is closer to you. and that will make a difference over time.

[Jim Kyle]

There's one other factor and that is the young person's personality. People who are gregarious probably aren't as affected as people who are shy or somewhat introverted, but there are some social reasons to go to the same school for four years. The first year in a dorm or fraternity, some kids make friendships that last a lifetime or certainly that persist for years. If you come into a four year school as a junior, people are now living in apartments or fraternities/sororities and it may be harder to find a friend group. If a student has lots of close high school friends there, it may not be an issue or if that person is very outgoing and a joiner of clubs it may not be an issue. But I think personality of the child needs to be part of the evaluation package.

Excellent point in this message. I was one of those "somewhat introverted" kids, with the added disadvantages of having completed high school a year early due to completing grades 1 and 2 in a single year, thus always being the runt of the class and consequently bully bait, and in addition being an only child in a Civil Service family that moved from one city to the next every few years. The result was that I had little or nothing in the way of social skills when I entered OU.

My first experience was living in a freshman dorm, with a roommate who was quite outgoing and brash. We got on each other's nerves continually, and after one semester of the constant battle I moved back home to OKC and commuted for the rest of my freshman year.

However I missed all the non-scholastic activities, so for my second year I moved into an off-campus rooming house where I could have a private room yet be convenient to all the activity. I made a few friends that year, but none that lasted for any significant time. I did, however, become friends with my former roommate, given some distance between us, and he came to visit me in Korea on the afternoon of July 27, 1953, when the shooting stopped. Sadly, Lt. Joseph Sidney Nicholson, USArmy, died in a plane crash a few months later and came home in a body bag.

By my senior year, I had become a member of a four-person mini-clique of journalism students -- my steady girl friend and two other guys -- and we three guys rented an aparment a couple of blocks east of Owen Field, about where the Lloyd Noble Center now stands. Except for the young lady, with whom I finally broke up before heading for Korea, those friendships were life long. I'm now the only one of the four; for that matter there's only one other survivor of whom I'm aware from the J-school's Class of 1952: Dave Sellars, editor and publisher of the Capitol Hill Beacon. The other two were more successful than was I; Marcus D. Price became the mechanical superintendent of the largest newspaper in San Antonio, and Troy Kight edited one of the top farm and ranch publications until his passing.

Thanks very much, Betts, for bringing this factor into play. It's probably even MORE important than the usual questions about curriculum, degrees, and so on!

[BBatesokc]

I attended classes at both and guest speak at both currently.

I went to OCCC while still in high school (a long time ago), but really liked it.

I took my first journalism classes at Rose back in 2001 and really like that school too.

As others have said, I'd look at the proximity of the school to you and then also take into consideration your major and the impact of transferring to a larger 4 year college.

Rose has the smaller campus and I found it easier to get around. But OCCC's campus is pretty small too, but I found parking wasn't as convenient.

[Tylerwilliams16]

There's one other factor and that is the young person's personality. People who are gregarious probably aren't as affected as people who are shy or somewhat introverted, but there are some social reasons to go to the same school for four years. The first year in a dorm or fraternity, some kids make friendships that last a lifetime or certainly that persist for years. If you come into a four year school as a junior, people are now living in apartments or fraternities/sororities and it may be harder to find a friend group. If a student has lots of close high school friends there, it may not be an issue or if that person is very outgoing and a joiner of clubs it may not be an issue. But I think personality of the child needs to be part of the evaluation package.

I think I fall more under the shy and introverted personality type. That's one of the reason's I decided on community college.

[Tylerwilliams16]

Hi Tyler and welcome!
As others have said, knowing your overall degree goals would help. I went from Rose State to UCO (25 years ago) and worked closely with a counselor at Rose to make sure that all credits transferred. Plus I'm pretty sure you can get tuition waived, even as a home-schooled student. Call Rose State financial office to confirm.
Good luck on whatever choice you make. I commend you on planning to continue your education and hope you extend your goal to include a 4 year degree!

I'm currently shopping around for a degree program that would suit me personally. I like you're advice and I might make some calls about tuition's. Thank You so much.

[Tylerwilliams16]

I have a daughter at OCCC who is majoring in music education. I think they are both very good schools and that you should look at which as the strongest major that you are interested in. My daughter chose OCCC for their music program. Another advantage to Rose State is that it is closer to you. and that will make a difference over time.

Degree programs are the key in my decision as well as living arrangements. I'm currently shopping around for a degree program that suits me and now I know what to look for. Thank You.

[Tylerwilliams16]

Currently, at this time, I am considering participating in a Medical Coding Program or majoring in Accounting.

[mmonroe]

I also wanted to add this:

Know your deadlines when it comes to your financial aid and get that FAFSA in as soon as you can.