Maricopa Community College District (Phoenix, Glendale: apartment complex, lease, transfer to)

[jdcnosse]

How good are the community colleges in the Phoenix area? My girlfriend and I are looking to move up there to finish our schooling (don't really like the downhill spiral Pima CC has going on), and there's an apartment community in Sun City we can transfer our lease to. From looking at maps, it looks like Rio Salado and Glendale CC are closest to that area. Are these separate schools, or do they operate kind of like the various campuses of Pima CC? (ie if you enroll at one, you're enrolled at all, and can take classes at all).

Also, if anyone has any experience with these community colleges, feel free to chime in as well.

[Kimballette]

Are you or your girlfriend over 55? As far as I know, Sun City is an age restricted community.

[jdcnosse]

Originally Posted by Kimballette

Are you or your girlfriend over 55? As far as I know, Sun City is an age restricted community.

They should probably mention that in the apartment website then...lol

The apartments are right by 111th and Grand Ave.

[Zippyman]

No experience with glendale cc, but all of the mccd schools are "kinda sorta" hooked together - classes transfer, but you have to go online & "send" each college you attend transcripts as you go. You have to "apply" to each college separately, then send your "proof of citizenship" to each college you attend. Each college has its own student id's & parking passes.. it's not seamless, but it's not insurmountable either. Rio is mostly online classes, which could be either good or bad depending on your learning style - for many classes there, you might only have to go to a satellite campus for a midterm & a final ..

All in all, they're pretty good - the ability to bounce between colleges can be handy if you *really* need a certain class this semester/at night, etc..

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by jdcnosse

They should probably mention that in the apartment website then...lol

The apartments are right by 111th and Grand Ave.

That might actually be a youngtown address.. fwiw, youngtown isn't really named appropriately.. the sidewalks there roll up about 9pm.

[jdcnosse]

Actually, we're now leaning more towards Paradise Valley/GCC North. As long as the I-17/101 Loop area is good. Specifically the southeastern section of that interchange (across I-17 from the shopping center there with the hospital and Costco etc)

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by jdcnosse

Actually, we're now leaning more towards Paradise Valley/GCC North. As long as the I-17/101 Loop area is good. Specifically the southeastern section of that interchange (across I-17 from the shopping center there with the hospital and Costco etc)

Thats a more accomodating neighborhood for younger people - there's a bumper-crop of panhandlers there, but it isn't known for being "shooty" or anything..

[locolobo13]

The MCCD is fairly decent. Over the last 20 or so years I've taken classes at several of the colleges. The first thing I look at is classes I'm interested in. Second is where the class is actually located.

The main advantage for me is price. Second is flexibility in schedules. Almost all of my classes have been at night or weekends.

You are not going to be able to take 300+ level courses. No P-Chem, Advanced Thermodynamics, Advanced Numerical Analysis, etc. That said there are a lot of courses in a wide variety of fields.

One other thing to note. What makes a good course is the teacher, you and sometimes the other students in the class. Most night classes are taught by part time teachers. To me that is a good thing because they are actually working in the field they are teaching. However many are inexperienced teachers. You because you get more out of the class the more you put in. Regardless of the quality of the teacher. Lastly, other students because student interaction can really help reinforce the learning process.

You probably already have been here but the following link is one way to navigate the system:

https://my.maricopa.edu/

[jdcnosse]

Yeah I've been learning the interesting way that MCCD does their websites...but the apartment complex that we can transfer to is right there, and then it's just a short trip down the road or the 101 to get to PVCC. I've already started the whole admissions process and whatnot.