Community colleges

[sean98125]

Make sure that you pay close attention to the residency requirements for the UW. You have to do more than just live here for a year - you have to show that you're a bonafide resident and not here just to get a discount on your tuition.

[seattlenextyear]

Originally Posted by Anders15

Is Bellevue College good or "respected" in the sciences? What should I expect from the area as someone from a suburban Richmond VA?


edit: Bellevue College is not a community college anymore.. how hard is it to get accepted now? Do they only let people with perfect grades or what?

They still have open admissions, so anyone can take a class if they pay the tuition. They are still in the Washington State Community College system. So for most majors, for most people, they are still a community college. To be a degree candidate, of course, you need a GED or high school diploma.

Depending on which science program you're interested in: they have both general and transfer-series classwork in Bio, Chem and Physics. For example, the 200 level series classes are comparable the Biology Majors series at UW. They also offer a selection of advanced 200 level classes.

There's only a handful of bachelor degree programs now, but it grows every quarter.

[Anders15]

Thank you very much everyone.

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

They still have open admissions, so anyone can take a class if they pay the tuition. They are still in the Washington State Community College system. So for most majors, for most people, they are still a community college. To be a degree candidate, of course, you need a GED or high school diploma.

Depending on which science program you're interested in: they have both general and transfer-series classwork in Bio, Chem and Physics. For example, the 200 level series classes are comparable the Biology Majors series at UW. They also offer a selection of advanced 200 level classes.

There's only a handful of bachelor degree programs now, but it grows every quarter.

So will they continue to stay "open" like this or what? Are they more open with certain programs than others? Will they ever become like UW where they start to look at scores only (compared to CC letting you in as long as you pay) it looks like a great school so far.

[seattlenextyear]

Originally Posted by Anders15

Thank you very much everyone.



So will they continue to stay "open" like this or what? Are they more open with certain programs than others? Will they ever become like UW where they start to look at scores only (compared to CC letting you in as long as you pay) it looks like a great school so far.

That's a good question. Right now, the goal of their 4-year programs is to complement UW: offer programs that UW doesn't. So by that goal, they will essentially remain a community college, only offering specialized 4 year programs that the UW doesn't. There are minimum requirements to start these 4 year programs. The requirements to start an associates degree are fairly simple: although you may have to take some entrance tests for placement into math and english classes.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Bellevue College has a lot of great programs that you won't need to go to UW or WWU. It depends on what you're looking to do. Do you have a specific area you want to go into?

There's also Lake Washington Technical college, South Seattle CC, South Central CC (which is on Broadway, in DT Seattle), Pierce Community College. You might want to narrow where you're going to live because we have a lot of schools here.

Originally Posted by shadedtribulations

I'm not sure if I want to go to school in the city, as the rents are probably cheaper elsewhere...

What is your field / career objectives? Rents are cheaper in Vancouver, WA, and Clark College has great math and science, as well as partnerships with WSU-V. One of my kids did Running start at Clark and entered WWU as a full jr.

To speed residency I would make a trip out, get an addy (friend / family) and bank acct, apply for a Drivers license, and get some utilities hooked up in your name. Have a friend / future roommate buy groceries with your Debit card and a parking charge every month. OR come out yourself frequently and make your residency look legit. Cheap airfares make this reasonable.

There are many other CC's far and near, and certainly in less expensive locales. (Centralia, Longview, Bremerton, Port Angeles...)