Unlike many new college students, or like depending on where you’re from, I didn’t go straight to a four year university. I hard originally considered taking the normal path to higher learning but after talking to some family members who’ve gone through this I decided it was more cost efficient if I did my basics at a community and college and then transferred to a four year college. That way I get to dip my feet into the college world without having to worry that I’d drown. I’m glad I did because considering how many times I changed my major I saved a lot of money by taking this route. The community college I went to was Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, yes the home of UT Longhorns.

I started my first semester at ACC in the Spring of 2002 and my last semester was the Summer of 2005. Yes, I’m aware that is a longer time than most people spent at a community college but as I mentioned before I changed my majors a lot and spent the first year and half adjusting and figuring out college life. It wasn’t until the Spring of 2004 did I really buckled down and got my act together. So here are my pros and cons about attending Austin Community College. I’ll start off with the pros first. I liked that the classes were small, much like high school, although there were large classes too. It’s a great way to make the transition from high school to college life. The classes were very affordable, pretty standard at about $150. Well, standard for a community college. I liked that there were all sorts of classes offered. If one campus didn’t have it I could find it at another campus.

The best things I liked about Austin Community College is the class flexibility. I was working while going to school and certain campuses would be closer to my work places than others. I was able to sign up for classes at any campus I wanted, mix and match them. They also offered weekend and night classes as well as shorter term classes, something university don’t offer. The shorter terms was what really saved me when I needed to take a lot of classes in a short amount of time in order to pull my GPA up. Oh, it also really helped that they didn’t average my grades for classes I’ve retaken, instead they replaced it with the new grade. The University of Texas at Austin does that but for some reason my university doesn’t.

The only drawbacks about Austin Community College is the lack of parking, even with a parking permit. Then again it’s Austin, it’s not really a commuter school city. I also didn’t understand the purpose of having so many parking meters when those spaces could’ve been used by students. The last thing that needs improvement on are the advisors. I got tossed around to different advisors almost every time I had to see one. In fact I don’t think I ever saw the same advisor. They also come off as uncaring.

Overall I thought my experience at Austin Community College was great. I only wish Universities would offer some of the things that ACC does. I would highly recommend this school.

Rating: 10