How to Avoid Terrible Professors In Community College

by Chad Agrawal

When transferring to ivy league from community college, getting the best community college professors at your school is crucial.

After all, you should being aiming for that 4.0 GPA in community college.

Many community college students mistakenly believe that getting good professors in community college and transferring to Ivy League universities is a total crapshoot, although it is hard to see why when, for the first time in their lives, they have some measure of control over which classes they take.

And yet, students that are new to campus (and the concept of class selection) may not realize that there are ways to find suitable teachers and gain entry to the classes they offer.

This may not work out 100% of the time, but most students will at least be able to avoid getting truly terrible teachers (like those that simply refuse to give out As, thereby making a 4.0 unattainable for otherwise qualified students).

A professor like this can damage your chances of going from community college to Ivy League.

Hey, like any profession, there are going to be professors at the community college level that simply aren't cut out for the occupation they ended up in, and for whatever reason they continue to take out their misery on any unsuspecting students unfortunate enough to land in their classes.

So if you're looking to avoid these unpleasant community college professors that won't help you transfer to Ivy League, here are just a few strategies to keep you off their radar.

Tips for Getting the Best Professors in Community College

The best place to start for most students is with websites like Rate My Professors, MyEdu, or Professor Performance, just to name a few. Each site has a little something different to offer by way of format or information provided for community college transfers.

Rate My Professors, for example, has been around for a while and developed quite a following (with thousands of accredited schools, 2 year community colleges, 4 year colleges, and over a million professors covered by millions of student reviews). Users can search by school or teacher and instructors are rated on criteria like easiness, helpfulness, clarity, and rater interest.

MyEdu goes the extra mile by including end-of-semester student reviews direct from college and university campuses that offer associates degrees as well as bachelors degrees (which could provide for more accurate ratings).

And Professor Performance uses letter grades instead of numbers for ratings and provides columns where students can list the positives and negatives of every professor at the 2 year college or 4 year college.

Everyone is Not an Ivy League Transfer from Community College

Of course, reviews on such sites tend to be anonymous, so you should take them with a grain of salt.

And keep in mind that a tough professor may be "better" than one that simply allows students to skate by without really preparing them for classes to come. These are the professors that will prepare you best for when you are transferring to Ivy League from community college. Without tough professors, transferring to Ivy League could be a very tough community college transfer experience.

You may also be able to find such reviews specific to your community college campus with housing by asking around about them.

Often, underground sites spring up when smaller schools fail to be included on wider ranging sites.

This brings us to our next point, however, which is using the campus network at your 2 year community college program to get the 411 on professors.

Ask any random student and you'll discover which teachers are the best and worst, and why.

Most students are not shy about exposing a community college professor that treated them badly, or alternately, waxing poetic about the instructors they would take every class with if they could.

Tell the Professor About Your Goals to Transfer to Ivy League

As a last resort, you could even talk to the teachers whose classes you're considering taking. Call them at their office or stop in during their open hours to have a little chat about your goals to be an Ivy League transfer from community college.

Come prepared with a list of pertinent questions that can help you to determine if a particular professor will meet your needs as a student by providing a top-notch education, challenging you to do your best, and helping you to grow academically for a successful transfer experience.

Whether you go on to online MSN programs or an MBA at a highly ranked university, the foundations you lay in community college will help you to succeed when transferring to Ivy League universities.

So you want to make sure you select the professors that are best equipped to help you reach your goals.

Click here to read how I transferred to NYU from community college >>

Do you have any other ideas for getting awesome professors at community college? or did you enjoy this post? Please leave a comment below!

This post was written by Chad Agrawal

Chad Agrawal is the founder of CCTS, helping students transfer from community college to Ivy League, tier 1 or anywhere else by following this community college guide.

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