What Going from Community College to Ivy League Taught Me

by Chad Agrawal

Going from Community College to Ivy LeagueNo doubt, going from community college to Ivy League is a pretty big jump, probably one of the biggest jumps in the higher education system. No doubt, community college to Ivy League is a phenomenal opportunity.

For me, going from community college to Ivy League was a great experience....

During my summer before sophomore year at community college, I studied at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in at program called SIBT or the Summer Institute in Business & Technology.

For those of you wondering, yes, UPENN is an Ivy League university.

Being there for just a summer, I took two classes for total of eight credits and ended up with a great GPA (if you really must know what it was, ask me the comments below).

Looking back, going from community college to Ivy League taught me about a few key differences between community college and Ivy League.

In this post, I would like to share with you what going from community college to UPENN taught me.

The Community College to Ivy League "Jump"

Okay, not the actual temperature going from community college to Ivy League, but the overall environment of an Ivy League education...

The first thing I noticed about going from community college to Ivy League was being surrounded by really high quality students, many students who were just as motivated as I was to learn and succeed academically.

This is a pretty big shift going from a community college classroom environment where not not all students were as motivated to learn and some of them would be distracting (except for the honors classes at community college which I highly recommend because you are surrounded by students who are at least motivated to do well while going to community college for 2 years and eventually transfer to top universities).

[See how you can transfer from community college to Ivy League]

Going from community college to Ivy League will definitely put you in a more conducive environment to take advantage of that high-quality education that you've given, learn more in your field of study and create more meaningful relationships with other students who are on a similar track as you.

Community College to Ivy League Means a 95/100 is a "C"

Along with the higher quality students, comes a high-level competition that you should be ready for when going from community college to Ivy League.

At most community colleges, your grade is based on you doing the work and handing everything in on time. That's it. It's simple. If you get a 95 on a community college exam, it's an "A" letter grade regardless of what others in the class score on the exam.

However going from community college to UPENN (specifically at The Wharton School of Business), your grades are no longer based on your sole performance.

I had to adjust to the fact that my grades were based on the performance of other Ivy League students in the class.

So for example, I could get a 95 on an exam but if everybody else received a 96 or above, then I would be stuck with a "C" letter grade.

Thankfully, Ivy League professors don't make their tests that easy so that the students who study the hardest and understand the material best usually score the highest.

And yes, you can become a top student at community college then Ivy League too.

From a Community College Social Life to an Ivy League Night Life...

The next big difference for me was not living at home and having all the freedom of going from community college to Ivy League.

All of a sudden, that meant I can I have so many more options and places to go at night at UPENN compared to my pretty active social life at my local two-year community college.

On top of that, being on a campus had a lot of social perks too.

I got to be around a lot of the social life on campus that happens at night - something that you don't necessarily get at a 2 year community college unless you go to a community college with housing.

Needless to say, the social aspect was a lot of fun, but I managed it well using a lot of the skills that I developed at community college.

Conclusion

Overall, going from community college Ivy League was an awesome experience.

I fully enjoyed it and hope that you are able to learn from what I got out of the experience.

To learn more about going from community college Ivy League, consider getting a copy of my community college transfer guide.

And please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below or click the "Like" button to help spread the word!

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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