College doesn’t have to be expensive or a big change. By staying close to home at a community college, not only are you making this transition easier, but it also lets be more focused on your classes.
Community colleges offer many benefits that include: cheaper education, smaller classes, avoiding paying rent by staying home, greater opportunities to get involved and really meet the staff, a way to get the most out of scholarships.
Below is a list of classes that as a STEM major you should focus on taking right away.
MATH: Cal 1, Calc 2, Calc 3, Differential Equations
SCIENCE: General Biology, Chemistry 1, Chemistry 2 (if required for your major. Especially for Biomedical Eng.), Physics 1 & Physics 2 (be sure that your physics courses are calculus based. Manu community colleges have different levels of physics).
OTHERS: English 1, English 2, Communications (These are required for any major) If you can get all of these classes out of the way in a community college, you are saving tons of money and still getting the education that you need.
What I recommend is that you start early by takin 1 class your summer before starting college and also take advantages of the summers in between. One more thing I wanted to point out is to be careful when planning your curriculum. These classes tend to be offered only on certain semesters at smaller schools. For example, Physics 1 is often only thought in the fall semester and Physics 2 in the spring semester. so plan accordingly.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional school counselor. The tips and guides I provide are my own opinions and are meant to provide a better idea in how to get the most out of school.
Latina Engineer 