
Ask HN: Community College Programs for CS or SE? - brudgers
I&#x27;m interested in the community&#x27;s experience with such programs either as a student or working with graduates or teaching in such programs.
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manav
I think it's your best bet is to take the prerequisites for the degree at a
transfer institution, which is the one area community colleges are
specifically designed for.

Generally this is something like Math (Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential
Equations, Discrete Math & Probability) and Computer Science (Intro
Programming and or Object Oriented Programming, Data Structures, Machine
Level/Computer Architecture).

The classes will vary by school but usually follow those same basics. In
California a useful resource is
[http://www.assist.org](http://www.assist.org).

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marktangotango
This critical, I knew several people who went to community college, planning
to transfer to four year schools who were totally screwed when none of their
credits transferred. They had to retake all those classes. It's a shame the
system allows this.

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mathgeek
In my limited experience, the best ones are programs that have established 1:1
credit transfers for the entire AS/AA program into BS/BA programs at connected
universities.

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fuball63
Sometimes smaller schools offer a better learning environment for CS. They
have smaller class sizes, which means better relationships with professors.
They sometimes will be more hands on and up to date, as they are not bogged
down by professors entrenched in academia for decades. These at least were my
experiences having gone to a small school, teaching at a medium school, and
comparing to experiences of friends at large schools.

Edit: I should mention all were 4 year degrees in my experience. Although,
comparing my local community college's course curriculum to the large state
schools, it seems more focused on web development and has less computer
science fluff. So it may be better career/experience wise but lacking in more
theoretical topics.

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kurinj
SE is usually the vocational route. CS is what you'll want if you ever plan on
transferring to an undergraduate program.

Go with CS if you're unsure, you'll end up doing most of your practical
learning on the job anyway. School is for the foundational knowledge.

