Do you think grades are universal?

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Plese no flaming as my intentt is NOT to offend anyone. This being said do you feel an A from a major nationally recognized univeristy is the same as an A from a small local CC. This was a recent topic of discussion among my peers.

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Specializes in LTC.

Nope, as I'm sure you've noticed an A from one teacher teaching the same course at the same school may not be the same as an A from another teacher teaching the same course at the same school.

I go to a large CC and we have an occassional student or two from one of the large universities take classes at the CC because "I'm horrible in this subject and I want a good grade! This is just a CC so it should be easier." A lot of those students end up changing thier minds about the ease of Community Colleges.

So I don't think that it's the school that matters, but the instructor.

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I agree, as long as both schools are accredited then it depends less on the school and more on the specific Professor. I'm taking A&P2 with a different Prof than I had in A&P1 and the exams in 2 are soooooooo much easier than in 1. Same school, same curriculum.

The only advantage I might see are resources. We have a big University in town and a CC. At the CC, you pay half as much, you have classes a fraction of the size, and you have resources such as Science and Math Resource rooms with free tutors from 7am to 7pm M-F. The University has huge classes and doesn't have the tutoring resources. Since there's more support, it might be easier to get better grades at the CC.

At the end of the day though, it really doesn't matter. The A on my transcript from an accredited CC, will be worth just as much as the A on yours from an accredited Uni. Our petition for points will weight them as the same.

Peace,

Cathie

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I'm taking a few pre-reqs at a local technical college and to me the classes are much more difficult than the classes I took for my undergraduate degree at a highly recognized college. I haven't had an essay test since high school! I think they're trying to weed us out because so many people apply for the medical science programs at the technical school and they can only accept a handful each year.

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I think my CC college grades are just as sufficient as those from a large University.

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

I find that at my CC, many of the adjunct instructors also teach at the major universities in town. I hardly doubt their grading system is different for each location and the wisdom they impart is probably pretty much equivalent. While the course material may be different, my guess is that their standards are the same.

When I was finishing my first bachelor's and transferred from the CC to a local private university, I was astounded at the difference in the classroom. In many cases, I felt like I had left a true college environment and gone back to high school.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I would agree that it depends on the professor as well as the school. I have taken classes at one CC that was definitely easier and well known as such than other locations of that CC. Another CC has standards that were every bit as strigent as the University I attended. A friend of mine teaches at Universities as well as CCs and has admitted that while she doesn't change the material her criteria is adjusted based on the class' ability to a certain extent.

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Specializes in CNA, RN Student.

I am gonna go ahead and agree on the professor thing. Where I live the courses are even named the same whether you go to university, state college or community college. A friend of mine taught Micro at the university and looked over my course content and told me it was identical material. The difference is class size, resources and the fact that at the university you had 1 mid-term and 1 final exam where as at the community college level you had tests in between. I tend to do better on cumulative exams so does that mean I would do better in university? Maybe...or maybe not. I also know that I was helping some friends with some A&P material and they ended up doing much better than I did, within the same college, but different professors. Also where I live, you can take classes at the university, the state college and the community college....all the classes are labelled the same, and depending on where you are registered is where your degree will be from. I have one guy in university finishing up his bachelors in Radiology and is only taking classes at the CC due to time restraints and scheduling. Does he think they are easier? Nope. I have yet to find someone (in my area) who has experienced each school, and honestly admit that the curriculum has been degraded for the state and community college levels. They are supposed to be the same. I know this wasn't intended to start a debate, but I think most of us in the CC level who cannot afford university, have families, other careers that we need to support ourselves and have worked our behinds off to get this far will take extreme offense if someone tells us that the grades we got were "inflated" or "manipulated" for the purpose of being taught in the community college setting. I think anyone in the CC will beg to differ that they worked any less than someone taking the same class at the university level. Not everyone can do that. And as much as I have every intention to complete my Bachelors and subsequently my Masters, I cannot do it in one stride. I have a family to consider and finances to accommodate and with the shortage of nurses our country faces, hospitals are willing to send their ADN students to university to complete their degrees at their expense. How can anyone say that that is the "less meaningful" and "less educated" path choice. In the end we are all "nurses" and after one passes NCLEX and works and proves to be an inadequate nurse, that is reflective of that individual and more than likely not the fact that she went to Community College.

To the OP, I'm not saying you said all this. I feel very strongly about my opinions and I know that on this board we always get the "BSN is better than ADN" and "University is better than Community College" controversial threads. So before it gets to that point (not saying it will) I just wanted to let those who think one is better than the other know that we all share the same ultimate goal, and should stick together as oppose to determine ranks. LPN, LVN, RN, BSN, MSN...it doesn't matter, let's try to stick together and continue doing what the world needs us to do without educational politics.

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Please I take no offense, I feel that you pursue your education any way you can. Some of the students in my class, myself included already have advanced degrees. I did go to a well known univeristy but only managed to get B's in lit and intro to psych (22 years ago..lol) and metioned that I might retake the english to boost my GPA for Nursing School admission since GPA in 4 classes is the only criteria for our CC.

Others who might be in the same situation as myslelf felt that their grades from well known universities should count for more, I didn't agree

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I have to admit, I was one of those "university snobs". I got a bachelors in computer science almost 20 yrs ago from a big 10 university. Now I am back in school, at the local community college, and find that the classes are every bit as challenging as the university ones. Of course, it does depend on the instructor, but I believe absolutely the content is the same.

That being said, either I have gotten a little smarter, or it is a bit easier to get A's this time around. For one thing, the grades are on a 10 point scale. I very much remember being graded on a 7 point scale back in the '80s. I don't know if this grading system is standardized, but I have taken classes at two different CCs and at both places, 90% and up is an A. Also, at the university, most grades were based on a midterm, a final, and maybe a project or a term paper or a lab grade. Now, it seems that there are a lot more tests and quizzes given to boost the chance of a good grade. Again, I don't know if this more of a new type of thing, but it does help if you blow one test, you have a good chance of still getting a good grade.

One of the biggest differences for me, though, is the personal connection with the professors. In every class, my professor has learned my name within a few weeks. In the science classes, it is the professor that stays in the lab with you, (not some graduate student or teaching assistant). The instructors are very accessible and seem very committed to get everyone to pass the class, and they seem to enjoy giving out good grades rather than "weeding people out".

Every professor I have had to this point has taught at a big university, but chose to go back to the CC because they actually enjoy teaching and interacting with the students! There isn't all that much interaction when you are lecturing to 500 students in an auditorium and then pass on all of the lab instruction and tutoring to your assistants. OVerall, I am very impressed with the professors I have gotten to know at this community college.

I guess I am a bit sensitive about this issue... I don't tell people my grades (and lots of people think that they are entitled to know!) because I know they will say to themselves (yeah... it IS only a community college...) but that's ok, I really feel that I am getting a good education, in spite of it!

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I have to admit, I was one of those "university snobs". I got a bachelors in computer science almost 20 yrs ago from a big 10 university. Now I am back in school, at the local community college, and find that the classes are every bit as challenging as the university ones. Of course, it does depend on the instructor, but I believe absolutely the content is the same....

That's funny that you mention that you have better grades now that you're in a cc than you did when you attended a university. I went the opposite route... attended a cc full-time 10 years ago and am now a returning full-time student at a major university. And guess what? My grades are noticeably better now at the university level then they were when I went to the cc. But like you, I don't attribute it at all to differences between schools. In fact, just as most everybody has pointed out, the material and the presentation of it is similar. I think the difference in grades, for me anyway, is that I'm a heck of a lot more mature and focused now in my 30s than I was in my early 20s. I do miss the student-centered approach to teaching (to include all the positives you mentioned) that the cc's tend to have though!

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The grades achieved at School A for Nursing 101 may not be the same as the grades achieved at School B for Nursing 101, but that has to do with the grading system and standards held at each school, not whether one is a university or a CC.

The CC I went to is known to be very difficult in terms of both academics and clinicals. Another CC in the region is known to not be so tough; those who fail out of my alma mater often go on to succeed there with higher marks.

The local university has a RN-BSN program that is also known to be easier than the CC in terms of getting higher grades than what was achieved at this CC.

The reality of life, of course, is that your future employer is not going to be comparing your transcript from School A with Betty's transcript from School B. The employer is going to be looking for "RN" after your names ;)

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