Submitted by: Gretchen and son, Stefan G.
I remembered what Alexa and Mr. Pereira said about community colleges when queried by some of the parents at the junior parent meeting–I was glad to hear what they said because I too had wanted to ask if it would be a good fit for students who didn’t seem ready to seriously tackle the academics. (Alexa and Mr. Pereira said that they thought community colleges required a mature student who could handle all the red tape and lack of community at a 2-year school, that community colleges could feel kind of lonely and that you had to be an organized person to make sure you got all your classes in the right sequence/ that not all the classes were offered both semesters, etc.)
Stefan and I both kind of felt like you were really on your own at NOVA. The facilities seemed fine, but you could really sense–especially after our visit to George Mason the second day–that people came there to get credits and move on somewhere else. There is an agreement with NOVA and about 20 state schools in Virginia that you are guaranteed a transfer to a 4-year college once you get your AA, but if you read the fine print you see that most require at least a “B” average if not a 3.4 at some schools so the guarantee is only for a strong student.
