I didn't get into any four-year college! What do I do now?

I didn't get into any four-year college! What do I do now? 

It is not the end of the world if you are not admitted into a four-year college straight out of high school, although you may think it is. Many students find themselves in this situation. However, there is an alternative if you are determined to go to college. 

Here are some reason why starting college at a community college may make sense for you: 

1. In New Jersey, community colleges have "open admission". The fact that you perhaps need more time to become a great student is recognized by community colleges. You will be admitted into the college even if your cumulative GPA and SAT and/or ACT scores were not the greatest. 
2. Compared to a public four-year New Jersey college, you can cut college tuition almost in half or even more if you attend a community college for two years. You can also live at home, cutting your costs for room and board. 
3. If you are not sure what specific major you might want to have, going to a community college gives you the time to explore your interests and passion. You can then select what college you want to transfer to by selecting a college that has the major, internships, co-operative education, etc. that you want during your college studies. 
4. You may find that community college class sizes may be smaller providing more individual attention to students. 
5. You will have proven yourself academically at the community college, thereby making you a student who will be more likely to graduate and therefore, more desirable to four-year colleges.  
6. If you attend a New Jersey community college and transfer to a four-year New Jersey college, you can be assured that your courses will be accepted for transfer to your four-year degree. Check out below what it says on the the NJTransfer.org website and the njcollege2collegetransfer.com website: 

Students can now seamlessly transfer their academic credits from a completed community college Associate of Arts (A.A.) or Associate of Science (A.S.) degree program to a Bachelor’s degree program at New Jersey’s public four-year colleges and universities. Associate in Applied Sciences (A.A.S.) degrees, which typically prepare students to enter a career, are not covered by the new transfer law with one exception. Due to an amendment passed in January 2010, participants of the New Jersey Pathways Leading to a College Education (NJ PLACE) program who graduate with an A.A.S. in Technical Studies are covered under the transfer law as of January 2011.
While the law does not cover New Jersey’s private colleges and universities, many of those institutions have established similar policies that allow community college graduates to transfer with full junior standing.

  

Oh, No! I didn't get into my college of choice! Now what do I do?

Oh, No! I am a good student 

and I didn't get into my college of choice! 

Why? 

You achieved high GPA and good SAT or ACT scores. You applied to the colleges you most wanted to attend. Unfortunately, you then got the bad news that you were not admitted into your college of first choice, or perhaps you were not admitted into any of the colleges you selected. Now what do you do?

First, be aware of some general reasons why you may not have been admitted. While these reasons may not specifically apply to you or the colleges you want to attend, they may have had an impact on your admission: 

1. The pool of high school graduates is growing larger. According to the National Center for Education Statistics. in Fall 2013, a record 21.8 million students attended American colleges and universities which was an increase of about 6.5 million since Fall 2000.
2. Colleges are also becoming more selective. College and university officials tend to be pleased when their institution's ranking makes it appear to be more selective and therefore, more appealing, than ever. The trend for colleges to become increasingly selective appears to hold true whether or not the college received increasing numbers of applications or not. 
3. Students tend to be selected for admission if they seem more likely to actually enroll in classes after being admitted. 
4. The large numbers of applications requires rejections from admission; there simply aren't enough classroom seats to admit every good student who applies. 
5. Colleges are being  pressured to increase the numbers of students who remain in  and who graduate from college. Because student loan debt has become so large, nationwide, legislators are pressuring colleges to be accountable for student loan debt. In New Jersey,  a comprehensive package of bills was introduced to reduce the number of students who go into debt due to student loans, but who may not even complete their college degree. Colleges are being pushed to improve graduation rates and therefore, are being more careful in the admission of students who appear to be more likely to remain in college to graduation .