Attend X College. First, I

¶ … attend X college. First, I am attracted to the idea that X is a community college, because I believe that community colleges provide a wonderful educational opportunity while remaining affordable. Second, as an international student, I appreciate the diverse educational climate that X college provides for its students. Finally, I intend to pursue a business degree at a university after completing my associate's degree at X community college, and I feel that X college will offer me the type of education that I need in order to be successful at a university. Because X college offers all of the benefits I could hope for in an institute of higher education, I hope to begin my college education at X.

Until relatively recently, community college had a slight stigma, and people were believed to select community college as an option only if they did not have the grades to immediately enroll in a four-year college. However, as the economy has gotten worse and the price of a college education has skyrocketed, more and more people have come to see the benefit of attending a community college for the first two years of higher education. I am certainly one of those people. From what I understand from speaking with friends who have attending both community colleges and universities, community colleges offer a better learning experience for people seeking out a core college curriculum. Specifically, it is my understanding that the professors at X college are excellent teachers, whose teaching skills surpass those of their peers at nearby four-year colleges. Friends and references sources have suggested that there are two reasons why community colleges can provide a higher quality of education in core curriculum than four-year institutions: smaller class size and an emphasis on teaching rather than research. I have always responded very well to smaller class sizes and to teachers who are passionate about teaching. Therefore, because of both educational opportunity and cost, I feel like X community college is the perfect place for me to begin my college education.

I am also an international student, and one of my most important criteria in choosing a college is that it offers me a place to be a member of an international community. In the modern world, almost every college is going to have a diverse student body. However, the diversity of the student body is only one part of multi-culturalism. In addition to diversity, one must look at whether a college offers clubs, classes, and other types of support for its international community. X college's reputation is that it strongly supports its international community and a multicultural environment. I understand that X college does a wonderful job of teaching students how to be responsible citizens of the world, and how to use their diverse backgrounds to contribute to life in America, as well as to global life. I feel like those lessons are ones that would be invaluable to me in my future.