Seniors Explore Under-appreciated College Option

Seniors took a trip to visit Diablo Valley College (DVC) the afternoon of March 14. “It’s a good option for every student, not just some students,” said Joan Batcheller of the college and career center.

The campus tour occurs every year, and this year students arrived at the school on there own instead of taking a bus. After meeting at the DVC student center, the seniors toured and completed an online orientation. Senior Ashley Kohan, who went on the trip, said, “We just took a tour of the campus and then we had to take an assessment to see what math or English level we’ll be in.”

Batcheller believes that the community college is a great option for all students. “It’s $1,200 a year for tuition versus the $35,000 it takes to cost $37-38,000 for UC. So you can get your undergrad course requirements taken that you need to take there for $3,000, so you’re saving $60-70,000 a year, or for the two years,” said Bachelor.

As well as being less expensive, Batcheller added that it’s good “if you don’t have the 4.0 GPA you need to get into UC, like to get into UC Santa Barbara you need to be 3.8, 3.9, 4.0. If that’s not your wheelhouse then you –like the UC Santa Barbara admissions counselor came to our campus and she said, ‘if we’re your dream school, then go to a California community college, and do it well, and you’ll be able to transfer into our school and the major you want'”. 

Senior Rupert Dusauzay, who has previously taken a summer course at DVC and knows the campus, agrees. “It’s cheaper of course, everyone knows that, and it’ easier to get into [than] a four year college,” he explained.

Batcheller thinks more Campolindo students should consider the community college option.  She believes that some students head off to 4-year schools when they are not ready.  As a result, many of those students end up transferring or dropping out entirely.

 “So 40% of students across the nation transfer from their four year school because a lot of it’s for different reasons, but I think a lot of it’s because they aren’t ready for college. So a lot of our students go to a four year college, they come home, and then go to DVC for a year and then they relaunch,” said Batcheller.

In spite of the pressure in the Lamorinda community to attend a 4-year college right away, DVC is the “number one school of the year for all of our four schools, for Campo, for Acalanes, for Miramonte, [and] for Las Lomas,” explained Batcheller. 

According to Batcheller, it’s not where you begin that matters.  It’s where you end up. “There’s a kid in a family where all the kids go to DVC and then he went to UCLA  and now he’s at MIT getting his PhD, so it’s really not about what school but how you do in school and how you finish,” said Batcheller.

Batcheller reported that 35 to 45 Campolindo seniors register for DVC each year.