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I went to a cc as part of a high school program. The math department was sooo much better at teaching and having passion for the subject than when I arrived at univesity.

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This was my experience as well. I went to cc prior to going to a 4-year institution for CS. The instruction in the math classes at my local community college were far more impressive than anything I've ever taken anywhere else.

My theory on why this is the case is that they are prepared to teach math to 30-somethings who haven't cracked open a math textbook in a decade+.

50% of my cc student body was high school students in that program. That cohort was higher achieving than the average hs student.

I think the big difference was that they were there to teach, not do research. They would have left for engineering or s/w jobs long ago I they didn't actually love teaching

Maybe my experience was in part shaped by the fact that I took classes at night. Were the classes you took exclusive to members of the dual credit program? It does make sense, as basically every teacher I had at my cc was phenomenal. Though I did go to a truly massive cc.

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