> If you were to tell the average high school student who's in the top ~10% of their class to go to CC, you'd get laughed at.
There shouldn't be any such stigma; it's a great path to follow. If it was the last degree you got, sure, a 2-year degree won't get you the results you want. But as the first 2 years of a B.S. or graduate degree, it's a completely sensible path.
I went to community college for 2 years, graduated with an A.S., transfered into a full university as a junior, and then finished a B.S. and Ph.D. there. I can definitely vouch for that path, and never once has it mattered in the least where those first two years took place.
> Also, we're spoiled in programming and engineering in that we can go to almost any valid school and still get a job if we can build and ship software. In other careers, college or location choice really does matter!
True, careers like law or business seem to have a much larger problem with credentials.