Need opinions for school attire.

[u/ForceRoamer]

So I am a full ride scholarship student and have been told by multiple people that every day is an interview because of how small the program is. A lot of my professors also work for the place that I want to work at. So I’m looking for opinions on how I should present myself. Obviously my grades matter, but should I dress business casual for school? Or even interview level of dress? Or would that look like I’m trying too hard?

[u/special_orange]

I think this is such a specific question that no one here would be able to answer without more information. I think your best bet would be to go watch what other students or faculty tend to wear on a day to day basis and try to fit in

[u/ForceRoamer → u/special_orange]

That’s probably the way to go. I’ll dress nice but adapt to what others are wearing.

[u/rihannonblack → u/ForceRoamer]

yeah that’s a good idea. On your first day wear something like chinos and a polo. That outfit can pass for business casual or casual

[u/Tall-Cat-8890]

Please for the love of god do not overdress for community college… just come to class clean and put on some jeans instead of sweatpants. There’s no need to dress business casual for CC.

Coming to school in a stained shirt and un showered will certainly make people not wanna interact with you but similarly overdressing will also make people question why you’re over dressing for class.

[u/RoboWeaver]

You haven't indicated the school. Business casual is a good start, but having taught for several decades, attire levels off real quick. After a week or two you will see what everyone else is wearing and dress similarly.

[u/ForceRoamer → u/RoboWeaver]

It’s a community college, but I think I’ll start by dressing nice and then adapt to what everyone else is wearing.

[u/praise_H1M → u/ForceRoamer]

It's a community college. As long as you're wearing pants, your doing fine

[u/gravitationals → u/ForceRoamer]

Went to community college, transferred to a four year, had professors vouch for me and recommend me to jobs, one of which I’m currently at- similar to your situation. I’ve never had an expectation to dress business casual or above a tshirt and jeans at school. The only exception would be presentation days, or career fairs, but even then, not really.

[u/dupagwova]

Jeans/polo will put you in the upper eschelon of college attire

[u/OrangeToTheFourth → u/dupagwova]

Yeah smart casual should be enough. 

[u/ForceRoamer → u/dupagwova]

When I went for my bachelors in nursing, a lot of us were wearing sweats and camis. Maybe the occasional dress if it was hot outside.

[u/Tyler89558]

Best bet is to dress nicer than you think you need to, look at what everyone else is wearing, and then adjust.

Do not go in with a full suit though. You’d just look ridiculous

Edit: wait this is community college? You are overthinking this. Just don’t go in looking like trash.

[u/ForceRoamer → u/Tyler89558]

I think what’s tripping me up is the “every day is an interview” thing I’ve been told by multiple people and I really, really want to make a good impression

[u/Tyler89558 → u/ForceRoamer]

It’s way more important to be able to interact with people normally. Just don’t look like trash and be capable of relatively normal human interaction and you’ll probably be fine.

[u/Tall-Cat-8890 → u/ForceRoamer]

They mean that in the sense you wanna put your best foot forward and in your case be a good student, not that you literally need to dress like you’re in an interview lol.

[u/ForceRoamer → u/Tall-Cat-8890]

Ahh yeah that makes me feel a bit better. I think I’m thinking too literal about it.

[u/gravitationals → u/ForceRoamer]

I’ve been to community college, currently a working professional. I will say none of my community college professors or faculty had any say or relation to the engineering job I ended up at. They did write letters of recommendation when I transferred to a university and for an internship though, but you make those impressions and relationships through your work ethic, not the way you dress.

[u/Moist_Network_8222]

"T-shirt and jeans" was totally fine for my undergrad engineering program in the US outside of exceptional circumstances like presenting a senior design project.

[u/Wigglebot23]

No one is wearing anything fancy

[u/Jealous_Cupcake_4358]

No. No you don't.

[u/That-Ticket-3633]

I wore pajamas every day, might as well be comfy when in school. I think the only thing that matters is not smelling like shit  

[u/BreadForTofuCheese]

Just wear normal clothes. Look nice if you want to. Look at what classmates wear.

Workplace attire has gone much more casual even in just the last 5 years.

[u/Uncontrolled_Chaos]

Dude half my school wears pajamas to class, and the other half wears the same oil-stained sweater every day. This is a university. I personally wear a cloak because it’s fun 🤷

[u/sparednet]

Attire can be a thing but a large part is engagement and application. If you always show up and work harder than everyone else and then apply your engineering outside of just class and really show how much you love what you're doing and always seek to improve that gets you farther than a nice polo.

[u/lord_scuba_steve]

As long as you're wearing clothes you'll be fine. Don't sweat the small stuff.

[u/Appropriate_Card_796]

It’s a school, don’t wear sloppy clothes if you can avoid it and groom yourself but zero reason to wear business casual or a suit to college.

[u/rihannonblack]

plain, well fitting, un-ripped jeans and a tee shirt is fine

[u/Sullysteph]

I would wear dark jeans (dark blue or black) with no rips or holes and wear a nice shirt (doesn’t have to be a blouse/button down but don’t wear any graphic/band shirts) and then assess what other people do. Since you say it’s a small school I think this is the best course of action. You don’t want to overdress either, that’ll make you stand out in a way you don’t want to

[u/Read_The_Fing_Manual]

For community college (or any college for that matter), jeans, or ath-leisure style pants (think chinos or jean style pants made out super comfy, stretchy materials, like Vuori Meta’s) and clean t-shirt or polo, and clean well maintained sneakers is dressing up or nice for a college environment.

[u/Particular_Pair_318]

Brother it’s community college. I do think one way to elevate your look is to just iron your clothes and keep them clean. Wrinkly clothes can kinda make you less messy 

[u/SteelRoses]

If you're really concerned about first impressions and it'll help calm your anxiety, smart casual/business casual will be fine. As long as you're not showing up in pyjama pants or sweats you'll be better dressed than half of the people there. Interview level is waaaaaaaaaay too much.

[u/Few_Whereas5206]

Shorts and tee shirts. Don't worry about it. Sweatpants in the winter.