In my experience, this varies by school. I did the same thing you're talking about (community college to university and hopefully to grad school), so I can answer specific questions about what my classes were like, but I'd be hesitant to generalize those to other schools. BTW, I'm from Portland (though I didn't go to school there), so if you have questions about Portland, I can answer those too! I'm really glad I returned to school after all these years.