Dude, don't join a frat. Seriously.

I guess it depends on area and institution? Many students try that here (Community College for two, then some other university for another two) only to find that they have to essentially start over.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen it happen - especially at Temple and Drexel. They have these "Transfer" programs, too. Total scam.

Area may well play a big role - how integrated the particular state's program is with its primary institutions.  Everything in Maryland basically flows out from the main campus of the University of Maryland.  The community colleges basically follow the exact same cirriculum as the University of Maryland, College Park for the first two years of their transfer programs.  The state universities are required to accept kids that get their associate's degrees.  And there was quite a bit of back and forth between the community college and UMCP while I was there - it seemed like UMCP might've been using the community college to work on develope some of their programs before they introduced them into the main program.  It seemed to be a pretty highly integrated system, so maybe that makes the community colleges here a bit more legitimate than they may be in some other places.

Discipline might be a big deal, too.  My art school friends are way more concerned about who they studied with than anyone I have ever met in science or engineering.  Maybe there's a difference between programs where the pedigree of instructors are important vs. programs where there's just a toolbox of skills with which you have to be competent.  And maybe there's a difference between programs where schools are desperate for American students, like math or science, and other programs where there isn't as much demand for students.

and who you studied Greek History under is critical for your future career of doing fuck all