It's controversial, but in general, it seems that the top tier schools may be more likely to hold their noses at CC coursework.
Personally, I feel that if the curriculum and rubrics are essentially the same, prejudice against CC coursework is, well, elitist.
Some will admit this, while others won't. Some care, and some won't necessarily. IMHO, they should stick with the approach of looking at the whole application of the individual; but the sheer, overwhelming number of applicants brings it down to cGPA, sGPA, and MCAT as the initial weeder-factors. If applicants make the necessary cut-off in those areas, then hopefully applicants will be afforded a holistic approach toward their application.
So, you have to do what you have to do. If you have to do a lot of the pre-req sciences at a CC, my opinion is to make sure it's a good one and that it is somehow affiliated or linked with at least area universities. Also, just do the basic science pre-reqs at CC and do your o-chems,physics, and biochem at a 4 yr/university if you can.
If, however, you really feel like you are getting a lot out of a chem prof at your CC (I had a PhD of Chem at a CC that was great.) and you think you can get her/him when you register for other chem courses, this may also turn to your benefit--both in terms of LOR and in terms of what you are learning in order to do well on that related part of the MCAT. I feel like I am taking something not only to jump through some hoops, but to actually understand and experience true learning. Why should I surrender that to the risk of another at a four-year--and of that be dealing primarily with a TA and paying a lot more money for it? So, call me nuts, but if the prof at the CC is truly a dedicated, superstar teacher that loves teaching and helping you, that's immensely valuable to me as a student.
At the bigger university, a certain amount of your professors/teachers are going to be like the roll of the dice. If you know the quality of the teaching you are getting going in, that is to your advantage. Sometimes Rate My Professor is fair, and sometimes it's not. So, just like the med schools want to grant seats to those that are more of a sure thing, I also want to take advantage of having more of a sure thing when it comes to my educational influences--yes--even if I know that most of the learning one does, one does independently. I mean, even though you have to know how to teach yourself, having an excellent professor just makes the whole experience so much more rewarding all the way around. Everything can't be about checking off boxes and doing what is most politically expedient. I mean, we forget that we are paying for our education--at least in most cases. Great teaching is IMHO a talent as much as it is being about knowing skills, pedagogy, and other requirement of the profession. When the student has a really great or good teacher, the whole experience is more pleasurable and meaningful for the student.
This is only one person's opinion.
