Are community college courses for grade replacement really okay?

[mriyain]

Hello!

So I admit I haven't read all of these forums so I'm so sorry if my question is repetitive.

I used to be pre-dental, and in my pre-dental honor society every single dental school rep that visited told us that they look down on CC credits and will require a good explanation for science courses taken there.

I see on these forums that for DO school, and when doing grade replacement courses after having attended a 4-year institution, CC courses are just fine. Is this for real? I'm really not planning on applying to MD, just DO. But this sounds sounds almost too good to be true because, well, if it were true I would save so much money and keep my parents from worrying about how I'm going to pay for postbac and my not-so-straightforward path to the medical field.

Thanks for your help!

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[0dee]

Yes.

 

[darkeon]

I've seen a fair share of dental students who started out from their local CC's. Reps gotta sell themselves highly.

In any case, you'll see plenty of stories here of folks doing grade replacement at their local CC. The whole reinvention theme is constant throughout many DO schools but even more importantly, the whole picture is what matters to them; something created by means of your extracurriculars and life experiences. That said, you gotta kick booty in your retakes. Plus, shadow a physician (DO if you can) and make sure you really want to be a physician for the love of the career and not just because it seems like something you can get into. If you really want to be a dentist, stick with it and do a post-bacc or SMP (ones that accept pre-dental students). GL!

 

[holdthemayo]

Wherever you go get A's. Doubly so at CC.

 

[mriyain]

I've seen a fair share of dental students who started out from their local CC's. Reps gotta sell themselves highly.

In any case, you'll see plenty of stories here of folks doing grade replacement at their local CC. The whole reinvention theme is constant throughout many DO schools but even more importantly, the whole picture is what matters to them; something created by means of your extracurriculars and life experiences. That said, you gotta kick booty in your retakes. Plus, shadow a physician (DO if you can) and make sure you really want to be a physician for the love of the career and not just because it seems like something you can get into. If you really want to be a dentist, stick with it and do a post-bacc or SMP (ones that accept pre-dental students). GL!

Thanks so much for the info! After 2 years of shadowing I know the pre-dental track is not for me. I'm still shadowing physicians and so far love it much more than I ever enjoyed shadowing dentists, but we'll see And I'm confident that I can kick booty in retakes haha, I did badly in the classes because I didn't know how to study my 1st and 2nd years of undergrad; my current grades as a junior are great, but there are not enough classes left before graduation to get my science GPA high enough.

 

[QueenJames]

Yup! As long as you get As.

A "B" here or there won't hurt you but trust me. You want that A. F

WIW I had a C in second semester bio from a CC and still got accepted. Good luck!

 

[SnowFTW]

FWIW the hard sciences programs at my local CC (in TX) are much stronger than the place I did my Bacc (NJ).

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Yes, taking and retaking courses at a CC is fine (especially for D.O. schools). I took ALL of my science prereq courses at a CC and was accepted into many D.O. schools. It wasn't even mentioned in my interviews.

 

[DrMikeP]

Some MD schools no, but DOs yes. That said a cc may raise the question of why Fs at a major univ but As at a cc.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[DantheManimal]

Hello!

So I admit I haven't read all of these forums so I'm so sorry if my question is repetitive.

I used to be pre-dental, and in my pre-dental honor society every single dental school rep that visited told us that they look down on CC credits and will require a good explanation for science courses taken there.

I see on these forums that for DO school, and when doing grade replacement courses after having attended a 4-year institution, CC courses are just fine. Is this for real? I'm really not planning on applying to MD, just DO. But this sounds sounds almost too good to be true because, well, if it were true I would save so much money and keep my parents from worrying about how I'm going to pay for postbac and my not-so-straightforward path to the medical field.

Thanks for your help!

Yes it's totally fine. I retook Gen Chem I and II at different community colleges after my bachelor's, along with Ochem I and II, and Bio I and II. Essentially I did an unofficial postbac and saved thousands of dollars. Applied super late, heard back from 4 schools so far and got 2 interviews, 1 wait list, and 1 rejection.

cGPA 3.05 | sGPA 3.44 | MCAT 504

 

[mriyain]

Yes it's totally fine. I retook Gen Chem I and II at different community colleges after my bachelor's, along with Ochem I and II, and Bio I and II. Essentially I did an unofficial postbac and saved thousands of dollars. Applied super late, heard back from 4 schools so far and got 2 interviews, 1 wait list, and 1 rejection.

cGPA 3.05 | sGPA 3.44 | MCAT 504

thanks! so you retook 6 classes? congrats on those 2 interviews

 

[DantheManimal]

thanks! so you retook 6 classes? congrats on those 2 interviews

I only retook gen chem. The rest I hadn't taken at that time....and thank you ☺