Community College Student Needing Help

[Jerimiah King]

I'm a community college student right now in my first year. I've been looking for some sites or resources where I can get guidance on what to do to not only transfer but to get into a successful 4 year program.
I came across www.StatFuse.com, which was really cool and allowed me to find my chances of transferring but anyone have any tips on what kinds of classes and curriculums I should focus in on to learn more about medical related topics?

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[that redhead]

What do you mean by "get into a successful 4 year program"? Undergrad is pretty much what you make of it, success-wise, and students from all kinds of universities get into medical schools. My best advice would be to go a university that would give you in-state tuition and/or a scholarship of some sort to minimize debt incurred. Once you've narrowed down some universities, go to their websites and learn about their transfer requirements and apply accordingly.

Medical schools and many other professional schools accept most majors, so long as you've taken the pre-reqs and demonstrated solid ability in higher level science classes. Many applicants are science majors of some sort (biology, chemistry, etc) but do what interests you. Learning about medical-related topics is probably best achieved by shadowing a physician or working/volunteering in the medical field in some capacity. The coursework in undergrad just doesn't measure up to professional-level speed/volume.

 

[MarylandMatt]

Talk to your advisor. Most CCs have schools that you're guaranteed a place in with a certain GPA. See if there's any that interest you. Also you need to figure out how much you can afford. YOU can't even borrow $10,000 a year without a consigner, so talk about that with your parents. Your best option is probably going to be your in-state flagship school so look up how your credits transfer to your major.

 

[wahoo321]

Does your CC have a guaranteed admissions program? I am on that program right now, which allows me to get into a 4-year university of my choice as long as I get a certain GPA and take required courses. Also, for medical school, the only thing required are Pre-requisites like gen bio, gen chem, gen physics, and organic chem. You can pick any major that you want. You don't really need to be a biology major or a chem major. Talk to your advisors as well

 

[Solomon]

Does your CC have a guaranteed admissions program? I am on that program right now, which allows me to get into a 4-year university of my choice as long as I get a certain GPA and take required courses. Also, for medical school, the only thing required are Pre-requisites like gen bio, gen chem, gen physics, and organic chem. You can pick any major that you want. You don't really need to be a biology major or a chem major. Talk to your advisors as well

I have an off topic question (sort of)

Have you taken any Prereqs at the CC? If so, have they hindered you in anyway?

 

[Roberie]

Have you taken any Prereqs at the CC? If so, have they hindered you in anyway?

I started at the community college level primarily for financial reasons and transferred to a university after one year. I would encourage anyone not to take too many science prereqs at the CC level, most particularly if you're hoping to go to med school. I was given transfer credit for several CC courses that were a joke compared with their "analogous" university courses. Spend your CC time taking all of the other fluff that gets crammed into a bachelors degree. Then, after you've transferred to a university, you can focus on the hard sciences. You'll be much better prepared for the MCAT because you'll have a much better foundation of knowledge.

 

[papi89]

I started at the community college level primarily for financial reasons and transferred to a university after one year. I would encourage anyone not to take too many science prereqs at the CC level, most particularly if you're hoping to go to med school. I was given transfer credit for several CC courses that were a joke compared with their "analogous" university courses. Spend your CC time taking all of the other fluff that gets crammed into a bachelors degree. Then, after you've transferred to a university, you can focus on the hard sciences. You'll be much better prepared for the MCAT because you'll have a much better foundation of knowledge.

Yeah I'd agree to hold off the pre-med courses until you're at a 4-year college... just get good grades at CC in whatever classes you pick and you should be good to transfer

 

[wahoo321]

I have an off topic question (sort of)

Have you taken any Prereqs at the CC? If so, have they hindered you in anyway?

No not really. It is a disadvantage, but I had to do it to complete my guaranteed admissions program. I took general bio, chem, and physics class at CC. I will be taking organic chem at the 4-year university and other upper division classes. I am also studying for the MCAT and taking practice tests in Berkeley review. I learned a lot from those classes so I don't think it hindered me. I don't really have another option so I just have to go with the flow I guess.