community college to boost gpa over summer?

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medrocks47

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My friend is planning on taking a bunch of classes (NOT PREREQS) in CC during the summer so he can "boost his gpa." Note his gpa is fine, he just wants to pad it. He thinks that the CC grades will be counted in the overall GPA that Med Schools calculate, and thus taking a BUNCH of easy classes over the summer boosts your GPA. Is this true? I mean it sounds real sleezy. Don't the med schools separate the grades between CC and Univ?

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It definitely boosts your GPA once you transfer the CC grades over to your Uni transcript. But yes, the ADCOMs are going to be able to differentiate between the CC classes and the Uni classes in the transcript.

Basically, your friend here is making a stupid move, because the ADCOMs will easily be able to tell that he's taking these easy (Painting I anyone?) As at a CC simply to boost his GPA. This is a douchebag move, so you're right -- it's sleazy as all hell, not to mention very unsuccessful.

If this person genuinely wants to boost his GPA, tell him/her to take non-bullcrap classes. Sadly, there is a HUUUUGE stigma against CCs, but seeing as to how you can't beat the system as a pre-med, they should take some "good" courses at an "accredited institution".
 
Well, they'll show up on separate transcripts. Yes, they will see that the classes were taken at a CC.

Has he already signed up for them? He might find out that he needs permission from his home institution to attend as a transient student.

I'm not sure what you call a "bunch" of classes. It's only possible to take so many over a summer. Depending the CC, he could find out that the classes aren't as easy as he expected & that he has to spend all his time trying to keep from messing up his GPA by taking too many things that don't interest him. No matter what, he can only boost that GPA so much with a single summer's worth of classes. There are better ways to spend a summer if all he wants to do is keep himself competitive.

But since this is just a friend, and not you, let him try what he wants. It will either work out for him, or it won't.
 
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Hey, phenomelove. My brother took painting I as an "easy" class. It took more time than my science classes - 8 hours/wk in the classroom + loads of time at home for 3 credits during a normal semester.

CC's ARE accredited institutions.
 
No idea if he's already signed up. Not really gonna tell him what to do anyways. And I think Painting I is an easier class even if it takes more time. Painting is a hobby so to speak, so if you're getting credit for it, ehhh. Not to mention, at CC, they'd grade easier on your art. Lol, I remember getting an A on these ugly art projects I made in AP Art History; though the actual lecture and testing was hard. So practical stuff is easier to score well on unless its advanced design, etc
 
Hey, phenomelove. My brother took painting I as an "easy" class. It took more time than my science classes - 8 hours/wk in the classroom + loads of time at home for 3 credits during a normal semester.

CC's ARE accredited institutions.


YO.

Haha, I put 'accredited institutions' in quotation marks to say exactly that -- that they ARE accredited institutions. It would have worked if I did the air quotes, probably. ;3 The thing is, society and lots of postbac places think CCs are absolute crap. Several places don't accept people with a degree from CC, which is heartbreaking. Also, I dig the CCs. They are wonderful places. I'm not saying otherwise, and I never did.

And just because it's time consuming doesn't mean it's hard! Through my experience (and a couple of friends'), Painting was indeed a time consuming class but easy as a mother. Our objectivities make the difference in its role as an example. It's whatever.
 
My friend is planning on taking a bunch of classes (NOT PREREQS) in CC during the summer so he can "boost his gpa." Note his gpa is fine, he just wants to pad it. He thinks that the CC grades will be counted in the overall GPA that Med Schools calculate, and thus taking a BUNCH of easy classes over the summer boosts your GPA. Is this true? I mean it sounds real sleezy. Don't the med schools separate the grades between CC and Univ?
yea this sounds like a bad idea... it will be obvious when you take easy gpa padding courses over the summer at a CC. why not take a really interesting non-bs class instead and get the A in that? (yes, easier said than done, but you get my point)
 
He's taking Art Appreciation, Family Nutrition, Healthful Living, US History Only one of those seems non-bs. What do ya guys think?
 
So what? They aren't your classes. "Friends" don't go on anonymous forums looking for people to put down what their "friend" is doing.

Why not drop this concern and productively participate in discussions that affect YOU? It would be a better use of your time. ;)
 
I knew someone was gonna say that. It's really someone I know (not necessarily a friend, but what should I call him - an acquaintance??). I just wanted to see if it was legit because I was thinking of maybe doing it (if someone finds a trick, shouldn't I see if it's good?). I'm not so shy as to pretend to be someone else :)
 
:laugh: I was telling you that if you were really asking for a friend, it wasn't a very friendly thing to be doing. If you're asking for yourself, go ahead and ask away.

BTW, some of the WORST classes I've ever taken have been online. No lecture, you have to learn everything on your own, and HOPE that you're concentrating on what the instructor deems most important, and relaying your understanding in a way that satisfies him. They can be easy. They can also be a big pain.
 
No idea if he's already signed up. Not really gonna tell him what to do anyways. And I think Painting I is an easier class even if it takes more time. Painting is a hobby so to speak, so if you're getting credit for it, ehhh. Not to mention, at CC, they'd grade easier on your art. Lol, I remember getting an A on these ugly art projects I made in AP Art History; though the actual lecture and testing was hard. So practical stuff is easier to score well on unless its advanced design, etc
CC's do not "grade easier." They also do not usually curve (never had one in my two years of CC), so there is very little room for error. It's a different system, but to say that it is "easier" is probably flat out wrong in most circumstances.
 
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oh cmon. it's easier. and yes, it will pad the gpa, and i think it will work to his advantage.
 
The science/math classes I took at a CC were far harder than the science/math classes I took at a large, well-respected, research-oriented state university.

The material was not covered in any different amount of rigor, but the CC classes were small (less than 40 people) and were not curved. I had to fight tooth and nail for a 4.0. I can generally coast by pretty easily in the curved university classes.

The humanities classes at the CC were far less difficult. At least the ones I took/saw. However, I have not taken a humanities class at a university. I can't compare the two.
 
I bet hard family nutrition and art appreciation is so hard.... And no curve! YIKES ......
 
Have you taken any CC courses?

No, but several friends of mine have. And it wasn't very surprising that after more than 20 classes combined among the 6 of them, only one resulted in an A-.
Call it what you want, but in my opinion, a class taken at a community college is going to be easier than its university counterpart.
 
No, but several friends of mine have. And it wasn't very surprising that after more than 20 classes combined among the 6 of them, only one resulted in an A-.
Call it what you want, but in my opinion, a class taken at a community college is going to be easier than its university counterpart.


In my opinion, the salads in Cuba all taste like dirt.

I have never been to Cuba.
 
CC's do not "grade easier." They also do not usually curve (never had one in my two years of CC), so there is very little room for error. It's a different system, but to say that it is "easier" is probably flat out wrong in most circumstances.
In gainesville, I know that the community college is a joke compared to UF. I know because I took several classes there.
 
In gainesville, I know that the community college is a joke compared to UF. I know because I took several classes there.

This is, in a round about way, an important point. Just like 4 years, the quality and difficulty of CC classes varies, both among colleges and individual classes.
 
People need to stop getting offended about CC's. Yeah, there are individual CCs that are harder than individual universities, and individual CC courses that are harder than individual university courses, but the AVERAGE CC course is gonna be easier than the AVERAGE university course. And because of that there is a stigma, and all that matters as it relates to this subject is that apparently some adcoms have this stigma.
 
It will most definitely count for (and raise) his AMCAS GPA. And explaining it to ADCOMs is easy enough. "During the summer, I wanted to take courses that I knew I would enjoy. As such, I enrolled at [CC] near my home, and took a variety of courses that I felt would give me more perspective on life" Change that around a bit and you sound like a very "well-rounded" individual and the explanation shouldn't take up more than a couple lines in a personal statement.

Note: I have not personally done this, but as long as you get good grades, its not like it will really hurt. Now, if you decided to take all of your pre-reqs at a CC so they wouldn't be hard, THAT would look suspicious to adcoms.
 
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