completing ALL prerequisites at a community college? special case

[SN1]

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[MechZZ]

Believe me. They will reject you with the quickness. All they need to see is that you took 1 pre-req there and they will filter you out of their application pool. Also at the same time a lot of schools will look down at it. You did the exact same thing I did. Took all my pre-reqs at a CC and then transferred to a 4 year.

You better
A.) Maintain straight A's at the 4 year(I got 2 C's at my 4 year)
B.) Get a high DAT score. If you don't they will see your CC creds as grade inflation since your DAT score doesn't match up with your GPA.

I applied with a 3.8 overall with a 19 after my undergrad and got waitlisted at 4 schools and never got off of the waitlist. I had to get a Masters for a lot of schools to over look my community college creds. Even after my Masters, Tufts straight up told me. "That's nice... now retake those pre-reqs."

 

[John Durian]

I think the above poster was a bit too hard on transferring CC credits. I took ALL of my prerequisites at a CC because I simply couldn't afford a UC education for all 4 years. This is my first cycle and I applied to 10 schools, got 5 interviews (UCLA, UCSF, Michigan, UNLV, Western) and was accepted to UCLA . You can see my stats and which schools I applied to on my predents profile.

It's no lie that it's going to be harder and it will decrease your chances of admission because you can't apply to schools with larger classes (ie, Tufts and Boston are the two I know of off the top of my head), but it won't make or break your application at most places. Get some research in, write a great personal statement, keep your GPA high, kill the DAT, and you're in. Private message me if you need any advice. Good luck!

 

[theskibumjohnso]

Most schools have a limit on CC hours they want you to take. They usually plan on a drop of GPA when you transfer from a CC to a University. They would like to see how much a drop it is.

 

[Impulse155]

First off, most schools will have a limit on how many credits you can take. So you might end up retaking classes.

What it might come down to for you is how you perform on the DAT since most schools kinda look down on CC. Plus if you transfer to a university, you have to see how many credits you can actually transfer/how many they will accept.

 

[Vicviper]

I took about 95% of my pre-reqs at my Community College before I transferred to my 4 year, and I got into dental school just fine (currently a student at Pitt). Most schools are alright with CC credit (kind of the "Well, it might have been better if you took it at a university, but...."), as long as you've got upper division grades and DAT scores to back them up - that said, Tufts and BU are NOT ok with CC credit, it doesn't matter, they seem to just ignore them, and they are the examples of the very small handful of schools that won't take CC pre-reqs at all.

 

[SN1]

I took about 95% of my pre-reqs at my Community College before I transferred to my 4 year, and I got into dental school just fine (currently a student at Pitt). Most schools are alright with CC credit (kind of the "Well, it might have been better if you took it at a university, but...."), as long as you've got upper division grades and DAT scores to back them up - that said, Tufts and BU are NOT ok with CC credit, it doesn't matter, they seem to just ignore them, and they are the examples of the very small handful of schools that won't take CC pre-reqs at all.

Thank you. Great to hear some had actually done it.

 

[Vicviper]

Thank you. Great to hear some had actually done it.

Yeah, it's doable, but just not for Tufts and BU sadly.

 

[dentalWorks]

I know this topic has been discussed on this board millions of times but I have never heard of someone who had actually completed ALL of their dental prerequisites at a community college which I am planning on doing. I am currently in my fourth semester at brookdale community college in NJ and taking organic chemistry II, General physics I (calculus-based), calculus I, and a computer class. Next semester I will be taking calculus II and Gen Physics II in which will make me finished with all of my prerequisites.I will transfer to a 4 year uni the following semester.
Now I know school like TUFTS and BU want prerequisites done at a 4 year college but it does NOT specifically says that they will DENY CC credits. For example, TUFTS university want students to retake those prerequisites taken at CC at a 4 year OR they can take the same amount of upper level courses at a 4 year in the same discipline. Doesn't this mean I will be ok if I take the same amount of upper level courses(which I am planning to do to get my BA) at the 4 year uni even though I completed all of my prereqs at a CC?
Boston U said that they take up to 30 cc credits but not in science courses. I guess I have to retake some courses at a 4 year if I am going to boston.

Does anybody know someone who has actually got into TUFTS or Boston with their prereqs completed in CC?

I don't think its going to be an issue ESPECIALLY if your planning to take upper biology courses at a 4-year university afterwards. I am not even going to suggest the obvious about earning high grades because... well lets face it, community college or not, you need high grades for today's application cycle.

The only issue here is... you have to be very active in knowing every schools pre-req requirements... those schools that reject CC credits, obviously should not be applied to.

 

[patricke]

I don't think its going to be an issue ESPECIALLY if your planning to take upper biology courses at a 4-year university afterwards. I am not even going to suggest the obvious about earning high grades because... well lets face it, community college or not, you need high grades for today's application cycle.

The only issue here is... you have to be very active in knowing every schools pre-req requirements... those schools that reject CC credits, obviously should not be applied to.

I spoke to a few DSchools about this as I was thinking of BCC myself and it's OK. It's preferable if they're from a 4 yr U but it can be CC especially if you have reason. IE Work fulltime and CC has a more evening / weekend friendly sched. All schools did say the same thing - get A's and crush the DAT (and compliment the CC preregs w/upper level courses from a U) and it's fine.

Anyone else with first-hand experience? (asked during interview, etc)?

 

[Baker2010]

Does anyone know if schools like Tufts or BU would reject you if you took 1 pre req course at a CC?

 

[dbomb10634]

So I have a big life decision ahead of me. I am an Economics major graduating from DePauw University May 2012. My mom is a Dentist and has convinced me it is the way to go. I have not completed any pre-reqs at my university and was wondering if I could take them all at a CC within a year and then get into dental school? Since I will have a BA already from a 4-year college do you think admissions will be more lenient accepting these courses from a CC? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Dan

 

[customx]

So I have a big life decision ahead of me. I am an Economics major graduating from DePauw University May 2012. My mom is a Dentist and has convinced me it is the way to go. I have not completed any pre-reqs at my university and was wondering if I could take them all at a CC within a year and then get into dental school? Since I will have a BA already from a 4-year college do you think admissions will be more lenient accepting these courses from a CC? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Dan

You won't be able to get them all done in a year. It might take 1.5-2 years if you take classes in the summer and take either chem or ochem in one summer.

People will say that taking classes at a CC will greatly diminish your chances of being accepted, but people on this site have been accepted into multiple dental schools while having completed their prereqs at a CC. You may not get accepted into Harvard, Tufts, or BU, but there are still 50 other dental schools that will accept the credits. Just make sure to get a 3.5+ GPA and 20+ DAT and you'll be fine.

 

[keepsmiling!]

I think the above poster was a bit too hard on transferring CC credits. I took ALL of my prerequisites at a CC because I simply couldn't afford a UC education for all 4 years. This is my first cycle and I applied to 10 schools, got 5 interviews (UCLA, UCSF, Michigan, UNLV, Western) and was accepted to UCLA . You can see my stats and which schools I applied to on my predents profile.

It's no lie that it's going to be harder and it will decrease your chances of admission because you can't apply to schools with larger classes (ie, Tufts and Boston are the two I know of off the top of my head), but it won't make or break your application at most places. Get some research in, write a great personal statement, keep your GPA high, kill the DAT, and you're in. Private message me if you need any advice. Good luck!

Hi! What was your GPA?

 

[Sara_jjasim]

Thank you. Great to hear some had actually done it.

That's good to hear! I'm taking prerequisites at CC and was freaking out that I might not be accepted for taking pre req at CC.....

 

[customx]

I took nearly all mine at a cc and have 3 interviews thus far. Some schools don't accept cc credits, so be aware that about 5 schools aren't possible to apply to.