Doing Science Pre-Reqs at Community College

[Timbo0984]

I currently go to The George Washington University and have a 3.4 but I did all my science pre-reqs at community college. Do you think osteopathic adcoms will think I wanted to take the easy way out or will they just look at my grades?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dr.z]

I have been told they don't like to see pre-reqs done at community college, but if you have already done them all there's not much you can do about it. Just apply and see what happens. It will depend also on your MCAT scores, letters of recommendation, and EC activities.

 

[vtdo07]

I currently go to The George Washington University and have a 3.4 but I did all my science pre-reqs at community college. Do you think osteopathic adcoms will think I wanted to take the easy way out or will they just look at my grades?

I can tell you from "insider" information that it is not a good idea to have all you science pre-reqs from a community college. The courses at the majority of CC are not as respected as the ones offered at traditional universities and colleges. I would recommend calling the office of admissions and discuss your profile to see if this is a non issue for that particular school. I'm not trying to say this is the way it is at all schools but I do know people in admissions at both MD & DO schools and lets just say the community college route is not looked upon as highly in regards to science coursework. The only thing which would probably negate the CC pre-reqs is if you have taken a few upper level science courses at your current 4 year institution and have done well in those courses.

 

[Timbo0984]

I would love to take an upper division course at my home school, but if i am applying as we speak, should i register for an upper level course for the fall, schools would only see this course as 'in progress', would that help. I mean, what else can i do. Regarding my sciences, 3 are at community college, 5 are at the University of DC, and all my undergrad and major reqs are at GW.

 

[cee]

I currently go to The George Washington University and have a 3.4 but I did all my science pre-reqs at community college. Do you think osteopathic adcoms will think I wanted to take the easy way out or will they just look at my grades?

just do well on the MCATs and it wont matter where you took them. it will show that you actually learned something from your classes. this topic has been discussed numerous times, do a search on it. many people took their prereqs at comm college and got acceptances

 

[vtdo07]

just do well on the MCATs and it wont matter where you took them. it will show that you actually learned something from your classes. this topic has been discussed numerous times, do a search on it. many people took their prereqs at comm college and got acceptances

With all due respect to this poster, I disagree with his assesment of do well on the MCAT and everything will be fine. I am currently a 3rd year and almost everyone I know, the overwhelming majority of my current classmates, as well as friends of mine that are already docs did well on the MCAT. The MCAT does not negate "all variables" because mostly everyone applying for med school has an average to very good MCAT. I am not saying in anyway that you wont get accepted but if you are interested in the more competative programs believe me the CC coursework will not go over well without the upper level courses to back it up.
As far as taking upper level coursework right now, it is somewhat to late especially if it doesn't show up on your current transcripts. Also keep in mind taking a class like General Biochemistry (2 semesters) is a lot more challenging than organic chemistry which is basically consists of dedication of time and memorization.
If I were you I would continue with the process with confidence in the fact that you have done well throughout, but I would also spread my applications around to encompass some of the less competative programs. Like I always tell people, any medical school is a good medical school because its not about where you go, but what you do with the opportunity. Good Luck in the process and stay positive.

 

[albaniandoc]

I took the liberty of actually calling the college I plan to apply and ask this very question to their advisor. She flat out told me that the admission board prefers that you take courses at a 4 year college rather than a C.C.
She also mentioned that everything will be taken into account including MCAT and upper level courses as well.

 

[J1515]

Have the rest of your application solid (volunteering, shadowing DO, etc...), take upper level sci classes at the 4 yr., and a good MCAT score and you have nothing to worry about with Osteopathic schools. They absolutely will NOT think any less of you. The allopathic schools will on the other hand will most likely give you a hard time, regardless of your explanation.

 

[chan]

I took the liberty of actually calling the college I plan to apply and ask this very question to their advisor. She flat out told me that the admission board prefers that you take courses at a 4 year college rather than a C.C.
She also mentioned that everything will be taken into account including MCAT and upper level courses as well.

Thats odd, I also took the liberty of calling different colleges as well and they said the exact opposite. They told me that it doesnt matter where you took your prereqs (given your situation). Just make sure the rest of your application is good.

 

[Timbo0984]

Thats odd, I also took the liberty of calling different colleges as well and they said the exact opposite. They told me that it doesnt matter where you took your prereqs (given your situation). Just make sure the rest of your application is good.

your situation? which schools did u call? nycom and pcom by chance? how many of ur prereqs were at a cc?

 

[albaniandoc]

I also had a meeting with a college advisor regarding a post-bach degree.
I was told to stop taking classes at the community college from now on. Med. school admission will look at them in a negative way and will assign you a (-) for every class taken at the community college. This is what I was told and this is what I am telling you. If I was lied by the advisor I am lying too.
Either way, better be safe and take them at a university.
Peace

 

[vtdo07]

I also had a meeting with a college advisor regarding a post-bach degree.
I was told to stop taking classes at the community college from now on. Med. school admission will look at them in a negative way and will assign you a (-) for every class taken at the community college. This is what I was told and this is what I am telling you. If I was lied by the advisor I am lying too.
Either way, better be safe and take them at a university.
Peace

Timbo, My advice to you again is to call the schools at which you have an interest in applying. The above poster did this and you see the answer he or she received. Admissions people do not frown upon students who take a proactive interest in their pursuit of gaining an acceptance and many will give you valuable tips to enhance you application /profile which will help move you to the front of the pile (maybe even boost your chances into being part of the 1st round of interviews).
Also, you may want to disregard a lot the advice you get on these boards from pre-meds who have yet to apply, are currently applying, or have yet to gain acceptance into a program. Many lack the first hand knowledge of how the process really works outside of what they read in a book that is available to the general public. Keep in mind, I am only offering advice to help you get where I am because I know many people in admissions based on my past professional / personal relationships and it doesn't serve me any purpose to give you false advice. Again good luck and make those calls, you'll be glad that you did.

 

[Sainttpk]

I would take everyones advice on this board with a grain of salt, I would encourage you to do a search of all the previous posts on CC. It is only one persons opinion. You will find that plenty of students took classes at a CC and got into med school just fine. I happen to know of a few people who got into the Univeristy of Washington with CC credits just fine. And thats a top MD school. Many people cannot afford to go to a 4 year for various reasons. Just do the best you can and apply.

That being said, of course most advisors are going to tell you to take your classes at a 4 year school!!! Its a slippery slope argument, there gonna tell you what they want you to hear to make themselves look better. Do whats best for you, and just do your best, dont worry what others say. Goodluck

T

 

[DrBowtie]

The issue here isn't about taking classes at a CC. The issue is about going to a 4-year school and deciding to take ONLY your pre-reqs at a CC. That looks shady plain and simple.

 

[Sainttpk]

The issue here isn't about taking classes at a CC. The issue is about going to a 4-year school and deciding to take ONLY your pre-reqs at a CC. That looks shady plain and simple.

And thats what I was talking about, I would encourage the OP to do a search for people on this board who took ALL of there science prereqs at a CC and still got into medical school. You may be suprised to find out that a number of people have done quite well even with CC credits.

I am not saying you may not be at a disadvantage in SOME states. But I know for one that most of the CC's on the west coast I.E. Washington, Or, California tend to be pretty good schools.

 

[Kent]

I'm a graduate of a community college (A.A.) and then I went to a state university and got a degree in Biology. I took a year of general biology and a semester of general physics at the community college. Since then I have completed the rest of the requirements for med school at a University as well as several upper lever science courses.

I applied to and was accepted to the following schools. No one ever said anything about attending a community college.
KCOM (I'll start there this fall)
KCUMB
AZCOM
TUCOM (NV)
DMU

Best luck. If you have specific concerns contact the school that you would like to attend. Good luck.

 

[vtdo07]

And thats what I was talking about, I would encourage the OP to do a search for people on this board who took ALL of there science prereqs at a CC and still got into medical school. You may be suprised to find out that a number of people have done quite well even with CC credits.

I am not saying you may not be at a disadvantage in SOME states. But I know for one that most of the CC's on the west coast I.E. Washington, Or, California tend to be pretty good schools.

Did you actually read my post? I told him or her to call the schools and not assume its okay. You are correct, he or she can take everyones advice with a grain of salt, but no one is giving any advice other than "there are people who got accepted"........okay.
You stated that "most of the CC's on the west coast I.E. Washington, Or, California tend to be pretty good schools".........well that may be true but that means absolutely nothing when it comes down to it on an individual level.
My point being that most of the advice you find on SDN is not advice......its more to the effect of "see what happened with me, so you'll probably be fine".
I occasionally give advice on the Pre-med board because I am fortunate to know how things really work in admissions at numerous schools and they all generally follow the same guidelines in dealing with students. We as current and future medical students need to stop telling eachother to listen to what happened to John or Jane Doe because in the long run its all about you as an individual.

 

[cee]

We as current and future medical students need to stop telling eachother to listen to what happened to John or Jane Doe because in the long run its all about you as an individual.

exactly. which is even more reason why you shouldnt be telling people that taking classes at community college is putting someone at a disadvantage-- even if you heard it from some "insider" information. it all comes down to the interview, and in order to do GET to the interview, you need to do well in your classes, on the MCAT, and get ur extracurricular work in.. lets say someone took their classes at comm college and did well on the MCAT. there isnt much more outside of extracurriculars that they can do to prove themselves academically.. they went to the classes, they studied with the same books and the same material, and as proof, they scored the same (if not higher) as the rest of their counterparts on the MCAT. dont tell me the admissions offices are gonna tell them to go back and redo their classes at a university for the simple fact that it looks better-- THEY KNOW THE MATERIAL.. its all about whether you know it or you dont, and the MCAT proves that.

not to turn this into an MCAT thread, but the MCAT was designed so that you cant just "luck out" and do well on it-- you HAVE to study and you HAVE to know your stuff in order to do well. and with respects to all those who have taken their classes at comm college and got in, i challenge you to look up people on SDN who took their classes at comm college and didnt get in because of that.

i wish this whole 4-year vs. comm college issue would die already.. it just seems like these ivy/pseudo-ivy grads are just so damn proud of the academic rigors that they went through.. well i hate to break it to people, but i went to a top 25 school and realize that you couldve gone to your local public school, majored in some joke major like exercise science (not to offend anyone, but at UF and FSU, its literally a major filled with PE classes) and taken the bare minimum prereqs and aced them, done well on the MCATS, and gotten into med school.. unfortunately, its just the way that it is, we all take different roads

 

[vtdo07]

exactly. which is even more reason why you shouldnt be telling people that taking classes at community college is putting someone at a disadvantage-- even if you heard it from some "insider" information.

The poster asked the questions if taking all of his or her pre-reqs at a CC will hurt their chances of getting in. I never said that the poster would not get in. The word "all" is the key word of the post.... not some, not one or two, but all their pre-reqs which is exactly why I told him or her to talk to the admissions officer at that particular school regarding their "individual" profile.........it would seem like common sense that telling someone to pose the question to the Admissions department for a specific school of interest would garner a reasonable understanding that I am telling the person to check for themselves, but obviously you missed the point.

it all comes down to the interview, and in order to do GET to the interview, you need to do well in your classes, on the MCAT, and get ur extracurricular work in...... dont tell me the admissions offices are gonna tell them to go back and redo their classes at a university for the simple fact that it looks better-- THEY KNOW THE MATERIAL.. its all about whether you know it or you dont, and the MCAT proves that.

Again you missed point, I told the poster that many "in my experience" frown upon numerous pre-reqs at a community college if they have gone on to a four year institution ( I never said anything about the "quality" of the four year institution) and have not taken any upper level science classes at that 4 year institution. You can write all you want about this being a non-issue but your post is exactly the type of post I'm referencing in regards to giving "non-advice". This will make a difference with more than a few Admissions depts. even if they don't tell you that it does. Admissions people are the same as any other people working a 9-5 job and either don't have the time or care to spend the time explaining this to every student who comes through the door unless the student is proactive and call before applying.........plus to be totally realistic with you....... secondary applications equals income for the medical school.

not to turn this into an MCAT thread, but the MCAT was designed so that you cant just "luck out" and do well on it-- you HAVE to study and you HAVE to know your stuff in order to do well. and with respects to all those who have taken their classes at comm college and got in, i challenge you to look up people on SDN who took their classes at comm college and didnt get in because of that.

I also said the MCAT does not negate all things because mostly everyone has an average to very good MCAT score. How do think most medical schools keep their average MCAT score at a certain number. The answer is simple mathematics of accepting the majority with good to very good scores

i wish this whole 4-year vs. comm college issue would die already.. it just seems like these ivy/pseudo-ivy grads are just so damn proud of the academic rigors that they went through.. well i hate to break it to people, but i went to a top 25 school and realize that you couldve gone to your local public school, majored in some joke major like exercise science (not to offend anyone, but at UF and FSU, its literally a major filled with PE classes) and taken the bare minimum prereqs and aced them, done well on the MCATS, and gotten into med school.. unfortunately, its just the way that it is, we all take different roads

The only person who appears to have made any issue about where a person attended undergrad is yourself. As far as I'm concerned it is a non-issue regarding 4 year institutions, but if you honestly believe that it makes no difference if you attend a CC or a 4-year then you keep right on believing that theory because in the real world if it made no difference people would have no need to attend a 4-year institution to improve their profile so that they can gain acceptance to a graduate / professional level program like ummmmmmm..........medical school.

 

[Sainttpk]

i wish this whole 4-year vs. comm college issue would die already.. it just seems like these ivy/pseudo-ivy grads are just so damn proud of the academic rigors that they went through.. well i hate to break it to people, but i went to a top 25 school and realize that you couldve gone to your local public school, majored in some joke major like exercise science (not to offend anyone, but at UF and FSU, its literally a major filled with PE classes) and taken the bare minimum prereqs and aced them, done well on the MCATS, and gotten into med school.. unfortunately, its just the way that it is, we all take different roads

I totally agree! OP do what is best for you, take everything from this board with a grain of salt. What works for one person may not necessiarly work for everyone else. Just do well on the MCAT and shut the critics up.

 

[cee]

if you honestly believe that it makes no difference if you attend a CC or a 4-year then you keep right on believing that theory because in the real world if it made no difference people would have no need to attend a 4-year institution to improve their profile so that they can gain acceptance to a graduate / professional level program like ummmmmmm..........medical school.

ok i will. in fact, neither you or any admissions people can stop me (or anyone else who decides to take classes at CC) from getting to where i want to be. hey, i loved the 4 years of undergrad at my school.. best times of my life, and i know i wouldnt have gotten the same undergrad experience at a comm college (i.e.- living in the dorms, partying, blah blah blah).. but those days are behind me and institutions like community colleges arent just for people who couldnt get into a 4-year school, ya know. theyre also for people who are older, more mature, looking for a cheaper and closer alternative to home, and who are there to learn in smaller classes (not lecture halls) as opposed to kids 18-22 who are just stumbling in from an all night bender at the local dive bar (i was one of them, and i bet most people on SDN were too). with that being said, both are accreditted and teach using the same material.. but thanx for the inspiration, its people like you who think there's only 1 way of doing things that make this process seem so much more fun

 

[Timbo0984]

And here i am, the OP, ready to respond to everyone. Thank you for all your advice. I contacted one DO program, NYCOM, and Drexel. I got a return phone call from admissions and both said the following. ---- If you take all of your prereqs at community college, that will not be frowned upon, as we understand that sometimes for financial reasons, student cannot continue to take all of their courses at their home school. That being said, we do encourage you to take your prereqs at your 4 years school as the course material might be a bit more challenging, but again, it is your prereqs and it is best you complete them where is most convinient for you. We look forward to reviewing your application. ----- So, what do you guys think of that?

 

[cee]

And here i am, the OP, ready to respond to everyone. Thank you for all your advice. I contacted one DO program, NYCOM, and Drexel. I got a return phone call from admissions and both said the following. ---- If you take all of your prereqs at community college, that will not be frowned upon, as we understand that sometimes for financial reasons, student cannot continue to take all of their courses at their home school. That being said, we do encourage you to take your prereqs at your 4 years school as the course material might be a bit more challenging, but again, it is your prereqs and it is best you complete them where is most convinient for you. We look forward to reviewing your application. ----- So, what do you guys think of that?

i think it is what it is.. you can do both if you want.. hell, if my university was 20 mins away from my house as opposed to 1 hr and 20 mins away and 1/2 the price, i would take them there.. it doesnt matter where you take them, as you should know, there are good teachers and bad teachers EVERYWHERE... i take them at CC and more than half of my teachers also teach at the university +1hr from my house.. why should i drive 1hr 20 mins, pay twice the tuition, sit in a huge lecture hall with a bunch of undergrads, and being taught the same material and by the same teacher? just so i can make vtdo07 happy? hell no.

 

[vtdo07]

i think it is what it is.. you can do both if you want.. hell, if my university was 20 mins away from my house as opposed to 1 hr and 20 mins away and 1/2 the price, i would take them there.. it doesnt matter where you take them, as you should know, there are good teachers and bad teachers EVERYWHERE... i take them at CC and more than half of my teachers also teach at the university +1hr from my house.. why should i drive 1hr 20 mins, pay twice the tuition, sit in a huge lecture hall with a bunch of undergrads, and being taught the same material and by the same teacher? just so i can make vtdo07 happy? hell no.

chuckcamp, you appear to have a huge chip on your shoulder regarding community college vs. 4 year institutions. You are the only one going on and on about it doesn't matter. Well it obviously doesn't matter to me because I'm a 3rd year so as the saying goes " I already got mine". It makes me no difference where you are anyone else on this board attended undergrad.
I will reiterate what I said from the beginning to the OP, being proactive about your education is the best approach and to answer the OP's question about the response he or she received from the admissions people.......lets just say that its the PC way of letting you know that it will be taken into consideration when reviewing you application like every other variable. No one is going to tell the applying student that they don't like to see CC classes for their pre-reqs but they are letting you know it matters by saying "we prefer them at a 4 year institution". Everyone always seems to forget there is money involved with applications.
Personal feelings aside, I didn't make the rules. I only accepted the reality of everything isn't fair so I stopped complaining about it long ago and did what I had to do to get where I wanted to be.
So to chuckcamp.........If you want to believe that all things are equal to make yourself feel better about CC classes you have taken or for whatever reason you may have, then go right on ahead, but realize that I am writing to the poster as a soon to be Doc who has already gotten his and I have no reason to give false or misleading information. I'll also let you in on a little secret.........I worked in admissions for a medical school for a couple of years.
Heck, I don't even know why I am trying so hard to explain myself to you. It really makes no difference in my life since I will have graduated by the time next year's recruits even start.
I'll end by saying Good luck to you and everyone else and I wish you all the best with your journey to medicine.

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

I love the pre-osteo forums. Where else can you find students and pre-students arguing about things they have very little knowledge/experience about?

To the OP: Does it look better to ace pre-reqs at a university rather than a CC? Probably. Will it kill your application if you do pre-reqs at a CC? Probably not. Each situation is different, so just do your best and let the chips fall where they may. Besides, with so many new DO schools opening, there will be plenty of room for everyone soon (pulse optional).

I took a few pre-reqs at a CC (actually ended up teaching there between 1st and 2nd year of med school, long story). Nobody cared. I get the feeling that if you get an interview, you're in the ballpark of academically-acceptable-applicant-status. After that, it all depends on the interview. And you don't get interviews unless you apply. Bottom line: apply! Apply widely if you think your chances are lower than the average DO applicant.

I understand applicants being stressed out about where they'll end up. I was in your shoes not too long ago. Just keep working hard and it will all work out. You'll get in somewhere if you want it enough. And (since it's clearly popular to do so on this thread) I give you my word of honor that as a 3rd year I know what I'm talking about.

Good luck everybody.