Is Community College really "easier"?

[minor.groove]

Thank you, Mr. Webster.

When we're talking about colleges v. universities in American English, we usually speak of colleges as institutions that are (1) undergraduate focused, solely offering bachelor's & associate's degrees, or (2) specific schools or tracks of study within a university. Universities, on the other hand, are institutions that confer both undergraduate and graduate degrees that may contain colleges (definition 2).

Notice that every single medical college in the US is found within a university. This also holds true for our friends across the pond (e.g. Exeter College at Oxford University).

More important, what the heck does your 5 minute copy-and-paste session have to do with the 'easiness' of community colleges?

I think pretty apparently my point was that unequivocally stating that ALL "colleges" (specially community colleges) and their course work are (is) easier (and of thus, essentially, of a lower quality) is ridiculous and insulting both to the schools themselves and (perhaps less importantly, because who cares) to the accrediting agencies and departments of higher education that administer them. I cannot speak to how med school adcoms view CC classes, but in the face of ever increasing tuition and what I would have to say is a declining rigor in course work at the university level (broadly speaking) they, in my opinion, should start looking at them favorably (if only from the perspective that the person who took them was either 1: smart enough not to waste their money at a university for the first year or two of their college level education- indicating better than average realization of the value of their time, money and education or 2: smart enough to get their act together and overcome some hurdle in their life that prevented them from attending a more "prestigious" university to begin with... But as I'm not on any admissions committees I suppose my opinion on the matter is worth about as much as the electricity it took to write this post).

Oh and I would hardly call California North State or Rocky Vista "universities" in any traditional American sense (and those are just two off the top of my head)

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[Spector1]

when classes are graded on a curve, the saying "big fish, small pond" counts for a lot

 

[Coltuna]

In my experience, the material wasn't easier but the environment (for me) was better and therefore facilitated a better and easier learning experience. I hope that makes sense. And of course it all depends on the professor.

For example - I took organic at a CC and both semesters, the final exam was an American Chemical Society final exam. Meanwhile when I transferred to a large university, most of the exams were scantron and cheating in the large lecture halls was rampant. Even with TAs walking around, they can't have their eyes on every student at each moment so it happened. At my CC, some professors would even check water bottles during exams to make sure the labels weren't printed with answers.

However I noticed my labs were always definitely harder at university vs. CC.

I couldn't agree with this more. Exponentially smaller class sizes and less social distractions were perhaps the biggest factors that lent to my personal success in community college. All of my larger classes at CC had smaller weekly seminars for individual questions and more in depth discussion. The University classes weren't necessarily harder, but anytime you go from studying 7 nights a week because you literally have nothing better to do to being asked to go out 4 nights/week (and often obliging) at University, of course the classes may seem harder. At the end of the day the MCAT is the "great equalizer," and your score will most likely reflect the rigor of those courses.

 

[Renaissance_Man]

I'm attending a community college for my first year right now (taking 5 years total for my BS). It's one of the best community colleges in the country and its affiliated with a mid tier public university, and it even has on campus housing. Are community college courses really "easier" or is this just a common misconception? I'm worried I'm getting a bit cocky, I've managed to get 4.0 with little to no effort. For my first year I'm taking lower level classes to get ready since I didn't finish high school and wasn't sure what I could handle.

Right now i'm taking:
Sophomore Writing
Microeconomics (taught over broadcast from main campus)
Anatomy and Physiology for non-science majors
Sophomore political philosophy
and College Algebra (1/2 of precalc, taking trig over the summer)

Most of these courses are just placeholders to establish a GPA so I can transfer, and I guess they'll apply to some gen-eds later. I took chem 101 (intro, not gen chem) and 3 electives last semester. Am I in for a rude awakening when I start taking the premed courses at the main campus next year?

Hello wfamtw! You might be asking the wrong question. Once you start your premed courses, you might be in a rude awakening, regardless whether you're in a CC or an university. Calculus is Calculus; Organic Chemistry is Organic Chemistry. What will vary, depending on professor, is the workload. Here's the reality. Anatomy and Physiology for non-science majors is nothing like the real deal, A / P I. A / P I is more of a test of memory than logic. So, get ready to memorize, AND read, A LOT. Don't be surprised if you have to read two A / P I chapters in a single week, a total of 40-80 pages. College Algebra and your precalc might be a better gauge, or preparation, of how well you might do in your premed courses than your A/ P for non-science majors. Good luck!

 

[Renaissance_Man]

I transferred from a CC with a 3.9 to a top 20 school and graduated with a 3.75. You can maintain a high gpa at both schools. Mine went down due to personal issues unrelated to class difficulty. Some of the hardest classes I took in all of college were at the CC and some of the easiest at the 4-year. There are too many unchangeable factors that effect course difficulty that vary from class to class rather than institution to institution (eg professor; grading scheme; your course load at the time; etc) to say that one is ALWAYS harder than the other.

If you do very well at both, you can be accepted to medical school.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I find it hilarious how taking some or all of your premed courses at a CC is consider "taboo" by some people and learning institutions. How did Organic Chemistry become "easier" at a CC than at an university? Complete nonsense. All it takes is that one professor that critiques everything that you do, and you'll find yourself in a difficult course.

 

[Marine2MD]

Entirely dependent on the instructor. One of the chemistry teachers we had come in for a guest lecture yesterday teaches at a local university and is an adjunct at one of the local CC. He told us he is significantly more difficult with the CC since there is only 20-30 of them in the Gen Chem class compared to his 120 at the state university. In regards to OChem he was exactly the same at the CC and uni level, but only teaches an "intro to college chem" class at the CC and is the definition of a mickey mouse class.