Organic Chem Community College?

[dvmcatdog]

Is taking organic chemistry at a state or community college ok? I looked up a lot of schools websites and only UF specifically pointed out that it was all good. Thoughts?

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[ResoluteMike]

It depends. I am speaking only for my experience so far. If there are articulation agreements between the community college and the veterinary school you can. University of Nebraska Lincoln is going to accept all of my Metropolitan CC credits. That said, one of the advisors at UNL was extremely unhappy about some of my classes and expressed serious concerns about their ability to prepare me for veterinary school. I don't entirely disagree with her.

My general chem class at the CC was a joke. In order for one of the teachers to pass the class, his tests were 25 questions worth 5 points a piece. The quality of education has a tendency to scale to the overall ability of the students in the class. CC is going to set a fairly low bar. As a result you won't go as in depth into material and what is covered will not be done as well.

Another important consideration is that organic chemistry is generally regarded as a weeder class to test your ability to handle graduate level science courses. I think you may be doing yourself a disservice by taking this at the CC level. My experience taking organic as an accelerated summer class is just an inkling of the sheer awfulness that is coming and I won't have experienced that at Metro.

 

[Hopeful_DVM]

Taking pre-requisites at a community college is perfectly acceptable, as long as the vet schools to which you apply will accept them. Oklahoma is an example of a vet school which requires upper division sciences to be taken at a 4 year institution. Otherwise, in my opinion taking classes at a community college will not influence whether you are accepted or not.

 

[dvmcatdog]

Taking pre-requisites at a community college is perfectly acceptable, as long as the vet schools to which you apply will accept them. Oklahoma is an example of a vet school which requires upper divisions sciences to be taken at a 4 year institution. Otherwise, in my opinion taking classes at a community college will not influence whether you are accepted or not.

Thank you! Do you or anyone else happen to know of any other schools that pre reqs strictly have to be taken at a 4 year university?

 

[wheelin2vetmed]

I took OChem at a community college. Had no issues when applying to Tufts, Wisconsin, Colorado, Minnesota, and RVC.

 

[Hopeful_DVM]

I can not think of any others right off. Just thoroughly research the schools you are interested in before you apply. All information regarding admission can be found on each schools website.

 

[Doctor-S]

Thank you! Do you or anyone else happen to know of any other schools that pre reqs strictly have to be taken at a 4 year university?

You should specifically ask each DVM school if it is willing to (unconditionally) accept course credits from a community college for ANY course prerequisite that you want to complete at a 2-year community college. Or, read its website to obtain this information.

It is advisable to always ASK in ADVANCE (before you enroll in the course) and then make sure you have the correct response in writing from an authorized employee of the DVM school (e.g., admissions officer or admissions counselor), or whatever you might need as actual proof of the response from the DVM program (e.g. from its official website). I'm a big believer in getting these types of things memorialized in writing; or you can check with your own pre-vet medicine academic counselor to obtain the correct information. They should be able to provide you with the correct information. It is your responsibility to stay updated on any rules, bulletins or official comments related to completion of course requirements in connection with different DVM schools.

Some DVM schools (e.g., UC Davis) provide a streamlined method for obtaining information concerning course pre reqs.

For instance, if you plan to apply to the DVM program at UC Davis, you can use the "ASSIST" system to generate an articulation agreement (if you are taking courses at a public California college).

http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html

If taking courses at a private California college or at a school outside of California, you can read UC Davis' official website concerning the courses, or communicate directly with UC Davis, or you can review the webpage cited below (see section entitled: "How do I know my college courses satisfy course requirements for veterinary school?").

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/students/admissions/faq.cfm

Thank you.

 

[TerraVet]

Some schools require certain science classes to be upper division (i.e. taken at a 4 year school), physiology at Davis is one such requirement. Otherwise, I'd check with admissions to be on the safe side. Ochem is generally considered upper division, and in CA at least I've never found an ochem class offered at a CC.

 

[genny]

Thank you! Do you or anyone else happen to know of any other schools that pre reqs strictly have to be taken at a 4 year university?

ISU prefers your upper level courses be taken at 4-year institutions. Orgo is one of those. I agree with the other posters that you should contact those schools that you plan to apply to for their specific requirements. It only takes a few seconds to send an email, and they're used to answering these kinds of questions. Better to know before you're registered.

 

[LetItSnow]

and then make sure you have the correct response in writing from an authorized employee of the DVM school (e.g., admissions officer or admissions counselor), or whatever you might need as actual proof of the response from the DVM program (e.g. from its official website).

Just as another perspective, I would not do this. I do agree with Doctor-S that you should check with the schools to make sure they'll accept it. But going to the next level of asking for proof "in writing from an authorized employee"? No way. That starts to move it from a smart inquiry to a combative tone. It's going to make them say "is this the type of person that's going to throw that back in our face later if we don't accept them and imply it was intended as some sort of acceptance guarantee?" It's also going to make them question whether your default mode of interaction is bargain and contract. Bottom line is that it makes you seem like an overly aggressive, litigation-minded kind of person, and that may make an admissions person a little wary about you.

Plus, there's no real reason to go to that level. Ask them if they'll accept the class. Make sure that the response you get is from someone who should know. And then move on. Why on earth would they lie?

And later, if you don't get in, and they say it's because of a class you took that they previously told you would be acceptable? Do you really think they're going to change their mind because you finagled some letter out of them guaranteeing the class would be ok? Not a chance - if it goes to that level of contention they're going to find some other reason not to accept you because hell - why bring a new student in who is already on an acrimonious basis with the school.

There is absolutely a time for putting things in writing. A job contract, for instance. But for vet school admissions and trying to get them to give you something in writing first? It just makes you look like a jerk.

Just my opinion.

 

[Doctor-S]

Just as another perspective, I would not do this. I do agree with Doctor-S that you should check with the schools to make sure they'll accept it. But going to the next level of asking for proof "in writing from an authorized employee"? No way. That starts to move it from a smart inquiry to a combative tone. It's going to make them say "is this the type of person that's going to throw that back in our face later if we don't accept them and imply it was intended as some sort of acceptance guarantee?" It's also going to make them question whether your default mode of interaction is bargain and contract. Bottom line is that it makes you seem like an overly aggressive, litigation-minded kind of person, and that may make an admissions person a little wary about you.

Plus, there's no real reason to go to that level. Ask them if they'll accept the class. Make sure that the response you get is from someone who should know. And then move on. Why on earth would they lie?

And later, if you don't get in, and they say it's because of a class you took that they previously told you would be acceptable? Do you really think they're going to change their mind because you finagled some letter out of them guaranteeing the class would be ok? Not a chance - if it goes to that level of contention they're going to find some other reason not to accept you because hell - why bring a new student in who is already on an acrimonious basis with the school.

There is absolutely a time for putting things in writing. A job contract, for instance. But for vet school admissions and trying to get them to give you something in writing first? It just makes you look like a jerk.

Just my opinion.

Uh-ooh ... I should have clarified my use of the word "in writing." I assumed you would send an email message (in writing) to the appropriate person, and then the person would respond, via an email message (in writing). Then, you will be able to read and recall the response, because it is contained in the email message.

It has been my experience that most students send email messages containing questions, as opposed to picking up the telephone and leaving a voice message, or sending correspondence, via postal mail, or appearing in person - especially since they often need to schedule appointments in advance. I am NOT encouraging anyone to prepare a legal brief to obtain a response to a VERY simple question. Sorry to all for any miscommunication - most definitely not intended.

 

[LetItSnow]

Uh-ooh ... I should have clarified my use of the word "in writing." I assumed you would send an email message (in writing) to the appropriate person, and then the person would respond, via an email message (in writing). Then, you will be able to read the response, because it is contained in the email message.

It has been my experience that most students send email messages containing questions, as opposed to picking up the telephone and leaving a voice message, or sending correspondence, via postal mail, or appearing in person - especially since they often need to schedule appointments in advance. I am NOT encouraging anyone to prepare a legal brief to obtain a response to a VERY simple question. Sorry to all for any miscommunication - most definitely not intended.

My bad. I misunderstood!!

 

[Doctor-S]

My bad. I misunderstood!!

No worries ... LetItSnow and I totally understand.

 

[Trilt]

Uh-ooh ... I should have clarified my use of the word "in writing." I assumed you would send an email message (in writing) to the appropriate person, and then the person would respond, via an email message (in writing). Then, you will be able to read and recall the response, because it is contained in the email message.

It has been my experience that most students send email messages containing questions, as opposed to picking up the telephone and leaving a voice message, or sending correspondence, via postal mail, or appearing in person - especially since they often need to schedule appointments in advance. I am NOT encouraging anyone to prepare a legal brief to obtain a response to a VERY simple question. Sorry to all for any miscommunication - most definitely not intended.

I'll just emphasize that getting it in (email) writing is a great idea, though. The year I applied, I double-checked with the admissions of the only school I was applying to to make sure that they didn't require a transcript from one of my courses in-progress. Lo and behold, couple months later I got an email that my application was disqualified because they didn't have that transcript. Still took a couple months off my life in terror, but it was very easy to respond with the previous email between myself and admissions saying it was not required and get myself back into consideration. I stressed a lot less because I had it in (e-)writing.

 

[LyraGardenia]

I'll just emphasize that getting it in (email) writing is a great idea, though. The year I applied, I double-checked with the admissions of the only school I was applying to to make sure that they didn't require a transcript from one of my courses in-progress. Lo and behold, couple months later I got an email that my application was disqualified because they didn't have that transcript. Still took a couple months off my life in terror, but it was very easy to respond with the previous email between myself and admissions saying it was not required and get myself back into consideration. I stressed a lot less because I had it in (e-)writing.

This. It's very easy for whoever answers the phone to tell you "yeah, that should be fine" when really they don't know what they're talking about. And if you come back later and say that you were told X, but there's no evidence to that effect, all they can say is "well, sorry, they shouldn't have told you that." I've been there. Now if emailing isn't an option, I always at least get the name of whoever I spoke to.