Please help a new nontrad member out!

[kpb]

Hi everyone,

Very new member here so please bear with me. I also consider myself a nontrad so I believe I’m in the right place. However, if you think there’s another section on SDN that will provide the most helpful responses, please direct me to that particular area.

Being a Texas applicant, this post is mainly about TMDSAS. I know they require 2 LORS, but you can send a total of 3. What is your thought on this?

Reason for my question is because I'm a nontrad whose undergrad degree was in engineering. I plan to use 2 academic letters and 1 employer letter:

- engineering professor (not even sure if this is considered science)
- business professor
- former boss

FYI, I've also been taking courses to meet the remaining of my prereqs at a community college (5 courses total; I’ve had the other prereqs completed at a 4-year university a while back). I'm sure I can get 2 science letters from these professors, and though I've spent a lot of time talking with them and getting to know them, I've only had each professor for one semester, so the letters might only be strong instead of very strong. On the other hand, I am confident that the 3 I mentioned above will be very strong.

Here are my questions, if you have time to answer them.

1) Should I go with the 2 letters as required by TMDSAS or should I add the additional one?

2) Though I could get very strong letters from the 3 individuals I mentioned above, I won't even have one science letter. What do you think about this?

3) Following up on No. 2 above, should I consider the 2 science professor letters from my community college?

4) Lastly, what is your personal view on some courses (about half of my prereqs after receiving my undergrad degree) done at a community college?

The topic in No. 4 has been discussed many times before but I found some of the comments to be humorous rather than helpful, so your insight is greatly appreciated!

I understand this is a lengthy post but any help is greatly appreciated! I’ve been following SDN for a while and have learned so much. I would love to continue learning as I prepare for my application in 2013. Thanks everyone for your time and wish you the best!

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[Deekle]

Develop a relationship with at least one (two is better) of the profs you do prereqs with and get a letter from each. Your other LORs might be a good indicator of character and work ethic, but say nothing about your ability to hack it in a heavily science-based medical curriculum.

Note/Disclaimer: I am not from Texas and did not apply there. From an AMCAS viewpoint I took the "more is better" approach and sent in 5 LOR's. (Two science, one humanities, one employer and one physician)

As to the CC, my standard answer is that I took several of my prereqs at CC. (gen chem 1 & 2, o chem 1 and 2, calc and bio 1&2.). This didn't hurt me as I was accepted to my state school. I did also have many upper level chem/bio/biochem courses at a 4yr.

 

[NightGod]

The advice against taking all your pre-reqs at a CC is a) becoming less and less relevant as the economy continues to be in the crapper and the cost of education continues to rise at a rate far outstripping standard inflation and b) not really applicable to someone doing post-bacc work to check those boxes for a med school application.

 

[jl lin]

The advice against taking all your pre-reqs at a CC is a) becoming less and less relevant as the economy continues to be in the crapper and the cost of education continues to rise at a rate far outstripping standard inflation and b) not really applicable to someone doing post-bacc work to check those boxes for a med school application.

I would say this is definitely true. I teach at a community college part-time at night. You would not believe how filled the parking lots are since the economy tanked. The CCs are adding on for parking. Loads of students from the area are taking general ed and general math and sciences at the community college/s. These are in fact matriculated students from major universities in the surrounding three states. People are trying like heck to save money by taking whatever they can at the local CCs. It doesn't matter that they are students at the universities. It's making the CC's pretty happy though.

As long as no one is doing a thing about controlling tuition costs--never stop going up every darn year, etc--people are going to take whatever they can at the CC's.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Several members on here did their pre-reqs at a CC. However, you should be aware that not all schools will accept the courses as willingly, and your MCAT will be more in question... A 4yr is preferable, but not 100% required...

 

[excitedtoapply]

Hi everyone,


Reason for my question is because I'm a nontrad whose undergrad degree was in engineering. I plan to use 2 academic letters and 1 employer letter:

- engineering professor (not even sure if this is considered science)

I have been told engineering does NOT count as science. Science is your basic bio/chem/ochem/physics/biochem...
I am also an engineer and found it rather disappointing but alas, you must look outside of the engineering department...

 

[NightGod]

Several members on here did their pre-reqs at a CC. However, you should be aware that not all schools will accept the courses as willingly, and your MCAT will be more in question... A 4yr is preferable, but not 100% required...

Very few med schools are going to question pre-reqs at a CC for a post-bacc student, unless you screw up and get Cs or more Bs than As. For someone who is getting their bachelors and starts at a CC, you can erase any stigma by doing well in a upper level science class or two at a four-year school. MCAT scores are going to come as or more from your study prep than what you learn in a class anyway. The classes form a great base, but I've known people who got mid 30s scores before finishing their pre-reqs, based on using the study guides.