Adcoms don't care about CC?

[chillingpanda]

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I've been reading that adcoms don't even look at your class rigor and just your gpa. So, do they even know that you took classes at a CC? Not sure of the process completely and correct me if I'm wrong, but AMCAS will just show your gpa each year in college and not the classes you've taken? I feel like some adcoms do look at your transcript, but a majority don't. I'm starting to believe this is 90% just a numbers game. Which is acceptable, you have thousands of applicants for one school and I couldn't imagine looking at each applicant's entire classes. I know the MCAT is the big equalizer and even if you have a great gpa, a sub par MCAT will break you

I have taken a few classes at a CC like bio 1, bio 2, and calc 1, but I have also taken Genetics at a 4 yr and received an A+. My sgpa is a 3.75 rn, and I have about 5 more sci classes to take before I graduate. Is my assumption correct?

 

[sedgeshaveedges]

That's incorrect, your AMCAS application lists all of your individual courses by school and each grade you received. So yes, adcoms will know if you've taken particular course at a community college and they do look at all of your courses.
Some schools care if you've taken prerequisites at community college and some do not. The MSAR is the best place to locate that information.

 

[LizzyM]

Some schools do not accept coursework from community college. Buy the MSAR and check into this as it will make a difference in where you apply.

other adcoms don't use a blanket rule but look at the context. If someone started out at a CC and then transferred to a 4-year institution, it is looked on differently than starting at a 4-year and taking CC classes to avoid a weed-out class at your home institution. A third category are those who complete a degree at a 4-year institution, begins working in a career and then do the pre-reqs at a CC while working full-time at their usual occupation (e.g. career changer). This is different from someone who graduates with a 4-year degree and then goes directly into a CC for pre-reqs (why didn't you just take them at your own school?)

All the schools you have attended, the number of credits earned at each school and the GPA at each school is shown on the application. The entire transcript of every school you've attended is also shown in a manner that is uniform across schools and relatively easy to speed through if one really wants to make an effort and some adcoms do either to find a good reason to interview you or to find a reason not to interview you.

 

[chillingpanda]

Hmmm, that's weird. I'm getting conflicting view points because I've read many threads on SDN where many people that got accepted say Adcoms don't care about your class rigor at all and it's basically a numbers game

 

[Halcyon32]

Say one took courses at a CC and has AP credit and a school they want to apply to doesn't accept one or the other or both. Can that person still apply to those schools that don't accept those credits and be considered on equal grounds provided he retakes those courses at a 4 year prior to matriculation?

 

[sedgeshaveedges]

Hmmm, that's weird. I'm getting conflicting view points because I've read many threads on SDN where many people that got accepted say Adcoms don't care about your class rigor at all and it's basically a numbers game

Well, I'm an (successful) applicant not an adcom. But I can assure you that I have seen my AMCAS application and the classes that I took at a community college - I'm the third category career changer that LizzyM mentions - were listed as such.

The degree to which community college credits are considered varies from school to school. There's not a blanket rule. Some schools straight up do not accept them. Others consider them in a larger context.

 

[Goro]

Adcoms can see your transcripts, so they do know what you have taken, and when.

I feel that there is a lot of overwrought angst in SDN about CCs being looked down upon by med schools. For the most part, I agree with the wise LizzyM, who wrote that it looks bad when it appears that you're trying to avoid your UG school's weeding courses by taking some CC work. But the CC -> UG school route is fine.

One does need to double check in MSAR is CC credits are accepted.

I've been reading that adcoms don't even look at your class rigor and just your gpa. So, do they even know that you took classes at a CC? Not sure of the process completely and correct me if I'm wrong, but AMCAS will just show your gpa each year in college and not the classes you've taken? I feel like some adcoms do look at your transcript, but a majority don't. I'm starting to believe this is 90% just a numbers game. Which is acceptable, you have thousands of applicants for one school and I couldn't imagine looking at each applicant's entire classes. I know the MCAT is the big equalizer and even if you have a great gpa, a sub par MCAT will break you

I have taken a few classes at a CC like bio 1, bio 2, and calc 1, but I have also taken Genetics at a 4 yr and received an A+. My sgpa is a 3.75 rn, and I have about 5 more sci classes to take before I graduate. Is my assumption correct?

 

[sam_jones1]

This is less of an question, more of just a general wondering...so at my 4 year undergraduate university, the pre-req science classes are brutal--they always curve the average to a C+ or B-. That's the average, and while this school is not an Ivy, it is one of the highest ranked public schools in the country so I am generally around the average or maybe a little above (ei. there are lot of smart people at my school). This results in most of my science classes to be in the B range, ei 3.0. Only the top 10% of the students in the class get an A or A-!! So for me it's nearly impossible to get an A in a pre-req. However there is another 4-year public university near my hometown, where I took a few summer classes and know plenty of friends who go there--it's not hard to get an A if you put a little effort. The classes I took were a breeze (had loads of extra credit, test replacement, generally were just easier), granted they weren't the pre-reqs but I am pretty sure I could get an A (or at least perform better) in my science classes at this institution. So I guess I'm asking...would it have better in the long run for me to have gone to the "easier" undergraduate institution because it almost certainly would have resulted in a higher GPA, perhaps a significantly higher science GPA? I just feel frustrated that I went to the best school I could right out of high school but I'm being "punished" with a lower GPA.

 

[aalamruad]

This is less of an question, more of just a general wondering...so at my 4 year undergraduate university, the pre-req science classes are brutal--they always curve the average to a C+ or B-. That's the average, and while this school is not an Ivy, it is one of the highest ranked public schools in the country so I am generally around the average or maybe a little above (ei. there are lot of smart people at my school). This results in most of my science classes to be in the B range, ei 3.0. Only the top 10% of the students in the class get an A or A-!! So for me it's nearly impossible to get an A in a pre-req. However there is another 4-year public university near my hometown, where I took a few summer classes and know plenty of friends who go there--it's not hard to get an A if you put a little effort. The classes I took were a breeze (had loads of extra credit, test replacement, generally were just easier), granted they weren't the pre-reqs but I am pretty sure I could get an A (or at least perform better) in my science classes at this institution. So I guess I'm asking...would it have better in the long run for me to have gone to the "easier" undergraduate institution because it almost certainly would have resulted in a higher GPA, perhaps a significantly higher science GPA? I just feel frustrated that I went to the best school I could right out of high school but I'm being "punished" with a lower GPA.

Yeah sometimes it's wise to sacrifice prestige for long-term success.

 

[Goro]

A) You're the one who decided to go to this school.
B) Your school is obviously a feeder for some medicals schools and Admissions deans must know of its rigor and/or the quality of it students. Merely getting B's in the pre-reqs thus may not be as lethal as you think.
C) You still have the rest of your cGPA and transcripts to speak for themselves.
D) Somebody has to be acing the tough pre-reqs at your school. Why not you?
E) It's a seller's market for med school admissions, hence they can afford to turn away lots of candidates.
F) The pre-reqs are less and less being required these days by med schools. Only MSAR can tell you which ones are actually required.

This is less of an question, more of just a general wondering...so at my 4 year undergraduate university, the pre-req science classes are brutal--they always curve the average to a C+ or B-. That's the average, and while this school is not an Ivy, it is one of the highest ranked public schools in the country so I am generally around the average or maybe a little above (ei. there are lot of smart people at my school). This results in most of my science classes to be in the B range, ei 3.0. Only the top 10% of the students in the class get an A or A-!! So for me it's nearly impossible to get an A in a pre-req. However there is another 4-year public university near my hometown, where I took a few summer classes and know plenty of friends who go there--it's not hard to get an A if you put a little effort. The classes I took were a breeze (had loads of extra credit, test replacement, generally were just easier), granted they weren't the pre-reqs but I am pretty sure I could get an A (or at least perform better) in my science classes at this institution. So I guess I'm asking...would it have better in the long run for me to have gone to the "easier" undergraduate institution because it almost certainly would have resulted in a higher GPA, perhaps a significantly higher science GPA? I just feel frustrated that I went to the best school I could right out of high school but I'm being "punished" with a lower GPA.

 

[814965]

It's unfair and negatively affects those who can't afford university classes but yes, they do care about. Kind of BS honestly, I took the same course at a CC and a university and both taught literally the same material down to the smallest detail.