Am I in trouble?

[Fidgety_neuron]

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I read in some posts that classes that are taken in community colleges won't be accepted by US med schools. Is this true? I have taken almost all my classes at community college and now I have transferred to a University, but I don't want to take all those classes (Gen. Chem., O Chem., Bio, Anatomy and Physiology, Calculus, Physics I and II, Psychology, Humanities, sociology, English, and ... ) all over again. The classes in community college were not at all easy. Can someone plz provide me with some answerers? I am very worried because if I take those classes all over again, I will be wasting time and money again. Do I have to take those classes again?

Thanks

 

[Hopeful_Doc]

I read in some posts that classes that are taken in community colleges won't be accepted by US med schools. Is this true? I have taken almost all my classes at community college and now I have transferred to a University, but I don't want to take all those classes (Gen. Chem., O Chem., Bio, Anatomy and Physiology, Calculus, Physics I and II, Psychology, Humanities, sociology, English, and ... ) all over again. The classes in community college were not at all easy. Can someone plz provide me with some answerers? I am very worried because if I take those classes all over again, I will be wasting time and money again. Do I have to take those classes again?

Thanks

Only some schools will not accept community college credits. (I am not sure of the list) but most schools will accept them. I am in the same boat, currently enrolled in a community college.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

I'm not even sure that there are schools that specifically will NOT accept community college pre-requisites. I have heard though that some schools do not look highly upon it. For example, if you have two equivalent candidates in all regards, except for the fact that one completed pre-reqs at a CC, while the other did so at a university, some schools will pick the latter. This is all just rumor and speculation...I have no way of confirming this for you!

 

[LifetimeDoc]

From what I'm told, it's okay if the prereqs are in your first two years, and then you transfer to a 4-year college to finish up your degree. If it looks like you purposefuly took ALL of your prereqs at community college, or took community college credits after attending a 4-year college, then those classes are looked down upon.

Basically, if you are a regular transfer from a community college, no worries. But if you look like you are taking community college credits to get easy A's, then you are in trouble. Best way to know if they are a big deal to a medical school is to call the medical schools you are interested in and ask them! Each school is slightly different on how they interpret things.

As a side note, even non-trads (like myself) have to take extra classes and re-take classes that they took years ago. Everybody has their own path to medical school, some faster and some slower than others. Just enjoy learning for learning sake and enjoy the ride of your life! 🙂

 

[thegymbum]

Err, I believe that even if you've taken them at a community college, the classes should count... I took gen chem 2 one summer at a community college and it seems to have worked out fine... I know a lot of people who have taken several of the prereqs at community colleges and they've been fine as well. As far as I know most schools allow you to take them at a community college, and haven't heard of any that don't allow that. I think you should be alright...

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Err, I believe that even if you've taken them at a community college, the classes should count... I took gen chem 2 one summer at a community college and it seems to have worked out fine... I know a lot of people who have taken several of the prereqs at community colleges and they've been fine as well. As far as I know most schools allow you to take them at a community college, and haven't heard of any that don't allow that. I think you should be alright...

good to hear; my gf is planning on taking chem 2 and physics 2 at a CC and she took chem 1, physics 1 and microbiology at a study abroad university. However her school does not average CC grades into her GPA; but won't med schools redo the GPA to fit their criteria??? 😕

 

[Gabby]

From what I've been told, if you take your prereqs at a CC then transfer to a four-year school, you will probably take some upper division sciences at the four-year school, which will off-set the fact that you took your prereqs at a CC (provided you do just as well or better in those classes).

An adcom told me that the reason the CC rule is in place at some schools is so you don't have John Doe attending Harvard, then going to Podunk Community College to do Orgo and Physics. That implies he just wanted an easier/less competitive class than the ones offered at Harvard.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

From what I've been told, if you take your prereqs at a CC then transfer to a four-year school, you will probably take some upper division sciences at the four-year school, which will off-set the fact that you took your prereqs at a CC (provided you do just as well or better in those classes).

An adcom told me that the reason the CC rule is in place at some schools is so you don't have John Doe attending Harvard, then going to Podunk Community College to do Orgo and Physics. That implies he just wanted an easier/less competitive class than the ones offered at Harvard.

what if you did it b/c you switched to pre-med late in the game, and hadn't taken any of the prereqs so you had to go to summer school to get them in and still be able to fit in all your required classes and graduate on time? why should someone have to incur the cost of an additional year of college?

 

[Fidgety_neuron]

I feel much better after learning that I am not the only one that took the classes at cc. I worked very hard in those classes and still didn't end up with straight As or Bs. I thought that since I took classes first in cc and then transferred to University, I might not be even closer to becoming a candidate for US med school. Will the med school ask me the reason for attending the cc?

Thanks again

 

[Gabby]

what if you did it b/c you switched to pre-med late in the game, and hadn't taken any of the prereqs so you had to go to summer school to get them in and still be able to fit in all your required classes and graduate on time? why should someone have to incur the cost of an additional year of college?

I have no idea. Personally, I don't agree with the CC rule because I know plenty of CCs that have hard science courses. Also, sometimes people have to go to a CC for reasons you stated or because they're a nontraditional who may not live close to a four-year school or may not have the money to attend a four-year school after already getting their Bachelor's. I really don't know how many schools make exceptions. I know that Boston University and Wake Forest don't take CC credit. A few others suggest you do all your prereqs at a four-year school, but they'll look at CC credits.

 

[Gabby]

I feel much better after learning that I am not the only one that took the classes at cc. I worked very hard in those classes and still didn't end up with straight As or Bs. I thought that since I took classes first in cc and then transferred to University, I might not be even closer to becoming a candidate for US med school. Will the med school ask me the reason for attending the cc?

Thanks again

They might. Just make sure you tell them you took the prereqs at a CC instead of waiting till you transferred because you wanted to be able to take the MCAT in the spring of your junior year. Make sure you take some upper division sciences after you transfer. Take things like Genetics, Microbiology, Biochemistry, etc.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I feel much better after learning that I am not the only one that took the classes at cc. I worked very hard in those classes and still didn't end up with straight As or Bs. I thought that since I took classes first in cc and then transferred to University, I might not be even closer to becoming a candidate for US med school. Will the med school ask me the reason for attending the cc?

Thanks again

You might want to PM LizzyM and ask her opinion since she is an ADCOM and not just a premed operating of hearsay and conjecture.

 

[tifa]

cc course do count. As long as you take the right pre-reqs and then transfer to a 4 year school to do your upper-div classes, you should be fine. I even know people who were in 4 year universities, but went back to CC to finish up pre-med reqs and still got into medical school. Don't believe the hype that cc courses won't work or will bring down your application.

 

[donks06]

I don't think that it will matter as long as you can back up your knowledge with a solid MCAT (30+).

 

[naru]

bu does not allow prereqs to be taken at a jc. the only exception i heard is if you are a science major and have taken upperdiv science courses and have an exceptional mcat score.

 

[Doula-2-OB]

I asked this specific question at the Premed information session at UW. The premed advisor told me this:

If you go to community college and do well, and then go to University and do well, med schools don't care.

If you go to community college and do well, but then don't do well at University, med schools WILL care.

That's straight from the University of Washington Medical School Premed advisor, just a few weeks ago. 🙂

HTH.

I read in some posts that classes that are taken in community colleges won't be accepted by US med schools. Is this true? I have taken almost all my classes at community college and now I have transferred to a University, but I don't want to take all those classes (Gen. Chem., O Chem., Bio, Anatomy and Physiology, Calculus, Physics I and II, Psychology, Humanities, sociology, English, and ... ) all over again. The classes in community college were not at all easy. Can someone plz provide me with some answerers? I am very worried because if I take those classes all over again, I will be wasting time and money again. Do I have to take those classes again?

Thanks

 

[Psycho Doctor]

bu does not allow prereqs to be taken at a jc. the only exception i heard is if you are a science major and have taken upperdiv science courses and have an exceptional mcat score.

do individual schools clearly spell that out in their requirements?