Am I screwed if I take my prereqs at community college?

[Anthodite]

I'm a brand new bio major now that just started at a university 3 hours away but I was in this community college for 3 years graduating with an unrelated healthcare major. I got my financial aid packet back and I really can't afford living on or near campus at the moment so I'm taking my basic lab classes that happen to be med school prereqs at that community college. I'm not below the poverty line but I qualify for the max pell grant+need base aid BUT ZERO aid for housing(which is insanely high).

I'm trying to save money with my family and frankly I don't have it in me to drive 3 hours every day just to reach class(I have a medical condition which would long periods of driving safe). I'm trying to stay at home even next semester if possible because I don't want to have to take on loans because my parents don't want to pay for it. I'm trying to find a part time job at the moment to save up, but my field of healthcare really hates when anyone is a new grad and not full time so it's hard dudes.

TLDR: reddit and discord told me med schools would rate me lower if they see that I've taken a significant amount of prereqs at community college. Is this true? Should I have to explain myself somewhere on the application that I didn't have the money or driving ability to do so?

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[vivaciousmelon]

I was told the same thing by an advisor in the diversity office of the med school I now attend . Of course no advice is one size fits all, but I transferred to a 4 year university from a community college where I did all of my chemistry pre reqs (including organic) and I still got in. Granted I had a pretty well rounded application with lots of clinical experience and did upper level bio classes at my university, which it is important to show you can handle. Throughout the application process no one even brought up community college.

 

[AJS59]

It's not ideal but in your situation I would go with the community college route to save you the financial trouble and stress. What I would recommend is try to take additional upper level stem classes at the 4 year university to show your ability to master material in a tougher environment.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

I went to community college prior to attending medical school and am currently in anesthesiology residency. This is my take…. It will be looked at unfavorably if you make it seem like you took your hardest pre-reqs at the community college or if you didn’t excel in your classes. Like most people who attend community college my reasoning was financial, but I attended full time between 15-18 credit hours a semester. I graduated 4.0 from community college and transferred to university after where I took my ochem, physics, calculus etc. graduated 3.9 from university. I think there will always be a bias against community college but the way around this to show them you can excel at both. Don’t make them see a difference between the two. That’s my two cents

 

[eigen]

In my experience, it's only an issue if you don't have other "hard" coursework at your main university and/or struggle with the MCAT.

When it looks bad is when, say, a student takes general chemistry at their university, then takes OChem at a community college, then comes back to take other classes at the university. Without a strong argument for why, that doesn't look like a student who's doing what's best financially: it looks like a student who's trying to avoid taking a hard class.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Everyone's posts have pointed out the main eason why one should not only do all your prereqs at a CC. You should have a plan to take upper-level courses at a 4Y university and know that the prereqs can transfer towards a bachelor's degree. Retaking courses that a university cannot accept for CC transfers will cost you more money, noting how you are limited already.

I acknowledge that financial reality has also changed; some people can't afford 4Y undergrad right away. Some places won't allow you to do a DIY postbac at a university (looking at California). You can only ask the schools if they take CC courses and whether they consider the financial context. Schools that are community focused generally will.