are jc's and cc's really bad?

[AZR111]

does it hurt ur overall application if u've taken ur science classes at a jc or cc? even though u will be getting ur degree from a university?


thanks,

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[KOM]

does it hurt ur overall application if u've taken ur science classes at a jc or cc? even though u will be getting ur degree from a university?


thanks,

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say they're bad, but I just talked with a dean of admissions about possibly strengthening my transcript with some post-bacc classes and he explicitly told me to not take classes from a community college.

 

[syn_apse]

put it this way, community college courses won't strengthen your application. whether it is fair or not, most schools look down on them and some flat out won't accept them.

 

[Mustt Mustt]

People always have different opinion about this issue. many students don't have a choice to attend university outright for many reasons. Don't attend CC if you just want to get easy grades because it will show when you get to university. Now, if you are attending CC for family/financial/etc. reasons then I recommend taking all of the pre-reqs and as much as the university will allow(about 60 credits). I know 5 guys who have gotten into dental schools from the CC that I attended. Funny thing is that almost all of us have higher GPA at the university than we had at CC. We all were in the same year and we all worked hard and took all of our pre-reqs at CC. We all got into great schools(like Michigan, Penn, Buffalo, North Carolina). I got into 4 schools myself with all the pre-req taken at CC and didn't attend many interviews offered. I would do it the same way if I had to do it again. I learned more at CC than I learned at University of Michigan and I got my education lot cheaper. If you attend CC just work hard at university in the upper level science classes and get A's and you will be in. That is what i did and I am in.

 

[colt]

Bad is a relative term. If you do well at CC and also do well at a 4 yr---I don't see a problem. The DAT also works to level the playing field.

For example: If you take 65% of your classes at a CC and have a 3.8 GPA, but get a 2.4 at a 4yr school....that may look bad, especially if you have a bad DAT score. On the other hand, if both GPAs are within .5 or so, and the DAT score is within the average range, it wouldn't matter.

Keep in mind, many, many, many people have taken classes at CC and went to med, dent, vet and pharm school.

 

[colt]

People always have different opinion about this issue. many students don't have a choice to attend university outright for many reasons. Don't attend CC if you just want to get easy grades because it will show when you get to university. Now, if you are attending CC for family/financial/etc. reasons then I recommend taking all of the pre-reqs and as much as the university will allow(about 60 credits). I know 5 guys who have gotten into dental schools from the CC that I attended. Funny thing is that almost all of us have higher GPA at the university than we had at CC. We all were in the same year and we all worked hard and took all of our pre-reqs at CC. We all got into great schools(like Michigan, Penn, Buffalo, North Carolina). I got into 4 schools myself with all the pre-req taken at CC and didn't attend many interviews offered. I would do it the same way if I had to do it again. I learned more at CC than I learned at University of Michigan and I got my education lot cheaper. If you attend CC just work hard at university in the upper level science classes and get A's and you will be in. That is what i did and I am in.

I agree. From what I've been told, the BCPM classes aren't 'easier' if taken from a CC. I think it mostly depends on the teacher as to whether a class will be more or less difficult. I bet your classes were much smaller at CC compared to Michigan?

 

[OSU_DentGirl]

I attended a CC for 3 years. I got interviews at 4 of the 6 Dental Schools that I applied to. No one said anything about being at a CC vs. a four-yr school. Of course, one can only take freshmen and sophomore courses there. My advice is to only go to a CC for the first 2 years, take the pre-req courses and then transfer. I would suggest not going back to take a course needed for Dental School, bc that looks like you're taking the easy way out with the easier course. FYI, O-chem in the summer in is a good way to go if you think you may have problems with the class.

 

[colt]

OSU DentGirl--Did you take O-chem in the summer at CC? Was it a 1/2 summer class or full?

 

[Gargamel]

Pre-requisite courses at a community college are not bad but they do put the dental school applicant at a disadvantage. There are certain schools like Tufts that simply will not take pre-requisites from a community college. As a result they will require the applicant to retake the course at a 4 year university or be removed from consideration for admission. Looking at current trends, dental school admission will continue to grow more competitive. If this is the case schools will have to apply filters to narrow the applicant pool. Such filters will include increased GPA and DAT requirements as well as greater selectivity as to where students have taken their perquisites. This is already happening as evidenced by applicant’s experiences this cycle and it will likely become more stringent in the coming years. If at all possible take your prerequisite courses at a 4 year college or university. Taking courses at a community college will likely not disqualify an applicant from all schools but it will put the applicant at a disadvantage.

 

[benson_dds]

does it hurt ur overall application if u've taken ur science classes at a jc or cc? even though u will be getting ur degree from a university?


thanks,

I don't see any problems with that, I finished my first 2 years at a community college and transferred to university. As long as you do well on your classes and do well on DAT, u should be fine. Nobody can question where you completed your classes. Your DAT score determines how much knowledge you have and if you score well then you are alright.

Good Luck

 

[coolslugs]

What's wrong with adcoms? I am at a CC right now for my second year of college, but I was at a university last year. I found CC classes to be much more difficult due to the fact that there are no curve or lower grading scales. The materials taught are the same, and we even use the same textbooks as the universities. All students know that it's not the reputation of a school that makes a class more difficult, it's the professors!

 

[PDizzle]

I took every single Pre-Req (except one) from a CC and got both my LOR's from a CC. I was never asked about it and got into UCSF so, from my experience, it doesn't matter too much.

 

[TeethVader]

I took every single Pre-Req (except one) from a CC and got both my LOR's from a CC. I was never asked about it and got into UCSF so, from my experience, it doesn't matter too much.

Same here, I took most of my pre-requs at JC, except Organic Chem and got in to USC. My JC grades were never an issue. In fact, my science courses were tougher at JC than University

 

[TeethVader]

I took every single Pre-Req (except one) from a CC and got both my LOR's from a CC. I was never asked about it and got into UCSF so, from my experience, it doesn't matter too much.

Same here, I took most of my pre-requs at JC, except Organic Chem and got in to USC. My JC grades were never an issue. In fact, my science courses were tougher at JC than University. I even got a merit-based scholarship.

 

[colt]

Getting into Cali schools with CC credits shows how little it matters.

 

[Mustt Mustt]

All I know is that people who started at 4 year university tend believe that it will give them advantage to get into D school Vs people who went to CC. It is not true. What matters most is you not your school. I know many people who started at CC and got into all kinds of professional schools, like Medical, Dental, Law etc. if you are good and do well at both you can get into Dental school. Yes it may not give you a chance at some prestigious colleges like Harvard, Columbia(they like to keep that prestige thing they have) etc but you can get into very very good and cheap dental school with CC pre-req. I know that many people at CC are smart and hardworking as you see at university level. I came from CC to Michigan and I nailed every single upper level science class with A's in a curved class, that means all the people who started at university weren't really at advantage becasue a guy from CC beat them in the curve. I didn't(wouldn't) apply to any schools that had CC problem except for Michigan(their website says they highly recommend taking pre-req at 4 year university) and they admitted me so CC doesn't really matter.

 

[PDizzle]

All I know is that people who started at 4 year university tend believe that it will give them advantage to get into D school Vs people who went to CC. It is not true. What matters most is you not your school. I know many people who started at CC and got into all kinds of professional schools, like Medical, Dental, Law etc. if you are good and do well at both you can get into Dental school. Yes it may not give you a chance at some prestigious colleges like Harvard, Columbia(they like to keep that prestige thing they have) etc but you can get into very very good and cheap dental school with CC pre-req. I know that many people at CC are smart and hardworking as you see at university level. I came from CC to Michigan and I nailed every single upper level science class with A's in a curved class, that means all the people who started at university weren't really at advantage becasue a guy from CC beat them in the curve. I didn't(wouldn't) apply to any schools that had CC problem except for Michigan(their website says they highly recommend taking pre-req at 4 year university) and they admitted me so CC doesn't really matter.

/agree

So, unless the specific school you are interested in explicitely states that it either does not take CC pre-req's or "frowns" upon them, then don't worry about it. If you did your pre-req's in a CC like me, and many others, do a little research and save your $50 on schools that aren't down with it.

 

[coolslugs]

All I know is that people who started at 4 year university tend believe that it will give them advantage to get into D school Vs people who went to CC. It is not true. What matters most is you not your school. I know many people who started at CC and got into all kinds of professional schools, like Medical, Dental, Law etc. if you are good and do well at both you can get into Dental school. Yes it may not give you a chance at some prestigious colleges like Harvard, Columbia(they like to keep that prestige thing they have) etc but you can get into very very good and cheap dental school with CC pre-req. I know that many people at CC are smart and hardworking as you see at university level. I came from CC to Michigan and I nailed every single upper level science class with A's in a curved class, that means all the people who started at university weren't really at advantage becasue a guy from CC beat them in the curve. I didn't(wouldn't) apply to any schools that had CC problem except for Michigan(their website says they highly recommend taking pre-req at 4 year university) and they admitted me so CC doesn't really matter.

well said!

 

[Yellow Snow]

I have posted this on one other thread so I apoligize if the duplicate info frustrates anyone, I just thought this explanation from the AZ Ad Com clarified alot of things for me

"The admissions committee will accept credits from any accredited
college. However, during the first stage of the admissions
evaluation process, each applicant is given points for each part of their
application (ie. community service, GPA, dental work experience
etc.)
When this is done, the specific college(s) you attended are
taken into account. This is done for a very logical reason: certain
college's courses can be significantly harder than others. For example, a
3.5 at XXX U will receive MORE points than a 4.0 at a small community
college in the middle of XXX. (No offense intended, if you are
from there!
).

This "ranking" is determined on a national basis (our faculty
members are not in charge of setting this up). Most dental schools
standardize GPAs in this fashion while looking at applications.

This is the only disadvantage that I know of for attending a
community college vs. a major university. The community college rankings
are generally LOWER than major universities, and thus the applicant
will receive less points for the GPA portion of the application."

So I guess there is some list somewhere that ranks EVERY University, college and JC in the country. Would be fun to take a look at that list.

 

[OSU_DentGirl]

OSU DentGirl--Did you take O-chem in the summer at CC? Was it a 1/2 summer class or full?

I took O-chem in the summer at a CC. I took both 1 and 2. It lasted 10 weeks. Of course it wasn't the best, but I managed A's in both.