Bias against CC students?

[stateXsweetie]

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Did any of you experience bias attitudes from colleges if you were coming from a community college?

 

[ffpickle]

I don't think that is a word. Pretty funny, considering the topic.

To answer your question, it varies. Typically they do not distinguish between a 4-yr college or CC.

FYI, from the students I have talked to who have taken courses at both a CC and college, they say that college courses are much harder.

 

[NewRx]

Did any of you experience biasism from colleges if you were coming from a community college?

If this is a general question, then in my case I did not encounter bias.

On the other hand, if you are trying to base your qualifications based on what others write then you might as well sell yourself short to the committee. Whether you attended a CC or University, admissions committee want to see good scores, particularly in the sciences. Do you write well? That will be easily seen by the committee in your PS. Do you communicate well? If you are not confident then you will be rejected. Are you a hard working student? Then, the rigorous pharmacy curriculum should motivate you.

I'm from a CC and I got two interviews out of four state schools. I know some folks who attended University and who scored lower than I did on the PCAT subtests. Whatever the reasons, all I care about is that I'm heading to pharmacy school in the fall!!

 

[cystapharm]

summer prereqs at cc during the summer is especially hard since many UC students them during summer. I know a Berkeley Bio major that got a D in Calculus 2 after taking it at a cc and she said her GPA at Cal is 3.4ish. I got a B in Cal 2 so I think it's fair to say cc classes are as hard if not harder than university's.

 

[monsterbrain]

The only bias I have witnessed has come from the students who took their pre-reqs at a 4-year versus 2-year school. My pharmacy school didn't give a hoot.

 

[IrishRxMan]

Any student that passes judgement or has bias towards someone that took their pre-reqs at a CC when they took theirs at a 4-year university needs to check themselves. It doesn't matter where you take them so long as you get the best grade possible and learn the material. If you all end up in the same place, what does that say about the educations you both received? Oh, and by the way, I did two years at a CC before transferring to the undergrad university whose pharmacy school I now attend and I had no problems getting accepted right out. There are many other factors that they look at to determine whether to let you in or not. There are some schools I have heard of that don't want any science classes from CC, but there aren't many of them out there.

 

[Terazosin]

I have an AA degree from a CC and 2 B.Sci. degrees from a 4 year university. I have never received any bias at all regarding my CC credits.

In my experience the CC was not necessarily "easier", but the huge difference was that the classes were smaller and the professors are more strict about assignments and attendance. At my CC if you missed more than 3 classes without a valid excuse you failed and if you did not show up on time to an exam they locked you out of the classroom. The faculty really seemed to care about the students. When a student is forced to go to class and do assignments of course the class will seem easy, that is the point. It is not called the "thirteenth" grade because it is "easy" like highschool but because of the continuation of structure and discipline.

As for my 4 year college experience, the classes were a lot larger and you are more of a number. This is especially true during your first two years. So are the classes harder? In my opinion NO, you just may need to have more self-discipline in a traditional 4 year university where there are more distractions and a lot less structure. All-in-all the information taught is the same.

 

[monsterbrain]

^
That's a GREAT observation!

 

[vaioman08]

CC's are usually much easier because of the smaller class sizes. When there are only 30 people in the class room, everyone's attention is on the professor. The professor also gets to know most of the students and you have a more one on one feeling during lecture.

At Universities when there are a few hundred students in a classroom with a teacher on a microphone, it's much harder to focus. There's always people in the background taking while the teacher is giving lecture. It makes you not absorb as much information as you would in a smaller class setting, in my opinion.

 

[OKgirl]

Here's my thoughts: If CC classes are sooo different (and dumbed down), why would a university accept them? Don't those classes have to meet certain standards to be called by that name? Obviously they aren't that different. I think the only difference is the number of people in a class and the tuition rates, but who knows because I don't have much to compare to.

 

[Farmercyst]

I didn't notice any bias for or against CCs. Once you're in, nobody cares anyway.