CA community college online classes?

[iamsoopaman]

Anyone take any online courses from california community colleges? If so, what class, and how was it (material and difficulty level)

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[paceac]

I took speech as an online class at Santa Rosa JC. It was pretty easy. Quizzes, tests, papers and group feedback was all done online. The only time the class met was when we had to give our speeches.

 

[Golfing_Doc]

Mission College offers chem 1b online and San Jose City offers English 1b. I took the english and it was fairly intense during the summer having to post questions and feeback every day about the readings and stuff. I've heard the Chem class isn't too bad.

 

[iamsoopaman]

Anyone taken this class at Fullerton College?

http://staffwww.fullcoll.edu/jwu/109/

Doesnt sound to shabby

 

[utahjazz]

Anyone taken this class at Fullerton College?

http://staffwww.fullcoll.edu/jwu/109/

Doesnt sound to shabby

Some schools do not accept online courses.

Also it's a "non major" course.

 

[redsky]

Some schools do not accept online courses.

That's not true, unless you are talking about prereqs.

 

[iamsoopaman]

What if I have completed my pre-reqs satisfactorily and jus retaking classes cuz its been 5 years? Does it matter whether I go to a CC or not?

 

[utahjazz]

That's not true, unless you are talking about prereqs.

Yes, it is true. I've talked to admissions counselors at a couple of med schools who said that their school did not accept online or distance learning courses at all.

What makes you think that all med schools accept online courses?

 

[legobikes]

as a rule online courses are easier--they focus more on making you do lots of writing/reading to make up for being out of a real lecture class.

 

[redsky]

Yes, it is true. I've talked to admissions counselors at a couple of med schools who said that their school did not accept online or distance learning courses at all.

What makes you think that all med schools accept online courses?

I never heard of that. All Medical Schools I contacted said they don't have problems with it unless they are prereqs. I didn't contact all med schools in the country, but again, I never heard the opposite (only in SDN).

I still think that this is only one of the thousands legends that are vomited here daily.

 

[redsky]

as a rule online courses are easier--they focus more on making you do lots of writing/reading to make up for being out of a real lecture class.

Thanks legobikes, it's always good to hear the opinion of an expert.

 

[utahjazz]

I never heard of that. All Medical Schools I contacted said they don't have problems with it unless they are prereqs. I didn't contact all med schools in the country, but again, I never heard the opposite (only in SDN).

I still think that this is only one of the thousands legends that are vomited here daily.

So you told me I was wrong based on the fact that you contacted a few schools and your hunch?

UC-Davis directly told me that they don't accept online classes at all.

 

[Golfing_Doc]

how does a school know is a class is online vs the same course number that is not at the same school? if everything else is excellent on the app, what does it matter?

 

[iamsoopaman]

how does a school know is a class is online vs the same course number that is not at the same school? if everything else is excellent on the app, what does it matter?

Hmm...thats a good question, all the online courses ive looked at are actual "live classroom" courses that happen to have 1 section that is only online. So its like:

Call # - Course - Instructor - Time
1222 BIO 22 Instructor A 9:10-10:00
1223 BIO 22 Instructor B 1:10-2:00
1224 BIO 22 Instructor C 2:10-3:00
1225 BIO 22 Staff Arrange 2 hrs
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Note: the above section is an online course, mandatory meetings on blah blah

Would this really be a problem? I dunno.....

 

[ttran01]

does an online class show up on your transcript as an "online class"? i thought what shows up on a transcript is your class and grade. im taking eng 1b online, and if it's not going to be accepted, i dont want to retake it.

 

[jamilla_w]

Won't it say in the course description?

 

[redsky]

So you told me I was wrong based on the fact that you contacted a few schools and your hunch?

UC-Davis directly told me that they don't accept online classes at all.

That doesn't make any sense. So they don't accept your degree if you took some online classes? How so don't accept a class? They say: "oh, this class is unacceptable!"

If you prefer, I said you are wrong because I don't believe you. I am allowed to call my opinion "truth" just like anybody else does here.

 

[relentless11]

That doesn't make any sense. So they don't accept your degree if you took some online classes? How so don't accept a class? They say: "oh, this class is unacceptable!"

If you prefer, I said you are wrong because I don't believe you. I am allowed to call my opinion "truth" just like anybody else does here.

The school doesn't care what your degree is composed of. What matters are the pre-reqs, since they are the only required curriculum that allows you to apply to med school. Most schools recommend having a bachelor's degree, so the issue about accepting ones degree is moot.

Pretty much it comes down to the school, and their standards. If the school via AMCAS can identify that the course was taken online, and they do not accept online classes then thats that. Although I am currently at UCD, this topic has never come up. However my undergrads will have a lecture from the director of admissions next week, and I will have them ask this question to confirm. In my opinion, though, I am not surprised that there would be discrimination against online coursework. I did an distance learning class in lower division english back during my junior college days, and it was EAASSY compared to the in-class counterpart. However I am unconcerned with it affecting my premed requirements, since I took upper division english at UCD after transfering which ultimately fullfills my 1 year english requirement.

I wouldn't put it past some schools to have this bias, since there are a few (very few) schools that do not accept community college classes too. At other schools (like UCSD), they recommend taking your pre-reqs at a 4-year. It is much easier to compare student A vs. student B who both took in-class courses rather than have one take an online course which may have varying difficulty between schools and programs. But like I said, I personally haven't confirmed this notion at UC Davis. However for the most part, I think the SDN consensus is to take in-class courses if at all possible.

 

[ttran01]

Won't it say in the course description?

so i looked online for the course descripition of the online english 1b class im taking and it says.....

Description: 1) This course offers further study and practice in analytical reading and writing. 2) It covers principles of logic such as reasoning inductively and deductively, recognizing logical fallacies, and suspending judgments. 3) Assigned readings include novels, short stories, poems, plays, biographies, and literary criticism. Essays written for the course (6,500 words minimum) generalize from the texts to present carefully reasoned arguments. At least one essay will include citations from secondary sources, documented according to current MLA format. Attendance at a live theatre production may be required. One or more additional hours per week in the Learning Resource Center or Writing Across the Curriculum or Reading Across the Disciplines programs may be required. (CAN ENGL 4) (ENGL SEQ A Sum of ENGWR 300 and 301) AA/AS area 3D; CSU area A3; IGETC area 1B

...so from what they have online, it doesnt say anything about it being taken online. maybe on the my transcript it might say (online class) next to my class?

 

[relentless11]

Just FYI, I was looking at the UW FAQ, and found this:

"Are prerequisite courses taken at a community college accepted?

You may take the prerequisite courses at any accredited university or community college of your choice. Distance learning, CLEP, and other course work will be reviewed by the Dean for Admissions."

(http://www.uwmedicine.org/Education/MDProgram/Admissions/FAQ.htm)

Doesn't say that they don't allow it, but it does show the potential for discrimination against such classes. Of course this is totally irrelevant to the topic of this thread since the original question is about California, but thought it was interesting nonetheless.

 

[redsky]

Just FYI, I was looking at the UW FAQ, and found this:

"Are prerequisite courses taken at a community college accepted?

You may take the prerequisite courses at any accredited university or community college of your choice. Distance learning, CLEP, and other course work will be reviewed by the Dean for Admissions."

(http://www.uwmedicine.org/Education/MDProgram/Admissions/FAQ.htm)

Doesn't say that they don't allow it, but it does show the potential for discrimination against such classes. Of course this is totally irrelevant to the topic of this thread since the original question is about California, but thought it was interesting nonetheless.

Again, this is for prerequisites. I heard from many schools that they do not accept online courses as prerequisites: BU, Yale, Tufts...

 

[relentless11]

Again, this is for prerequisites. I heard from many schools that they do not accept online courses as prerequisites: BU, Yale, Tufts...

True, but as stated in my previous post, its pretty much moot point if they don't accept a non-prerequisite class huh? Unless ALL your classes except for the pre-reqs were taken online, which is highly unlikely. Most schools only require 90 quarter units of work, therefore if you meet the application requirements, then accepting or not accepting a non-prereq course doesn't matter. If a school doesn't accept a class, it does not factor into your GPA. Simple as that.

 

[ttran01]

yeah it was a bit off topic, but i am from california taking a online course at a community college.

 

[relentless11]

yeah it was a bit off topic, but i am from california taking a online course at a community college.

Some classes from the CC's show up as distance learning on your transcripts. While others do not, it actually depends on the school. That english class I mentioned did not show up as distance learning. However my friend who took a similar class at a different CC showed up as something like:

"ENG2-Writing-DISTN LEARN"

Regardless, I'd personally refrain from taking online classes as stated before. Even if a school allows it, it doesn't mean an adcom won't discriminate against it when it is identified as different from the norm. At times there are many unjustified biases against CC coursework, and thus you want to minimize that image if at all possible by taking in-class courses. Anyway, like i said, I'll have to ask Ed Dagang about this in regards to UC Davis sometime later in the week. But given what he has told me in terms of every other class, I wouldn't be surprised if UCDSOM does not accept online classes.

 

[ttran01]

thanks relentless11 .. yeah i guess it depends on the college because today i went to one of the counselors at my school and asked them about it and the person i spoke to told me there would be nothing in the course descrpition or transcript that says it was an online/distance learning course and also told me the schools id be applying to wouldnt find out it was an online course id be taking. i will probably go back an ask another counselor and see what they say because sometimes counselors say different things.

 

[notdeadyet]

thanks relentless11 .. yeah i guess it depends on the college because today i went to one of the counselors at my school and asked them about it and the person i spoke to told me there would be nothing in the course descrpition or transcript that says it was an online/distance learning course and also told me the schools id be applying to wouldnt find out it was an online course id be taking.

I took an online class years ago and asked the same thing. There is no notation on the transcript indicating that it was an online class.

But when I went to a private premed advisor, she looked at my transcript, pointed to the course and said, "online, right?" She said that any premed advisor (and, I'd assume, adcom) can find out if a course is online or not. Those who've been in the business a while know the courses at various schools and which are online. You'd be taking a risk.

 

[ttran01]

I took an online class years ago and asked the same thing. There is no notation on the transcript indicating that it was an online class.

But when I went to a private premed advisor, she looked at my transcript, pointed to the course and said, "online, right?" She said that any premed advisor (and, I'd assume, adcom) can find out if a course is online or not. Those who've been in the business a while know the courses at various schools and which are online. You'd be taking a risk.

hmm, i dont see how they can look at your transcript and say "online, right" if it just says your class name and grade......but then again i dont think i should take that risk and have to repeat the same course again. thanks.

 

[notdeadyet]

hmm, i dont see how they can look at your transcript and say "online, right" if it just says your class name and grade......but then again i dont think i should take that risk and have to repeat the same course again. thanks.

You're right, actually, the premed advisor was looking at my transcript, which had EDP numbers and whatnot, so she actually had more information than a med school would off of AMCAS.

That said, they can always ask you in an interview. I think you're wise to avoid having to repeat. Can you imagine? Ugh...

 

[relentless11]

So yea, as stated above, I can now say that UC Davis does not accept online coursework. Although taking some non-prereq class may be OK, taking too many online classes, and most certainly a pre-req class via an online course is a big NO-NO. God help those of you who are applying to UCD if you took online pre-req at a CC. Seriously though, this answer isn't really much of a surprise.

On a side note, I think the advisors and admissions people at the med schools, including UCD are pretty good at identifying what classes are what. At least in terms of UC, thousands of students transfer into a UC each year with a relatively specific set of classes that are "transferrable". So the adcoms have seen several generations of coursework, not to mention staying in touch with CC's...at least at the university level (rather than med school level). Regardless if it is identified that one has taken an online class or not, its not worth it. Med school isn't taught online, thus it behooves all of us to show that we can perform well in in-class coursework.