Can I take some pre-reqs at my Community College?

[poshdoctor]

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When I was interested in Medical School, I read on one forum not to take any pre-reqs at CC. Is this the same for Opt School? I'm a freshman at a UC, is it okay if I take math over the summer at a CC?

Will this decrease my chances of admission?

 

[jc328]

It is recommended to take classes at your current undergrad institution if possible, but it is ok to take pre-req at a CC. I don't think it will decrease your chance of admission if you only had a few classes from CC. I know it is hard and very expensive to get enrolled in a summer class in UC due to large student volume and budget cut, and I'd take the class at a CC if necessary.

 

[Mewcakes]

You can do it, but I recommend keeping it to your lower div GE courses. Don't take something important like Anatomy or Physiology at a cc. You just won't get the same education. And that stuff definitely comes back to you in optometry school, the more familiar you can get with biological concepts and physics, the better you'll be in OD school. Stuff like math and English you could probably just do at a cc. Though you may want check with your favorite school to see what they think of cc classes.

 

[eyesee123]

I know someone who graduated from a UC with a social science degree. After graduating they took ALL their optometry pre-reqs at community college and got into Berkeley for optometry school. You mentioned you go to a UC, so you know then that community college's in California are EXCELLENT! I know that some schools and programs look down at courses taken at community college but I honestly don't understand why. Maybe in other parts of the country community college's are not good so that is why there is this stigma against them. The stigma against community college in general is sad, it reminds me of my friend who went to the Naval Academy for college. She was one of the few students who went to a public high school. Several of her classmates had gone to prep schools to increase their chances of getting in there. I know that NECO does not accept anymore than 50% of pre-reqs taken at community college, including classes like English and Psychology.

As far as the education being less, I respectfully do not agree. I took anatomy and physiology at a community college. We had a cadaver to work on, I know people who took this class at a UC and didn't even have that type of practice. Why do people think that it's easier? Also, every single one of my professor's at community college have PhD's. They use the same text books as any 4-year university, teach the same things, test on the same things.

One of my science professor's at community college said after high school he got into Stanford with a basketball scholarship but hated it. He didn't like the huge classes, etc. He left Stanford after the first semester, went to a community college, then transferred to a UC. He even went to medical school. He starts off the first day of the semester telling student's that story to emphasize that community college offers an excellent education.

I think I wrote this on another post, but I even had 2 professors who taught part time at my community college and part time at Stanford...the same class! But we paid much less for the same education.

 

[poshdoctor]

I know someone who graduated from a UC with a social science degree. After graduating they took ALL their optometry pre-reqs at community college and got into Berkeley for optometry school. You mentioned you go to a UC, so you know then that community college's in California are EXCELLENT! I know that some schools and programs look down at courses taken at community college but I honestly don't understand why. Maybe in other parts of the country community college's are not good so that is why there is this stigma against them. The stigma against community college in general is sad, it reminds me of my friend who went to the Naval Academy for college. She was one of the few students who went to a public high school. Several of her classmates had gone to prep schools to increase their chances of getting in there. I know that NECO does not accept anymore than 50% of pre-reqs taken at community college, including classes like English and Psychology.

As far as the education being less, I respectfully do not agree. I took anatomy and physiology at a community college. We had a cadaver to work on, I know people who took this class at a UC and didn't even have that type of practice. Why do people think that it's easier? Also, every single one of my professor's at community college have PhD's. They use the same text books as any 4-year university, teach the same things, test on the same things.

One of my science professor's at community college said after high school he got into Stanford with a basketball scholarship but hated it. He didn't like the huge classes, etc. He left Stanford after the first semester, went to a community college, then transferred to a UC. He even went to medical school. He starts off the first day of the semester telling student's that story to emphasize that community college offers an excellent education.

I think I wrote this on another post, but I even had 2 professors who taught part time at my community college and part time at Stanford...the same class! But we paid much less for the same education.

Thanks! wow your friend at Berkeley sounds a lot like me because I'm a Psych major.

SCCO is my first choice school, Then Berkeley,

I'm planning on taking Calc, Sociology, and Pre-Chem over the summer 🙂

 

[kiwi5frog]

Thanks! wow your friend at Berkeley sounds a lot like me because I'm a Psych major.

SCCO is my first choice school, Then Berkeley,

I'm planning on taking Calc, Sociology, and Pre-Chem over the summer 🙂

I graduated from UCSD with my BA in Psychology. I then spent 3 years working and taking nearly ALL my pre-reqs at community college after work. I've been accepted to SCCO.

That said, every single one of my community college courses was easy as pie (although making pie can be difficult for some). UCSD was a lot tougher at every level and i do feel that material at community college is extremely watered down.

 

[eyesee123]

What classes did you take at community college? I also graduated from UCSD. My upper division econ class was easier at UCSD than my general ed econ class I took at community college. Some of my ochem exams from community college were the same as my biochem major friends at UCSD. I still don't believe the classes are watered down. I guess it is all relative. People could say getting an education at UCSC is watered down compared to UCSD. To each his own. I just think its unfair if schools discriminate against those who went to community college.

 

[kiwi5frog]

What classes did you take at community college? I also graduated from UCSD. My upper division econ class was easier at UCSD than my general ed econ class I took at community college. Some of my ochem exams from community college were the same as my biochem major friends at UCSD. I still don't believe the classes are watered down. I guess it is all relative. People could say getting an education at UCSC is watered down compared to UCSD. To each his own. I just think its unfair if schools discriminate against those who went to community college.

at community college, i took Gchem series, ochem, microbio, bio series, anatomy/physio, biochem, physics series. Pretty much every core science. Every single course was easy and i really questioned the validity of considering them "equivalent" to UCSD courses. We never trully went as in depth as i felt it the courses should have gone. In the end, it still gave me enough to get through the OAT with 400s (although i did take the $1400 kaplan course. that helped.), so i won't say which is "better". just that i do think the difficulty bar is very low. like...high school low.

 

[jc328]

I transferred to UCSD from a CC as a biochem major. Generally speaking, students at UCSD are more competitive in comparison to CC (tests are harder at SD to keep the grade distribution even). In biology classes, the profs at SD covers more material and expect students to memorize details of mechanism while profs at CC focuses more on the general concept. I feel the profs at UCSD are very knowledgeable, but they are usually involved in some kind of crazy research and don't have much time for the students. The profs at CC are excellent at teaching (since that's all they do), they explains the course material in a way that's easy to understand and their lecture are usually more entertaining to listen to. I personally like CC's teaching style better, but upper div bio classes at SD prepares you for the difficulty level you will see at opt school.

 

[kiwi5frog]

I transferred to UCSD from a CC as a biochem major. Generally speaking, students at UCSD are more competitive in comparison to CC (tests are harder at SD to keep the grade distribution even). In biology classes, the profs at SD covers more material and expect students to memorize details of mechanism while profs at CC focuses more on the general concept. I feel the profs at UCSD are very knowledgeable, but they are usually involved in some kind of crazy research and don't have much time for the students. The profs at CC are excellent at teaching (since that's all they do), they explains the course material in a way that's easy to understand and their lecture are usually more entertaining to listen to. I personally like CC's teaching style better, but upper div bio classes at SD prepares you for the difficulty level you will see at opt school.

agreed

 

[Mewcakes]

I personally like CC's teaching style better, but upper div bio classes at SD prepares you for the difficulty level you will see at opt school.

Perfectly stated.

I went to UCD and took calc I and first semester gchem at Woodland community college and Sac city college. They were the easiest classes I'd ever taken. They were easier than my fables and fairy tales class at Davis. Why? Because the professors WERE better teachers and their exams were definitely less demanding. And for sure, if I graduated in a major that didn't require any science classes (i.e. English or something) and then took all my science classes at CC, I would be in for a VERY rude awakening in optometry school. This **** is tough and I am not even kidding. The detail they want from you can be intense.

Perhaps the CCs I went to were...not very good. Neither school had cadavers in their physio/anatomy classes, which I think was a great advantage for UCD students. I dominate Anatomy in opt. school now, but there are definitely people in my class that can't say the same.

 

[eyesee123]

Yeah, I agree with what you guys are saying. I guess, just like in all things, it depends where you go and what you make of it. For example, the differences between the CSU system and the UC system in California. I took the ochem series at CC and there were 4-5 people in my class who graduated from UC Davis and were just taking ochem as a refresher. They were actually struggling in my ochem class, and said it was WAY more demanding and harder than when they took ochem at Davis. I know that in the Bay Area there are really good CC's compared to different parts of CA and the rest of the country. De Anza College in Cupertino (down the street from Apple headquarters) is ranked the #1 CC in California, and second in the nation. They even do research and students get published. So I guess it just depends where you go.

 

[kiwi5frog]

I know that in the Bay Area there are really good CC's compared to different parts of CA and the rest of the country. De Anza College in Cupertino (down the street from Apple headquarters) is ranked the #1 CC in California, and second in the nation. They even do research and students get published. So I guess it just depends where you go.

guess that's the admin's challenge. that could be said of every educational level (high school, CC, university, master programs, even doctorate programs). There's overlap in difficulty, variable based on professor even.

 

[nicmc]

In my experience with applying to schools, all of the reps say that if you go to a really good undergraduate institution it looks like you took the easy way out to take classes at a CC. It's more acceptable if you are working in another field as a professional and work on the pre-reqs while working. Even if you learn the same info, like stated above the classes are a lot easier because you aren't competing on a very difficult physics exam trying to come out on top of a 400 person bell curve. It just looks more impressive to succeed at bigger 4 year schools because you are trying to beat the curve with a professor that is pre-occupied with research or doesn't care about the students.

That said, my husband took a full year of physics at a CC. The barely covered in the whole year what was covered at my four-year school in 3/4 of the FIRST semester. So I would say that it is not unfair for optometry school to give preference to classes taken at 4-year colleges.

 

[kiwi5frog]

In my experience with applying to schools, all of the reps say that if you go to a really good undergraduate institution it looks like you took the easy way out to take classes at a CC.

Not true. SCCO is very pro-CC and believe smaller class sizes create good learning environments and consider them competitive. Their admissions dept will attest to that. (I personally don't agree on the point of competitiveness, but did want to make a point that every opt school has a different feeling about CC)

 

[nicmc]

kiwifrog, Note that I said "In my experience." I did not apply to all of the schools, and I do not claim to know the stance of every school. I am simply stating that of the schools I have applied to/talked to a rep from have all told me the same thing.