CC or University for Post Bacc?

[Belle_Liberte]

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Hello all!

I need to take a few pre reqs before applying to medical schools as my major was in Health Care Management and I opted out of a few Chem and Physics courses 🙂
I graduated from a 2nd tier college.
At this point I am wondering if it makes any difference for me to go to a community college close to my house and complete the pre reqs in a less rigorous academic environment or if I should go an hour away to a top school in my city as a non degree student. Does it matter for this route what school I attend? Thank for any input.

 

[goldy490]

I'd recommend taking the pre-reqs at the more rigorous school. CC is generally not the best place to take those classes since some med schools won't accept credit from community college.

 

[WedgeDawg]

A postbacc is to help convince adcoms that you can handle the rigors of medical school. Do you think that taking the easier route of a CC will be conducive to this?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Also you wouldn't happen to be friends with @1o1011, would you?

 

[esob]

I researched this heavily b/c I have a really nice CC near my house as well and the consensus seems to be that if you want to be competitive, you should NOT take your prereqs at a community college. That said, if you are in the 99th percentile for the MCAT, have 4.0 cGPA and EC's that make Gandi look like a slacker, then it likely won't matter where you take them. Personally I'm not looking forward to the extra driving but considering the abysmal acceptance rates (even for people with good stats), any advantage, no matter how small, seems a worthy endeavor.

 

[y123]

Avoid taking prereqs at CC if you can.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Three factors here
a) your current financial situation
b) your undergrad GPA
c) your performance in previous pre-reqs

What you don't want to do is using a CC in a way that it comes across that you are trying to "hide" from taking the more difficult route. A CC is like a neutral thing; it won't "prove" you can handle medical school and cause somebody to want to vouch for you but at the same time the "stigma" against CC's is often blown well out of proportion on this site. It is not uncommon at all for non-trads with good grades to try and take a pre req or two at a CC and it's a non issue. A few pre-req CC grades from an otherwise strong student is not any reason for a cause for concern. The key thing here though is what kind of student have you been. If your GPA is low and you need these pre-reqs amongst other classes to prove yourself, then the CC is not the option you want.

 

[BGMayagi]

Its probably safer to do your courses at a 4 year University but CC courses are not the kiss of death if your nontraditional and it looks like you have a good reason for doing them there. Some schools may frown upon it but dont apply to them. I applied this year and completed 80% of my prerqs at a CC as a nontrad student and no upper level courses, with a less than stellar MCAT and Im doing alright . Just do the best you can, kill the MCAT and apply Smart.

 

[Turkishking]

Don't do it at a CC

 

[flapjack3d]

Some schools don't accept pre-reqs taken at CC. It's just a few, but look up the policies of the schools you're interested in and have a reasonable shot at (I'd presume itd be hard to tell since you probably haven't taken the MCAT and obviously not the pre-reqs).
For example, I know Creighton doesn't accept CC credit.