CC Transfer GPA

[rahmadi]

Does a 3.4 GPA for a transfer student look worse than a 3.4 for a student who went to a university all 4 years? Would adcoms consider the transfer student's GPA to be weaker than the other student? And how much of a difference would this make? Assume that they graduate from the same university with the same major and everything, and got the same grades in their upper division classes.

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[BlitzSleep]

Does a 3.4 GPA for a transfer student look worse than a 3.4 for a student who went to a university all 4 years? Would adcoms consider the transfer student's GPA to be weaker than the other student? And how much of a difference would this make? Assume that they graduate from the same university with the same major and everything, and got the same grades in their upper division classes.

If both hypothetical students made the same grades in the upper level courses then I doubt it would make a difference at all

 

[billw]

I've found it very interesting to see how people react to CC experience. I have had university professors say that it was a good call and that I probably got a better education for my money. I have also had professors who just could not understand why I would waste my time at a CC. When trying to find a UG research gig, about 2/3 reacted negatively to the fact that I was a transfer student. I would imagine that Adcoms are likely to have the same range of reactions.

Be prepared to talk about why CC was a good choice for you. For example, having now experienced both environments, I can say that some things were clearly superior at CC. Having a year of biology with 18 students in class was definitely better than sitting in an auditorium with 500 people. Having a year of ochem with a freshly minted ochem PhD who decided she preferred teaching to research was definitely a better experience than some of my "sausage factory" university classes. On the other hand, some of my CC professors were shiftless burn-outs, which forced me to learn everything on my own. Attending CC also left me with a more compressed schedule than I would have been able to get at a university, which left me more time for volunteering and shadowing.

So, in short, some will probably view it negatively, some positively, and some will view it depending on how you sell it.

 

[Planet Ocean]

You will be just as competitive as long as you did the med school pre-reqs at the 4 year school. Its the people who do pre-reqs at a cc that are not really favored when compared to people who did them at a 4 year.

 

[obgyny]

You will be just as competitive as long as you did the med school pre-reqs at the 4 year school. Its the people who do pre-reqs at a cc that are not really favored when compared to people who did them at a 4 year.

I took Physics, Gchem, some bio, and all of my GE requirements at a CC. But I took ochem and a lot more bio at a 4 year university. Does that really matter if I maintained a strong GPA throughout all of college (CC 4.0 GPA, university 3.98 GPA)? (I did CC for a few years, then transferred. Not like I took Physics during the summer or something).

It's kind of difficult to wait to take ALL of the premed req's until you get to a 4-year university, seeing as some of these classes are required to transfer into a 4 year university in the first place. I transferred into a UC with a bio major, I was required to take physics, gchem, and some bio at the CC just to transfer. Do adcomms seriously expect premeds to take all of the prereq's at a 4 year university?

Sorry, it's a little frustrating that people look down on CC transfers. I had to go the CC route for financial reasons. Plus, I would agree with billw that CC classes definitely have some advantages (i.e. small class size, tend to have more enthusiastic teachers, etc).

 

[jvesco22]

I took Physics, Gchem, some bio, and all of my GE requirements at a CC. But I took ochem and a lot more bio at a 4 year university. Does that really matter if I maintained a strong GPA throughout all of college (CC 4.0 GPA, university 3.98 GPA)? (I did CC for a few years, then transferred. Not like I took Physics during the summer or something).

It's kind of difficult to wait to take ALL of the premed req's until you get to a 4-year university, seeing as some of these classes are required to transfer into a 4 year university in the first place. I transferred into a UC with a bio major, I was required to take physics, gchem, and some bio at the CC just to transfer. Do adcomms seriously expect premeds to take all of the prereq's at a 4 year university?

Sorry, it's a little frustrating that people look down on CC transfers. I had to go the CC route for financial reasons. Plus, I would agree with billw that CC classes definitely have some advantages (i.e. small class size, tend to have more enthusiastic teachers, etc).

Who cares what anyone thinks? What's done is done. The only way you're going to find out for your individual case is what happens when YOU apply. Don't worry about things you can't change or have no control over.

 

[RNHdb25]

Im actually wondering that myself. Straight out of HS I went to CC bc it was a close by and cheap way to gain some bearing on where I wanted to go in life. I did average, C's and B's with a few A's, until I came across the National Registry Paramedic Program. 2 years of that being somewhere around 60 CC credits with only 2 B's the rest A's. I ended my CC with two degrees: Associates in Arts and Sciences 2.93GPA for transfer and Associates in Applied Sciences: EMS with a 3.65GPA because the credits from one did not apply to the other. I hope I didn't screw myself with the low CC transfer GPA. (the EMS credits did not transfer sadly 🙁 all those A's....) Do all of the classes that you took at CC apply to your application GPA?

however, the poster above is right. it did allow for plenty of EC's while in school. I worked 2 full time EMS jobs. I volunteered at a rescue squad for 5 years, 12 hrs a week plus 24 hour shifts every 8 weeks best if can figure somewhere just over 3,000 hours. I've been an EMT for 4 years, NREMT-I for 3, and a NR Paramedic for 2 years now. got to do clinical time in the OR, ER, ICU, Peds clinic, L&D unit, and Psych wards. plus being the only Paramedic on duty in the county for 12-24 hours at a time give s PLENTY of hands-on patient care experience and clinical decision making.

 

[Planet Ocean]

I took Physics, Gchem, some bio, and all of my GE requirements at a CC. But I took ochem and a lot more bio at a 4 year university. Does that really matter if I maintained a strong GPA throughout all of college (CC 4.0 GPA, university 3.98 GPA)? (I did CC for a few years, then transferred. Not like I took Physics during the summer or something).

It's kind of difficult to wait to take ALL of the premed req's until you get to a 4-year university, seeing as some of these classes are required to transfer into a 4 year university in the first place. I transferred into a UC with a bio major, I was required to take physics, gchem, and some bio at the CC just to transfer. Do adcomms seriously expect premeds to take all of the prereq's at a 4 year university?

Sorry, it's a little frustrating that people look down on CC transfers. I had to go the CC route for financial reasons. Plus, I would agree with billw that CC classes definitely have some advantages (i.e. small class size, tend to have more enthusiastic teachers, etc).

No you are right. It is frustrating. I mean I was taking courses at a cc and planned to transfer saving money but I was always getting advised to avoid taking med school pre-reqs at a cc. The reasoning was that adcoms see the course work at a 4 year more comparable to what you could expect at med school thus making you more competitive getting them done there. So I stopped my studies at the cc because I would have to take some pre-reqs there to transfer. Ill tell you what, I do miss not having to take out a student loan but if it helps my chances even in the smallest bit then so be it. There were also better pre-med resources I could take advantage of at the university than at the cc.

 

[anonymousername]

From a transfer student...

Does a 3.4 GPA for a transfer student look worse than a 3.4 for a student who went to a university all 4 years?

yes

Would adcoms consider the transfer student's GPA to be weaker than the other student?

I'd think most would.

And how much of a difference would this make?

Depends on school and adcom.


There is no concrete answer to your question. Going to CC attaches a stigma that many people consider to be valid. Some of these people are adcoms, others don't seem to care.

As someone who transferred to a UC, I can say that CC is a complete joke compared to university level classes. But if you perform well (better than you did at CC), I doubt anyone will raise serious concerns.

 

[morning]

IMO contact the schools you're interested in and ask them how this affects you. I've heard varying things one way or another...some people say it does hurt you to have taken classes at a CC, some say it does not. But it's impossible to really know whose advice to take because the magic formula adcoms use to select you is proprietary 🙂

My gut feeling is that if it ever mattered whether you took classes at a CC, it probably matters far less now. CCs are becoming mainstream and more and more students are choosing them not because they HAVE to but because they want to save money. I'm SURE adcoms have seen a tremendous upswing in the amount of applicants with community college experience.

 

[the duck]

Im actually wondering that myself. Straight out of HS I went to CC bc it was a close by and cheap way to gain some bearing on where I wanted to go in life. I did average, C's and B's with a few A's, until I came across the National Registry Paramedic Program. 2 years of that being somewhere around 60 CC credits with only 2 B's the rest A's. I ended my CC with two degrees: Associates in Arts and Sciences 2.93GPA for transfer and Associates in Applied Sciences: EMS with a 3.65GPA because the credits from one did not apply to the other. I hope I didn't screw myself with the low CC transfer GPA. (the EMS credits did not transfer sadly 🙁 all those A's....) Do all of the classes that you took at CC apply to your application GPA?

however, the poster above is right. it did allow for plenty of EC's while in school. I worked 2 full time EMS jobs. I volunteered at a rescue squad for 5 years, 12 hrs a week plus 24 hour shifts every 8 weeks best if can figure somewhere just over 3,000 hours. I've been an EMT for 4 years, NREMT-I for 3, and a NR Paramedic for 2 years now. got to do clinical time in the OR, ER, ICU, Peds clinic, L&D unit, and Psych wards. plus being the only Paramedic on duty in the county for 12-24 hours at a time give s PLENTY of hands-on patient care experience and clinical decision making.

Looks like you will quite a bit of work brining that GPA up. Your 2.93 will count toward your medschool application GPA.

 

[riverjib]

From a transfer student...



yes

I'd think most would.

Depends on school and adcom.


There is no concrete answer to your question. Going to CC attaches a stigma that many people consider to be valid. Some of these people are adcoms, others don't seem to care.

As someone who transferred to a UC, I can say that CC is a complete joke compared to university level classes. But if you perform well (better than you did at CC), I doubt anyone will raise serious concerns.

I disagree. While it doesn't look good to take courses at a CC or a less competitive college than yours (during the summer, for example), if you have a great GPA, it doesn't matter. I know literally dozens of CC grads who did well (not necessarily better, but well) at their chosen transfer school who are med students, not just at great state schools, but also at Harvard, Hopkins, UPenn, and other elite schools.

I know SMP students with great MCAT scores and 4.0 grad GPAs and 3.7 undergrad GPAs who didn't get in, despite 2-3 times applying. Clearly, something is missing either in the PS or the interview.

Point is, there's no way to generalize. Just do your best all the time and be prepared to honestly discuss (through writing or one-on-one interactions) why you fell short at some point. It IS a numbers game, but not to the extent that you think. Many schools will take the CC transfer student over the 3.3 from Hopkins.

 

[RNHdb25]

Looks like you will quite a bit of work brining that GPA up. Your 2.93 will count toward your medschool application GPA.

ive been getting straight A's at my undergrad, and im planning on dual majoring so i've got around 70 more credits to go, hopefully getting A's will be enough to bring me to a competitive GPA

 

[anonymousername]

I disagree. While it doesn't look good to take courses at a CC or a less competitive college than yours (during the summer, for example), if you have a great GPA, it doesn't matter. I know literally dozens of CC grads who did well (not necessarily better, but well) at their chosen transfer school who are med students, not just at great state schools, but also at Harvard, Hopkins, UPenn, and other elite schools.

I know SMP students with great MCAT scores and 4.0 grad GPAs and 3.7 undergrad GPAs who didn't get in, despite 2-3 times applying. Clearly, something is missing either in the PS or the interview.

Point is, there's no way to generalize. Just do your best all the time and be prepared to honestly discuss (through writing or one-on-one interactions) why you fell short at some point. It IS a numbers game, but not to the extent that you think. Many schools will take the CC transfer student over the 3.3 from Hopkins.

This is a good post and what you say is true. But there will be some adcoms who think that going to cc is a deal breaker. So going to CC can't help, but in some situations it will hurt.

 

[riverjib]

This is a good post and what you say is true. But there will be some adcoms who think that going to cc is a deal breaker. So going to CC can't help, but in some situations it will hurt.

You're probably right, but I'm not going to cry about rejections from schools that are so hung up on a CC bias that they don't look at the overall package. I've called a lot of schools to ask about this, and only two (of over twenty) made it clear that CC <<< ANY four-year school. One of them was my current school.

I personally worked MUCH harder for A's in bio and chem at my CC. Attendance counted. You didn't get credit for showing up, but missing classes (and being late twice) worked against us. There was no curve. A 94 exam average meant an A- in the class. Then again, physics there was such a joke that I didn't take it until I transferred. Other departments were pretty weak...history and sociology were a joke.

My transfer university is highly competitive, but there is a curve. I figured out in my first semester that I didn't actually need to show up for most classes. I download the power points the week before exams, and study the slides carefully. Usually, an 80-85% is enough for an A, and that includes PChem, physio, cell bio, and other tough upper-level science courses. Honestly, it's a much more relaxed environment than the honors program at my CC.

I went to a med school information session, and spoke to a professor on the ADCOM at the end. He was one of the two who scoffed at CC's...he told me the orgo here was much tougher than orgo elsewhere, especially at a CC. He was really condescending, and basically laughed me off. I didn't get upset. I asked him hypothetically what he'd think about a student with a 3.9 here vs. one with the same GPA at a CC (who maintained a 3.9 after transferring here)...the former with a 32 MCAT, the latter with a 36. He replied that all things being equal, the student with the higher MCAT should get the slot. He added that this NEVER happens, in his experience.

I went back to him later with my unofficial transcript, and he conceded that maybe his bias was unfair, but that I was an exception to the rule. He did say this: a CC student who transfers must maintain the same (or higher) GPA after transferring, and that there is less leeway (in his opinion) in choosing a major. I'm in one of the three toughest majors in my school, and definitely the most highly regarded science major. I've maintained the same GPA all along. An English major with a 3.9 for four years here has the same chance as a science major with the same GPA, but he thinks that a CC student MUST take upper-level science classes to prove that they're equally capable.

Who knows? And really, who cares? With the economy in the toilet and over 50% of college students nationwide, hopefully there will be enough serious students coming from CC's to squash the bias that still exists. My gen chem tutor from said CC is in her first year of the MD/PhD program at Weill-Cornell. Another classmate from my honors calc class is at MIT majoring in math, and just got into their PhD program. Quite a few others have been accepted into med/PA/law schools. I don't regret my decision to go there.

I hope to be in a position to help my kids become good students early on, and to support them (both financially and emotionally) in pursuing a competitive education, so that they have options. I was initially an academic snob, and I chose to take time off when I couldn't afford college rather than stooping low enough to attend a CC. Eventually I realized that I'd never be able to save enough for a "real" school and chose the best CC in my area. Maybe 80% of the students at most CC's have no business attending college, but 20% are smart and motivated. The professors in my honors program chose this school over more prestigious ones for the salary, pension, and better lifestyle. The chem department chair was tenured at Georgetown but took this position because he was more interested in teaching than research, and was bored with teaching smart rich kids. He wanted to mentor immigrants and disadvantaged students who were capable, but overlooked by the education system. So he took this position and started a research program. Now, 30-40 students do "real" research here and present at conferences, and 15-20 students have abstracts accepted for presentation at national American Chemical Society conferences.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

i have no worries at all bringing up my community college path. but then again as a father of 3, and the only income for my family, i don't get the luxury of doing school full time on a made schedule. and unfortunately the only university in my area offers bio at 2 times during the day, chem 1 time, orgo 2 times and phys 1 time. so i just need flexibility.