CC

[whatareth3odds]

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[knv2u]

As long as you take all of your medical pre-requisites at a university, I don't think medical schools will care if you use CLEP or CC courses to get out of a four year university's general educational requirements. Medical schools will not recognize CLEP credit, but again, if you aren't trying to use this for medical school pre-requisites then I don't think it really matters. With that said, make sure that you do take some non science courses either at the community college or four year university, particularly those have a writing intensive component. Students who only enroll in science courses without any writing intensive courses often have poorer written communication skills and this may raise some eye brows for some adcoms.

 

[Amygdarya]

Medical schools will not recognize CLEP credit

Not true. I used CLEP to satisfy one of the premed requirements (General Chemistry), and this wasn't an issue with the schools I interviewed at this cycle (and it just so happened that I interviewed only at top 25). Prior to applying I emailed these schools and asked them if they accepted CLEP credit, they said they did and they didn't lie to me.

Now, there are at least 2 caveats I can think of:
1) Just as there are schools that flat out don't accept CC credits (Johns Hopkins), I'm sure there are schools that don't accept CLEP. Thus, you should clarify this point with each school you're applying to.
2) I have BS and MS in Chemistry from a different country, so I already have a solid background in Chemistry, and I have a graduate degree in Biology from the US and years of biomedical research etc., so adcoms don't doubt my scientific aptitude; in my case, fulfilling premed requirements is more of a formality (the vast majority of US medical schools wouldn't accept my foreign and graduate credits, so I had to (re)take the standard premed requirements at US undergrad colleges). But in any case, my point is: the schools I applied to do accept CLEP, though they will consider it in the context of your application - just as they consider your whole education history.

CC credits are also fine for most schools (see caveat 1 above); plenty of people have gotten into medical schools, including top MD schools, with CC credits. But again, the context matters.

 

[Amygdarya]

I am not even considering community college or CLEP for ANY of the pre-reqs, just general classes for my undergrad degree. Things like humanities and intro to psychology or something along those lines. I am only looking at schools where I am considered in-state, and one out of state school, which both do accept CLEP and CC credits. I was just worried it might be looked down upon to have any CC on your transcripts.

Then you have even less to worry about CLEP and CC credits 🙂 Like I said, everything in your application is considered in context. If you have solid grades in your university classes including your prereqs, no one will care if you took a CC class or a CLEP here and there.

 

[knv2u]

Not true. I used CLEP to satisfy one of the premed requirements (General Chemistry), and this wasn't an issue with the schools I interviewed at this cycle (and it just so happened that I interviewed only at top 25). Prior to applying I emailed these schools and asked them if they accepted CLEP credit, they said they did and they didn't lie to me.

Interesting. I strongly suspect that those schools accepting CLEP are in the minority as the majority of the programs I have researched do not recognized CLEP credit (unless something has recently changed). As it stands, I should qualify my statement by saying that many if not most medical schools will not recognize CLEP exams, so I think the OP should keep that in mind. In any event, since medical schools only require that you complete the prerequisites before matriculation and not application, s/he could always take a couple of courses in the summer before medical schools start if the school s/he matriculates to objects to the work.

Edited to add: I say that because sociology was mentioned and it is unclear to me whether all schools will add this as a prerequisite after 2015 in light of the new MCAT.

 

[Amygdarya]

I strongly suspect that those schools accepting CLEP are in the minority as the majority of the programs I have researched do not recognized CLEP credit (unless something has recently changed). As it stands, I should qualify my statement by saying that many if not most medical schools will not recognize CLEP exams, so I think the OP should keep that in mind. In any event, since medical schools only require that you complete the prerequisites before matriculation and not application, s/he could always take a couple of courses in the summer before medical schools start if the school s/he matriculates to objects to the work.

Edited to add: I say that because sociology was mentioned and it is unclear to me whether all schools will add this as a prerequisite after 2015 in light of the new MCAT.

I wouldn't say schools that accept CLEP are a minority because my experience is exactly the opposite of yours: most of the schools I contacted responded that they accepted CLEP (and CC credits, for that matter) - and these are top 25 MD schools (not that I'm boasting or something, I just want to emphasize that even prestigious schools do accept CLEP and CC credits). But both you and I talk about our personal experiences and, of course, our school samples are limited, so it is a good idea for everyone concerned about this to check with their schools. Which OP actually did - and found out that his/her schools do accept them.

I agree with what you said regarding the timing of prereqs completion: in the worst case scenario, one can retake an unacceptable class even after being accepted to medical school, as long as it's before matriculation (which is what I'm doing right now: taking undergraduate Biology because certain schools won't accept my graduate Biology credits).

I can't tell anything about the Sociology requirement after 2015. Again, the safest bet will be to check with individual schools before your application cycle.

 

[knv2u]

Thank you for adding this; I did not know that sociology might be added in the upcoming years. Do you know where I could find more information on what pre-reqs might be for future classes?

I plan to for sure take a developmental psychology class, and intro to psychology is the pre-req for that, so would it be fine to CLEP something as long as I am taking a higher class?

I suspect that there will be enormous variation on this point among medical schools. I would suggest viewing the websites of the individual schools or emailing/calling them. I know that some of them are either requiring or "strongly" recommending a semester of sociology and psychology, but again, I haven't researched the post 2015 requirements enough to be able to say how widespread this is.