Community College and prereqs

[faith100]

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Did any of you medical students take one or more classes at a community college?

I'm considering taking Orgo 1 at a community college during the summer and taking Orgo 2 fall semester back at my college (well known liberal art school). I've already taken most of Orgo 1 at my college but had to withdraw due to personal issues. Thanks

 

[FoxyDoc]

I wouldn't recommend splitting up Orgo 1 and Orgo 2 by taking them at 2 different places. Often times Orgo 1 and Orgo 2 stop and start at different places depending on the institution. If your goal is to take the MCAT and apply to med school, I would strongly advise against taking ANY Orgo at a community college. Often times, for whatever reason, community college courses don't prepare people well for the material tested on the MCAT. I took Gen Chem at a community college and had to put ALOT of time into studying for that section of the MCAT. Do yourself a favor and don't take any MCAT relevant courses at a community college!

 

[souljah1]

If your goal is to take the MCAT and apply to med school, I would strongly advise against taking ANY Orgo at a community college. Often times, for whatever reason, community college courses don't prepare people well for the material tested on the MCAT.

I would strongly disagree with this statement. Perhaps there are some community colleges that totally suck, but my time spent at a junior college in san francisco was well worth it. I took all of my premedical requirements there and felt that I was fully prepared for, not only the mcat, but to transfer to a four year university. I had excellent teachers for both general and organic chemistry. To tell someone not to take a premed req at a community college b/c they'll have to prepare more for the mcat is quite a generalization.

If you are considering taking ochem1 at a community college and ochem2 at a four year school I would just make sure that they are sequential as much as possible. You don't want to have to fill in the gaps or realize that the second semester starts off on topics that you didn't cover in the first semester. Often times it is better to take both courses at the same place.

 

[kimm70]

I took a number of science classes at two community colleges in the area. I was working full time and going to school, so had to find classes that fit into my schedule. The difference is that I already had a BA and two masters from well-known schools, so I think any questions about my ability to handle the material at a four-year institution were answered by my previous record. That being said, all your math and science grades go into AMCAS the same way, regardless of where you took them. Also, I found the teaching at the ccs to being quite good (better than the highly respected state university in the same town) and gave me a great foundation for the MCAT. I think if you take classes at community colleges, your MCAT score may be scrutinized a little more to ensure your grades at the cc are indicative of your having learned the material (although I doubt one class is going to make a big difference in the way anyone sees your application anyway). All-in-all, it is important for you to do well in your classes and perform well on the MCAT. Other than that, I don't think it matters that much where you took your classes. There are many ways to get to medical school and the admissions committees hopefully appreciate that. In my case they did.

 

[Nebmuse]

I took my math requirement at a community college after I graduated. I found that most of the medical schools accept community college credit but a handful do not (there is only one that I know of for sure).

 

[Peregrin]

A more important question is, do the schools you plan to apply to accept community college courses for the required pre-reqs? That is a question worth asking. Here in MI, only 1 of the 3 MD schools recognize CC credits for pre-reqs, at least this was the case 4 years ago when I was looking for places to take those courses post-bacc.

It would be a bummer to take the time and find out later that it was worth nothing.

 

[Skialta]

I spent two years at a community college where I took a number of my prereqs, I did get my bs from a major university. While working I went back and took ochem from a community college because of the ability to take it at night. I applied to like 20 schools and interviewed at half a dozen and nobody asked me about going to a community college. Grant it I didn't apply to Harvard, but it was a non issue.

MSII

 

[raptor5]

I took most my prereqs at a community college and was very pleased. I took organic at a 4 year institution. Anyway I have a friend that took organic at the same community college I attended and was shocked when I found out how much more my class covered. He was taught very little NMR and Mass Spec, both of which comprised 4 questions on the MCAT. That is not too much to worry about and it probably is different at different institutions. I would not split up organic, although I know someone who did. They faired avg.

Point is, do what you have to do!

 

[mooklyster]

As a non traditional...I went to community college for the full AA before transferring to a four year to finish up. At the time I had not even decided to go into medicine, just felt a need to further my education. I would concur with most of the posters. Here is my take. Do what you will at a CC, however, if you are already at a four year, and decide to take some sciences at a CC, without a good reason, it may look as if you are dodging the supposedly more difficult task of taking it at your Univ.
In my entire process, noone questioned my attending CC. On the advice of some people, I took the other route however. I took what was necessary to graduate from the CC, but delayed the Physics, Orgo, etc to university. It seemed to be solid advice.
Hope this helped.

 

[Bernardo_11]

First let me start off by saying I attended a California community college, which are notoriously very good schools. The California CC system is basically set up for those who plan on transferring to the UC's or the California State U's. The transition is very smooth, and credits for lower division science courses are accepted without any trouble.

From my standpoint, if you want a good lower division science education, and you live in CA, go to a CC. I took Chem 1 with a class size of about 60, I knew the professor well and he was excellent. Compare that to taking Chem 1 with a class size of 500, in a stadium of a lecture hall, at a 4 yr university. My Bio 1 class had maybe 30 students. Classes were more interactive, you felt free to actually ask a question in the MIDDLE of the lecture without intimidation. And many of the professors, knowing full well that we planned on transferring to a UC, worked us like dogs. But man, we learned. By the time I transferred to UC Davis, I was scoring top grades in biochem, physiology, embryology, and microbiology (mainly because almost all of the material was already taught to me in my lower division bio class in the CC).

There was no trouble with schools accepting my CC credits. And the MCAT was a breeze. Remember though, I'm speaking from the standpoint of the California CC system, so it might be much different from community colleges in other states.

As for splitting up O-chem (yes people that's what we call it here in the West Coast), I wouldn't recommend it. Sure both classes cover the same material, but there could be a dangerous gap in between the two classes... and this material may be needed in order to build upon the principles and concepts you'll learn in the second semester. That is, you'd might have to catch up in order to NOT be lost the rest of the way through. Either take it in one place or another, but don't split it.

Best of luck in getting into med school. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

Regards,
Nardo (less than a month away from being an attending---- boo yah!!!)

 

[Skialta]

Bernardo 11 which community college did you go to, I went to Shasta College up north. I was really suprised talking to other students about education, the California CC system is solid. It was probably the best money I ever spent on education.

 

[KylieP54]

I had to take physics at a comm. college because I absolutely could not fit it into my schedule at my university. I know some people do it too because of money issues, it's cheaper or whatever, with any classes. I actually was very knowledgable on the mcat in the physics parts too, due to some great teachers. just my two cents.

 

[Bernardo_11]

I went to Solano CC, in the Fairfield/Suisun area.

Take care
Nardo

 

[Rhiana]

I took O-chem at a Cali CC and had absolutly no problems. I actually got my AA in chemistry. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Our instructer also taught the lab so anytime there was down time in an experiment we reviewed stuff. Not everyone passed the first semester so by the second half there were only sixteen of us left. It was not a problem at my interviews and I'm starting third year at UCLA in a week.

 

[45408]

What is this orgo class you speak of? 😀

We all call it organic here.....