Community College Dilemna

[IHavePotential]

I really never had a choice to not attend community college. After moving to california from a foreign country, I was dead set on going to medical school and I knew community college was step 1. I researched thoroughly through sdn and came to the conclusion that as long as I take upper division courses at a 4 year institution and have an increasing gpa trend in addition to an above 30 mcat... community college wouldn't really be that detrimental to my chances. However recently, I had the opportunity to shadow a dentist, I was drawn towards this field and ultimately began to think of Dentistry as a better fit to me compared to medicine. As I looked into dental school requirements... I noticed how the majority of the schools frown on community college coursework and many have limitations on how many credits I can take at a cc. Being a resident from CA, I plan on transferring to a UC school as a biochem major and to do this I would have to take the majority of my pre-requisites at community college, I already took general chem and english but still have bio, physics and OChem to do.... should I choose a different major where I dont have to take these pre-requisites or should I continue to pursue a degree in biochem?
I know that I'm going to have to study damn hard, and I know that I can pull off a very good score through tons of practice and hard work but even if I have a high DAT and a competitive gpa would I still get no where? Should I plan on completing a masters degree after a bachelors in order to show schools that I can handle the rigors of science or should I try my best and apply in my undergrad???
I hope i have explained my situation well, any suggestions? If I am too choose a different major... I have to act now to get the cc classes I need!

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[gomariners]

Community college only really looks bad if admissions thinks you are trying to take an easy way out. I am talking about those that start at a 4-year then go to cc or transfer from cc and then return to cc to retake classes they did not do well in at the 4-year school. With that being said, I would still try to minimize the amount of prerequisites you will be taking at cc. I would do general biology and chemistry at cc and then take biochemistry, organic chemistry, microbiology, and physics at a university along with the upper level sciences for your degree. Aim for 4.0s at the cc and 3.7+ at the university. Get 22+ for the DAT RC, at least a 20 in all other sections on the DAT and you will look great for many schools.

Lastly, keep shadowing dentists to make sure you want this more than being a physician. Good luck!

 

[IHavePotential]

Thanks for the reply! Should I be prepared to look into an alternative for dental school if taking cc credit is really that bad? Should I apply to both med school and dental school simultaneously? Recently I came across a thread where a person in an identical situation was rejected even in his second cycle with a 3.8+ gpa and a 22 DAT, this just makes me nervous!

 

[IHavePotential]

There is no way that I can get away with not doing physics in cc, if i do that I wouldnt be able to transfer, I may get away with this by choosing a different major tho.

 

[crankymonkey]

Choose Bio if you don't wanna take Physics at CC. I went that route and everything worked out fine. Never got questioned abt my excessive Cc credits at interviews.

 

[IHavePotential]

In order to major in any science course and transfer to a uc, I have to take physics. However I do have the choice of taking introductory physics rather than "general physics".

 

[IHavePotential]

Choose Bio if you don't wanna take Physics at CC. I went that route and everything worked out fine. Never got questioned abt my excessive Cc credits at interviews.

Did you transfer from a cc to a UC as well? Considering that you got into UCSF what were your stats? Are you a CA resident? Any Research? What EC's?
What is your secret? And what is the list of schools you applied to?

 

[crankymonkey]

Did you transfer from a cc to a UC as well? Considering that you got into UCSF what were your stats? Are you a CA resident? Any Research? What EC's?
What is your secret? And what is the list of schools you applied to?

My situation was exactly like yours (move to the States from other country, no choice but Cc.. Etc). There is no secret, just work hard, get involved, apply early. Considering most D schools do not favor Cc credits since the curriculum is less rigorous compared to a 4-year's, you need to keep your Gpa as high as possible after transfer. I had abt 1.5 year of research at UC, ~100 hours of shadowing, ~200 hours of volunteer, 24AA / 3.9 cummulative Gpa. Pm me if you have other questions.

 

[fogorvostan]

Should I apply to both med school and dental school simultaneously

No. I would suggest picking one and sticking to it

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

I really never had a choice to not attend community college. After moving to california from a foreign country, I was dead set on going to medical school and I knew community college was step 1. I researched thoroughly through sdn and came to the conclusion that as long as I take upper division courses at a 4 year institution and have an increasing gpa trend in addition to an above 30 mcat... community college wouldn't really be that detrimental to my chances. However recently, I had the opportunity to shadow a dentist, I was drawn towards this field and ultimately began to think of Dentistry as a better fit to me compared to medicine. As I looked into dental school requirements... I noticed how the majority of the schools frown on community college coursework and many have limitations on how many credits I can take at a cc. Being a resident from CA, I plan on transferring to a UC school as a biochem major and to do this I would have to take the majority of my pre-requisites at community college, I already took general chem and english but still have bio, physics and OChem to do.... should I choose a different major where I dont have to take these pre-requisites or should I continue to pursue a degree in biochem?
I know that I'm going to have to study damn hard, and I know that I can pull off a very good score through tons of practice and hard work but even if I have a high DAT and a competitive gpa would I still get no where? Should I plan on completing a masters degree after a bachelors in order to show schools that I can handle the rigors of science or should I try my best and apply in my undergrad???
I hope i have explained my situation well, any suggestions? If I am too choose a different major... I have to act now to get the cc classes I need!

what UC are you planning to transfer to?

according to what I know. you can take the minimum prereq at CC to transfer (2 bio classes, 2 gchem courses, 1 ochem courses, 1 physics course) then when you go to UC, you will take more bio classes, take 1 ochem courses, and 1 physics course. you can then take more upper div bio, upper div ochem, upper div physics. for substitute for gchem, you can take analytical chemistry lecture/lab.

if you do well on all these, the admission will not care about your prereq at CC. you can also retake physics courses at UC as well.

PM me if you need more info, i talked to a few who do this.

 

[IHavePotential]

what UC are you planning to transfer to?

according to what I know. you can take the minimum prereq at CC to transfer (2 bio classes, 2 gchem courses, 1 ochem courses, 1 physics course) then when you go to UC, you will take more bio classes, take 1 ochem courses, and 1 physics course. you can then take more upper div bio, upper div ochem, upper div physics. for substitute for gchem, you can take analytical chemistry lecture/lab.

if you do well on all these, the admission will not care about your prereq at CC. you can also retake physics courses at UC as well.

PM me if you need more info, i talked to a few who do this.

UC Davis most likely. Can you really retake all the pre-requisites at a UC?

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

UC Davis most likely. Can you really retake all the pre-requisites at a UC?

for the UC I attend, when you already took the prereq at CC, they put it in your degreework/progress report and lock those classes so you cant retake them anymore.

the way to hack this at my school is to retake the courses during summer session (where there is no restriction at all on the classes u wanna take)

 

[IHavePotential]

What UC do you attend? Is this the case for the majority of the schools?

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

What UC do you attend? Is this the case for the majority of the schools?

I attend a UC in socal, not LA and SD. anyways, it is a case for my school and idk about the other UCs. but I guess they will do the similar things because
they only budget enough spaces in lower division classes for their freshmen and sophomores. they cant have transfer students retaking these for fun and ruin the curve (since you know everything, ull be likely to do better and gets an unfair advantage.

 

[Markywayne27]

I have a similar case (from a foreign country to California, not given a choice but CC). I was drawn into the nursing program when I finally made up my mind to be a physician. I was devastated when I found out that I needed to stay additional 2 years in a community college because UC Berkeley requires transfer students to be done with Physics, 2 OChem, Biology, and 2 General Chem. I wanted to take the OChem, and Physics at UC Berkeley, but after talking to my adviser, it seems to be impossible. I just worry two things: medical school will frown upon CC credits in OChem and Physics and as well as not doing great on MCAT because I studied these science classes in a CC. I am not sure if this is relevant but I can currently transfer to any CSU now from Modesto Junior College. Any insights will be great.

Also any chance I can take OChem and Physics in any 4-year university that I can transfer to? I'm willing to go out of state as long as it is not crazy expensive.

 

[Trigeminal08]

@crankymonkey. holy ****, I have the same background, same stats(24AA, 3.97) and close to the same EC(2 years research, 110 shadowing, ~500 volunteer)! I'm curious to know how your application cycle turned out(besides getting accepted to UCSF obviously )

 

[crankymonkey]

@crankymonkey. holy ****, I have the same background, same stats(24AA, 3.97) and close to the same EC(2 years research, 110 shadowing, ~500 volunteer)! I'm curious to know how your application cycle turned out(besides getting accepted to UCSF obviously )

I got into UPenn, Stony Brook and Maryland, waitlisted at Buffalo. I also got an interview invitation from UCLA in April but didn't go. Are you applying this cycle? If so, best of luck! You'll do great!