Community college hurt chances?

[sarahmcarthy]

okay guys I'm an undergrad student at palm beach state college and i am just about to start my second year. I have wanted to go to Dental school since high school and I decided last minute of my senior year to go to pbcc to save money for two years, and get my AA then transfer out. I would like to transfer to University of SOuth Florida or University of Central Florida or University of Florida, but my parents are constantly telling me to go to Florida Atloantic Universtiy. for those of you who live here, you'll know that FAU isnt prestigious at all. 90% of the kids that go there are commuters. its pretty much regarded as the next step up from community college. I know that dental school is EXTREMELY competitive and I feel as though going to community college has already lowered my chances and made it that much more competitive for me. For some reason, I am unable to get this through to my parents as they think FAU will save money and that it does not matter what schools you go to for your undergrad. HOWEVER i know that it DOES when you want to apply to medical and dental schools because they are extremely competitive. I feel like if i go to a better school liek University of Florida after community college, it'll give me a better chance because I went to a good university after community college, rather than ANOTHER average low tier university like FAU . Can somebody PLEASE give me their opinion? If it helps, I am in the honors college and honors society at my community college and my gpa is currently a 3.4.

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[reely989]

okay guys I'm an undergrad student at palm beach state college and i am just about to start my second year. I have wanted to go to Dental school since high school and I decided last minute of my senior year to go to pbcc to save money for two years, and get my AA then transfer out. I would like to transfer to University of SOuth Florida or University of Central Florida or University of Florida, but my parents are constantly telling me to go to Florida Atloantic Universtiy. for those of you who live here, you'll know that FAU isnt prestigious at all. 90% of the kids that go there are commuters. its pretty much regarded as the next step up from community college. I know that dental school is EXTREMELY competitive and I feel as though going to community college has already lowered my chances and made it that much more competitive for me. For some reason, I am unable to get this through to my parents as they think FAU will save money and that it does not matter what schools you go to for your undergrad. HOWEVER i know that it DOES when you want to apply to medical and dental schools because they are extremely competitive. I feel like if i go to a better school liek University of Florida after community college, it'll give me a better chance because I went to a good university after community college, rather than ANOTHER average low tier university like FAU . Can somebody PLEASE give me their opinion? If it helps, I am in the honors college and honors society at my community college and my gpa is currently a 3.4.

I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make as far as prestige goes. It might make a difference to a particular school, if they have seen a trend with students they have admitted from a particular school or something like that. I'm not sure it is fair to say that dental schools (in general) give that much more weight to "prestigious" universities, but I could be way off base with that.

 

[slm266]

Just go to any 4 year where you can do well, kill the DAT, and you're set.

 

[doc toothache]

If 3.4 is the best you can do at a cc, what makes you think you could do better at a more "prestigious" university?

 

[sarahmcarthy]

If 3.4 is the best you can do at a cc, what makes you think you could do better at a more "prestigious" university?

i meant to clear this up in the first post but since i didnt..
i dont care about the "prestige" or reputation of the school, i meant academically which one will better my chances of getting in and make me look better to the admissions officers after having gone to community college.
and no 3.4 is not the best i can do at a cc, i completely screwed up my last year of high school as well as my first two semesters of college. so pretty much 3.4 was what i got doing jack **** and i am well aware that it is a crappy gpa. after finally getting myself straight my last two semesters will be significantly higher than the first two.

 

[sarahmcarthy]

I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make as far as prestige goes. It might make a difference to a particular school, if they have seen a trend with students they have admitted from a particular school or something like that. I'm not sure it is fair to say that dental schools (in general) give that much more weight to "prestigious" universities, but I could be way off base with that.

My questions wasn't necessarily about the prestige of the schools, but the fact that some are obviously ranked higher as far as academics are concerned and boost your chances against other applicants. would a dental school rather see someone graduate from FAU or UF? FAU was ranked a #1, the lowest on a scale of 1-5 while UF was ranked a #5. or does it not make a difference?

 

[Pelotari]

If 3.4 is the best you can do at a cc, what makes you think you could do better at a more "prestigious" university?

I don't like comments like this one. In my view, it is all in what you get out of your education. It does not matter if you go to a prestigious institution. It is up to YOU to get the most out of it.

I'll give you two examples that bring down the theory that CC's have a sub-standard and non-competitive level of education:

- First one: My friend, class mate, and room mate from graduate school went to a community college in Liberty County, Texas - just outside of Houston (very rural). Really tiny and "non prestigious" as it was said above. My friend jumped straight to graduate school in Applied Mathematics, and earned his PhD with the highest GPA in our class. As a side note, the private and prestigious school we went to had a grading scale of A+, A, A-, etc., which makes it much harder to get a 4.0. He got a 4.0. From a prestigious Grad School. Coming from a Community College. From a rural community college.

- Second example: Me. Got my pre-requisites (the majority of them anyway) from a Community College in Texas while I worked full time, and am married with two kids. I managed to get a great education at my CC and got a great GPA. Did okay in the DAT. Did this ruin my chances to get in to Dental School? Nope. Why do I know this? Because I am a Dentist.

In my humble opinion, it is all up to you. Got the drive, don't have the cash? That's okay. The Community College route is NOT a death sentence for your dreams of becoming a health care professional. Keep it all in perspective. Round your entire portfolio with community service, shadowing, good grades, etc. But above all, be a good and honest person and you'll be okay.

Best of Luck.

 

[sarahmcarthy]

I don't like comments like this one. In my view, it is all in what you get out of your education. It does not matter if you go to a prestigious institution. It is up to YOU to get the most out of it.

I'll give you two examples that bring down the theory that CC's have a sub-standard and non-competitive level of education:

- First one: My friend, class mate, and room mate from graduate school went to a community college in Liberty County, Texas - just outside of Houston (very rural). Really tiny and "non prestigious" as it was said above. My friend jumped straight to graduate school in Applied Mathematics, and earned his PhD with the highest GPA in our class. As a side note, the private and prestigious school we went to had a grading scale of A+, A, A-, etc., which makes it much harder to get a 4.0. He got a 4.0. From a prestigious Grad School. Coming from a Community College. From a rural community college.

- Second example: Me. Got my pre-requisites (the majority of them anyway) from a Community College in Texas while I worked full time, and am married with two kids. I managed to get a great education at my CC and got a great GPA. Did okay in the DAT. Did this ruin my chances to get in to Dental School? Nope. Why do I know this? Because I am a Dentist.

In my humble opinion, it is all up to you. Got the drive, don't have the cash? That's okay. The Community College route is NOT a death sentence for your dreams of becoming a health care professional. Keep it all in perspective. Round your entire portfolio with community service, shadowing, good grades, etc. But above all, be a good and honest person and you'll be okay.

Best of Luck.

thank you so if i have the option of going to two schools after i graduate with my AA from a cc, should i go to the better of them or does it not matter?

 

[Pelotari]

thank you so if i have the option of going to two schools after i graduate with my AA from a cc, should i go to the better of them or does it not matter?

Look to what it better suits you. This is no different than choosing a dental school, by the way. If you are looking for "prestige", then go for the one you think fits the bill. If you are looking for a good education, then do your homework and look at stuff like:
- Teacher:Student ratio per class.
- Accessibility to professors (office hours).
- Tutoring (some folks need these services).
- "Success" rate of the school placing folks in Dental School (if they have those types of statistics). Usually "counselors" have this type of info. But, be careful with these folks. They are not "know-it-alls". I don't mean to be harsh, but they have never been through the process of getting into or graduating from a health professional school. Get their input, and their input is great. But make your OWN decisions by talking to them, and to dentists, and to admissions folks AT THE DENTAL SCHOOL, and to your parents, etc. But make your OWN decisions - this is important. It is your future, and the decision on how you get there should be all yours. That's just my opinion.

It is also important to talk to the Dean of Admissions of the Dental School(s) you are interested in. Ask them straight up "What do I need to do to get in?". That's what I did, and I was very surprised at how helpful this was. Then draw up a timeline of the courses you are going to take, and do your best to stick to this. Put in this plan when you are going to take your DAT, and make sure you have taken the courses you need to prepare for it. I used MS Excel to do this and it helped me a LOT. Once you have it on paper and with dates, things become more clear and more tangible.

If you have any other questions, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to give you my opinion.

 

[sarahmcarthy]

Look to what it better suits you. This is no different than choosing a dental school, by the way. If you are looking for "prestige", then go for the one you think fits the bill. If you are looking for a good education, then do your homework and look at stuff like:
- Teacher:Student ratio per class.
- Accessibility to professors (office hours).
- Tutoring (some folks need these services).
- "Success" rate of the school placing folks in Dental School (if they have those types of statistics). Usually "counselors" have this type of info. But, be careful with these folks. They are not "know-it-alls". I don't mean to be harsh, but they have never been through the process of getting into or graduating from a health professional school. Get their input, and their input is great. But make your OWN decisions by talking to them, and to dentists, and to admissions folks AT THE DENTAL SCHOOL, and to your parents, etc. But make your OWN decisions - this is important. It is your future, and the decision on how you get there should be all yours. That's just my opinion.

It is also important to talk to the Dean of Admissions of the Dental School(s) you are interested in. Ask them straight up "What do I need to do to get in?". That's what I did, and I was very surprised at how helpful this was. Then draw up a timeline of the courses you are going to take, and do your best to stick to this. Put in this plan when you are going to take your DAT, and make sure you have taken the courses you need to prepare for it. I used MS Excel to do this and it helped me a LOT. Once you have it on paper and with dates, things become more clear and more tangible.

If you have any other questions, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to give you my opinion.

thank you sooo much!

 

[lekso]

okay guys I'm an undergrad student at palm beach state college and i am just about to start my second year. I have wanted to go to Dental school since high school and I decided last minute of my senior year to go to pbcc to save money for two years, and get my AA then transfer out. I would like to transfer to University of SOuth Florida or University of Central Florida or University of Florida, but my parents are constantly telling me to go to Florida Atloantic Universtiy. for those of you who live here, you'll know that FAU isnt prestigious at all. 90% of the kids that go there are commuters. its pretty much regarded as the next step up from community college. I know that dental school is EXTREMELY competitive and I feel as though going to community college has already lowered my chances and made it that much more competitive for me. For some reason, I am unable to get this through to my parents as they think FAU will save money and that it does not matter what schools you go to for your undergrad. HOWEVER i know that it DOES when you want to apply to medical and dental schools because they are extremely competitive. I feel like if i go to a better school liek University of Florida after community college, it'll give me a better chance because I went to a good university after community college, rather than ANOTHER average low tier university like FAU . Can somebody PLEASE give me their opinion? If it helps, I am in the honors college and honors society at my community college and my gpa is currently a 3.4.

In my opinion, and I'm sure many will agree, it doesn't matter where you go to undergrad as long as you can keep a good GPA. Like someone mentioned above, go wherever you think you can do good. I don't think a 3.4 is a bad at all but a higher GPA wouldn't hurt. Best of luck!

 

[UFRalo]

Well, I can tell you for a fact that a bunch of the upcoming D1's are from SoFLo. A lot of kids went to FIU, FAU and some from UCF too, so honestly I would choose one of the schools in SoFLo and stay closer to my family. UF is a good school for undergrad and has a nice name attached to your degree, but for dental school admissions you should be perfectly fine if you choose to go a different route. Transfer admissions has gotten a lot harder since I was a transfer student new to UF, so make sure to consider that as well.

UF admissions for dental school is based on whether or not they think you can handle the rigors of D1,D2 years. If you manage to do well in undergrad, no matter where you go you have a chance of getting into dental school.

 

[doc toothache]

I don't like comments like this one. In my view, it is all in what you get out of your education. It does not matter if you go to a prestigious institution. It is up to YOU to get the most out of it.

Something in particular that does not meet your approval?
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527335