community college or UMass Boston??

[jintonic5]

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i'm planning on taking extra undergrad science courses in the spring while studying for the mcat. should i attend a local community college, or UMass Boston? i'm from a boston suburb, commuting is not an issue.

pros to a CC: CHEAP. half the price of UMass, about 20 min drive closer to home than UMB.
pros to UMass: better, probably more challenging school, better selection of courses.

my grades are horrendous right now, so i want to boost them with the extra coursework before i apply to SMP's. what do you guys think? i'm leaning towards UMB, but some imput would be appreciated.

thanks!
jin the tonic

 

[Pemulis]

If your grades are horrendous, then you really MUST take them at UMB, if not someplace even better. You want to prove that you can hack challenging coursework, and classes at a CC simply aren't going to do that. No offense to any CC people out there--I'm sure that many CC courses are fine, but in the academic world, 2 year schools just aren't considered as rigorous as 4-years.

You need to go to the best school you can go to, and then rock. Good luck.

 

[sidewalkman]

UMass Boston, hands down.


There is a recent thread somewhere of people who go there... here it is: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=149939

 

[jintonic5]

thanks for the advice!

 

[blankguy]

UMB. CC don't cut it.
There were a few people in my orgo class that took Gen chem in CC and they didn't know what the heck my professor was lecturing about.

 

[jules0328]

Yeah, honestly, dont take the pre-reqs at a CC. I took bio I, chem I and physics I and I decided to retake them all at a 4 year institution. Perhaps adcoms may not love this, but I did not learn a thing at CC. Granted, this all depends on schools. However, the material covered at a 4 year institution is superior than any CC since CC do not gear the course on a pre med level. They simply teach you what you need to know and then move on.....as far as chemistry at a CC. General chemistry at a CC is not the same as inorganic chemistry, which I think is by far better to learn in the beginning so that you may get a good foundation of chemistry. I learned the bare minimum at the CC chemistry I class, now that I am at a 4 year university and in inorganic/general chem I am learning things that we never even touched upon in the CC chem class.

I highly recommend you do not take classes at a CC, for your own educational sake as well as medical school application.