Originally posted by 2112_rush
I agree with the others that you should concentrate on your current classes, but be aware that some med schools (such as Wake Forest and Tulane) do not apply community college credit towards your required prerequisite coursework.
I don't know where you got that thing about Tulane not applying community college credit but Tulane specifically states: "Prequisites must be taken at a U.S. accredited college/university and not be taken on a pass/fail basis. "
Regards to Wake Forest, they have said nothing about CC classes for the prereqs.
Originally posted by greggth
I would lean toward retaking both courses, because the courses at the university will probably be more rigorous than the community college ones.
Here are some questions for you:
1) Was the community college physics course a calculus-based course? If not, definitely retake it.
2) Was the organic course the toughest organic course the community college offered? And was that course designed for chem majors? If not, definitely retake it.
I don't think retaking courses due to having taken classes at a JC is required here. Regardless of how good a course prepares you for a 4-year school; retaking a course and getting a higher grade only has really no major effect IMO. Why? Doing well in a class where you have already had a years worth of experience in doesn't say much. It just says you were well prepared.
Med school's want to see how well you do in school, and how well you deal with the workloads. That means taking challenging courses, and balancing your life around it. Not retaking classes because it was done at a JC. Clearly, Tulane doesn't care, these are PRE-REQUIREMENTS. In truth, this is one MINOR aspect of what gets you even considered for med school.
What you do in your overall career as an undergrad is more important than where you took your classes. Clearly you must transfer to a 4-year university, and have taken at least 2 years of courses there. This would certainly make up for any negative feelings anyone would have on your time at a JC.
Lastly, calculus-based physics or not, I don't think any adcom would really care about that in regards to 3 quarters or 2 semesters worth of physics. Personally, I have (many) friends who got into med school by taking your run of the mill, non-calc-based physics. All of my pre-med friends who transferred to my school, who took OChem at the JC have had no problems getting in or getting interviewed at med schools.
I think it is completely bogus to think that your 2-years at a JC will be looked down upon. What you did in your freshman/soph years isn't as important as to how you conduct yourself during your junior and senior years when you're hit with the rest of your upper division courses. This is one of the reasons why AMCAS splits your grades in many different ways. By year, by quarter, cumulative, and cumulative science. They look at everything, and weight it accordingly.
If they weight it by school, fine whatever, most schools just use GPA's to figure out if you get a secondary or not. They may consider GPA's/MCAT's during secondaries too, but durnig that phase you'll have letter's of recs. If you do well in school, and sell yourself on your personal statement, i see no reason why you wouldn't get a secondary.
So in closing, DON'T WORRY! Transfer, do good at the 4-year university. Always challenge yourself with courses that interest you. THats the most important thing.