Community College Student

[danny1009]

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So I screwed off in high school and I am currently a community college dreaming of eventually going to med school. I currently have a 3.7gpa and got a real cool research internship. I was wondering what are the probabilities of somebody who completed his pre-reqs at a CC to get into a solid medschool?
thanks guys

 

[rangoon1984]

Some med schools don't mind. Some med schools will thumb their noses at CC credits. I'm going to give you the advice given to me: Email med schools you are interested in and see how they feel about CC credits.

Out of all the schools I emailed (about 20), about half said they didn't mind CC credits, about half discouraged it and one said they wouldn't accept CC credits at all. A handful said that basic science classes at a CC were ok, but they wanted the upper level sciences done at a 4 year. It was a mixed bag.

 

[curt656]

I finished my first semester this Spring at a real university after transferring from CC where I took everything except for Orgo (my local med school strongly advised against taking Orgo at CC). I HIGHLY recommend taking your pre-req's at university. Regardless of which schools will accept them, CC's just don't educate you like you need to be educated for something as important as this. Face it, 2/3 or more of the classes are filled with students who are in CC for a reason and the teachers dumb it down, brush over stuff, and test lightly in comparison to 4-yr university. I am studying to take the MCAT in 3 weeks and I have found myself grossly underprepared and think I may have to reschedule. I am ok in Bio and Verbal, but it's like I never took physics as they skipped over so much. So try to put off as much as you can until you get to university.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[NightGod]

It also depends on where you are attending. Does your state have programs in place to make sure that the courses are equivalent at both the CC and the 4 year state schools? Are there any issues with transferring credits between the schools? Are your teachers qualified? (I live in IL and all of these apply here-we have PhD's teaching at our CCs and many of them teach classes at both 4 year schools and the CCs, other states aren't as rigorous). Regardless, it's a solid idea to take some upper level courses at the four year school to prove that you can handle the science load at med school. Adcoms will care a lot less about your CC credits if you took a couple 300/400 level science classes at your four year follow-up school.

 

[curt656]

It also depends on where you are attending. Does your state have programs in place to make sure that the courses are equivalent at both the CC and the 4 year state schools? Are there any issues with transferring credits between the schools? Are your teachers qualified? (I live in IL and all of these apply here-we have PhD's teaching at our CCs and many of them teach classes at both 4 year schools and the CCs, other states aren't as rigorous). Regardless, it's a solid idea to take some upper level courses at the four year school to prove that you can handle the science load at med school. Adcoms will care a lot less about your CC credits if you took a couple 300/400 level science classes at your four year follow-up school.

My state has all of that (equivalency, ease of transfer, etc), and the school has lots of Phd's (mostly math, some science). It is still a night and day difference.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

it's regional. I know curt's point of view, in other states CC doesnt have as bad as a stigma. it all depends though, only thing that matters is getting into the med school. if they will accept your cc credit and not give you any grief over it, take it and run w/it.

 

[Only Zool]

It also depends on where you are attending. Does your state have programs in place to make sure that the courses are equivalent at both the CC and the 4 year state schools? Are there any issues with transferring credits between the schools? Are your teachers qualified? (I live in IL and all of these apply here-we have PhD's teaching at our CCs and many of them teach classes at both 4 year schools and the CCs, other states aren't as rigorous). Regardless, it's a solid idea to take some upper level courses at the four year school to prove that you can handle the science load at med school. Adcoms will care a lot less about your CC credits if you took a couple 300/400 level science classes at your four year follow-up school.

This exactly. Texas has the TCCN (Texas Common Course Number) program that ensures equivalency and transfer credit for certain courses. 👍

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[danny1009]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!
I guess I should take SOME classes, but try to take the majority at an university. Although the classes aren't as rigorous at my CC, I'm in Massachusetts and the credits will transfer over very smoothly.
Umass Med School is a pretty solid school here in the area and I was wondering if state schools gave preference to students who graduated from a state school? There really is only one solid state school here in Massachusetts, and it would suck to have to pay 50K at a private university just to be competitive.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I finished my first semester this Spring at a real university after transferring from CC where I took everything except for Orgo (my local med school strongly advised against taking Orgo at CC). I HIGHLY recommend taking your pre-req's at university. Regardless of which schools will accept them, CC's just don't educate you like you need to be educated for something as important as this. Face it, 2/3 or more of the classes are filled with students who are in CC for a reason and the teachers dumb it down, brush over stuff, and test lightly in comparison to 4-yr university. I am studying to take the MCAT in 3 weeks and I have found myself grossly underprepared and think I may have to reschedule. I am ok in Bio and Verbal, but it's like I never took physics as they skipped over so much. So try to put off as much as you can until you get to university.

Just my 2 cents...

My experience is the opposite. Not a single thing on the mcat had been skipped over at my cc. However, I did take one class at a neighbor college with the "hardest" professor there and it was a joke.

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