Community College to Med school student?

[QueenJames]

Hey guys/gals,

I am a non-trad student/graduate. Graduated from a 4-year a while ago and went back to a CC to retake some pre-reqs and added more science courses to raise my GPA and I am proud to say that the hard work paid off and will be going to med school next year!

I was just curious how the transition for folks who took courses or a majority of their pre-reqs at a CC went now that they are in medical school. Did you feel you "missed out" or were underprepared since you didn't take your pre-reqs at a 4-year university or didn't do an official post-bacc program? Do you think it affected you in anyway in med school in terms of studying, comprehending, and performing on exams in med school?

Maybe I'm just freaking out about what will happen a year from now but just wanted to see what my SDN folks had to say!

Thanks!

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[Postictal Raiden]

I did all of my pre-med courses at a community college. I'm doing just fine in med school.

my friend did the same thing. He then attended one of the top 5 med schools in the country.

good luck

 

[AlteredScale]

You're going to get a million and one different answers for this. It honestly depends on the CC and the 4 year uni. My CC was fairly notorious for having a difficulty biological sciences department but helped a lot of them succeed through 4 year and into professional school. Heck, I thought some of my CC bio courses were wayyy tougher than some upper div bio courses at ucsd but they did that on purpose.

It'll be subjective across the board. Just give your 100% and you'll be fine.

 

[dfib slim]

.

 

[Thought Crime Spree]

You've been accepted, you're meant to be in med school, it doesn't matter how you got there. Work hard and you will do fine. I did a lot of stuff at CC and had no issues.

 

[Rekt]

I did 1.5 years at community college, but the only science class I took was Gen Chem II at CC. Was significantly harder than any class I took at Uni. But like what was previously said, it will vary, but you'll be fine.

 

[Launcelot]

Hey guys/gals,

I am a non-trad student/graduate. Graduated from a 4-year a while ago and went back to a CC to retake some pre-reqs and added more science courses to raise my GPA and I am proud to say that the hard work paid off and will be going to med school next year!

I was just curious how the transition for folks who took courses or a majority of their pre-reqs at a CC went now that they are in medical school. Did you feel you "missed out" or were underprepared since you didn't take your pre-reqs at a 4-year university or didn't do an official post-bacc program? Do you think it affected you in anyway in med school in terms of studying, comprehending, and performing on exams in med school?

Maybe I'm just freaking out about what will happen a year from now but just wanted to see what my SDN folks had to say!

Thanks!

I graduated from a CC before going to a 4 year. My CC gen chem and organic was extremely tough and on par in relative difficulty with what I'm getting at my COM's biochem. More than half of the students failed 1st semester gen chem at my CC, then half of that failed 1st semester organic. We would have been left with a class size of ~10 if it wasn't for pre-meds in your previous situation coming in to take pre-reqs. A quarter of the class failed 2nd semester organic, too. If you ask how that instructor still has a job, he's tenured.

I picked up very good study skills from my CC, probably more so than my 4 year university. I actually feel ahead of the curve because of it.

 

[yanks26dmb]

Hey guys/gals,

I am a non-trad student/graduate. Graduated from a 4-year a while ago and went back to a CC to retake some pre-reqs and added more science courses to raise my GPA and I am proud to say that the hard work paid off and will be going to med school next year!

I was just curious how the transition for folks who took courses or a majority of their pre-reqs at a CC went now that they are in medical school. Did you feel you "missed out" or were underprepared since you didn't take your pre-reqs at a 4-year university or didn't do an official post-bacc program? Do you think it affected you in anyway in med school in terms of studying, comprehending, and performing on exams in med school?

Maybe I'm just freaking out about what will happen a year from now but just wanted to see what my SDN folks had to say!

Thanks!

I'm exactly same as you, except I had another year or two since undergrad. I took zero upper level science classes and even did some of my pre-reqs completely online (lab included). As of RIGHT NOW (2 months in), there has been zero negative effect. I'm doing very well in my classes...but probably work harder than the more intellectually gifted individuals in the class. We haven't encountered anything yet where I've thought, "damnit...I'm not going to be able to understand what they are talking about because I never took __________ in undergrad"

 

[Mad Jack]

I started at CC then went to a university. Doing fine in med school at the moment.

 

[GUH]

The students I knew who had the greatest amount of academic difficulty in the preclinical years were often (in the following order, from most to least common):
Students who were either very young (from linkage programs) or "old" (40+ years old)
Students who had either undiagnosed or poorly controlled psychiatric issues
Students who had serious medical issues, either personally or a parent

There were also those in each category who made it through just fine. Whether a student had attended a JC or not did not seem to be a major factor determining their chances of successfully completing the coursework.

Just go into your medical school career with the knowledge that they would not have accepted you if they didn't think you would be able to do it!

 

[soon2BdocC]

Hey guys/gals,

I am a non-trad student/graduate. Graduated from a 4-year a while ago and went back to a CC to retake some pre-reqs and added more science courses to raise my GPA and I am proud to say that the hard work paid off and will be going to med school next year!

I was just curious how the transition for folks who took courses or a majority of their pre-reqs at a CC went now that they are in medical school. Did you feel you "missed out" or were underprepared since you didn't take your pre-reqs at a 4-year university or didn't do an official post-bacc program? Do you think it affected you in anyway in med school in terms of studying, comprehending, and performing on exams in med school?

Maybe I'm just freaking out about what will happen a year from now but just wanted to see what my SDN folks had to say!

Thanks!

Another nontrad here, OMS IV, all my sciences taken at community college. I have never remediate a class and doing well on boards. It can be done. All depends on the student. I don't think anyone is prepared for med school.

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[StuTX]

I did the same thing and didn't have any issues in medical school or the COMLEX Level 1 or 2. I haven't had to use most of the pre-req education anyway!

 

[crazy87]

I took all my science classes at a CC (very slowly, one or two classes at a time over a period of like 3-4 years, all after I graduated undergrad) and I'm doing fine in school (2 months in, we've had plenty of exams). I had anxiety about it for a while thinking I would fail out but no. I'm above the average on most exams.

 

[FCMike11]

Quality courses are so incredibly variable (with respect to the professor, generally). My gen chem professor (community college) was an outstanding teacher who went the extra mile to make sure you understood, but was incredibly hard on the class. Now compare this to my university's Biochemistry professor who is very transparent about his preference for research, lectures over one thing and tests over something completely opposite (primarily in the form of tests recycled from quizlet).

 

[Adamb83]

I had around a 2.0 GPA in high school. Had to go to CC before transferring to a 4 year university. I'm now a 4th year with 250+, and 650+ on both my Steps and in the top third of my class. You'll be just fine. Work hard in medical school. Nothing you did previous to now makes any bit of difference in the grand scheme of your education or career.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I struggled a lot during M1 and attended CC as a post-bacc student, but I don't feel that having gone to a more rigorous school would have prepared me for medical school. The skills I was using during post-bacc were mainly math (physics and g chem) and logic (O. Chem). In med school it's about taking high volume information and teasing out the testable portions and then memorizing. It's a very different skill set.

 

[katiemaude]

Took all my premed science classes at a CC. Did well enough on the MCAT to meet the cutoff at lower tier MD schools. Have not had to remediate a class (yet ... haha) and tend to do in the top 5-15 percent of my class on exams in second year.

First year was bumpy at first but more so because I had been out of school for two years. People who had biochem, micro, physio in undergrad tended to do better first semester. The ones who adjusted the easiest came out of MBS programs where they did all of these classes alongside med students already. So I had to change my study habits and ramp up the hours. Guess who is kicking their collective backsides now? The people who had to learn how to adapt last year and didn't coast through.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Time to bump this for folks who may be taking their CC classes this year to reapply.

Would love to read more experiences from those who took CC classes and see how med school is treating them.

 

[hsk013]

You're going to get a million and one different answers for this. It honestly depends on the CC and the 4 year uni. My CC was fairly notorious for having a difficulty biological sciences department but helped a lot of them succeed through 4 year and into professional school. Heck, I thought some of my CC bio courses were wayyy tougher than some upper div bio courses at ucsd but they did that on purpose.

It'll be subjective across the board. Just give your 100% and you'll be fine.

which community college was this? i can only think of de anza that might be on par with other 4 yr schools but i dont think de anza is as bad as UCs. I don't know about CCs in So Cal though.

 

[dfib slim]

which community college was this? i can only think of de anza that might be on par with other 4 yr schools but i dont think de anza is as bad as UCs. I don't know about CCs in So Cal though.

West Valley was pretty strong.

 

[FourniersGreenGang]

which community college was this? i can only think of de anza that might be on par with other 4 yr schools but i dont think de anza is as bad as UCs. I don't know about CCs in So Cal though.

IDK my CC was way harder to me than the UC I went to.

 

[AlteredScale]

which community college was this? i can only think of de anza that might be on par with other 4 yr schools but i dont think de anza is as bad as UCs. I don't know about CCs in So Cal though.

It was Cuyamaca Community and Grossmont Comunity College!

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Took ALL general chemistry, biology, physics, math, and organic chemistry (except 1 quarter) at community college.

Most of my professors at my community college were also teaching at UC schools though as well so the courses were still at that level. In fact, most of my community college courses were more difficult than my university courses.



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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I can agree with the notion that it depends on what community college you attended. Mine was rigorous and did not pull any punches at all.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Hey guys/gals,

I am a non-trad student/graduate. Graduated from a 4-year a while ago and went back to a CC to retake some pre-reqs and added more science courses to raise my GPA and I am proud to say that the hard work paid off and will be going to med school next year!

I was just curious how the transition for folks who took courses or a majority of their pre-reqs at a CC went now that they are in medical school. Did you feel you "missed out" or were underprepared since you didn't take your pre-reqs at a 4-year university or didn't do an official post-bacc program? Do you think it affected you in anyway in med school in terms of studying, comprehending, and performing on exams in med school?

Maybe I'm just freaking out about what will happen a year from now but just wanted to see what my SDN folks had to say!

Thanks!

This, more than anything else you've mentioned, concerns me ---- because it's exactly what I did and it caused me no end of heartache --- You have got to get rid of that mentality or you will suffer --- greatly ----

CC or Univ, old/young, non-trade/in-the-pipeline really don't matter --- you can find success/failure stories for all of them --- and the one common denominator in all of them are the mindgames ---

For me -- the mind games began in childhood with the unspoken mantra that "people like us" weren't doctors, then the mind games I ran on myself with ,"Am I good enough, don't you have to go to Hardvard/Yale/Stanford?" --- I did all of my prepreqs at CC and when I didn't match, I was told my package wasn't strong enough -- 25 on the MCAT which I studied for in one month while working nights at Walmart --- sign up for post bacc but get called in off the wait list -- meet the Associate Dean of Education during orientation and he flat out tells me I'm going to struggle -- I made the mistake of believing him and guess what? I wound up struggling, failing first year, repeating successfully and graduating ----


Lose the mindset or you will regret it. You're in -- that's all you need -- yeah, some prep is better but I've seen people who came from power universities with great grades/MCAT scores flunk out because they couldn't identify a nerve over a vein on a practical, I've seen Ph.D's flunk out because they just couldn't get that you don't need that level of detail, study what you're given and know it well ----

You've got what you need to succeed, the biggest battle for you is the 6 inches between your ears ----

Seriously, get some confidence NOW --- PM if you need to.....this story sounds way too familiar....

 

[Dullhead]

I did all of my pre-med courses at a community college. I'm doing just fine in med school. my friend did the same thing. He then attended one of the top 5 med schools in the country. good luck

Did you get your LoRs from CC instructors? Will this negatively affect the quality of my application? I don't have a choice anyway...

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Did you get your LoRs from CC instructors? Will this negatively affect the quality of my application? I don't have a choice anyway...

I got a lot of my LoRs from CC professors. Chances are that they will know you better than some professor that had 400 students in their class. That being said, it would be a good idea to try and get at least one letter from faculty at a university.


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[Postictal Raiden]

Did you get your LoRs from CC instructors? Will this negatively affect the quality of my application? I don't have a choice anyway...

No but a a friend of mine, who attended a very prestigious MD program in CA took all of his premed courses at a CC (because he had a degree in a non-science field) and got couple of his LORs from CC professors.

 

[Dullhead]

I got a lot of my LoRs from CC professors. Chances are that they will know you better than some professor that had 400 students in their class. That being said, it would be a good idea to try and get at least one letter from faculty at a university.

Currently, the only course I plan on taking at a 4-year is UNE's online biochem. All my other classes will be from CC. Grossmont Cuyamaca.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Currently, the only course I plan on taking at a 4-year is UNE's online biochem. All my other classes will be from CC. Grossmont Cuyamaca.

That's where I went to CC and had 0 problems with the DO application cycle. My letter writers were from organic chem and biology from CC.

I also had letter writers from my PI though at UCLA, Administrator from where I volunteered, and multiple docs.




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[Dullhead]

That's where I went to CC and had 0 problems with the DO application cycle. My letter writers were from organic chem and biology from CC.

I also had letter writers from my PI though at UCLA, Administrator from where I volunteered, and multiple docs.

Good to know, thank you. Since I have no choice, I will have to go ahead with what I have.