Community College vs. University

[keyinhand]

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I just finished up my AS in psych at a community college. I recently decided that psych is not for me and I would rather do an undergrad in bio. I applied for scholarships at the community college and the university nearby. The community college has already told me I have been approved, but I am waiting on my university. Here is my question, if I don't get the scholarship at the university, would it be bad to continue at the community college and take bio and chem classes? I have read online that medical schools don't like when you take your medical school prereqs at a community college. Is this true? Any advice would be wonderful, I don't want to screw myself over for med school over 10,000 bucks.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

You can take bio 1 & 2, chem 1& 2 and be fine. Taking more then those might put you in a bad place, but otherwise no your fine more or less. However since you have AS you already have 60 credits to transfer. So taking classes at the uni might be smarter.

 

[keyinhand]

Do you think the fact I have already graduated from the community college will hurt me if I continue to take classes? Like maybe medical schools would see this as me trying to take "easier" classes?

 

[Sesom]

Do you think the fact I have already graduated from the community college will hurt me if I continue to take classes? Like maybe medical schools would see this as me trying to take "easier" classes?

Just make sure all of your upper level med school pre reqs are done at a university. I don't think it would be a problem with you already having your AS.

 

[Musclemass]

Unless you are dealing with major economic or personal hardships, a record of 3-4 years in community college presents a very unimpressive picture. People you are competing with have completed top university programs in the same amount of time. Unless other factors demonstrate how terrific you are (like a very top MCAT score or ridiculous other achievements), I think doing this will hurt your chances.

Forget concern over your major, it doesn't matter. Get yourself to the best university you can afford, complete the major in psych while also doing med school pre-reqs. That will be your best chance to do well, in my opinion. Good luck.

 

[chman]

The bottom line is that you are going to need a bachelors degree at some point to apply to medical school. You can't do that at a cc. Further, you should already have your gen-eds completed from your two years there and should be able to transfer as a junior. I don't see the point of doing more than two years at a cc, which is what I'm doing BTW.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Unless you are dealing with major economic or personal hardships, a record of 3-4 years in community college presents a very unimpressive picture. People you are competing with have completed top university programs in the same amount of time. Unless other factors demonstrate how terrific you are (like a very top MCAT score or ridiculous other achievements), I think doing this will hurt your chances.

Forget concern over your major, it doesn't matter. Get yourself to the best university you can afford, complete the major in psych while also doing med school pre-reqs. That will be your best chance to do well, in my opinion. Good luck.

Eh semi-agree, semi-disagree.
Medical schools don't really care about your major, and even would 'recommend' that you not do a biology major. Medical schools also don't care about why you took so long to graduate or otherwise. While it is ideal that you go to a 4 year college and finish up, the world is not a ideal place and this rule is becoming more and more lax. I actually know a person from my CC who got into medical school after 6 years of part time education.
So of course I'd recommend strongly for you to go to the 4 year college and because your credits will transfer. But also recommend that you not feel pressured by time and know that taking your time and making your application is also best.
Btw attend/ apply to your state schools or schools which are heavy on scholarships, save yourself the cash. The best choice is to attend a school where you achieve less debt because we all know medical school is more important and costs 200k+.

 

[chman]

Eh semi-agree, semi-disagree.
Medical schools don't really care about your major, and even would 'recommend' that you not do a biology major. Medical schools also don't care about why you took so long to graduate or otherwise. While it is ideal that you go to a 4 year college and finish up, the world is not a ideal place and this rule is becoming more and more lax. I actually know a person from my CC who got into medical school after 6 years of part time education.
So of course I'd recommend strongly for you to go to the 4 year college and because your credits will transfer. But also recommend that you not feel pressured by time and know that taking your time and making your application is also best.
Btw attend/ apply to your state schools or schools which are heavy on scholarships, save yourself the cash. The best choice is to attend a school where you achieve less debt because we all know medical school is more important and costs 200k+.

The chances of getting in to med school without going to a four year are slim at best. It is a waste of time to spend more time at a cc if one already had their associates degree.

 

[TexasMDtobe]

Isn't there a maximum number of credit hours that can be transferred from the CC and recognized by the University? When I transferred from CC to University, I could only transfer 66 hours. If you already have an associate's and continue taking classes at the CC, the 4-year university you must eventually transfer to might not recognize all of those hours, leaving you with wasted semesters.

 

[Frederico Albin]

Isn't there a maximum number of credit hours that can be transferred from the CC and recognized by the University? When I transferred from CC to University, I could only transfer 66 hours. If you already have an associate's and continue taking classes at the CC, the 4-year university you must eventually transfer to might not recognize all of those hours, leaving you with wasted semesters.

Thats why is so important to call or check the website of your future university... most schools have a course/transfer section in their websites that lets you see what transfers and what doesnt. Saves you a lot of time and money, and most schools that I know dont have a limit on the amount of credits to transfer, as long as those courses are equivalent to the courses taught at the university you are transfering to.

 

[JustAGuy]

It probably depends a lot on where you go. Some admission people have told me it was ok, but I've also read some schools prefer prereqs at a university.

 

[Chris7heDoc]

What about if I was to graduate from a school such as Howard university with a gpa of about 3.57 but my science gpa was about 3.2. So what if I choose to retake some or all courses at a community college instead of a post-BA cert for premed paying around 20-40k while at a cc i could end up paying about 2-3k. notice I already took the science courses but, retaking it at a cc would that lower my chances.

 

[oNichole]

I'm taking all my prereqs at CC. Does that mean I'm screwed? I was unhappy at my private university and quit. Came back home and needed something to do. My GEs were done and I couldn't find a job so rather than sitting at home on the couch I went to school. I don't see why it matters where you took your prereqs. If you do well on the MCAT you obviously learned something so it couldn't have been that much of a **** class.