Community College

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ayndim

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I already have a degree but need to do the prereqs. I am sick of paying higher tuition. Can you do the prereqs at a cc or does that look bad?

Thanks
 
Originally posted by ayndim
I already have a degree but need to do the prereqs. I am sick of paying higher tuition. Can you do the prereqs at a cc or does that look bad?

Thanks
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What is your goal? Where are you trying to go? Personally, I don't think it will matter at most medical schools, especially state schools where many applicants will have taken coursework at community colleges anyway.
 
I would like to attend Uni of Arizona. The community colleges here offer everything I need even Organic Chem. Just wasn't sure if it mattered where you took it. Not only would it be cheaper but the cc's have more night and weekend classes (I have young kids at home).
 
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the community colleges in the cities and towns I am from. I came VERY close to taking organic, physics, and calculus at a two year school and last minute decided not to.

My decision was based on the fact that many of the places I applied to have a reputation of snubbing applicants based on where they went to school. Like I said, I have respect for community colleges, but unfortunately I am not the one on the admssions committee who decides who gets an invitation and who gets the brush-off.

Call the med school admissions office and see what the person on the other end of the phone thinks about your decision. The previous post inspires some hope, but in the unlikely event that this school rejects you, consider that your back-up school may have a disposition for snubbing.
 
I got some pretty good interview invites - and I did ALL my science pre-reqs at a CC. It is a fairly reputable one, but a CC nonetheless. I can't say this is an across the board fact, but I don't think most schools will look down upon it. Think of all the transfer students who did their repreqs at a CC before transfering into a 4-year university. Same difference, just one is before graduation, the other is after.
 
I don't recommend taking all of the pre-reqs at a community college. Try to take some classes at the University of Arizon extension, or attempt to enroll in regular undergrad courses at U of A as a non-degree student. It's ok to take some of your pre-reqs at a JC. I did a little over half of them at one, and I got ten interviews this year. However, I also took a lot of upper level science courses at a high-powered university. Good luck.
 
I personally contacted UCSD admissions and I was told, ?It doesn?t matter where you completed your pre-requisites as long as the school was/is fully accredited?.
 
I would only worry about taking the classes at JC if my undergrad grades were sub-par, or if you were worried about your MCAT scores. If you've already demonstrated your ability to do well at the university level, and you don't expect to bomb the MCAT, it won't make a difference. However, marginal grades or MCAT scores might make it look as though you were trying to take an easier route. (Which I honestly don't understand, because I took some absolutely brutal courses at JC, comparable to many of my upper-division courses at Berkeley. JCs are not the cake-walk that people play them off as--at least, not in San Diego.)
 
I doubt there is anything wrong with taking your med school pre-reqs in the 13th and 14th grades (junior college). As long as you're not vying for a spot at at a top 20 med school, you should be fine. I'm sure your local state school will have no problem accepting the CC credits...but if I were you, I would opt to the take the pre-reqs at your local university instead just because it will probably be more challenging and you'd probably learn more. But then again, it's your money and your life...so choose whichever path you feel is best for you. Whatever you choose, best of luck!
 
Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
I doubt there is anything wrong with taking your med school pre-reqs in the 13th and 14th grades (junior college).
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Go sit in on one of Takashi Nakajima's 3-hour no-notes calculus based physics midterms, or one of his five-hour no-notes calculus based physics finals at Palomar Community College in San Marcos. Or compare Daniel Sourbeer's Bio 1B equivalent to the curriculum you studied at Cal. Then we'll see how much you still think it's 13th or 14th grade.

Stop talking out of your ass--you don't know what you're talking about, and you make my school look like a troll haven.
 
Originally posted by Nutmeg
Go sit in on one of Takashi Nakajima's 3-hour no-notes calculus based physics midterms, or one of his five-hour no-notes calculus based physics finals at Palomar Community College in San Marcos. Or compare Daniel Sourbeer's Bio 1B equivalent to the curriculum you studied at Cal. Then we'll see how much you still think it's 13th or 14th grade.

Stop talking out of your ass--you don't know what you're talking about, and you make my school look like a troll haven.
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lol. As per usual, you shat a few bricks after reading my post. I took 27 units at a community college in LA while I was still enrolled in high school...and the classes I took there were MUCH MUCH easier than the classes I was taking at my high school (AP, honors, etc). That's why I refer to CC as the 13th and 14th grades (in addition to the fact that California CCs resemble high schools in terms of layout and architecture...most do not look like a typical 4 year college/university at all). I'm sure not all CCs are created equal and some are harder and better than others...but the CC I went to was the same CC that Brickhouse went to for her pre-reqs...as she mentioned...it's a fairly "reputable" CC...and the classes I took there were still pretty clinically braindead. Your point about using your own CC as an example of how difficult the courses can be really doesn't matter at all...because someone who attended a CC with courses that are easier than AP classes in high school could just shoot back with more anecdotal evidence.

So, I know it would take the jaws of life to pry open your asscheeks to remove the stick that's firmly shoved up your colon...but please at least try to reach around and take it out.
 
Originally posted by Mr Reddly
Forgive me (not trying to offend) but "what?". If I'm reading correctly, you are saying that since they teach a strong 'calc based' physics class and a strong bio 1 class that it shouldn't be called 13-14th grade?

hmmm... to me, those classes should be taken during year 1 and 2. ie 13-14th. Atleast that's when I took my 'calc based' physics class at Hopkins...

I mean the post is right. the pre-reqs ARE all fresh/soph classes. And JCs are set up to to be just that fresh/soph instruction... The post said nothing about difficulty of the classes...

<steps down from soap box..>
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Exactly. JCs are designed to be affordable, local institutions where full-time and part-time students can take their freshman and sophomore work. This is why so many people go to JCs to fulfill their general education requirements, take their pre-requisite classes, etc. Given that the vast majority of people go to the nearest JC to their home (hence..."community" college)...and it is likely that they attended the nearest high school to their home as well...JCs do serve as the functional equivalent of the 13th and 14th grades. And I agree, ONE example of a CC that has difficult courses doesn't prove anything at all. Someone else could just shoot back with more anecdotal evidence about how ridiculously easy JC classes are (in fact, I did that in the post above).
 
Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
lol. As per usual, you shat a few bricks after reading my post. I took 27 units at a community college in LA while I was still enrolled in high school...and the classes I took there were MUCH MUCH easier than the classes I was taking at my high school (AP, honors, etc). That's why I refer to CC as the 13th and 14th grades (in addition to the fact that California CCs resemble high schools in terms of layout and architecture...most do not look like a typical 4 year college/university at all). I'm sure not all CCs are created equal and some are harder and better than others...but the CC I went to was the same CC that Brickhouse went to for her pre-reqs...as she mentioned...it's a fairly "reputable" CC...and the classes I took there were still pretty clinically braindead. Your point about using your own CC as an example of how difficult the courses can be really doesn't matter at all...because someone who attended a CC with courses that are easier than AP classes in high school could just shoot back with more anecdotal evidence.
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DUDE.... I took an upper division psych class at Cal that was easier than any class in my high school experience--about two hours of skimming the book before the two tests and I got a solid A. My o-chem at JC was more difficult than my o-chem at Cal, and Cal is chemistry intensive.

I have 124 semester units from three JCs, and at the end of this semester, I'll have 116 semester units from Berkeley, almost all of which is upper-division. Talk about "anecdotal evidence" all you want, but the truth is that I'm in a much better position to judge than your trifling ass, and when you throw in what I know from my sister's JC experiences vs classes she took at Cal, your "anecdotal evidence" is for s***.

While my upper-division engineering courses at Cal cover material that is innately harder than anything that you'll find at JC, the fact remains that lower division courses at Cal are not necessarily harder than the same courses at JC, and often quite the opposite is true.

So, I know it would take the jaws of life to pry open your asscheeks to remove the stick that's firmly shoved up your colon...but please at least try to reach around and take it out.
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Nice work, troll--a TOS violation to show how much more mature the students in a University are than those in "13th grade." It's funny--I never referred to my classmates in college as "kids" until I came to Cal. Of all the many benefits of JC over university studying, I think that having mature classmates--and I'm not just talking about older classmates, I'm talking about the ones who are the usual college age but have had real jobs and real responsibility and aren't just their parent's puppets--is definitely the thing I miss the most. Grow the hell up already and quit with the ass-talk. I don't think I've read a thread yet where your posts didn't eventually get around to mentioning feces or rectums.

YOU exemplify everything that anyone has ever hated about name-droppers and self-righteous gunners. Please register under a new name and stop making my school look bad. Don't you have any dignity or pride at all? Must you spend more time corrupting the name of your school than you spend trying to make yourself a shining example of that which your school is capable of producing?
 
Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
And I agree, ONE example of a CC that has difficult courses doesn't prove anything at all. Someone else could just shoot back with more anecdotal evidence about how ridiculously easy JC classes are (in fact, I did that in the post above).
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How about 3? Palomar, Mesa, and Pasadena city colleges are all more demanding than you'd make them out to be, while many classes at Cal are "clinically braindead." What's your point?
 
I don't understand why community colleges get a bad rap. You can take the exact same lower-division courses as in a university but with smaller classes and lower tuition. If a community college is closer to your home than the university, there are a lot of other savings as well (transportation, living expenses). There seems to be a myth that the students at community colleges are there only because they didn't have the grades to get accepted into a university but students attend community colleges because they feel they can learn better in smaller classes and/or the class scheduling is more flexible to their needs.
 
Originally posted by ayndim
Can you do the prereqs at a cc or does that look bad?

Thanks
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I've talked with a person in charge of admissions at a medical school, although not a top 20 one (it was competitve due to its location however). She said that some of her best schooling was done at the community college. She said it was just fine to go to a community college.

There, you can have a lot more personalized attention. For example, chemistry classes at some community colleges I've seen have 30 students. The professor teaches the lectures and the labs. From the people I have spoken to, the difficulty at the community colleges are not that much different than from a university. Anyways, I worked harder in high school than I do now. Calling CC's the 13th and 14th grades might actually be a good thing.
 
Originally posted by Nutmeg
How about 3? Palomar, Mesa, and Pasadena city colleges are all more demanding than you'd make them out to be, while many classes at Cal are "clinically braindead." What's your point?
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Hey! I attended Palomar too. The professors there are awesome and you get out of it what you put in. I found many of the classes as demanding as University level classes. I did like the smaller class size so you can get access to the prof at a CC.
 
Originally posted by Cooper_Wriston
Yes.



Yes.

Coops
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I hope you're just being a troll. You're completely wrong, at any rate. Like I said, I interviewed at a top ten school, not to toot my own horn, and I did all my re-reqs at a JC. It's all the same. It's just cheaper.
 
Originally posted by Nutmeg
DUDE.... I took an upper division psych class at Cal that was easier than any class in my high school experience--about two hours of skimming the book before the two tests and I got a solid A. My o-chem at JC was more difficult than my o-chem at Cal, and Cal is chemistry intensive.

I have 124 semester units from three JCs, and at the end of this semester, I'll have 116 semester units from Berkeley, almost all of which is upper-division. Talk about "anecdotal evidence" all you want, but the truth is that I'm in a much better position to judge than your trifling ass, and when you throw in what I know from my sister's JC experiences vs classes she took at Cal, your "anecdotal evidence" is for s***.

While my upper-division engineering courses at Cal cover material that is innately harder than anything that you'll find at JC, the fact remains that lower division courses at Cal are not necessarily harder than the same courses at JC, and often quite the opposite is true.



Nice work, troll--a TOS violation to show how much more mature the students in a University are than those in "13th grade." It's funny--I never referred to my classmates in college as "kids" until I came to Cal. Of all the many benefits of JC over university studying, I think that having mature classmates--and I'm not just talking about older classmates, I'm talking about the ones who are the usual college age but have had real jobs and real responsibility and aren't just their parent's puppets--is definitely the thing I miss the most. Grow the hell up already and quit with the ass-talk. I don't think I've read a thread yet where your posts didn't eventually get around to mentioning feces or rectums.

YOU exemplify everything that anyone has ever hated about name-droppers and self-righteous gunners. Please register under a new name and stop making my school look bad. Don't you have any dignity or pride at all? Must you spend more time corrupting the name of your school than you spend trying to make yourself a shining example of that which your school is capable of producing?
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"Self-righteous gunners"...umm...since when does studying hard make someone a "gunner?" So if someone studies as hard as they can for a midterm (reads the chapters thoroughly, reads the lecture material, asks questions to the prof in office hours concerning material they don't quite understand, etc) and does well on the midterm...that makes them a "gunner?" If so, file me under "gunner" immediately.

A "gunner" is someone who actively tries to make sure OTHERS do not succeed..by using underhanded tactics that would probably get you a disciplinary reprimand at most schools...these actions include sabatoging other people's labs, ripping pages out of books on reserve at the library, stealing materials from labs so others cannot use them, refusing to help another student who asks for their assistance, etc. I do NOT do any of the aforementioned things...yet...I get called a "gunner"...you have absolutely no clue what a "gunner" is.

As for "self-righteous"...I will cede you that because I've been accused of exhibiting that trait by friends. It's something I'm trying to work on and I know that it's can be annoying to others...but no one's perfect and I will admit that being "self-righteous" when it comes to issues of studying is definitely a fault of mine.

As for your 3 shining examples of how community colleges are fne pillars of academia (Palomar, Mesa, and Pasadena City College)...umm...we need to stop trying to use individual colleges to back up our arguments here...because as I said before...I can talk about 3 CCs which are ridiculously easy (LA Valley College, LA City College, and Mission College). Why don't we just talk about UNIVERSITIES vs. CCs (this avoids the problems of anecdotal evidence)? Universities...IN GENERAL are harder than CCs...why? Because hard upper division courses are ONLY offered at universities...it's not possible to take classes like P-chem, advanced molecular biology, Quantum Mechanics, Immunology, Neuroanatomy, Cell Biology, Microbiology, etc at a CC....yes...CCs offer General Chem and O-chem...but most people can agree that P-chem is much harder than G-chem and O-chem...and that Neurobiology or Advanced Molecular Biology would be harder than general biology offered at CCs. This isn't even an issue of GRADING...it's an issue of COURSE OFFERINGS and content.

As for comparing top tier schools to CCs and trying to pick out individual courses you took at Cal that were easier than courses you took at JC...that's absolutely ridiculous...why? Again...we have to look at this generally...GENERALLY...ANY top tier university (like Cal) would be MUCH MUCH harder than any CC. Why? Top tier schools are selective...the admissions rate to Cal is hovering around 24% with an average SAT 1 score of an admitted freshman hovering around 1300 (this average is MUCH higher for the College of Engineering...I think it's around 1400). Already, students at a top tier school are competing among a MUCH more selective group compared to students at CCs because the CCs are obligated to accept EVERYONE that applies (assuming you're a citizen, resident of the state, etc). Secondly, the courses offered at any top tier school would be much harder than those offered at CCs...again...we're speaking generally here...yes, I know...there are exceptions for individual courses. But generally speaking, the curve would be HARDER at a top tier school because you're competing against a much brighter group of individuals.

Trying to pick out individual Cal classes you took (more likely than not..in the social sciences/humanities) that you thought were more difficult than CC classes is pointless here because someone else (namely me) could shoot back with classes they've take at universities that were infinitely harder than classes they've taken at CCs (for me...that description would basically apply to all the classes I've taken at Cal compared to all the classes I've taken at CC).
 
Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
"Self-righteous gunners"...umm...since when does studying hard make someone a "gunner?" So if someone studies as hard as they can for a midterm (reads the chapters thoroughly, reads the lecture material, asks questions to the prof in office hours concerning material they don't quite understand, etc) and does well on the midterm...that makes them a "gunner?" If so, file me under "gunner" immediately.
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I define a gunner more by attitude than any specific action. If you think grades are of utmost importance, and think that you are MORALLY SUPERIOR to someone else based on your devotion to grades, than I'd classify you as a gunner--and all your condescension to the crammers and the non-trads stands as evidence to me that you qualifay as a self-righteous gunner. Your attitude is too ugly too often for that name not to apply.

As for your 3 shining examples of how community colleges are fne pillars of academia (Palomar, Mesa, and Pasadena City College)...umm...we need to stop trying to use individual colleges to back up our arguments here...because as I said before...I can talk about 3 CCs which are ridiculously easy (LA Valley College, LA City College, and Mission College). Why don't we just talk about UNIVERSITIES vs. CCs (this avoids the problems of anecdotal evidence)? Universities...IN GENERAL are harder than CCs...why? Because hard upper division courses are ONLY offered at universities...it's not possible to take classes like P-chem, advanced molecular biology, Quantum Mechanics, Immunology, Neuroanatomy, Cell Biology, Microbiology, etc at a CC....yes...CCs offer General Chem and O-chem...but most people can agree that P-chem is much harder than G-chem and O-chem...and that Neurobiology or Advanced Molecular Biology would be harder than general biology offered at CCs. This isn't even an issue of GRADING...it's an issue of COURSE OFFERINGS and content.
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Back peddlin', I see. The OP was about PREREQs, and it was clearly stated as such. All the prereqs are offered at CC, but you suggested that those pre-reqs would be more challenging and that the OP would learn more at university. Having taken prereqs at both CC and at Cal, I can say that I know exactly what is expected in physics, o-chem, and bio at both Cal and at CC, and in all three cases, it is wrong to suggest that you will learn more in the courses at Cal than in Palomar.

Thanks for stealing my point about upper division courses being harder, btw. You know, I did decide to eventually matriculate to a university eventually, desite having sufficient units for a BA by the time I left CC. 🙄

As for comparing top tier schools to CCs and trying to pick out individual courses you took at Cal that were easier than courses you took at JC...that's absolutely ridiculous...why? Again...we have to look at this generally...GENERALLY...ANY top tier university (like Cal) would be MUCH MUCH harder than any CC. Why? Top tier schools are selective...the admissions rate to Cal is hovering around 24% with an average SAT 1 score of an admitted freshman hovering around 1300 (this average is MUCH higher for the College of Engineering...I think it's around 1400). Already, students at a top tier school are competing among a MUCH more selective group compared to students at CCs because the CCs are obligated to accept EVERYONE that applies (assuming you're a citizen, resident of the state, etc). Secondly, the courses offered at any top tier school would be much harder than those offered at CCs...again...we're speaking generally here...yes, I know...there are exceptions for individual courses. But generally speaking, the curve would be HARDER at a top tier school because you're competing against a much brighter group of individuals.

Trying to pick out individual Cal classes you took (more likely than not..in the social sciences/humanities) that you thought were more difficult than CC classes is pointless here because someone else (namely me) could shoot back with classes they've take at universities that were infinitely harder than classes they've taken at CCs (for me...that description would basically apply to all the classes I've taken at Cal compared to all the classes I've taken at CC).
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First off, the OP wasn't saying it was Cal vs CC, they just said it's CC vs the local university. As for all your arguments about how smart you think the Cal student body is; more of my classmates at Palomar ended up at Cal, UCLA, or UCSD than did any of the students at CSU San Marcos on the other side of the freeway from Palomar. Am I suggesting that Palomar presented stronger competition than I would have expected to find at CSUSM? Yes, I am. You can talk all you want about the low entrance standards at CC, but the fact remains that only serious students take those prereq courses anyhow. And there was seldom a grade curve to worry about anyways--most professors used an absolute grading scale that was brutal from the start.

If your going to talk about my cherry-picking a difficult CC, then you shouldn't be cherry-picking one of the most difficult schools in the nation as being representative of universities. 🙄
 
"I can talk about 3 CCs which are ridiculously easy (LA Valley College, LA City College, and Mission College)."

so have you taken a good sample of classes from all of those colleges? i doubt it. you should know by now that you can't make conclusions without adequate data. anyway, i always thought it was ridiculous how people could just sum up all of the experiences from all of the cc's in the u.s. and compare it to all of the experiences from all of the universities in the u.s. into one stupid phrase: "cc's are easier than universities." ive been to three different cc's and ive been at the university 3 years now. at both the cc's and the university some classes are ridiculously easy and some are more difficult. it all depends on the professor, the syllabus, your brain, and your motivation. life isn't black and white. you can't make such simple conclusions.
 
If your going to talk about my cherry-picking a difficult CC, then you shouldn't be cherry-picking one of the most difficult schools in the nation as being representative of universities. 🙄 [/B][/QUOTE]


Umm...that's the WHOLE POINT genius. I talked about you conveniently picking Palomar...and said that I could easily shoot back by pitting my Cal classes against the CC classes I took during high school...Did I not say this at least once in my previous post?? Or did you just not read that part? That's the POINT..is Palomar representative of CCs nationwide? No. Is Berkeley representative of universities nationwide? No. Boy...you sure made a very keen observation there...too bad that was already mentioned in my previous post.

As for me being a "gunner"...an "ugly attitude" might qualify as "gunner" in your warped mind...but that's not what a gunner is at all. I never said I was morally superior to others because of study habits. But then again...I know your reply to this will be something like.."Well...it's IMPLIED by your statements" 🙄 Please point out where I've said I was morally superior to anyone.


"As for all your arguments about how smart you think the Cal student body is; more of my classmates at Palomar ended up at Cal, UCLA, or UCSD than did any of the students at CSU San Marcos on the other side of the freeway from Palomar."

You have to be kidding...The California Master Plan for Education MANDATES that community college transfers are given preference and first priority to transfer to UC campuses...CSU schools are not used as stepping stones into the University of California? Why? Because it's CSU=California State UNIVERISITY.....the students there are ALREADY in a university that offers upper-level courses and grants bachelor's degrees...that's WHY there are barely any CSU to UCLA transfers or CSU to Cal transfers...but literally THOUSANDS of CC to UCLA transfers and CC to Cal transfers. That whole point is moot because CSU schools are not places designed to prepare students for matriculation to top schools like UCLA, UCSD, etc whereas California CCs were designed as places to feed students into the CSU and UC systems. In addition, the admissions committees are required by the mandate of the state of CA to accept a MUCH higher proportion of students from CA CCs than from any other in-state or out-of-state 4 year institutions. Too bad those CSU-San Marcos students can't circumvent CA state law 🙄 Good job Einstein.
 
Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed

Universities...IN GENERAL are harder than CCs...why? Because hard upper division courses are ONLY offered at universities...it's not possible to take classes like P-chem, advanced molecular biology, Quantum Mechanics, Immunology, Neuroanatomy, Cell Biology, Microbiology, etc at a CC....yes...CCs offer General Chem and O-chem...but most people can agree that P-chem is much harder than G-chem and O-chem...and that Neurobiology or Advanced Molecular Biology would be harder than general biology offered at CCs. This isn't even an issue of GRADING...it's an issue of COURSE OFFERINGS and content.
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I think that is a moot point. The original poster wanted to know if going to a cc and then transfering would be ok. It's probably better to compare classes that would be transferrable from the cc to the university. Like compare gchem and gchem. The fact that universities have upper division courses that may be more difficult doesn't matter. The transfer students are going to take the upper division courses at the university anyways.

From my experience, the university has actually been easier than community college (then again, high school was the hardest and maybe it's study skills). Having taking a fair share of courses in both systems, I don't see how cc's can be so inferior for some people to diss them the way they do.
 
Originally posted by Nutmeg
How about 3? Palomar, Mesa, and Pasadena city colleges are all more demanding than you'd make them out to be, while many classes at Cal are "clinically braindead." What's your point?
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Golden bear torch contest. Hoo benefits? That's right! GO HOOS!

Coops
 
Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
Umm...that's the WHOLE POINT genius. I talked about you conveniently picking Palomar...and said that I could easily shoot back by pitting my Cal classes against the CC classes I took during high school...Did I not say this at least once in my previous post?? Or did you just not read that part? That's the POINT..is Palomar representative of CCs nationwide? No. Is Berkeley representative of universities nationwide? No. Boy...you sure made a very keen observation there...too bad that was already mentioned in my previous post.
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You said that universities "IN GENERAL" are harder than CCs. You also said that CCs are less challenging because they are less selective than "top tier" universities. My point was that not all people go to top tier universities, and while some CC students end up at top tier universities, there is no such trend for people already in a university that isn't top tier. This is my point, and no matter how much you want to claim it as your own, it is not your point. Please reread you post, and you'll see that thought you think you made this point, you didn't.

You dive into irrelevant points, like universities having upper division courses (irrelevant to the point of where to take lower division prereqs) and Cal students having high SAT scores (irrelevant because Cal is far less representative of universities than any of my three CC examples are representative of CCs in general, and moreover, CC students don't need to take the SAT and I certainly never did), and then back-peddle to try to claim that you were making a point other than the point you actually tried to make. The problem, BPM, is that you did not enter this thread to make a serious point that actually addressed the OP, you entered this thread to belittle CCs and make self-superior claims about your school. Nobady cares that you go to Berkeley, so give it a rest.

[/B][/QUOTE] As for me being a "gunner"...an "ugly attitude" might qualify as "gunner" in your warped mind...but that's not what a gunner is at all. I never said I was morally superior to others because of study habits. But then again...I know your reply to this will be something like.."Well...it's IMPLIED by your statements" 🙄 Please point out where I've said I was morally superior to anyone. [/B][/QUOTE]

Wow, you already know how I'm going to respond. 🙄 Why do I even need to respond at all? Clearly, you know every point I can ever make before I make it, and you've already addressed those points, so there's no point in my giving an answer at all. 🙄🙄

You don't need to say you think you're morally superior, you've demonstated that you think you're morally superior. Believe me, I remember all too well your making my school look bad by ripping on anyone who is a non-trad student, or anyone who has different study habits. This point of your self-perception is not a point that I alone am making. A number of people jumped into those threads to clown you and to tell you off for being such a prick.

[/B][/QUOTE] You have to be kidding...The California Master Plan for Education MANDATES that community college transfers are given preference and first priority to transfer to UC campuses...CSU schools are not used as stepping stones into the University of California? Why? Because it's CSU=California State UNIVERISITY.....the students there are ALREADY in a university that offers upper-level courses and grants bachelor's degrees...that's WHY there are barely any CSU to UCLA transfers or CSU to Cal transfers...but literally THOUSANDS of CC to UCLA transfers and CC to Cal transfers. That whole point is moot because CSU schools are not places designed to prepare students for matriculation to top schools like UCLA, UCSD, etc whereas California CCs were designed as places to feed students into the CSU and UC systems. In addition, the admissions committees are required by the mandate of the state of CA to accept a MUCH higher proportion of students from CA CCs than from any other in-state or out-of-state 4 year institutions. Too bad those CSU-San Marcos students can't circumvent CA state law 🙄 Good job Einstein. [/B][/QUOTE]

Okay, now THIS is a good example of what it looks like when someone actually does try to steal someone else's point and try to sell it off as their own. This is MY point, not yours. Your point was a completely irrelevant point about the terrible difficulty that you contend with at your "top tier" school. This thread is not about "top-tier" schools vs. CCs; it is about Universities in general vs CCs in general. Yet your entire post to which I was responding talked solely about top tier schools.

Here's my point (because it's obviously rough for you to identify relevant topics on your own):

1) This thread is about taking lower division prereqs at a CC vs at a university; hence, claims about upper division courses not being offered at CCs are irrelevant.

2) This thread was about attending U of Az, so all your horn-tooting about the superiority of Cal in your perception is irrelevant to the question by the OP.

3) I disagree with your claim about "I would opt to the take the pre-reqs at your local university instead just because it will probably be more challenging and you'd probably learn more" because not all universities are more challenging than CCs, (even if you're talking about "top tier" universities), and because you ignore the fact that a major contributor to the learning process is the professor, and at a CC you have a smaller class size in general, and you don't have classes taught by grad students, who I would argue are generally far less qualified to teach than the average CC professor.

4) You have a history of these self-superior claim, and your bragging about the stats of freshmen is evidence of your sense of self-superiority (none of your stats apply to me, because I was a CC transfer to an unpopular major in an uncrowded college). You need to get off your high horse. To paraphrase JFK, "Ask not what your university can do for you, ask what you can do for your university." You degrade the entire school by being such a troll and using the school's name in your handle. You should really spend more effort in trying to represent your school well, rather than constantly pissing people off with your smug sense of self-righteousness. All of your stat dropping is really, really ugly.
 
ayndim said:
I already have a degree but need to do the prereqs. I am sick of paying higher tuition. Can you do the prereqs at a cc or does that look bad?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Here's what I wrote to the admissions office at Pritzker concerning this matter and the response they gave me follows.

Ouestion:
>>>I have a question regarding the standard entrance requirement of 32
>>>semester credit hours of undergraduate science. I graduated with honors
>>>from Georgia Tech as a chemical engineer and have over 90 credit hours,
>>>as required, and have well over 32 semester hours in physics, chemistry,
>>>and engineering courses comprising labs. However, as a chemical
>>>engineer, I did not take any biology courses at that institution. In
>>>hopes of pursuing a career in the medical field, I have been taking
>>>biology courses at a local two-year community college in Virginia. Will
>>>this be acceptable to the application review board? Or will should I
>>>retake these biology courses at a four-year degree-granting college or
>>>university?


Answer:
The majority of medical school admissions officers (ours included) strongly
prefer that applicants complete all of their prerequisite coursework at a
4-year institution. Typically, the rigor of classes offered at 4-year
institutions more closely resemble that which you will find in a medical
school, therefore we can more accurately assess your academic preparation
for our curriculum.

I don't know if that helps you any. Has anyone else out there experience this? Can they offer me advice? It was my opinion told that as long as the rest of my application is good (MCATs GPA, volunteer, etc.) that taking two bio courses at a CC shouldn't matter, but now I'm starting to think differently.
 
E-

I took Physics II at the local CC and have been accepted at a reasonable number of schools. I think that if you have some real reason to do so, and, like you said, the rest is good, you'll be fine.

SUNY Upstate told me the same thing that Pritzker told you; they also added in that there is some basis (valid or not) for comparision/ranking of 4 year schools (for weighing GPA) and that that doesn't exist among 2 year schools, for what it's worth.

dc
 
hamhamfan said:
I've talked with a person in charge of admissions at a medical school, although not a top 20 one (it was competitve due to its location however). She said that some of her best schooling was done at the community college. She said it was just fine to go to a community college.

There, you can have a lot more personalized attention. For example, chemistry classes at some community colleges I've seen have 30 students. The professor teaches the lectures and the labs. From the people I have spoken to, the difficulty at the community colleges are not that much different than from a university. Anyways, I worked harder in high school than I do now. Calling CC's the 13th and 14th grades might actually be a good thing.
Click to expand...

I agree. I took a few of the requisites at a CC and the main difference is that I was at CC taught by a PhD who spoke english well. The low level university courses were taught either by a grad student or an assistant professor who barely spoke english. The worst was my univerisity physics prof who would lecture by reading the captions from photocopied transparencies of the book. 🙄
 
"You know why they call it community college? 'Cuz anybody in da community can get in- pimps, crackheads. Here's 10 dollars. Let me get my learn on."
-Chris Rock


This thread just reminded me of that stand up. Sorry. I couldn't resist. In all seriousness, I know a number of people who took some prereq's at a CC and still got into med school.
 
To the OP,

As can be seen by the previous posts, CC's vary in the difficulty of their classloads. I am also in AZ, and the CC system here is actually quite good. I would think that the folks at U of A are familiar with it, and I think that it would be safe to guess that they have had positive experiences - and acceptances - for students taking prereqs from our community colleges.
With that said, I have had science classes and a university and at an AZ community college. In my experience, the teachers at the CC were much more interested in teaching, as opposed to research (none of my CC were currently pursuing research) and were much more effective at presenting material. They were much more accessible, and knew how to get the idea across. Unfortunately, - in my experience - we weren't pressured to excel in the classes. Many of the students were used to a high school setting, where teachers assigned graded homework on a nightly basis. In my university classes, we were responsible for ridiculous amounts of material, and we were expected to be mature enough to study it on our own. Although it may not be the most effective way to learn, I did. Excelling in the university setting gave me a preparation and confidence for medical school academics that I could not have gotten from only taking my prereqs at a CC (Remember, this is just my experience).
Secondly, I made some connections in the university classes that I probably couldn't have made at the CC (not that this is impossible). I had classes with students that were in the process of applying (this may not be seen at the CC), and got great advice. I also met teachers who offered me postions in their labs when the classes were finished, something more that CC's may not offer.
If I were in your shoes, I would take the intro classes at CC (Intro to Chem, Intro to Bio, Intro to physics) and any math classes that need to be done as a preparation for the prereqs. Later, I would take the prereqs - and a few classes beyond (Cell Bio, Genetics, Biochem) at the university level. The CC would give you a strong foundation, but you would have the benefits that the university offers. Good luck in your quest, and PM me if you have more questions. Thanks.

CrazyPremed
 
I've never attended a community college, and I never intend to. That being said, I respect anyone who is trying to get an education, and especially those who wish to continue after undergrad - if you take responsibility for learning the material, then I believe you can get as much out of it as you want (a dedicated student anywhere will learn more than one who is not dedicated anywhere else).

I'm pretty sure any professional or graduate school would value an A in a university course more than an A at a community college, whether they'll admit it or not. How significant is the advantage? I have no clue. The value of the grade, however, in my opinion, is secondary to how much you learned, and how much you will remember after you finish the course.
 
This is sooo old, and I remember when it first came up too, haha.
 
This is from the Wake Forest School of Medicine Website:

Prerequisite course work from community colleges is strongly discouraged because of the difficulty in adequately assessing the quality of that preparation. If a prerequisite course is completed at a community college, student must take subsequent courses in that discipline at a four-year college or university in the United States or Canada.

That said, my friend got into UMich and UCSF and he spent 2 years at CC. It depends of where you plan on applying.
 
Two years at JC and two at UCSD. The Preqs were harder at Community College. This was mainly do to the small class sizes and the fact that there was NO CURVE to rely on. I have been on 9 interviews so far, including 3 "top ten" schools. Please get rid of the anti-community college attitude because we will rock you in the end! 😀
 
i'm a graduate of Emory (a top 25 undergrad school, according to US news & world reports) and i'm currently in the process of taking prereqs as well at a community college.. i opted for community college (vs. USF, here in tampa) because of the closeness to home, the price, and the smaller classes... although i've never sat in a huge-ass lecture hall like that of UF or FSU cuz i went to a private school, i think the level of teaching at comm. college is very similar (even better, sometimes) than that of the time i had at emory. kinda sad, but it makes me wonder why the hell i blew so much money in tuition at emory when i could have had just as good of an education for 1/20th (literally) the price.

for all you idiots who are hating on comm. college, to hell with all you ignorant people. coming from the pretentious and elitist emory community, it took me a while to get over the whole snobby "i went to a better school than you"-attitude to actually come to the realization that it really doesnt make a difference. i dont regret my time at emory (best 4 yrs of my life) and i dont regret paying out of my ass in tuition, but i'm man enough to give credit where credit is due..

now, as for getting in.. i have several friends from growing up and from my undegrad years who are enrolled at UF med school (best med school in fla) who have taken science classes at community college and know of others who have done the same. i've been told that for college grads like myself, post bacc programs definitely help but taking them at comm. college DOESNT HURT. the MCAT is the ultimate equalizer and its the ultimate indicator of "if you learned anything during ur postbacc classes"

take 'em at your community college (as long as its accredited, obviously) and dont worry about what other people have the say. the argument of university vs. comm. college only exists amongst premed students. once you're in, you're in.
 
ayndim said:
I already have a degree but need to do the prereqs. I am sick of paying higher tuition. Can you do the prereqs at a cc or does that look bad?

Thanks
Click to expand...

To quote another Chris Rock line, "Yeah, you can do it. But that don't mean it's to be done."

You are obviously balancing a lot of factors here. One of them should be that SOME people on the adcoms MAY look down on CC classes. We all know the individual determines what they get out of a class more than the school does. But these same people you see arguing back and forth on this thread will be on adcoms some day, and they'll probably still carry the same prejudices. So it's safe to guess some individuals reviewing your file MIGHT have similar thoughts.

You don't mention how long you have been out of school, but that is a factor as well. Adcoms may be wondering if you can get back into a full academic load and the CC classes may not go as far to convince them you can. As someone mentioned, a stellar Undergrad GPA and Strong MCAT MAY make that a non-issue. But all these success stories people are posting about starting at a CC and moving to a 4-year are not exactly the same situation.

Will CC prejudice make a difference? Doubt it. Will it make THE difference? Probably not. Are you willing to risk it? Only you can decide.

All things being equal, take the classes at a 4-year, but all things aren't equal. You have cost, scheduling, etc. to consider. But you are POTENTIALLY raising some questions. And for most applicants, it's a tight race, so the fewer questions, the better.

Make a thoughtful decision and don't look back. With so many other factors, this probably won't make a difference.

Good luck.
 
I think it depends on if you have proven yourself at a four year university already. If you have a good (decent) GPA from a four year university with a degree in hand but have not taken pre-reqs for med school, I think it is okay to take classes at a CC (post-bac). If you have a poor GPA from a four year university and despite the fact that you have an awesome GPA from a CC, it's not so good.

Bottom line is that you have to prove that you can handle it a four year university and get good grades. It doesn't matter if this is proven before taking classes at a CC or after.
 
tllajd said:
Bottom line is that you have to prove that you can handle it a four year university and get good grades. It doesn't matter if this is proven before taking classes at a CC or after.
Click to expand...

Good point, but there is still a question of how long ago it was you went to the 4-year. Once you are out of school mode for a few years, it can be very hard to get back in, for some people. My experience as a non-trad applicant suggests that some people on adcoms WILL question your ability to return to school. The CC classes might not be as reassuring in that scenario.

Not saying CC classes aren't the way to go. There are a lot of personal factors. But I wouldn't assume that it makes ZERO difference in the OP's situation.
 
BeatArmy said:
Good point, but there is still a question of how long ago it was you went to the 4-year. Once you are out of school mode for a few years, it can be very hard to get back in, for some people. My experience as a non-trad applicant suggests that some people on adcoms WILL question your ability to return to school. The CC classes might not be as reassuring in that scenario.

Not saying CC classes aren't the way to go. There are a lot of personal factors. But I wouldn't assume that it makes ZERO difference in the OP's situation.
Click to expand...

Good point too. Everyone's situation is different.
 
Looks like I brought a dead thread back to life here.

I've been out of school for 3 years now, but to get back into an undergrad program at a 4 year for only two classes is almost ridiculous when I'm working full time as a chemical engineer.

A lot of people have turned this into a "CC is just as good" "CC is is far worse" debate. I think that is a moot point. I can tell you now my experience at the CC I go to so far has been a joke compared to the rigours my Georgia Tech ChemE program. Hopwever, the book is the same as a four year would use, and I'm completely capable of teaching myself the material. I've all ready read the entire book in studying for the MCATs and know the material very well. My only real reason for bringing back the thread was that I was hoping to hear others say that they've done it to, that it is possible, and I'm not black-balling myself because they were able to do it.

The comment on the CC not showing that I'm ready to go back to school is a good point. I guess the only thing I have to offer in that regard, is that taking 2-3 classes at the CC (as I'm going to take micro and anatamy as well), and working full time, and volunteering at a hospital all at the same time, keeps me way busier than I ever was in college.
 
I think that community colleges are okay. At least I certainly hope so since I just spent my first 2 years at one! But really, the classes at the one I attend are not too easy. And the CC I attend does have some upper level biology courses. I am taking microbiology and anatomy/physiology 1 right now (along with some other courses). From what I have seen and heard (from others and on other college websites), the micro class is fairly advanced. For instance, in micro we use some info from the University of Florida medical college website. Just being curious I took 2 practice quizes they have (its for a medical school yr2 micro class) and I passed them without loads of effort. The quiz was pretty much on what I am learning now. So either the class at florida is considered 'too easy'; which I am guessing not, seeing as its med school; or the class at my CC is fairly advanced. The anat and phys class is not very advanced but it isn't extremly basic either. The course 1 (which I am in) covers cell structure, tissues, etc. It covers the skeletal system, including features and characteristics of certain bones-like trochanter, diaphysis,medulary cavity, bone cells(osteocytes, osteoclast etc). It covers muscular system and all the cell accociated with that, nervous system, anatomical positions and boby regions. The 2nd course goes into the other systems and organs. A lot of material is covered in the class (tons more than was in my high school a&p class). Of course the CC I go to has a pretty good nursing program, so the science courses are health/medical oriented. My entry bio course wasn't too easy either. I think out of a class of about 25, there was 1A, 3Bs(I was one of them), 4Fs, and the rest Cs and Ds. A majority of my classes have mostly adults (mostly ages mid 20s to late 30's), I am usualy the only or one of the few "kids", so its not like I get good grades because a bunch of slacker kids are flunking out.
 
I went to a community college for two years, and I got in. And I can honestly say that the hardest class I've ever taken (even harder than those I've had so far in med school) was my freshman chemistry class I took at a community college.

Besides, the MCAT is a great equalizer. Do well on it, and most (notice I didn't say all 😉)admission committees won't really care about what school you went to.
 
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