community college

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jlway777

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Hello,

I'm a UW graduate who is taking predental requisites at a community college. Just curious to hear from those who got accepted to a dental school after taking science courses at community college. Need some more assurance that its possible.
Thanks
 
jlway777 said:
Hello,

I'm a UW graduate who is taking predental requisites at a community college. Just curious to hear from those who got accepted to a dental school after taking science courses at community college. Need some more assurance that its possible.
Thanks
Click to expand...
What was your GPA for your degree?
 
jlway777 said:
Hello,

I'm a UW graduate who is taking predental requisites at a community college. Just curious to hear from those who got accepted to a dental school after taking science courses at community college. Need some more assurance that its possible.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Have you checked in with any of the admissions counselors about taking the prereqs at a community college? As an example, I've been told first-hand that IUSD does not accept science credits from Ivy Tech (the main Indiana Community College).
 
mickeyaddi said:
Have you checked in with any of the admissions counselors about taking the prereqs at a community college? As an example, I've been told first-hand that IUSD does not accept science credits from Ivy Tech (the main Indiana Community College).
Click to expand...


another example: TUFTS does not take any of the prereqs taken at a CC.
 
I guess some dental schools does not accept prereqs at community colleges. Some have limits set up to only 70 credits will be accepted from a community college. But as far as getting admitted into a typical dental school, it heavily depends on your DAT and GPA. I know alot of people who got accepted in to Medical school from a community college because they did very well with their GPA and MCAT. This shows that it is possible to make it if you try hard enough...even with a profession that is way more competitive than Dentistry.
 
I've been accepted to UWSoD, and during my interview they really looked at all of the bio/biochem/chem courses that were beyond my prerequisite courses. I finished everything at a university too. They weren't too interested in my prereq scores, but the more challenging classes that you won't find at a community college. I have to be honest too, (I got my AA at a comm college and it was so much easier than university!). They might wonder why you didn't just finish the prereqs at a univeristy. So you'll be competing against those students who go back to school at the university. Your GPA isn't really that strong for UW either.... I guess I am wondering how much experience you have in the dental field, how you did on your DAT's and your extracurricular activities? UW is really old school and they're a bit elitist so, you want to show them that you've challenged yourself in every aspect. Remember you interview with 2 people and they may or may not be your advocate to a panel of 17! I had an interview the first day available this year, and the panel didn't meet until a month later.... it's not the strongest point to finish your prereqs at a CC. If I were you I'd take some upper division bio/chem/biochem courses at the UW or any university to prove that you can hang in the rigorous academic setting at the dental school. Good luck!
 
For any school, it's important to show you can handle upper level science courses not offered at CC. I earned a BS in Marketing and took most of my science prereqs at CC later in my career. I also took some upper level science courses, Biochem, Cell Bio and Immunology. I really think this made the difference. I wouldn't rely on all CC science hours unless you can pull a 20 or higher on the DAT. Score really well on the DAT and you'll be fine either way.
 
jlway777 said:
Hello,

I'm a UW graduate who is taking predental requisites at a community college. Just curious to hear from those who got accepted to a dental school after taking science courses at community college. Need some more assurance that its possible.
Thanks
Click to expand...

It is possible. With Dental School becoming more and more competitive, schools are looking for reasons to weed out applications. Unfortunately, CC hours is one of those reasons. Do really well on the DAT (>20), and CC hours become less significant.
 
Cold Front said:
majority of my classes (pre-reqs) were from CC, and still got into couple of schools.

however, i had 3.5 GPA and 19's on the DAT.
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Which schools did you apply , if you don't mind?
 
The DAT is supposed to level the playing field. The same can be said for people that go to party school universities. The person makes the school; the school doesn't make the person.

I called UNC and they said: "we don't care where you take the classes" (accredited school of course). I then said: "I've heard CC courses are looked down upon" Response: "No, it doesn't matter."
 
Cold Front said:
Nova, Louisville, OSU, Boston, Case and Pitts.

Interviewed at all, but Pitts. Attending Boston.
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What was your sci GPA?
 
I took every single pre-req in a CC except one (Bio-Chem) and it was never brought up and was obviously good enough for UCSF.

My 2 cents....
 
PDizzle said:
I took every single pre-req in a CC except one (Bio-Chem) and it was never brought up and was obviously good enough for UCSF.

My 2 cents....
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Wow, accepted at UCSF with CC prereqs! CONGRATS!!!

What was your DAT if you don't mind me asking?
 
Looking on predents.com tells me that he had 20/20/21
 
Okay, so I enjoy reading the dental forums. I am not in pre-dental, but my advisor is a dentist who now teaches science courses at a community college I attend. Apparently alot of his education came from the CC as a pre-dental student. I was proud to hear that.
 
Hey, I didn't know that taking classes at a CC can make so much of a difference. What about transfer students. Do they have a hard time getting in because they did a lot of classes at a CC?? Does it make a crucial decision factor for competitive schools like UCLA or Columbia?
 
personally, courses at cc seem so much harder than 4 year university, especially since cc's don't curve... 😎
 
seriously? Wow, a curve can really hurt you when you're trying to ace a class. I think curves are much more difficult to do exceptionally well in. I mean biochem, for example... you've got a class full of extremely intelligent premed, predent, pre whatever students that all need that "A".
 
I also belive that the University of Michigan does not take any community college credits.. I could be wrong on this, though..

Can anybody confirm or deny this?
 
juarezd said:
seriously? Wow, a curve can really hurt you when you're trying to ace a class. I think curves are much more difficult to do exceptionally well in. I mean biochem, for example... you've got a class full of extremely intelligent premed, predent, pre whatever students that all need that "A".
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I like to disagree. In the large class such as Biochem there are always enough dumb students to go around and you can do well in the class. i was busy the semester I took biochem(my first ever semester at university of michigan) and i never even went through fat oxidation chapter and still got an A in the class. Most of the time average in exam was in 60% range. I mean is not hard to get 80% in those exams but people just freak out. You can't do that at CC.
 
burton117 said:
I also belive that the University of Michigan does not take any community college credits.. I could be wrong on this, though..

Can anybody confirm or deny this?
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I got in the first round and all of my pre-req are from CC except Bio. However, i had better GPA at Michigan than I had at CC so that might have helped. I had Good EC's but no research at all.
 
Mustt Mustt said:
I like to disagree. In the large class such as Biochem there are always enough dumb students to go around and you can do well in the class. i was busy the semester I took biochem(my first ever semester at university of michigan) and i never even went through fat oxidation chapter and still got an A in the class. Most of the time average in exam was in 60% range. I mean is not hard to get 80% in those exams but people just freak out. You can't do that at CC.
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Agreed-In our biochem class right now, all it takes for me to get an A is a handful of idiots getting the 40%'s on tests so that my 80% or whatever is curved to an A. Class exam average stands around a 65%. Works for me 😀
 
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