Community colleges, way to MD ?

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p22

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respected users,

i need your kind suggestions, i am doing AS(biology) from a community college
after that i am planning to go for BS and then MD

can can body guide me a rite path to follow to end up with med-school

secondly, what GPA? and is BS covers the M cat?


please guide me with whole network important to get into med-school

regards,
P22

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My ex-gf did it for PharmD. I don't see why not for MD.

As always, if it's not an advantage, you need to work harder for it.
 
There are many paths to medical school. If you study / perform well and have an overall well-rounded application, you'll be competitive.

-senior medical student / admissions committee interviewer
 
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hi, what do you mean by well rounded application
 
hi, what do you mean by well rounded application

Strong balance of academics, ECs, and personality traits/hooks/etc. (for interviewing as well as writing your PS).

Do a search on SDN or browse for awhile. You'll begin to find the answers you seek much more quickly that way!
 
Strong balance of academics, ECs, and personality traits/hooks/etc. (for interviewing as well as writing your PS).

Do a search on SDN or browse for awhile. You'll begin to find the answers you seek much more quickly that way!

What he or she said. :)
 
Why couldn't you go to JC? Just perform on the MCAT and there will be no questions asked. IF you get stellar grades in JC but your MCAT scores do not reflect those grades, then you are in some doo doo.:poke:
 
I did this as it was what I could afford and what I could get into at the time.

It was $26/credit and my tuition was waived, I also got a book scholarship. I didn't take anything that wasn't transferable to University. I got straight A's which brought my gpa up to 3.9, and also got me a shiny little honor society stamp on my transcript. Honor society opened up enormous scholarship resources I would not have had access to otherwise, and prioritized me for the transfer program, for which spots are very limited and extremely competitive. Transferring out from community into university was far easier than applying directly to university, I got in at the same time I would have started anyway assuming I'd have even been accepted at all or not wait-listed. Now I'm ahead in coursework, gpa, and financially. I'll graduate with honors, from a reputable university, with little debt and with a lot of connected profs and admins in my corner. I think with the right spin it will make me stand out rather than hinder me.

I think it's a great way to go IF you take it seriously.
 
Why couldn't you go to JC? Just perform on the MCAT and there will be no questions asked. IF you get stellar grades in JC but your MCAT scores do not reflect those grades, then you are in some doo doo.:poke:

It is doable, but this statement is flat out wrong, from experience.

They will ask questions, and you better have good answers.
They will discredit your grades, even if they are all As.
 
respected users,

i need your kind suggestions, i am doing AS(biology) from a community college
after that i am planning to go for BS and then MD

can can body guide me a rite path to follow to end up with med-school

secondly, what GPA? and is BS covers the M cat?


please guide me with whole network important to get into med-school

regards,
P22
To the OP:

You would be a lot better off getting an AA that transfers directly into the university system. The AS degree is for people who are planning on ending their careers with a 2 year degree; most AS programs are essentially certificate programs. Most states have it set up where AA degree holders can transfer directly into any of the state schools with preferential consideration. Florida has it set up where anyone who graduates with an AA degree is guaranteed acceptance to at least one of the state schools regardless of grade (which shouldn't be an issue if you're planning on medical school). Regardless of any of that, right now the important thing here is the successful preparation and transferring. Do to financial reasons and not being able to uproot my living situation, I went to a CC for my first two years before transferring, and here are a couple notes for you:

-Start contacting your state schools for detailed lists of prereqs for the major you want. i.e. if you want bio which is an upper level major, then you need to make sure youve taken all of the required classes at the CC or they will not allow you to get in to that major

-That being said, I advise you to take as few medical school prereqs as possible at the CC

-Apply to the universities of your choice after you complete your freshman year

-For additional help and questions, the pre-health advisors of the universities will be more than willing to help you out with anything that you need regarding your pre-med education plan. If your CC doesn't have a prehealth advisor or organization, this is what you will want to do. They will help you plan your courses at the CC to ensure a smooth transfer into the university while remaining on course with medical school prereqs

-Most CC's don't have pre-med or pre-health clubs, so if you're an overachiever, look into starting one with the school. It will look great on your application, it will help you learn a lot about the process of medschool, and will help many other lost souls who want to become physicians. I actually started a pre-health organization inorder to address the needs of a much larger group, but you could do whatever you want. Just go to the school's Student Govt. Association and they would be able to help you. (PM me if you want more details)

-Once you get to the university, take the remainder of your medschool prereqs there and pass them with flying colors. This tells the admission committee of XYZ medical school that, while you did complete some of your prereqs at a CC (which tend to be less intense), you are able to handle the rigor of university science classes. This will suggest that your grades at the community college were not overinflated.

-Remember that when you transfer into the university, you will not have much time to get settled into that life, as you will be taking MCAT and starting to build your application 6-12 months after you get there. (compared to the other juniors who have had the past two years to get acclimated to being away from home for the first time, etc. etc.)

-That being said, it will be pretty intense, like hit the ground running type intense, so BE PREPARRED! Take the time you have now to plan! plan! plan! If you wait until you move to the university to start getting organized you're gonna get chewed up and spit back out and you won't even know what hit you. The good news is that you can totally avoid all of that by talking to the universities pre-health advisors now and start planning your path to success! :D

-Last but not least, it's totally do-able. You just need to be at the top of your game because, unfortunately, those you spend two years at a CC are at a little bit of disadvantage. However, hard work, motivation, determination, and sufficient organizational/planning skills will make you golden


I hope this can at least resolve one or two of your concerns and if you have any questions feel free to PM, as I have become a CC student ---> University student professional of sorts through my own positive and negative experiences.
 
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It is doable, but this statement is flat out wrong, from experience.

They will ask questions, and you better have good answers.
They will discredit your grades, even if they are all As.

Pardon? I beg to differ. I can see the conversation going this way.
Q:"So why did you decide to attend a junior college?
A: "Because it was cheaper.":idea:

Even though those that are on admissions committees may not be in financially dire straits themselves, they are not ignorant to the cost of medical school and the methods used to minimize the cost of higher-education as a whole.

Beyond that there really does not need to be much more of a reason. I see no reason why they would discredit the JC grades if both the person's MCAT score and university grades are equally as impressive.

Please support your statement?
 
Having taken classes at both the CC and 4-year level, I must say that the level of instruction is roughly equivalent. Capable students will get A's at CC, public universities, or private colleges regardless.

IMO, it is unfair and completely arbitrary for medical schools to state that CC credits are less "worthy" than 4-year credits (in florida, UF is guilty of this). I see the use of this, however, in narrowing the applicant pool.

Ivy league schools are know for grade inflation, but their coursework seems to be valued none-the-less. I don't see how it matters that much for pre-reqs, which contain, more-or-less, the same content everywhere.

Moreover, with the ever increasing tuition of both public and private 4-Years, coupled with the surge of college hopefuls, the time will come soon when the majority of college students will attend CC's. Maybe then, this academic discrimination will end.

Rant over.

OP, if you take your pre-reqs at the CC level, you must "prove" your aptitude in the subject both on the MCAT and at the 4-Year level by taking higher level courses in that discipline.

For instance, if you take Gen Chem I and II at CC, be sure to pass the series with A's. After you transfer, you might take analytical and intermediate inorganic or the Physical chem series. Again, you want A's in these advanced courses to prove that you didn't reach your limit at CC. If you top off this performance with a solid (11+) score on the PS, then Adcoms will have little ground to question your abilities.

Sure, it is an uphill battle, but it is doable, and has worked for folks in the past.

Good luck!
 
It is doable and I even recommend people to do it. You need to get all As at community college and when you come to a university you will also need to maintain all As. And you have to pick a major that allows you to take upper level sceince courses at university. And if you could maintain the same GPA in a university as you did in community college, you will have no problem getting in the med school.

It makes life little bit easier. Good luck
 
Im sorry, but I am interpreting this as you saying Junior Collegese do not equal Community colleges.?..:bang:

We don't have "junior college" in my state. We have community colleges, some of which are "harder" than "easy" four year colleges. Is junior college some kind of California thing?
 
We don't have "junior college" in my state. We have community colleges, some of which are "harder" than "easy" four year colleges. Is junior college some kind of California thing?

I believe that the two are equivalent, but that Community College is the preferred term nowadays. Junior College sounds goofy and implies that CC's are just scaled-down Universities, which they aren't. CC's perform many other important functions for their communities (medical CEU's, vocational courses, allied health, K-12 teacher prep, etc.) besides granting AA's for transfer to a 4-Year.
 
i have come to this conclusion, having been through the application cycle twice and only admitted to a single MD program. i believe i have an all-around competitive application except for my GPA.

if i could go back in time, i would choose to complete my undergraduate studies at a mid-tier university with a recognizable name, ranked somewhere in the 40s, 50s or 60s nationally. i took organic chemistry 1 and 2 at such a university and found it REMARKABLY easier than similar courses at my own top-25 undergraduate university. whether this was due to the way we were tested or the strength of the other students in my class making up the curve... i couldn't tell you. two relatively easy A's. i look at this experience and think how vastly different my gpa would be if i had attended this university, rather than busted my butt to get B's at my home university. yet these mid-tier schools are still able to send many students on to medical school, unlike community colleges or lesser ranked institutions. i would say if you can't get into the likes of harvard, yale, etc, where you may get extra consideration for a lower gpa, go somewhere where you're more likely to get a 4.0... 3.9 from #50 in the country is looked at MUCH more positively than 3.4 from #21.... even though in my observation, you just can't compare that.....

this is ESPECIALLY relevent if one hopes to participate in a wide variety of time-consuming activities, like varsity athletics, positions of student leadership, or employment... and still pull A's.

just my opinion, based on my own personal experience. :cool:
 
We don't have "junior college" in my state. We have community colleges, some of which are "harder" than "easy" four year colleges. Is junior college some kind of California thing?

"junior" college and "community" college are synonymous. the term "junior college" is outdated.
 
Please support your statement?

I was addressing what you wrote directly when you said...

Van Chowder said:
Why couldn't you go to JC? Just perform on the MCAT and there will be no questions asked

I did CC prereqs and got a 37 on the MCAT. Many questions were asked, and I could tell that the interviewers were uncomfortable with my classes. If you're adding 4 year classes which you do just as well in later, then that's a whole different story.

I'm not completely disagreeing with you, I'm sure. I'm disagreeing with that statement. It's just not that simple.
 
As long as you do well at your 4 year BA/BS institution you'll be fine. If you don't learn English quickly though, you're in trouble. Go read some books man. You write at a 3rd grade level.
 
Having taken classes at both the CC and 4-year level, I must say that the level of instruction is roughly equivalent. Capable students will get A's at CC, public universities, or private colleges regardless.

IMO, it is unfair and completely arbitrary for medical schools to state that CC credits are less "worthy" than 4-year credits (in florida, UF is guilty of this). I see the use of this, however, in narrowing the applicant pool.

Ivy league schools are know for grade inflation, but their coursework seems to be valued none-the-less. I don't see how it matters that much for pre-reqs, which contain, more-or-less, the same content everywhere.

Moreover, with the ever increasing tuition of both public and private 4-Years, coupled with the surge of college hopefuls, the time will come soon when the majority of college students will attend CC's. Maybe then, this academic discrimination will end.

!

Honestly I feel like CC's give A's to anyone who is of average intelligence and even had the thought about trying to take the class seriously. They are in no way equivalent to a competitive university's grading system. The level of instruction may be similar (I don't think so, but maybe), but the students you are curved against is vastly different.
 
Honestly I feel like CC's give A's to anyone who is of average intelligence and even had the thought about trying to take the class seriously. They are in no way equivalent to a competitive university's grading system. The level of instruction may be similar (I don't think so, but maybe), but the students you are curved against is vastly different.

CC's do not award A's as freely as you suggested. My CC classes were definitely harder than classes I took at a prestigious private school and my state school. In fact the private school was the least difficult. At my CC, professors were stricter with grading - they thought odds their students faced to be superhuman, and hence they gave more work to prod them to success, there was little mentoring and almost no outside classroom teacher-student interaction and no advising resources. I worked harder in my CC than I did when I transferred to a four-year college.

OP: You need to maintain a high level of performance in CC and after you transfer. Take as few med requirements as possible in the CC - unfortunately bias does exist - and I would recommend majoring in the hard sciences. It is doable. I just got into Harvard even though I spent about 6 years in a CC. Medical school always take a holistic approach to reviewing your application.
 
CC's usually use a 90%+ = A system, with tests easier than 4-year uni's.

However, you can get an A at a 4-year uni with a 75% on a test.

So meh.

I don't like CC's though because often they have people with only Master's teaching.
 
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CC's usually use a 90%+ = A system, with tests easier than 4-year uni's.

However, you can get an A at a 4-year uni with a 75% on a test.

So meh.

I don't like CC's though because often they have people with only Master's teaching.

True, most CC's only require a masters to teach a subject. However, due to the difficulty of finding jobs in academia right now, many are PhD's. Nearly all of my instructors at CC had doctorates. Moreover, some CC instructors even teach classes at local 4-year universities!

By the way, many 4-year institutions rely on grad students and instructors with only masters to teach lower level classes. So don't assume that the quality of instruction at CC's is necessarily less than a 4-year.
 
i have come to this conclusion, having been through the application cycle twice and only admitted to a single MD program. i believe i have an all-around competitive application except for my GPA.

if i could go back in time, i would choose to complete my undergraduate studies at a mid-tier university with a recognizable name, ranked somewhere in the 40s, 50s or 60s nationally. i took organic chemistry 1 and 2 at such a university and found it REMARKABLY easier than similar courses at my own top-25 undergraduate university. whether this was due to the way we were tested or the strength of the other students in my class making up the curve... i couldn't tell you. two relatively easy A's. i look at this experience and think how vastly different my gpa would be if i had attended this university, rather than busted my butt to get B's at my home university. yet these mid-tier schools are still able to send many students on to medical school, unlike community colleges or lesser ranked institutions. i would say if you can't get into the likes of harvard, yale, etc, where you may get extra consideration for a lower gpa, go somewhere where you're more likely to get a 4.0... 3.9 from #50 in the country is looked at MUCH more positively than 3.4 from #21.... even though in my observation, you just can't compare that.....

this is ESPECIALLY relevent if one hopes to participate in a wide variety of time-consuming activities, like varsity athletics, positions of student leadership, or employment... and still pull A's.

just my opinion, based on my own personal experience. :cool:


Your opinion, while you're certainly entitled to it, is based on a complete lack of experience with community college.

There's a huge difference between starting at CC and finishing there. It's a matter of common sense to know that your last impression is the one foremost in the minds of judges. In particular when you know that the judges will have the ignorant bias against CC that most people have.

There's another scenario in addition to the ones you've offered. If one is fortunate enough to garner acceptance to a top tier university, regardless of it's debatable academic superiority, they recognize it as the advantage that it is and treat it like their career and their future depend on it. As someone aspiring to medical school they recognize that their gpa is as much a reflection of work ethic as anything else. Thus they app med school with a high gpa from a highly ranked university.

Maybe some time at CC should be a med school pre-req, opportunities seem to be far more valuable to people who've had to earn them.

Just my opinion as someone accepted to a top 25 from CC.
 
maybe some time at cc should be a med school pre-req, opportunities seem to be far more valuable to people who've had to earn them.
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