Considering a pre-med route. How shall I attempt this?

[Amdy]

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To be brief, I enrolled into a two year community college when I graduated highschool (2009). I'm 19 now and will be considered an upper freshman as of Fall 2010. Community college wasn't my initial choice at all, and I actually spent a good deal of time applying to four year colleges but the tuition/ financial packages took their tolls in altering my decision.

After discovering that two year colleges are somewhat frowned upon when it comes to applying for medical school I feel as if I am drawing this decision a bit late in the game.

I also have yet to touch a science course and see how I factor with that. Math is tolerable but I plan on reteaching myself a good lump sum of material over the summer to feel a bit more prepared. As of now I'm a Lib Math & Science major so I would have no choice but to take math and science courses next fall if I choose to stick around.

In a sense, I feel it's a good thing I haven't taken any science courses in CC yet as it might look better doing that at a four year college (based on what I've read). A university is my best bet financially.
Sooo:

I see two options.

• complete 2 years at CC, transfer to a four year university

• take time off next year to complete college application processes and transfer out after only a year, risking some credits.

Either way, I feel as if I would have already wasted valuable time.

Suggestions as to what I should and could do during the mean time would be greatly appreciated. The faculty in my school has not been helpful at all and I'm needing some straightforward guidance.

 

[Neurocentric]

Welcome to SDN 🙂

Have you taken your gen. ed courses at CC? If so, I wouldn't take any pre-med requirements at CC. That's just me. I think it'll look better if you take them at a four year university. If you haven't, taking them at CC will be cheaper, definitely, and that's actually what I did myself, although my reasons for doing that were a bit different than yours.

As far as time with medical school and applying, don't think about time you've wasted. You're 19, and that's not bad at all. I am 24 and just starting my undergraduate career this fall, due to monetary issues. There a lot of older people who are just doing this as well. There is no time wasted there.

When you transfer to a four year university, don't pick a major you will not be happy in. Your major does not matter really to medical schools. I am an English major myself. If you enjoy being a science or math major though, then do that, but try to pick something you will enjoy since your pre-med courses are going to be science and math oriented enough as it is.

You don't have to stay at the CC for two years if you don't want to. If you finish your gen. ed courses and want to start your pre-med stuff, transfer out after a year. There is no reason you have to stay there. When you get to a four year university, speak with your schools' pre medical advisor. Set up an appointment with them before registering. My advisor gave me a TON of information that has been helpful.

I hope what I've said has helped in some way. Good luck 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

Taking courses at a CC if you are there as a student before transferring to university is less of a negative than going to community college to avoid taking a "weed-out" class at your usual school.

I would suggest taking Chem I and II at community college so that you can take organic chem, biology and physics in your first year at the university. Actually, that could be suicide. So, you could plan to take all the pre-med requirements over 2 years of university and take the MCAT around the time of college graduation with a planned gap year during which you apply to medical schools.

 

[Amdy]

Thank you for the welcome Neurocentric!

Are the general Ed. courses usually the same for every school? If I take classes next fall I should be pretty much done with them I believe.

And yes, I'm considering switching majors. I have varied interests and haven't decided yet what it will be but it definitely will not be a science major. If I switch my degree right now in CC I'm not open to many options (likely a Lib Arts degree) so I'm debating if it would be worth it.

In all honesty I truly don't want to pursue a two year AS. My greatest worry though is that I will have to take time off next fall to start the application process all over again for four year colleges. What happens down the road if I decide to take another year off for med-school applications or studying abroad? Will two gaps look bad?

LizzyM, are the pre-med reqs usually obtainable in two years or it would be considered cramming? What would be suggested I take and in what year? I figure if the MCAT is usually taken the third/fourth year of school and I'm waiting to fufill pre-med requirements my third and fourth year I'd be asking for a stress party. lol

 

[Neurocentric]

Thank you for the welcome Neurocentric!

Are the general Ed. courses usually the same for every school? If I take classes next fall I should be pretty much done with them I believe.

And yes, I'm considering switching majors. I have varied interests and haven't decided yet what it will be but it definitely will not be a science major. If I switch my degree right now in CC I'm not open to many options (likely a Lib Arts degree) so I'm debating if it would be worth it.

In all honesty I truly don't want to pursue a two year AS. My greatest worry though is that I will have to take time off next fall to start the application process all over again for four year colleges. What happens down the road if I decide to take another year off for med-school applications or studying abroad? Will two gaps look bad?

LizzyM, are the pre-med reqs usually obtainable in two years or it would be considered cramming? What would be suggested I take and in what year? I figure if the MCAT is usually taken the third/fourth year of school and I'm waiting to fufill pre-med requirements my third and fourth year I'd be asking for a stress party. lol

The gen. ed courses are pretty much the same for every school.. it's usually those 100 or 101 courses. English, math, etc.

I wouldn't switch your major in CC, simply because I feel there are so many more options in a four year, and they usually have certain pre-reqs for the major itself. For instance, in my major, I have to definitely take political science and history, and a foreign language, etc. Definitely do something you enjoy, and it also helps if it comes naturally to you - should be easy to keep up the GPA on it while you study hard for your pre-med courses.

I'm not sure why you would start the application process for colleges next fall, unless you were planning on starting your transfer in the spring. I am/was a transfer student, although I wasn't matriculating at the time. I started my application process in February. I filled out the FAFSA for the year I was applying, sent out a request for my transcripts from CC to the college I was applying, and filled out the college application. I was accepted by April. On the college application - at least for my school - if you were a transfer student and still in school, they asked what classes you were still taking or planning on taking before you transferred.

I know you asked LizzyM the next question, but I thought I'd put out what I know in my experience. When I spoke to my pre-med advisor, he gave me a pamphlet of what the school suggested as your pre-med schedule, and most of the classes for the pre-med requirements were sprawled out from your first 2-2 1/2 years of school, and the rest of the time was focused on your major. Most people take the MCAT in their junior year, but really, it's whenever you finish all the requirements for pre-med from what I'm seeing, since the MCAT tests you on those subjects. LizzyM can probably correct me on this, but that's my experience on it.

Also, I'm not sure if you know this part too, but it is essential for your application and possible acceptance if you do extra curricular activities, research, and especially volunteering at a hospital and shadowing. There are many threads that talk about these things, so you can use the search engine on this site and find those threads easily. Being a pre-med I've definitely noticed is going to take a ton of work, but if it gets you to where you want to be, it'll work out in the end.