Figuring Out the Right Path from a Community College?

[gongivittoya]

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Long story short, I finished up high school, 3.9GPA, 11 AP tests passed, but am going to community college for 2 years then transferring (aiming for a UC) to save money. Problem is I am confused on what exactly I should do. Two options come to mind. My first thought was to major in biology or neuroscience. I was going to go to one of the top 10 CC's in California, enroll in the honors program (helps with UCLA tap, and other UC TAGs), and complete the prereqs for the major. Problem is, I realized that most of the prereqs for a biology major are those for premed, meaning I would take the majority of my premed classes at a CC, which may not be so good. The other option I can think of is going to the CC in my area, which is notoriously easy, and majoring in something like anthropology (no premed prereqs) or psychology (more prereqs, some bio). Doing this would mean I could get a very high GPA easily before transferring and probably transfer a lot quicker. It also means that I would take pretty much all my premed classes at a UC. So my question is since my ultimate goal is to go to med school, which path should I take? Which will help me get into a better UC? And which will prepare me the best for the MCAT, etc? Any advise is greatly appreciated, I've read these forums for a long time, and hopefully some of you guys can help me out. Thanks.

 

[House D.O.]

This is what i reccomend.

1. Do WHATEVER you can to maintain the highest GPA possible. If that means takin less challenges classes then so be it.

2. Wouldnt reccomend taking ALL pre reqs at CC especially ochem or biochem as adcoms want to see how you handle these intense classes.

3. Other then that the classes required for mcat that u will take are suppose to cover every 'major' topic in each subject. Now i wouldnt reccomend u take a cc teacher that just give u take home test and sucks at teaching. But take one thats challenging and you know u will get an A in. When u study for the MCAT you will review EVERYTHING all over again anyways.

4. Ur major makes little difference. Really...choose what you like, that will get you the highest gpa, and one that is convenient for you

 

[gongivittoya]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. One thing is that for pretty much every UC, I need to take one year of bio, chem, and ochem to transfer to a biology major, they don't even consider you if you don't meet these preqs. Now, I supppose my GPA would still be higher in the end when applying to med school, but it would be because lots of my sciences were taken at a CC, which isn't as hard as a UC. Now, for example, if I do anthro, I would just have to take some anthro classes and IGETC, before transferring. I would also do this at the CC in my area, which is pretty easy, I have a friend there who got a 4.0 doing psych prereqs there, and he is a pretty average level student, at the UC's he is having a harder time obviously. Then I would take my premed classes at a UC, which will probably be harder, meaning when applying for med school, my GPA wouldn't be as high. Still, you're right that adcoms see CCs differently. Although I've taken a physics class at this top 10 CC (about an hour drive from where I live), and I've talked to some of the people who were there from UCD and UCSD during the summer, and they said the class was as hard as their UCs, one guy even dropped because he said he could get a higher grade at UCD because of the curve there. I suppose I don't have a strong major preference, but want a good premed education. Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

 

[GodComplex]

I also went to a cc before transferring to a UC and then going on to med school. PM me if you have more specific/personal questions.

As far as taking pre reqs at a CC, this is generally looked down upon if you took the classes there while attending a 4 year, as it looks like you were avoiding taking the classes at your "harder" university. If you are starting at a CC then taking pre reqs there is much less of an issue. However, it is said that adcoms would like to see some upper division science classes after transferring from the CC to see how you can handle them.