HELP!! I need your honest opinion....

[DDS.230]

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Hi guys, I am a very new member to this forum and need some help..

I recently graduated from UC Irvine '09 with one more fall quarter. with a B.A in Economics with an overall GPA of 2.88. I started out as a Biology major, but switched during my 2nd year and don't have much credits from the sciences. I Haven't taken my tests yet.

I wanted to finish up my prereqs at a community college, and hopefully apply to either optometry, dental, or medical schools couple years from now.

What are the chances of me even getting hope to making it to a one in California???? Assuming I get straight A's at either IVC or OCC. I am currently 22.

please help! an honest opinion would be very helpful..

 

[jymezg]

shadow and figure out what you want to do first.

its hard to tell you anything until you have grades or test scores.

 

[jymezg]

and reading your previous posts it looks like you just want to dr of something at this point.

start here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=610471

 

[DDS.230]

well i didn't want to start off by writing about personal things and reasons why I changed majors, but no it was not because it was too difficult. I understand why it may seem this way, and thank you for being very honest, but I just needed some opinions on the idea of taking courses from a cc, and applying for optometry schools, and the possibilities. Thanks a lot though

 

[d3star]

Hi guys, I am a very new member to this forum and need some help..

I recently graduated from UC Irvine '09 with one more fall quarter. with a B.A in Economics with an overall GPA of 2.88. I started out as a Biology major, but switched during my 2nd year and don't have much credits from the sciences. I Haven't taken my tests yet.

I wanted to finish up my prereqs at a community college, and hopefully apply to either optometry, dental, or medical schools couple years from now.

What are the chances of me even getting hope to making it to a one in California???? Assuming I get straight A's at either IVC or OCC. I am currently 22.

please help! an honest opinion would be very helpful..

I agree with the previous posts. First, you need to decide what you want because optometry, dentistry and medical school are all very different although they are in the health sciences.

I would talk to a career adviser and/or counselor. Since you recently graduated, I think you can still go back to UCI's Career Center and they would be able to help you out by giving you better information.

As far as prereqs, most health professional schools require the same courses...Again I would talk to a counselor or adviser.

Good luck!

 

[Rinny]

If you do well (A's) in all of your pre-req courses, even if they are at a community college, and score well on the OAT I think that you would have a shot. If you poke around on this forum, you will find posts from other people who had GPAs <3.0, re-took courses to raise their GPA, and were accepted to at least one optometry school. However, while taking classes you should also try to work part time in an optometry office (or dental, medical, whatever you choose) to make sure that this is what you want and also to show the schools that you are serious about your chosen profession. If you work hard, I don't think that there is any reason why you can't end up doing what you want.

One last thought, I seem to remember that some schools had a limit (or maybe it was just a preference) on the number of pre-req courses that they would accept from a community college. Just read over each school's admission policies (which can usually be found on their website) or contact them if you are not sure.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

i think if you are trying to get into Berkeley's Optometry school, they would prefer all your courses be done at a 4 year (they have statistically higher stats than the average optometry school). Its actually not very impossible i would say, as you would just need to pull your GPA over 3, and have a very good science gpa.

Also if you are contemplating careers, why not shadow first, see if its something you like, before taking the courses. You mind end up deciding a career in economics is best suited for you. If not, then you can take all the courses, take the OATs and then apply from there. Realize that with your GPA currently if Optometry school is your goal, and its possible for you to travel away from home (meaning your comfortable with going somewhere else) you should apply to a few more schools.

Final thing, if you end up deciding that maybe you would be satisfied with valid reasons with optometry or medicine lets say...i dont think there is a problem at all applying to both. It may at first show you are "confused", but i hate the fact that people think it always has to be one choice and one thing. It is possible to like or be ultimately happy with one or the other. I would go for it assuming you have some decent to good reasons to back it up.

 

[jymezg]

After rereading this thread its got kind of a negative tone. Here is an "inspirational" story about one of my old roomies:

He graduated with a 2.4 with some joke degree in buisness. In short he partied his butt off, got out into the "real world" and decides hes going to change the world and go to medical school.

He applied to a no name university in the bottom 10% of "pre-proffessional" schools (ie the pre-req sciences orgos/biochem/physics) so the classes would be super easy. Long story short since he only needed upper divisional credits (60 hours) he graduated with a biology degree in a semester under 2 years with a 4.0 gpa for that degree. He's currently kickin it in medical school in the bahamas. True story.

So, are you screwed if you want to go to a professional school? No. You will have to nail the pre-reqs and kill the admissions test. You'll have to be carefull if you go to a CC because most schools require they be taken at a 4 year college. And you will need to explain your "life story" in your essays and interviews if granted.

In short, find out what you want to do. Shadow, make sure you found a career that you will want to do all this work for. Then do the work and hope for the best.

 

[jymezg]

I feel community colleges are great for someone that is uncertain and hesitant about jumping into a particular career path; however, I do not feel that community colleges will adequately prepare you for the standardized exams required for admission into these programs (OAT, DAT, MCAT, et cetera). These courses lack the depth to provide the more thorough understanding you will need to succeed on one of these standardized exams.

True to an extent, however as someone who took all pre-reqs at a CC besides biochem and compIII, I have to disagree. 390 OAT, so it depends on the school and how you prepare for the test IMO (and of course whether the school allows the pre-reqs to be done at a CC)

 

[KHE]

He applied to a no name university in the bottom 10% of "pre-proffessional" schools (ie the pre-req sciences orgos/biochem/physics) so the classes would be super easy. Long story short since he only needed upper divisional credits (60 hours) he graduated with a biology degree in a semester under 2 years with a 4.0 gpa for that degree. He's currently kickin it in medical school in the bahamas. True story.

Don't know that much about med school residencies but my understanding is that attending one of those Caribbean schools pretty much guarantees you a spot in some god awful residency at some god awful program. Hope he's enjoying "kicking it."

 

[DDS.230]

thank you for all your insights and opinions. I am currently looking into post-bacc programs, and contemplating whether i should take my pre-reqs at a CC or a nearby state university where I can take classes since it is an open university. I'm reading up on different threads and opinions of people, but is taking pre-reqs at a CC put you in a disadvantage when it comes to admissions? I'm hearing different things such as it just matters where I complete my upper-div classes, or it does matter where I take my pre-reqs. But overall, I'm slowly getting on track with what I would like to do. Thank you guys

 

[ibalz]

I do not feel that community colleges will adequately prepare you for the standardized exams required for admission into these programs (OAT, DAT, MCAT, et cetera).

I must respectfully disagree. I have put in my time at a four year institution and earned my BS. When it came time to tackle the bulk of pre-req's, I chose CC for several reasons.
1: Much smaller class size. (about 50 as opposed to 250+ at the U.)
2: Ease of access to the instructor (as opposed to the gatekeeper T.A.)
3: Dealing with only one teaching style, as opposed to two. (again dealing with a T.A.)
4: The caliber of instructors which was excellent (PhD. level)
5: Lab sections taught by the actual instructors, eliminating discontinuity between lecture & lab.
6: Cost of attendance. I realize that most schools of optometry require a B.S./B.A., and I have earned that at a university. Been there, done that with the per credit cost being (in my case) six times the cost at CC. SIX TIMES! And I feel that the quality of the education I received at CC was AT LEAST as good, if not better than I would have received at the university.
7: Having attended the U. and CC simultaneously, I can say that the depth & breadth of the courses offered at CC were equivalent to those at the U. The U. would not otherwise accept these CC science courses for transfer. For example, the A.C.S. standardized exams were given at CC for GChem & OChem so that they were transferable to the U. This was the same test taken by the students taking the same classes at the U. This may be unique to my experience, but the CC students outscored the U.'s students the four semesters we took those tests.

Now I realize this may be purely anecdotal. No two cases are exactly the same. But as far as preparation for the standardized exams? I received a 340 TS, with a 4.0 in all of my pre-req's, and an overall GPA of 3.7. By no means superstar stats, but better than average.

I was granted interviews and accepted to all of the programs I applied to (even those that prefer the prereq's be completed at 4 year institutions, and no, UCB was not one of them.)

I'm sorry if this has turned into a rant, but I am a little tired of the misconception that CC's generally churn out sub-par, ill-prepared, bottom of the barrel candidates for professional programs. It's just not true. My wife (a Pharm.D.) is also a product of the same CC system. It can be done at a CC.

SAM, this is not a personal attack. Yours was just the response that broke the proverbial camel's back. I was just a little tired of reading responses that trounced the education that some great CC's offer. Granted, I had a good experience, and I'm sure there are CC's that leave a lot on the table, but wouldn't you agree that the same may be true of some four year institutions?:

 

[jymezg]

Don't know that much about med school residencies but my understanding is that attending one of those Caribbean schools pretty much guarantees you a spot in some god awful residency at some god awful program. Hope he's enjoying "kicking it."

oh yea. he's def doomed for agony and hurdels. It will be a miracle if he even makes it through the MD program knowing him. Simply throwing out an example that it is possible...but if it's desiarable thats a dif question.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Addressed to ibalz:

First and foremost, you enlightened me. Admittedly, I was unaware of the academic benefits provided by a community college. I was; however, well aware of the affordability factor. I believe there is a prominent stereotype lingering about the world of academia in regards to the quality of education provided by a community college. I hope to now look past these stereotypes. I appreciate your insights.

👍 i was going to comment on this earlier. I dont feel there is anything wrong with taking community college courses, and i have no idea why its looked down upon. I personally had a lot of friends out of high school directly go to community colleges (were talking 3.5+ 2000SAT + students) why? They didnt get into somewhere they wanted to, so why pay big $$ for a state school, when they can go CC and transfer elsewhere. I believe all of them (maybe like 3 or 4) transferred out and now attend some really good schools.

There are also very good community colleges, i know of two, that are harder to get into than many many other colleges. Also realize there are many 4 year schools, which have standards and entrance requirements on par with CC's, something else i dont quite understand.

Anyways, i can say, that as someone who took a course in CC while in high school through a program, i can say that course could not have been taught any differently had it been in a 4 year school. All topics were covered, material tested was of the same difficulty.