Help me to decide. CC or Uni

[londongal]

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Well, we've talked about this a little before, but I want to find out people's opinions one last time...based on my situation.

I graduated last spring with a BA in psychology. I was a transfer student to begin with. I currently have no pre-reqs for med school.

Should I just do my pre-reqs at a CC, or enroll back at my uni for a 2nd bachelors degree in biology (but not complete the whole degree just finish the pre-reqs)?

I've heard mixed messages on whether I should take the pre-reqs at a uni.

What do you guys think about taking 1 year of the pre-reqs at a uni, and 1 year at cc. At least this will show adcoms that I can get A's in a uni setting too. This will also be easier on me, because my uni is far.

I know there are a lot of transfer students who majored in Bio, and of course took their bio pre-reqs (which are the same for med school) at their CC.

 

[236116]

CC is fine.

 

[londongal]

anyone else...?

 

[AdmiralChz]

CC is fine.

Agreed. If you have a local commuter school that you could take it at, that would work as well. Especially since you already have a BA, there is no real need to re-enroll in a university just to take prereqs.

 

[SiR99]

The reason why people say going to a community college is okay is because they assume you will be going to a university for another two years and you will be able to prove yourself with university level science classes.

Thats why people say that you have to do good once you transfer or else your community college grades will be questioned.

OP: You should call up a couple medical schools and ask them because your not in the same situation as a community college transfer who will be taking science classes at a university later on.

And pyschology classes are not comparable to science classes so even though you have taken some university classes they are not really representative of your abilites in science classes.

If I was you I would rather take them at a CC, its easier, cheaper and in most cases its closer to home but you really need to see what Adcoms thing.

 

[236116]

The reason why people say going to a community college is okay is because they assume you will be going to a university for another two years and you will be able to prove yourself with university level science classes.

Thats why people say that you have to do good once you transfer or else your community college grades will be questioned.

Uh, no.

She's post-bacc.

Sorry, fail post at you.

 

[SiR99]

Uh, no.

She's post-bacc.

Sorry, fail post at you.

I was showing her why people say it is okay to go to a community college. Because you later have the chance to show that you can take university level science classes.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME CASE FOR THE OP.

Since the OP has already graduated, she would rather NOT go to a university again.

So if she did take all her science classes at a community college, Adcoms would not be able to see if she could handle harder classes at a university.

OP: Call some schools and ask them, the last thing you want to do is spend two years of your life taking pre-reqs only to have Adcoms question your abilities.

 

[236116]

A POST THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OP

🙄

 

[londongal]

ad coms won't tell you ANYTHING specific. Perhaps I could ask a pre-med advisor.

I see what you're saying about proving that I can take hard science classes at a uni. I could always do my last year of pre-reqs at a uni I suppose, and these are generally the hardest of the pre-req classes.

Another thing is that my uni gives less units. For example, their general bio I class is 4 units, but in my CC it's 5 units.

Also the same general physics class at my uni is 4 units, compared to 5 units at my CC....so potentially I could end up with a higher gpa if I do everything or mostly everything at my CC.

Aren't there a lot of non-traditional pre-meds out there??? How are you guys going about taking your pre-reqs??

 

[tooindecisive]

ad coms won't tell you ANYTHING specific. Perhaps I could ask a pre-med advisor.

I see what you're saying about proving that I can take hard science classes at a uni. I could always do my last year of pre-reqs at a uni I suppose, and these are generally the hardest of the pre-req classes.

Another thing is that my uni gives less units. For example, their general bio I class is 4 units, but in my CC it's 5 units.

Also the same general physics class at my uni is 4 units, compared to 5 units at my CC....so potentially I could end up with a higher gpa if I do everything or mostly everything at my CC.

Aren't there a lot of non-traditional pre-meds out there??? How are you guys going about taking your pre-reqs??

I agree with the others; taking most of the pre-reqs at cc can be a little detrimental especially when compared to other applicants who have busted their arse to get the same grades that you have while you breezed through cc courses. plus, if you're not going back to the university to take more upper level science courses to show the med schools that you can handle the tough load, then i dont think it would look too good.

fyi, i'm not sure which schools these are, but from what i heard, a few of the us allo schools (probably more competitive ones) don't take cc credits.

 

[sarahg]

I'm a psych student who will be taking most of my prereqs as a postbac. What I've been told, and I admittedly have no way of verifying whether it's true (probably varies between schools anyways) is that CC is fine if...
-You have a reason to be taking the classes at a CC (you're employed during the day, or some other reason)
-Your undergrad GPA is fine

My GPA is not great so I've been told that I need to prove I can do well in university courses, and if I take the classes at a CC and get a 4.0 adcoms will wonder whether I only did that well because I was at an easier school and it won't "count" as much as the same GPA from a university. I was told that if I had an excellent undergrad GPA it wouldn't matter where I took the prereqs, they'd assume I could handle upper division coursework. This is in California where premed CC courses are solid enough to be transferable to all state universities.

 

[zenlike]

I had a BS in Software Engineering and I took all of my pre-reqs post-bacc at CC. I scored well on the MCAT (37 -- 14 bio), so the interviewers commented that that removed any doubt as to whether or not I knew the material. In the end, I applied to six schools (U. Colo, MCW, U. South Alabama, LECOM-B [DO], Loyola, and U. Arkansas) and received four acceptances and withdrew pre-interview from the other two.

 

[londongal]

I haven't heard of any med schools not accepting CC credits, even Harvard accepts CC credits! 😀

I don't know how to get to the bottom of this. I hear promising stories, and then discouraging ones (I'm assuming from people who have never stepped foot in a CC, and haven't got a clue).

I know it looks better to an ad com if you took pre-reqs at a uni, but in my situation, I don't know if it matters, or if they expect me to have gone back to uni.

 

[Excelsius]

I haven't heard of any med schools not accepting CC credits, even Harvard accepts CC credits! 😀

I don't know how to get to the bottom of this. I hear promising stories, and then discouraging ones (I'm assuming from people who have never stepped foot in a CC, and haven't got a clue).

I know it looks better to an ad com if you took pre-reqs at a uni, but in my situation, I don't know if it matters, or if they expect me to have gone back to uni.

Well, do your research then. There are definitely med schools that do not accept CC credits and I think Wake Forest is one.

OP, the decision is very simple: can you afford to take courses at a university level? If yes, then do it. If you can't afford it, then go the CC route. I have personally talked to adcoms in CA AND premed advisers at different tier undergrads - if you gain their trust and sit down and talk to them, they will admit that CC is not good. A lot of people here call a school, get a legally acceptable positive response, and assume that CC courses do not matter. That is pretty naive. Barring financial hardship, no one should take all prereqs at a CC. Your situation is especially fragile since you haven't taken a single prereq at a university. Does this mean that you won't be accepted to medschool if you take courses at a CC? Likely not. Will you be at a disadvantage at many schools? Probably yes. The fact that some schools openly deny courses from a CC is remarkable and should tell you something.

P.S.: I happened to take all my prereqs at a CC and then some. Now I am double majoring in hardcore science courses and busting my arse at a four year university to erase my error. If I knew then what I know now, I would never attend a CC.

PSS: Students in CalState schools are also frowned upon, at least here in CA, yet CalStates are even more highly regarded than CCs. Adcoms and premed advisers from within and without admit this. I know that there are some high quality CCs where the coursework is harder than at a 4 year - this was the case with my CC - but that is completely irrelevant. This is the way the system works. All that matters is what the medschool thinks about your school. By the same token, Caltech students are rarely given any breaks.

 

[Conky]

I haven't heard of any med schools not accepting CC credits, even Harvard accepts CC credits! 😀

I don't know how to get to the bottom of this. I hear promising stories, and then discouraging ones (I'm assuming from people who have never stepped foot in a CC, and haven't got a clue).

I know it looks better to an ad com if you took pre-reqs at a uni, but in my situation, I don't know if it matters, or if they expect me to have gone back to uni.

It's not really that it doesn't "look" good, there is an objective difference that goes into their evaluation of your app. Most schools, if not all, have scoring systems that determine whether or not you get an interview. At one school that I know of, your cGPA is separated from your BCPM GPA and you are also given points based on your school's competitiveness (tier 1 low to tier 5 high).

I don't know how much it will affect you if your BCPM gpa is from a tier 1 CC as opposed to a tier 5 school. Your GPA at your undergrad may balance it out anyway. Just thought I'd share what I had learned.

 

[atomi]

-

 

[Anthony Hartsoc]

OP: We are in different situations but maybe this will help. I called a bunch of different schools (UCSD, UCSF, UCI, Pitt, EVMS, UVA, UCLA) and talked with thier admissions and they said it was ok, provided that you prove yourself in sciences at the Univ level as well. I also shadow/research with for ADCOMs and they concurred. Furthermore, I should be having lunch with a UVA SOM faculty this week (worked for him for 2 yrs in the military) and I will definitely be asking him the same question. For my case, I need to take the majority of these at the CC level because they are prereqs for me to enter directly into my major; plus, I am on the GI BILL timeline.

IMO you would most likely benefit from a Post-bacc or taking some at a CC and some at the Univ.

 

[dragonfly99]

I agree with Excelcius,
Some (perhaps many) med schools do not like cc credits because they know that many community colleges have easier grading scales than 4 year universities. It's not always true, but it is more often than not. They want to see that you can do med school level work, and how you stack up against other science major types.

 

[MissIrish]

Case and BU also do not accept CC pre-reqs.

OP, are you in CA? I have some thoughts on this from a logistical standpoint as I am in the same position as you.

It is easier to get the classes you need at a CC; they assign enrollment priority by units completed. At both CSU and UC, you will have very low enrollment priority, whether you are enrolled as "Limited Status" (which means you are ineligible for state/fed financial aid) or as a second BA candidate. UCR is one of a very few UCs that will admit people for a second BA, but I know in the College of Natural Sciences, they force you to complete the BA; you sign a contract. Plus you can only enter as a transfer student; all lower division requirements must be completed, which are the pre-reqs! So CC can't be eliminated completely. Unless you transfer from a CSU.

But I have read conflicting info about how adcoms view CSU coursework. From the research I have done, applying as a second BA candidate without having any major pre-reqs is much easier and the program could be abandoned without having to actually finish the BA. But it is CSU. If they are considered to be on par with CC, I don't see the point in paying the extra money to do the pre-reqs there. But I think doing upper-division there would still count for something?

 

[londongal]

I know what you are saying. In my case I'm fine because Cal state Northride let me in for a 2nd BA in Biology. No questions asked.
I don't care about trying to go to a UC. Northridge is a good school.

 

[Excelsius]

I know what you are saying. In my case I'm fine because Cal state Northride let me in for a 2nd BA in Biology. No questions asked.
I don't care about trying to go to a UC. Northridge is a good school.

If you insist. I'll just add that one of the people that I talked to was probably your own medschool adviser. Talk to her, see what she says.

And concerning specifically Northridge, it is perhaps the lowest ranked of all CSUs. I know that cheating is rampant there because one of my acquaintances was taking classes there and told me how everyone cheated during an exam and the teacher didn't do a thing. He's far from being the bright guy, but he has 4.0 in engineering at CSUN. CSUN, and CSUs generally, are also on the receiving end of the exodus of premed students who couldn't successfully complete their premed courses at UCs like Irvine.

In the end, you have to do what you can according to your own abilities. If CSUN is a good fit you and you don't want to risk going to some of the UCs because you think you might fail, then do what you can at CSUN. I don't know if the difference between CCs and CSUs is significant.