Help taking classes at the community college next semester.....

[futuredoctor91]

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[WellWornLad]

Depends: how rigorous was your high school chemistry (I'm assuming you took it), and how confident are you in your academic abilities?

Are you planning on repeating whatever you take in the CC when you get to college, or are you planning to transfer credit?

Physics can be a curve ball for some people, while for others it seems like the most natural thing in the world. I would definitely take it in high school, so you can get exposure to the subject while remaining insulated from AMCAS.

In fact, I'm not sure taking physics, or any med school prereqs for that matter, is a good idea in CC. You will have to report those grades to AMCAS if/when you apply to med school. If you have to take them at some point, take them at your home undergraduate institution, not a CC. Don't spend your time taking college classes to prepare for taking college classes. Take something you will enjoy, or make sure you can get credit for your CC courses at your undergrad and use them to move on to higher-level science courses.

 

[kdburton]

This is just my opinion, but I would knock out some english classes or maybe math classes at the community college. Basically if you have the opportunity to take any credits at a comm college that will transfer over to a university and fulfill some of the requirements its a good idea. I would, however, maybe wait to take the science classes until you get to the university [especially if you're planning on being a science major] since they may end up being classes required for whatever major you're in (i.e. you can take some general education classes like english literature or something that will cover your gen ed classes at the university, but the university may require you to take their chemistry classes before being able to register for their organic chem class and so on. Theres really no need to "prepare" for pre-med at the university. Just go to the community college and take transferrable credits so that you can save money when you get there - I assumed they're paid for by the state since you're in HS. The only thing you DON'T want to do is go to comm college and get less than stellar grades in those classes because technically they are post-secondary grades and you'll eventually have to report them on your AMCAS application for medical school. You must take them just as serious as you'd take the courses at the university. I'm not sure if that helped or not, so let me know if you've got other ?'s

 

[kdburton]

The cost is probably around 150-200 dollars for a regular 4 credit semester class. So you guys think that its not a good idea to just take the classes at CC then take them again in a university college? Because I really slacked off in high school and i feel like i learned little to nothing in the science classes.

Ummm I guess it depends. Most of the into level Chem/Phys/Bio classes that you take in college are "intro level." I didn't take many of my science classes until the equivalent of my Sr year of college (4/5) because I decided to go to medical school later in the game and was a non-science major. So it was years since I had taken any science classes and my pre-med prerequisites went just fine. I assume that slacking off in high school could be thought of the same way... As long as you don't register for upper level science classes right off the bat in college then your exposure to science in HS probably won't matter. It doesn't really make any sense to take the classes at a CC and then turn around and take them at the university level. Since you'll have to report them on AMCAS when you apply for medical school it will also probably look funny that you re-took multiple classes.

 

[Tots]

My EMT class was extremely easy but plenty of people still failed it. I think if you're a good student you will probably be fine but depends on the program, more than just reading material, tested on some skills too.

 

[WellWornLad]

That is true. But won't AMCAS know that i took the CC classes during my senior year in high school? Because I'm sure the rigor of classes in CC are not as high as in a 4 year university.

They don't care when you take them, they get averaged in like everything else, and retaking the courses will not erase any prior bad grades. CC classes will vary in difficulty. Generally speaking, yes, they will not be as hard, which is why med schools are going to want to know why you took them there instead of your 4 year university.

So you guys think that its not a good idea to just take the classes at CC then take them again in a university college? Because I really slacked off in high school and i feel like i learned little to nothing in the science classes.

If you're struggling with your pre-reqs so much that you need to take them multiple times to do well, you're going to find med school to be a very steep climb. Stated another way, if you're smart enough to get into med school, you're smart enough to do well the first time through your pre-reqs at your degree-granting institution. An exception is perhaps organic chem, which some people really have some trouble with, but it's not really as introductory as other pre-reqs and is therefore a somewhat different ball game.

And I have another question is EMT Basic course rigorous as well. I hear it is very easy to pass the class and the exam. But I feel that I have somewhat of a responsibility to future patients to be as well imformed on the EMT subject matter because peoples lives depend on it.

Dude, an EMT course is an EMT course is an EMT course. The certification test is the same for everyone. I actually lol'ed, however, when I read that bit about "responsibility to future patients," as if EMT training taught you something med school wouldn't. I just imagined a bunch of doctors standing around a VF case yelling "Oh my God, is anyone here EMT certified?"

 

[kdburton]

That is true. But won't AMCAS know that i took the CC classes during my senior year in high school? Because I'm sure the rigor of classes in CC are not as high as in a 4 year university. And I have another question is EMT Basic course rigorous as well. I hear it is very easy to pass the class and the exam. But I feel that I have somewhat of a responsibility to future patients to be as well imformed on the EMT subject matter because peoples lives depend on it.

The med school might be able to tell that you took them when in HS, but will they actually go through and look close enough to make that distinction??? Almost certainly not. Your grades are part of the 1st cutoff portion of your application. All that really matters is your overall cumulative GPA (which would include these CC courses) and your BCMP (bio, chem, math, phys) GPA which would also include these courses provided they fit in one of those categories. After a school sees that those GPAs are above a certain threshold they will probably never look at them again - the focus then becomes your personal statement, what you write in the essays on your secondary application and your interview.

You don't need to take the courses at a CC and then university to get a "really good base" for the sciences on the MCAT. When you begin to prepare for the MCAT you'll see many of the subjects are so dumbed down you almost have to relearn stuff the way you learned it during your jr/sr year of HS. My knowledge of physics and o-chem from college was way beyond what was expected for the MCAT. My HS physics and general chem courses probably would have been good enough to do well on the MCAT. I don't remember how bio stacked up... Basically what I'm getting at though is that theres no need to take the courses twice because anything that will show up on the MCAT will most likely be taught in the introductory classes that you are REQUIRED to take for med school admissions. I don't knwo anything about EMT coureses, but I can gurantee that your responsibility to your patient as a doctor is much different than an EMT (unless you're an ER doc, in which case your training in med school and residency would be far much more in depth than any EMT course obviously). U just need to learn whats needed to be an EMT, and if the program is accredited (can give you a certificate) then you'll learn whats necessary. As another poster pointed out... if you're struggling to get through HS sciences then you should assume that you're really going to struggle in college and medical school unless you step it up somehow.

 

[KempDrumsalot]

so basically i really need to do well in those classes or it will screw up my gpa for college. But if they don't transfer to my four year or somehow not allow it to transfer, whats so bad about trying to prepare more?

Waste of time and money. You would do better to stick with your high school classes and wait until college to do college.

 

[KempDrumsalot]

honestly what else do i have to do in high school. Aside from all money wasting, time, credit, etc. If I get a real good basis of these subjects. I'll be ahead of the pack. When I get to college I won't have to be so stressed for exams, hw, etc. Which will in forth help with mcats, and have more time for hospital volunteering,etc. If I don't take these classes what else could i do during my last semester of high school to make myself feel like I'm ready for college?

What classes are you registered for at your high school for 2nd semester? It will be much easier for me to help you out the more info you give me .

 

[KempDrumsalot]

I mentioned a lot of my info on my first post. What i plan on is just taking AP Calc (AB/BC combined so calc every school day) and AP Literature. So my time frame would be ~7:15 a.m. to 8:41 a.m. every school day. Then on one of those days i would have AP Lit from 8:46 a.m. to 10:05 a.m. On one of those days i do not have a second period class i will probably just walk over to the public library to catch up on work until i have to wait for the bus stop to the CC.

How do you only have 2 classes?

 

[KempDrumsalot]

if you read up to my first post it explains everything. I have a full schedule now with 8 classes for I only need ap literature to graduate since for my school we need to take 4 years of english. So if i drop the other classes. And Calc like i mentioned before counts as two classes.

You have still not answered my original question then. What classes are you scheduled for?

 

[KempDrumsalot]

i'm schedule to take 8 classes for next semester until i do the jump start program to go to CC. The 8 classes im currently taking are ap calc ab/bc, ap lit, ap env sci, ap psych, weight trn, guitar 4, team sports. What is the point to knowing this?

Loving the attitude from the one asking for help.

Anyways, with the schedule, I see no point in doing CC courses. Your high school curriculum looks pretty solid and will help you more in the long run.

 

[kdburton]

Read my post above - I know about the MCAT and theres no reason to take the classes twice in order to get a good base knowledge for taking the test... One time in college is good enough. Although as I stated much earlier it would be a smart decision money-wise to take some other courses that will transfer to the university and cover some of your generals. This way you don't have to take maybe a couple english or social science courses or something. A few posts ago you mentioned something along the lines of "what can it hurt if they don't transfer to university anyways?" Regardless of whether they transfer to the collece you eventually go to, you must realize that if you plan on applying for med school in the future they take those credits into account and factor it into your GPA. It will be a waste of your time to take the classes twice, so take some other general ed classes to save yourself some $ in the long run (and make sure you taken them seriously) or don't do it at all.

 

[KempDrumsalot]

lol. the reason is cause most of the information you asked for could of been solved by actually reading my first post. And the curriculum i'm in right now is horrible. I definitely want to drop ap environmental science even though i have the highest grade of 102 percent. That class is ridiculously useless. The teacher is crap and only one person ever was able to get a 5 on the exam. I've looked over my possibilities and such, and i've decided i'm going ahead with taking the CC classes. But im not sure if i should just take chemistry and physics with my calc and lit classes. Or add in my EMT basic class that im wanting to do.

Reread your posts bud, it never stated your schedule. You said you were considering dropping everything besides Calc and Lit. Trust me, I know how to read.

Maybe listen next time you ask for advice. Good luck with CC bud. EMT b would be a valuable class to take.

 

[KempDrumsalot]

So your telling me ap calc ab, ap calc bc, ap lit, CC chemistry, CC physics, while taking an EMT B course is not that heavy of a course load. And manageable while i volunteer 4 hours a week at a hospital and play tennis for my school. Cause thats what i want to do but im not sure if i can handle it. I may have to give up something

You should be able to manage that without a problem. Thats more or less about the same amount of classes you will take as a freshman. Good luck!

 

[WellWornLad]

so basically i really need to do well in those classes or it will screw up my gpa for college. But if they don't transfer to my four year or somehow not allow it to transfer, whats so bad about trying to prepare more?

First of all, 1+1 does not equal 2 when it comes to learning a subject. In other words, you're not going to learn basic chemistry twice as well by taking it twice. That second time around might serve as an extremely thorough review, but because there are much more efficient ways to review it's basically a waste of time.

Second, med schools do like to see students challenging themselves in their transcripts, not hedging their bets. If you use your CC chem course to go on to upper level chem courses in undergrad, that shows enthusiasm and confidence. Taking the same course twice shows a lack of intellectual curiosity and confidence. Not a big deal overall, but in this case I think you've got nothing to gain and something to lose in taking the same chem course twice.

And honestly whats up with medical students bashing EMTs

When did I ever bash EMTs?

 

[drechie]

i will be entering my freshman year in college and want to take some classes over the summer. would i be able to take some of my science classes over the summer at a community college but have them not be put on my transcript? I just want to take them so I will be ready for the classes in my college. I was thinking about Bio and Chem.

Also, if they were recorded on my transcript, how would a Medical School ever know that I took them there? How would the college that I enter in September know?

 

[WellWornLad]

i will be entering my freshman year in college and want to take some classes over the summer. would i be able to take some of my science classes over the summer at a community college but have them not be put on my transcript?

Legally and ethically speaking, no. You have to put these on your transcript.

I just want to take them so I will be ready for the classes in my college. I was thinking about Bio and Chem.

Read over some of the posts in this thread. They will explain why that would be a waste of time and money on your part.

Also, if they were recorded on my transcript, how would a Medical School ever know that I took them there? How would the college that I enter in September know?

Depends. Your CC may be part of the National Student Clearinghouse or similar organization that shares registration information. You may just slip up during interviews and mention it. You might get away with it, but if you get caught you're screwed.

 

[drechie]

^^^
I always thought you could take classes for enrichment and they would not be recorded

 

[WellWornLad]

Don't get me wrong, it's a great thing to take college-level courses before undergrad. If you do, however, you should get credit for the courses and not try to use them as some sort of test run for college.

Personally, I don't understand why you'd want to repeat the class. I hate the idea of repeating material, it's just so damn boring. Chem in undergrad was boring enough having seen most of it in high school.

Bottom line: take the training wheels off and take courses for credit. Use that credit to take higher-level (and more interesting) courses.

 

[Florida Runner]

I actually completed my two year degree while in high school, and I regret it completely. If you have a tendency to procrastinate or slack off then I would suggest not taking any college classes yet. Community College courses are actually a lot easier than high school courses from what I experienced. I took a majority of AP classes along with the college courses during HS. You will find that the teachers at the high school are better teachers if you are taking AP classes. At the community college, the teachers don't care if you show up and most of them are horrible teachers.

Also, look at the university you may be transferring to, if you complete too many classes before transferring it may be a lot harder to get in. My girlfriend experienced this because she took about 20 hours of community college courses her senior year. She got a 3.7 but wasn’t able to get into UF.

So I would say take AP classes, your not going to miss anything at the community college.

 

[kdburton]

i'd only be taking two or three. I don't know if EMT basic course will transfer to another college. I'm going to call up the CC and see if i can just take the CC classes as an enrichment so it wont get transfered to my university college

I'm pretty sure that you usually have to fill out a form at the college you're applying to in order to transfer credits from one institution to the next. With that said its very possible that you can take these courses as "enrichment" and have them not be transferred. With that said, however, you seem to be ignoring my earlier post saying that regardless of whether or not you plan to/want to transfer credits from a CC to a university those credits will still end up being part of your composite GPA calculation on an AMCAS application if you end up applying to medical school. While its great that you're getting advice from some other people on this thread, you might want to keep in mind that I'm actually in medical school and I've taken classes at both a community college and a public university prior to going to medical school. I took english over one summer my local CC and then decided to transfer the credits to the university because it was cheap and local to take the class, I did well, and the university I went to counted it towards my english composition class that was part of my general education requirements. I didn't HAVE to transfer the credits to the university, but I did HAVE TO put them on my AMCAS application when I applied to medical school (as well as having to submit a transcript to AMCAS from the CC I attended). This is something that every medical school applicant must do regardless of whether they took the courses as "enrichment" or not. If you're soley interested in the "enrichment" aspect of the course it may be posssible to Audit the courses for NO CREDIT just to learn the material before you go to college, however as others have pointed out that is probably a waste of time being that any intro-level science courses you'll have to take at the university are going to be INTRO LEVEL SCIENCE COURSES with no need to have taken a CC course to prepare