Help

[DaveC]

OK, here it goes,

After graduating high school in 1998 with a D average, I did not go to school afterwards. Wanting to go to med school, I am now enrolled in a community college earning all A's (I was lazy before, not stupid). My question is should I complete my associates degree first and then transfer to a university, or should I transfer earlier? Earning a high GPA at the community college is not very hard, so maybe I should stay and guarantee myself a high undergraduate GPA or would med school admissions committees know this and not accept me? Has anyone been accepted to med school after spending 2 yrs at a community college and only 1 yr at a 4 yr institution? Am I just wasting my time?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PrincessCKNY]

I can't give much advice, but all I know is that you definitely have an advantage going into a university w/ a nice and high GPA from a JC. Just make sure that you keep your grades as high as possible during your university year(s)...a drop in grades signifies that you can't handle the workload. However, if you earn B's at the university it will not significantly hurt your GPA since you will already have a lot of units under your belt.

Maybe you should check to see if JC grades factor in into overall GPA. All I know is that a total of 3 years at both schools may not be enough. Usually it's 2 yrs at each school (4 total). This is just what I observe w/ my friends who have transferred.

Hope this helps.

 

[abw]

Hey!
I know one of the schools I was just at (can't remember which) limits the number of jc credits that they will accept towards your transcript. The number seemed pretty high, so it may not matter, but I would take a look at schools you might be interested in for the future to see what their policy is. Hope that helps!

 

[DoubleDoctor]

Also, most colleges have some sort of rule that you have to have so many credits at that school to obtain a degree. I think at Miami it is 64 or 92, I really didn't pay that much attention to it because I went to the university for it all but I remember something in the student bulletin. Med schools do look at where you went to undergrad and what kind of classes you took so I would transfer ASAP. They would definitely catch on if you tried to skate by at the JC for most of your classes then just do the minimum at the university to get your degree awarded. When you fill out the AMCAS app it breaks down what classes you took where. Good luck!!!!!!!!!

 

[CD]

Our state university accepts 108 credits from a JC. The other remaining 100 credits or so must be completed at the university. Personally I'd take all you can at a JC. In addition I chose to take MORE than the 108 credits even though they could not be transferred. The reason was because I already had enough credits in communications but hadn't taken the required speech class. I chose to take the required speech class close to home through a JC and then the university waived the requirement for speech because of the acceptable number of communication credits.

The university I now attend as a grad student recognizes the excellent preparation the local JC gives. When my chemistry prof's at the university discover that I took organic and gen chem at the JC, they immediately comment, "oh I'm not worried about you then". Those of us from the JC are SO MUCH MORE prepared than our university counterparts....but I suppose that would depend upon the JC.

In addition, I called our state med school a couple years ago and inquired of the thoughts concerning JC's and med school admission. Our state school didn't care AT ALL where the requirements were taken. They did care, though, that I had demonstrated ability to handle a full courseload at the university during some point in my career.