How are Community College Transfers evaluated on an application?

[SketchLazy]

I was looking through the TPR guide of medical schools in the nation and noticed that a few schools don't count any classes taken at a community college. This is only a small number out of the ones I looked at but I was wondering if medical schools weigh your GPA any less if you went to a community college and transferred. I went to a cc and then transferred to a top-tier school but most of my units are from the cc. What do you think?

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[DocEasyCheesy]

I'm actually in the same circumstance as you. I've only taken one science course because I'm a non-trad student, but heard that some medical schools look down at students with courses taken from community colleges, is this for real or what.

 

[notdeadyet]

I was looking through the TPR guide of medical schools in the nation and noticed that a few schools don't count any classes taken at a community college.

Such as? This thread comes up every now and then and whenever I've tried to get someone to identify schools that do not take community college classes taken before transfering to a four year university, the only school folks have been able to name is Harvard.

What are these schools? I applied to 37 as a community college transfer and didn't run into any problems.

 

[calcox]

To piggy-back off of notdeadyet, I did the supposedly unthinkable... I graduated from a University and then went back and took the pre-req classes that I needed... wait... here it comes... at a COMMUNITY COLLEGE!

Shocking I know. I had no trouble with any schools specifically about where I took these classes (now one school failed to give me a secondary app because they didn't consider post-bac work for OOS applicants) or the fact that I went from uni to city college which is supposed to be a no no. I made sure I got all A's in the cc classes and then did well on my MCAT (35) to show that the grades had weight to them. Couple that with some unique EC's (and a couple of staples like volunteering) and I will be going to med school next semester.

Do not sweat it, you'll be just fine if you put your mind to it.

 

[Superman19]

I read in Kaplan's Get into Med school guide that most Med schools look at your university gpa and really don't look at the community college gpa when deciding who to accept. I would recommend not taking much science classes at a CC, just save them for the University you plan on attending.

sidenote: I am also a CC transfer and have looked into this topic a lot, it really shouldn't hinder your chances if you did well.

 

[SketchLazy]

Such as? This thread comes up every now and then and whenever I've tried to get someone to identify schools that do not take community college classes taken before transfering to a four year university, the only school folks have been able to name is Harvard.

What are these schools? I applied to 37 as a community college transfer and didn't run into any problems.

Boston University:

'Ap, CC, JC courses are not accepted to fulfill prerequisites.'

McMaster University:

'Only courses taken at an accredited university are considered.'

Oregon Health and Science U:
'GPAs from all 4 year undergraduate institutions are evaluated equally...'

My fear isn't really that I won't meet the prereqs because that's only a couple schools. It really doesn't limit where I want to go. But what I'm wondering is if they think your some kind of halfwit because you couldn't get into a university the first time around and had to go to a community college where only the strippers, crackheads and mentally handicapped go. Which is not the case at all. Both of the CCs I went to were brimming with bright really intelligent and hardworking people that had admirable dreams and ambitions...and strippers, oh the strippers...

So you didn't really see being a transfer as being weighted any differently?

 

[notdeadyet]

Boston University:

'Ap, CC, JC courses are not accepted to fulfill prerequisites.'

Not true. Boston U does accept JC courses to fulfill prereqs if they were completed as a full-time junior college student prior to transferring. In other words, they don't accept JC classes if you took them at night while or after a student at a 4 year.

McMaster University:

'Only courses taken at an accredited university are considered.'

I only applied to American medical schools, so I'm not sure how it's done in Canada.

Oregon Health and Science U:
'GPAs from all 4 year undergraduate institutions are evaluated equally...'

OHSU does accept junior college prereqs. I checked with them personally, as I very much wanted to attend their school. Your quote is misleading.

 

[notdeadyet]

My fear isn't really that I won't meet the prereqs because that's only a couple schools.

I'll take you word for McMaster and someone else's for Harvard, but other than that, I don't know of any that won't take JC prereqs.

But what I'm wondering is if they think your some kind of halfwit because you couldn't get into a university the first time around and had to go to a community college where only the strippers, crackheads and mentally handicapped go.

No. Folks who are in Admissions know a little bit about education and realize that JCs are like any other kind of colleges. There are good ones and there are bad ones.

So you didn't really see being a transfer as being weighted any differently?

The better schools you went to and the better your GPA while there, the better off your application will be. If you have solid grades at a JC and solid grades at a 4 year, you'll be fine. If you struggled, you won't look so fine.

I went on 5 interviews and not one person asked about the fact that I went to a junior college. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[melissainsd]

Ugh.

I went to a CC. I was interviewed at Harvard and accepted to OHSU. Look at my mdapp, the CC courses didn't seem to hurt one bit.

Also, for the record, I had A LOT (i.e. dozens) of Ws. I also had very good reasons, but people are always freaking out about a W or two.

 

[GuzzyRon]

I took ALL my pre-reqs at a CC/JC and later transfered to a 4 year college. I applied to 11 medical schools, interviewed at 7, was accepted at 3 and still languishing on the waitlist at 4. NOT EVEN ONCE did the issue of taking pre-reqs at a CC/JC come up on any of my interviews. I guess I demonstrated I'm capable by doing well in the advanced level courses at a 4-year college.

 

[SketchLazy]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm glad to see it won't be a factor.