How can I move along undergrad work?

[aprilkot]

Ok,
I'm a long time viewer, first time poster. My question is. Do I have to get a degree, and stay as an under-grad all four years? Is there anyway to just take the courses required to get into Med School? I am going to a private junior college, and they only offer a two year degree. Is it possible to get all my requirements where I am at, or do I need to transfer to a four year? To me, that feels like starting all over. Should I complete the two years at my private junior college, transfer to a four year, but just stay at the four your for two years? I am not sure how I should go about this. I would rather just stay where I am at.

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[14931]

while i think u should stay where u are most happy, some med schools wont take prerequisite courses done at junior colleges, and most medical schools require u to have a bachelors'.

 

[aprilkot]

Ok, so basically being at a junior college is a waste of time? Won't credits recieved from my junior college transfer to a four year? So then med school should accept them right?

 

[14931]

some of ur credits will transfer depending on which 4 year u attend, but some med schools wont take the creidts from the junior college even if they were transfered.

but some people have taken prerequisites at community colleges and gotten into med schools, they usaully offset those courses by taking the advanced level ones in the 4 year college, the decision is really up to u, but to be on the safe side,u probably want to take the medical prerequisites at a 4 year college

 

[latinfridley]

definitely transfer to a 4 year college. the sooner the better.

 

[Megalofyia]

Does your jr college have a pre-med advisor? I know one of the jr colleges near where I live does and there are people who do all their pre-recs there and don't ever go to a 4 year college and still get accepted.

 

[aprilkot]

Megalofya, what state do you live in? My college does not have a pre-med advisor......but would it be possible to find an advisor from another college? I would love to be able to get all my pre-req. done here.

 

[aprilkot]

Ok guys.......I need some more advice!! There has to be more opinions out there......HELP!

 

[Megalofyia]

I sent you a PM.

 

[paean]

As to your 1st question: Yes, you need to have a Bachelor's degree to go to medical school in the US. Many schools only consider students who will complete a BA or BS by the time they matriculate. A few say they will consider extremely strong applicants after 3 rigorous uindergrad years, but if you look at their acceptance statistics, everyone they've accepted for years has had a BA.

You have two options for completing your BA. One is to stay at your present junior college and complete your AA, including all the general education requirements that you will need to graduate from the four year college you will eventually transfer to, the prereq's for the major you intend to complete at the four year school, and as many of the premed required classes as will fit into your schedule. Then you transfer to a four year school, and if you plan everything very carefully, you will be able to transfer all your junior college classes and only have 2 years (your junior and senior years) left to complete at the four year university. This takes very careful planning, and it means that you need to decide now where you want to go after you get your AA, and make sure you complete all the general education requirement for that school and at least one back-up four year university. There are a few medical schools (Wake Forest, Stanford are frequently mentioned) that will not accept prereq's from a community college, and so wouldn't consider you. However, if you get great grades both in the JC and the four year, and do well on the MCAT, many medical schools will accept JC pre-req's.

The other option, and the easier on in some ways for scheduling, is to transfer to a four year college asap. You seem to be saying that you like where you are, and didn't say if you are a freshman or sophomore or how many of the major and general ed. and premed requirements you have taken so far, or how (in)convienant going to a four year school would be right now (location, family obligations, money, etc) so I can't really assess what makes the most sense. If you post your schooling details, including the state you live in, you will get a more complete response.

One thing to get ahold of is the Medical School Admission Requirements (amazon or your school library) so you can see what medical schools are looking for in terms of undergraduate education.

 

[Saluki]

The advice that my aunt, a prof at the dental school gave me, was to go to the junior college for two years, take courses that I know will transfer no problem, get a 4.0 and transfer to a good 4 year university. I didn't take the advice, because I got a good 4 year scholarship, but it's a good deal, a lot of the students at the dental school went through that way....

 

[aprilkot]

Ok, thank you for the advice. I will probably end up transferring to a 4-yr, although I really dont want to. I live in California, but I don't mind going to a med. school out of state. Anyways, thanks again.

 

[jms2002]

Hi Aprilkot,

I just posted a similar thread. I am at a different point but I'm basically considering the same issue. I already have a 4yr degree but no sciences. I want to take premed courses as a non-matriculated student and I prefer a junior college because to be honest it will be cheaper and most likely easier than comparable classes at a 4yr university. I believe in your case that you will eventually need a 4yr degree but that many medical schools will accept your junior college coursework - though if they are comparing 2 students with the same gpa, the one from the 4 yr school will win....

Good luck and I'd be interested in knowing your decision.

Jeff