How do i avoid med prerequisites at a community college?

[gasperino]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I was recently accepted into a four university to begin this fall but certainly i can't afford it.I'm currently exploring community colleges as an option to get an associate and then transfer to a university.My question is:is it possible to go through a community college and avoid med school prerequisites to take them at the university when i finally transfer?As much as possible i want to take my prerequisites at a four year university but still,attend a community college for the first two years to get an associate before transferring.Your responses are highly welcomed and appreciated.Thanks

 

[SoulinNeed]

Take the prereqs (or most of them) at the CC, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the University. Do well on those, and do well on your MCAT.

There.

 

[littlefurrybugs]

Yes it is definitely possible. Depending on your major and your future 4 year university, you might have to spend a 5th year in college. I have a friend majoring in Biochemistry that did all his core requirements (ie. English, humanities, etc.) in a community college, and is doing his pre-reqs right now. However, he won't get his degree until his 5th year because his major requires classes that are only offered during his 5th year.

You could always major in a non-science degree and do your pre-reqs upon transferring. That might save you a bit of time, since you can take some of your major classes in your cc, plus it might be easier to find summer classes too.

 

[BecksTriad]

Take the prereqs (or most of them) at the CC, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the University. Do well on those, and do well on your MCAT.

There.

+1👍

 

[whatbout2morrow]

I don't know if the university you plan to transfer to requires you to take science classes at the community college as part of their transfer plan, but it did in my case, so I chose the concurrent enrollment option. There were semesters where I took just one class at the university and all the rest of my classes at the community college.

The demerits of this include potential class schedule issues, transportation, and that you still end up paying alot in semester miscellaneous fees charged by the university (and these fees are the same whether you take one credit or 18 credits in the semester) but it does end up being cheaper than paying tuition at the four year university for classes you could take at the community college.

 

[gasperino]

I attend majoring in Chemical Engineering but universities require generally Biology,Chem, Physics, Calculus; which are equally med prereqs to have been completed before they even consider one's application for transfer.

SoulinNeed advised i take them at a community college.I've always heard adcomms are not impressed with course works taken at a CC.Are there students on here who started at a CC and made it to med school?

 

[gasperino]

I don't know if the university you plan to transfer to requires you to take science classes at the community college as part of their transfer plan, but it did in my case, so I chose the concurrent enrollment option. There were semesters where I took just one class at the university and all the rest of my classes at the community college.

The demerits of this include potential class schedule issues, transportation, and that you still end up paying alot in semester miscellaneous fees charged by the university (and these fees are the same whether you take one credit or 18 credits in the semester) but it does end up being cheaper than paying tuition at the four year university for classes you could take at the community college.

Sounds like a good option.The University i plan transferring to is in another city entirely;4hours away from me.Are you in med school now?Did the CC course works count against you in anyway?

 

[JESSFALLING]

Take the prereqs (or most of them) at the CC, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the University. Do well on those, and do well on your MCAT.

There.

This is what I recommend, as long as the courses transfer to your planned future University(s).

 

[JESSFALLING]

SoulinNeed advised i take them at a community college.I've always heard adcomms are not impressed with course works taken at a CC.Are there students on here who started at a CC and made it to med school?

Adcoms are impressed by very little. Do well in your courses at both CC and University, and you'll be fine. There are only a few med schools which explicitly say that they don't accept prereqs from CCs.......avoid those schools and problem solved.

If I were you, I'd knock out General Biology I/II, General Chemistry I/II, Physics I/II, Calculus, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, one literature course, and possibly Microbiology (optional), at CC.

Then, I'd plan to take the following (at minimum) at the University: Organic Chemistry I/II, Biochemistry, Genetics, Physiology, and a second literature course.

 

[blub1212]

I was recently accepted into a four university to begin this fall but certainly i can't afford it.I'm currently exploring community colleges as an option to get an associate and then transfer to a university.My question is:is it possible to go through a community college and avoid med school prerequisites to take them at the university when i finally transfer?As much as possible i want to take my prerequisites at a four year university but still,attend a community college for the first two years to get an associate before transferring.Your responses are highly welcomed and appreciated.Thanks

Why can't you afford it? If you fill out the FAFSA, your loans should cover the entire cost of attendance. Is it that you just don't want to take out loans? Whatever classes you take, make sure that they transfer over to the university that you are transferring to. Some universities are really bad at taking credits from other schools, and you will end up having to retake the classes. For instance, my university was horrible at accepting transfer credits (I took orgo I and II at a different university, and they wouldn't take those credits). Make sure you do your research beforehand.

 

[Xenops]

SoulinNeed advised i take them at a community college.I've always heard adcomms are not impressed with course works taken at a CC.Are there students on here who started at a CC and made it to med school?

Oh please. A friend of mine did ALL of the pre-reqs at a CC, got a bachelors in psychology through an extension campus, and is a medical student at University of Washington Med School.😉

 

[blub1212]

Oh please. A friend of mine did ALL of the pre-reqs at a CC, got a bachelors in psychology through an extension campus, and is a medical student at University of Washington Med School.😉

Be wary of outliers. Just because one person did it, doesn't mean it's a good idea, or that others can easily take the same road.

EDIT: I wasn't trying to say that taking pre-reqs from a CC will necessarily bring you down. I was saying that this instance (taking all pre-reqs at a CC, then graduating from a satellite campus) was an outlier.

 

[Fivo]

Be wary of outliers. Just because one person did it, doesn't mean it's a good idea, or that others can easily take the same road.

How is that considered an outlier? Do you have any definitive evidence stating that students who take classes at CC's don't get into med school? Or are you just another poster that thinks he's an adcom?

 

[blub1212]

How is that considered an outlier? Do you have any definitive evidence stating that students who take classes at CC's don't get into med school? Or are you just another poster that thinks he's an adcom?

. Just relaying what was told to me by several ADCOMS. I don't really care if you get into med school or not, so feel free to ignore the advice of someone who had multiple acceptances.

 

[BHaus9]

I would also worry about the feasibility of finishing a bachelor's degree with only 2 years of entry level science classes. Most degree programs require a certain number upper-level electives, which probably aren't offered at a CC or, at the very least, require the pre-reqs to have been completed first. If you're planning on majoring in some other discipline, perhaps one that builds upon the CC credit, I think you're setting yourself up with an impossible course load.

So, in sum, I would just go with a previous poster's suggestion, take pre-reqs at CC, and prove you can cut the mustard by taking upper-levels at a 4-year and dominating the MCAT.

 

[Fivo]

. Just relaying what was told to me by several ADCOMS. I don't really care if you get into med school or not, so feel free to ignore the advice of someone who had multiple acceptances.

🙄

 

[MedPR]

take the prereqs (or most of them) at the cc, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the university. Do well on those, and do well on your mcat.

There.

+2

 

[NightGod]

Take the prereqs (or most of them) at the CC, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the University. Do well on those, and do well on your MCAT.

There.

👍
+3

Why are we still getting daily threads on this same question?

 

[tima]

Do you want a cookie?

. Just relaying what was told to me by several ADCOMS. I don't really care if you get into med school or not, so feel free to ignore the advice of someone who had multiple acceptances.

 

[blub1212]

Do you want a cookie?

Chocolate chip?!?!?

 

[gasperino]

Thanks for the responses.You guys have allayed my fears.I've looked up some CCs and couldn't believe how affordable they can be.With less than a $1000, i could afford 16 credit hours per semester not only as an in-state resident but also in county resident(i'm in TX).Community College is definitely my last resort right now as fall is just weeks away.I hope to speak to the CC and my potential university.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Poetic Silence]

Take the prereqs (or most of them) at the CC, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the University. Do well on those, and do well on your MCAT.

There.

What this dude said.

 

[LizzyM]

What adcoms don't like to see is an applicant who wiggles out of a weed-out course at their home institution by taking it at a community college over the summer. If I have to choose between someone who took al their courses at University A and someone who attended University A but took 0-chem and physics in summers 1 and 2 at Community College, which applicant is stronger/ more hard working? (for the sake of argument let's say same gpa, same MCAT).

I have been very impressed with some applicants who have attended CC for two years due to economic hardship or family issues and then transferred to a 4-year school. Heck, years ago I met a med school dean who had taken that road back in the 1950s.

 

[brokeninnosense]

The only problem with waiting until you get to University is that you have all your 'hard' classes together at once. Believe me, I needed to graduate within the 2 years after transferring. I ended up taking my one year of physics, one year chem with lab, and one year bio all my junior year 🙁 def ruined my gpa.

 

[Magicjewel]

Take the prereqs (or most of them) at the CC, then transfer over, and take upper level science classes at the University. Do well on those, and do well on your MCAT.

There.

+1👍