For the pre-dents who are worried about their prereqs taken at CC.
I studied engineering at four-year uni and studied all my natural sci prereq at local CC. At the end of my predent cycle, I landed with 5 acceptance including Ivys. Here is my view about education at CC and impact on predent profile.
If you have choice of going back to four-year uni. for a post bacc education, it is an excellent option as long as your are not compromrising with other factors, mainly paying too much and sacrificing your own schedule (CCs have been know to have flexiable schedule.)
When I was looking into prereq, I had two options - formal post bacc at four-year uni Vs. CC. Money was not an issue for me. I could have afforded paying little more at four-year uni. My main concern was my full time job and the traveling distance to four-year uni. If I wanted to attend four-year uni for my prereqs, I would have had to give up my full time job which would have ultimately affected my finance. So I decided to go for CC which was literally two min from my home and the schedule was extremely comfortable.
While attending CC, I made sure not to compromise with my study. Ultimately It comes down to an individual. Teachers are their only to guide you regardless of your school. IMO, you get more time of your prof at CC when you needed an extra attention. Small class size at CC are like personalized education. You can run to your prof. with questions and they will be happy to spend time with you. In contrast, it is hard to get prof.'s time at four-year uni, most of the time you end up with TAs. Which I could understand since they usually have 200-600 students in most common courses like Bio, Gen Chem and Org at most of the big uni.
As per the quality of education, I believe you need good teacher rather than researcher. The content we study as a part of natural sci classes is very basic. So as long as someone who has enough knowledge and good teaching ability, he or she can teach you basic concepts of natural sci. Good teaching ability only comes after degree in education and enough experience which TAs at four-year uni lacks and prof. don't have any time for you beside class room unless you are extra special.
I had an amazing experience at CC. The CC I attended is one of the jewel when it comes to various CCs. I can say with confidence about the education I received at CC that it is no less than any other four-year uni. Some of the classes are even better than most four-year uni. I can give some credit to my CC for my success in DAT.
It is true that one will have hard time explaining adcom about the classes taken at CC however as long as you do good in classes at CC and your DAT shows the result..you are fine !!! Make sure you do have reasonable explaination before the interviews.
It is also true that there are some school who does not accept any credits from CC whats so ever. So you won't be able to apply to those D schools but hey..they are not the only one out there !!! IMO, those schools are missing out on some real good students if they really do care about the quality of their classes. Every individual is unique. Schools should not make hasty generalization. Adcoms should give enough attention to every application they receive regardless of the number of applicants. I know every D school receive application in thousands. The REAL good shools will keep the door open for everyone. They know how to pick the jewel who will shine their school name one day.
In my view one should be able to apply to D school as long as your are competent enough for dental profession. Attending CC does not make an individual any less competent.
Now reality, if you have compromised pre-dent profile, do not jeopardize your dream of attending D school by taking classes at CC. Not that education at CC is at any lower level but in most cases, you will not get chance to prove your competency for the profession, especially if you spoil your GPA for any good reason.
If you are from CC, your rest of the profile need to be in the top percentage. When comparing two applicant with similar profile, little lower GPA from four-year uni might beat the CC. This is just the sad reality.
Botton line, it's not like you don't have chance at D school if you have attended CC. Don't beat yourself by regretting your education at CC. However, if you are making choice on whether to attend CC or four-year uni., give a hard look at your profile. If everything looks great then choose the option which best fits you and make sure you stay on top of your game.
