I need your interpretation of my college, basic advice

[Xypathos]

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I attend a small liberal arts college out in Iowa, its name is Cornell College. It's unique because students take one course at a time. They take 1 course for 18 school days, for up to 4 hours a day --- generally only science and math courses meet for this long, most only go for 2 hours. So we take one final a month as opposed to 4-6 finals a semester like most college students.

When transfering to a traditional college, a lot of students have claimed that they've gotten difficulty in getting credit once colleges learn that you took the course in 18 days, so they've either outright denied them credit or made them sit for a final exam in every course that they want credit to test their knowledge of the subject.

Would medical schools view this in the same light? Would they say that my pre-meds don't count b/c I took them in blocks of 18 days as opposed to 18 weeks?

I'm not looking to get into Harvard or anything, I am realistic and know that as an upper middle class, caucasian male. I will be a cookie cutter applicant with a 3.5+ and 30+ MCAT (hopefully of course). I'm interested in surgery and psychiatry for now.

I've been debating on transfering and my friends and professors are giving me a rashing of **** for it, which I understand. It's a small college and the class max is 25 students per class, some are maxed as low as 6 depending on the material, so you have insane 1on1 time with your professor.

I know I have more opportunities in a larger academic college, like UNC (I'm a NC resident) but I also know I'll be a small fish in a huge pond, as opposed to a large fish in a tiny pond.

Anyway --- I'm looking on guidance, I've just started my sophomore year at Cornell College so it's not anxiety over a new place as I've settled in and made friends but I'm worried that due to the "untraditional" nature of Cornell College, I may be setting myself up for failure if I transfer.

So, please offer any pearls of wisdom or advice ... I'm really torn between the options.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I wouldn't feel obligated to transfer. I am not familiar with what it's like to translate your system into the AMCAS format, but I do not think it will hurt you as long as you do well academically. The problem with many schools like yours is that they write reviews of your prerformance instead of assigning letter grades, which can make this process considerably more difficult. So the real hindrance would be whether or not you have letter grades. I'm sure your school has some sort of pre-med or pre-health advising office. They'll have your answers.

by the way, Cornell College isn't that small. I've heard of it, and I'm sure many adcomms have too.

 

[zbruinz]

I think Bigredmed attended the same college. PM him or something.

I think I spelled his username right.

 

[Xypathos]

I think Bigredmed attended the same college. PM him or something.

I think I spelled his username right.

I think he attended Cornell University, as they are the "Big Red" --- two different schools.

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

I attend a small liberal arts college out in Iowa, its name is Cornell College. It's unique because students take one course at a time. They take 1 course for 18 school days, for up to 4 hours a day --- generally only science and math courses meet for this long, most only go for 2 hours. So we take one final a month as opposed to 4-6 finals a semester like most college students.

When transfering to a traditional college, a lot of students have claimed that they've gotten difficulty in getting credit once colleges learn that you took the course in 18 days, so they've either outright denied them credit or made them sit for a final exam in every course that they want credit to test their knowledge of the subject.

Would medical schools view this in the same light? Would they say that my pre-meds don't count b/c I took them in blocks of 18 days as opposed to 18 weeks?

I'm not looking to get into Harvard or anything, I am realistic and know that as an upper middle class, caucasian male. I will be a cookie cutter applicant with a 3.5+ and 30+ MCAT (hopefully of course). I'm interested in surgery and psychiatry for now.

I've been debating on transfering and my friends and professors are giving me a rashing of **** for it, which I understand. It's a small college and the class max is 25 students per class, some are maxed as low as 6 depending on the material, so you have insane 1on1 time with your professor.

I know I have more opportunities in a larger academic college, like UNC (I'm a NC resident) but I also know I'll be a small fish in a huge pond, as opposed to a large fish in a tiny pond.

Anyway --- I'm looking on guidance, I've just started my sophomore year at Cornell College so it's not anxiety over a new place as I've settled in and made friends but I'm worried that due to the "untraditional" nature of Cornell College, I may be setting myself up for failure if I transfer.

So, please offer any pearls of wisdom or advice ... I'm really torn between the options.

I would PM LizzyM to get her views on whether you should transfer.

 

[zbruinz]

no, I'm almost sure he attended cornell college.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

no, I'm almost sure he attended cornell college.

I recall an SDN user who also claimed to attend "cornell college"... maybe the guy I'm thinking of is the same user??

Man that is one WEIRD system, I must say. One class at a time?? No offense, but that kind of system is very incompatible with the curriculum at virtually any medical school.

Does your school have a premed advisor or prehealth counseling committee? Or are there any alumni who successfully went on to medical school that you can talk to?

 

[Xypathos]

I recall an SDN user who also claimed to attend "cornell college"... maybe the guy I'm thinking of is the same user??

Man that is one WEIRD system, I must say. One class at a time?? No offense, but that kind of system is very incompatible with the curriculum at virtually any medical school.

Does your school have a premed advisor or prehealth counseling committee? Or are there any alumni who successfully went on to medical school that you can talk to?

I've emailed the Pre-Health coordinator (like 5 minutes ago actually) --- so tomorrow or Monday I'll have a better idea of where past students have gone and the willingness of medical schools to accept credit from such a school.

There are alumni who are still practicing, but the ones that are prominent at the campus are multi-millionaires and the college won't budge on their personal information or provide email contacts, though I'm sure some sleuthing on the internet could produce results for one's self.

 

[colbgw02]

I attend a small liberal arts college out in Iowa, its name is Cornell College. It's unique because students take one course at a time. They take 1 course for 18 school days, for up to 4 hours a day --- generally only science and math courses meet for this long, most only go for 2 hours. So we take one final a month as opposed to 4-6 finals a semester like most college students.

When transfering to a traditional college, a lot of students have claimed that they've gotten difficulty in getting credit once colleges learn that you took the course in 18 days, so they've either outright denied them credit or made them sit for a final exam in every course that they want credit to test their knowledge of the subject.

Would medical schools view this in the same light? Would they say that my pre-meds don't count b/c I took them in blocks of 18 days as opposed to 18 weeks?

I'm not looking to get into Harvard or anything, I am realistic and know that as an upper middle class, caucasian male. I will be a cookie cutter applicant with a 3.5+ and 30+ MCAT (hopefully of course). I'm interested in surgery and psychiatry for now.

I've been debating on transfering and my friends and professors are giving me a rashing of **** for it, which I understand. It's a small college and the class max is 25 students per class, some are maxed as low as 6 depending on the material, so you have insane 1on1 time with your professor.

I know I have more opportunities in a larger academic college, like UNC (I'm a NC resident) but I also know I'll be a small fish in a huge pond, as opposed to a large fish in a tiny pond.

Anyway --- I'm looking on guidance, I've just started my sophomore year at Cornell College so it's not anxiety over a new place as I've settled in and made friends but I'm worried that due to the "untraditional" nature of Cornell College, I may be setting myself up for failure if I transfer.

So, please offer any pearls of wisdom or advice ... I'm really torn between the options.

i don't think that medical schools judge on a course-to-course basis, rather they care about your institution as a whole. otherwise, i'm sure there are some applicants from very reputable schools that might not get credit for biology, for example, if that department is known to be particularly weak. if your school has a decent to good academic reputation and is accredited by the right organization(s), then i can't imagine it being an issue. that said, the real answer, as already mentioned, is to speak to former pre-med students from your school.

 

[MSTP?]

It format doesn't sound that much different that a typical summer school course. I see no reason why medical schools would not accept the credit.

Transfering is completely different, and it is always tough to get credit at a new institution. Even traditional transfers have difficulty getting the credits that they want.

 

[searun]

and Colorado College has the same block plan...one class per month with a letter grade...My brother loves it. And Colorado College kicks major butt in getting its graduates into medical school. The block plan is not an impediment to medical school admissions at all. Relax and enjoy the small college experience. When you need a letter of recommendation, you will not be a faceless student from a class of 300. Your professors will actually know who you are and can write a strong LOR.

Searun

 

[Law2Doc]

I will be a cookie cutter applicant with a 3.5+ and 30+ MCAT (hopefully of course).

Don't count your MCAT score until you take it. If you cover the prereqs at 1 month a pop, only 2-4 hours per day, which is actually not even comparable to some accellerated summer programs you will not likely have covered as much info as most people who took semester long science, and you are far less likely to remember as much of it a few years later. So even if med schools accept those courses, you may be starting further in the hole in terms of MCAT studying. I thus wouldn't count on a competitive score until you actually take the thing. SDN is full of people who start out each thread with "assuming I get a 30+ MCAT score". But it is a bad assumption for many - even those with higher GPAs in more conventional schools.

 

[LizzyM]

I don't know of Cornell College (my job responsibilities on the adcom don't include students from that school -- just the way we divide things up) but I would think that as long as you have a letter grade for each course it doesn't matter if you take 2-4 hours per week for 18 weeks or 2-4 hours per day for 18 days, you've still covered the material and had a comparable number of contact hours.

The AMCAS really homogenizes all transcripts so that your freshman year classes will just be listed with the grade earned and no one will really know (unless they know the school) that the year of biology was taught in 2 intensive 4 week sessions (and as someone said, that is not unlike summer session).

With small classes (something you won't have at UNC) you should be able to get good LOR from faculty members who can actually recommend you based on their personal experience and not on the say-so of TAs.

Whether it is similar to med school or not depends (and doesn't really matter as far as the adcom is concerned.) The organ based curriculum does have a single exam after every block (6-8 weeks) -- not much different than your school (and then there are places that have no exams and just expect you to work hard & pass the boards at the end of second year!).

Finally, if you transfer you will run the risk of having your grades suffer as you adapt to a new academic & living environment. You will have to find new ECs and you will lose the relationships that have been developing with professors at CC (people who would really know you after 3 years and be able to write letters with great value to the adcom.