Interesting Questions

[El Nino]

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Recently after using College Board "major & career search" I noticed only three colleges in CA offer physiology. They are San Francisco State University, San Jose State University and UCLA. Although I want to attend a school in Georgia or Louisiana, I also want to major in physiology, which the schools in Georgia or Louisiana do not have.

If I do attend a state college I plan to go cc instead of directly to state. I want to go to a CC because I can quickly knock out pre med courses and general education requirements in hope of graduating in four years instead of five. However, before I transfer I must complete bio, chem, org. chem, physics and calculus since required for bio major. Basically I will have completed the necessary requirements for med school.

So would I apply for the MCAT during the spring of sophomore year at the CC? Or, Wait till the spring of junior year at the state college?

*Should org. chem and physics be taken together? I noticed a lot of college pre meds do org. chem sophomore year and physics junior year.

How are state schools such as SJSU and SFSU viewed by the adcoms? I know UCLA would be reputable.

Thanks

 

[MilkmanAl]

Recently after using College Board "major & career search" I noticed only three colleges in CA offer physiology. They are San Francisco State University, San Jose State University and UCLA. Although I want to attend a school in Georgia or Louisiana, I also want to major in physiology, which the schools in Georgia or Louisiana do not have.

They might not have physiology majors in LA or GA, but not too many schools do, as far as I'm aware. I'd be incredibly surprised if they didn't offer a lot of physiology courses, though.

I want to go to a CC because I can quickly knock out pre med courses and general education requirements in hope of graduating in four years instead of five.

This is an awful plan. Basically the only way your undergrad program is going to matter significantly is if it was mostly conducted at a CC. That is, doing your pre-reqs at a community college will hurt your chances at med school admission notably. You're also deliberately giving up your college experience to give up another year of your college experience. Not a wise move. Go to college, have fun, and grow up. College isn't just a bridge to med school.

On another note, why would you need 5 years to graduate and why would going to a community college eliminate one of those years? If anything, bigger state schools will offer more of the courses you want/need than CC's will.

Should org. chem and physics be taken together? I noticed a lot of college pre meds do org. chem sophomore year and physics junior year.

It doesn't really matter. You're going to have to take a bunch of science classes at once in most semesters no matter what you do. Just try to make sure you're not overloading on the labs, and you'll be fine.

How are state schools such as SJSU and SFSU viewed by the adcoms?

Undergrad institution is largely irrelevant except in extreme cases.

 

[SilentNight]

I agree with MilkmanAL.

There are actually a lot of CA schools offering physiology, but not necessarily a physiology titled major. Two examples that come into mind are UC Davis (Neurophyisology, Physiology, and Behavior major) and Stanford (Human Biology major).

Also you can complete undergrad within 4 years...going to CC doesn't make it any faster...in fact sometimes it slows the process of graduating on time due to fulfilling university requirements that may be unmatched in CC.

Course load is subjective...some can take a lot of science classes and others prefer less. Your first quarter/semester of college should be balanced, then once you figure out if you can manage your time well you can go for 4 science classes at once!

Finally, the school's name can be a small factor for med school...but take note that the UCs offer greater opportunities compared to the CSUs such as easier to find and/or better research, clinical, and employment opportunities.

 

[El Nino]

One of the few reasons why, I wanted to attend a CC because I figured I will get a smaller class room setting compared to state schools. Also, I wanted to graduate in 4 instead of five because the extra year I would use for culinary art school. I am definitely not trying to speed up my college life because there is a lot of stuff I want to do before I go to med school (if I do decide I want become a doctor). For example; I want to become a bodybuilder (not professionally) while in college, work on farm (livestock) and become a part-time bartender etc.

I thought if I took all my upper level physiology courses at a state college (and did well in them), adcoms will not care if I the pre-reqs at a CC.

Maybe I'll go straight to state college because it seems like a better option

Thanks for feedback

 

[MilkmanAl]

I was just curious why you thought college would take you 5 years. You can easily get the med school pre-reqs done in 4 years even if they don't count toward your major for anything other than elective credit.

 

[El Nino]

I was just curious why you thought college would take you 5 years. You can easily get the med school pre-reqs done in 4 years even if they don't count toward your major for anything other than elective credit.

I forgot to mention most sudents who attend public state colleges in california take an average of five years to graduate due to over populated schools and more people taking lower instead of upper level classes.