Is there any disadvantage to take course at community college?

[grettlin]

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I am going to apply for 2003 entrance, and I am taking the required courses now. I have a question that does it hurt if I take Organic Chem I & II at community college? I saw previous discussions that dental schools do not like the work at community college. Is it true? Please give me any suggestion, thanks!

 

[DesiDentist]

"Nothing is Good or Bad, but thinking makes it so..." -William Shakespeare

What is your reasoning behind taking orgo at community college? Is it because you think it will be easier? I took Physics at community college because I knew that I did not need physics to study for the DAT. You want to keep your courses as challenging as you can, especially those courses that you might need for the DAT. I don't think Dental Schools will look down upon you taking community college classes, but be prepared to answer "why" you took them. Good Luck.

DesiDentist

 

[Westside22]

i know a few people that took classes at comm. college, then transfered to a university, and still get into dental school.
However they are not enrolling both at a univ. and comm. college concurrently. These people did take some of the dental requirements at comm. college and that didn't seem to hurt them. But i agree with Desi that the interviewer might ask about why u would want to not challenge yourself, etc besides the obvious that u want to earn a decent grade in the class by taking it at a cc when u can take it at a univ.
hope that helps

 

[Jersey Girl]

I am going to med school this august. I took some summer classes at a community college to save cash. However, they were not heavy hitters like O.Chem. I would not take O.chem at a community college. I think it is fine to take electives, humanities, social sciences, and coursed like those at a community college. But don't take hard core science classes there. Just my opinion.

 

[Pi_Guy1]

I agree with all of the above posts. I think, in general, if you can legitimately explain any blemish on your record during the interview, the committee will usually accept your answer.

Just make sure you do well in undergrad as a whole in order to earn your chance to explain your community college class.

Also, do well on the OChem section of the DAT. If you don't do well, that might be a red flag for the committee to target the community college class. Do REALLY well on the OChem section and I can gaurantee you that the committee won't even look at where you took OChem.

 

[quantumhead]

I really don't think it matters. I took my first 2.5 years of school at a community college. Many of my professors were also teaching at the local expensive university in town. We used the same textbooks and everything so basicaly I got the same class for less than half the price. Do what you have to do to get the requirements, the most importaint thing is that you learn the material.

Also, if you are looking toward community classes because they will be easy, I would think again, it is not always so.

 

[tokenokie]

I agree that it mostly depends on how well you do on the DAT. I have a few courses at a CC but most of my pre-requisites are at a university. It was mentioned at one of my interviews that the admissions committee doesn't like to see a significant amount of pre-reqs at a CC, especially
science courses. The reasoning they gave me was that they had problems in the past with students with CC science pre-reqs struggling in the DS science courses. Good Luck!

 

[groundhog]

Choose the CC wisely, do great the DAT, and you will be fine. Some CC's are not much more than an extension of high school and all the baloney that goes with it. Others are just as challening as the best 4-years. The only advantage that a flagship 4-year has over a top notch CC is in the area of research opportunities.

 

[deciduous]

I don't disagree about the taking of courses, per se. I do, however want to make a comment about the "flagship" university vs. the "top notch" community college. It is a logical reasoning that, if a university has more research opportunities (which they do) then they, as a result, get more monies for the research they carry out. When they get more research monies they can in turn apply some of the money to better facilities, instruments, etc. Ultimately, this yields a better program.
Now, I agree that good CC courses can be just as good as many good university courses. But I don't think research is the only advantage of a university; I think the university will, generally speaking, have a better program, all in all.

 

[groundhog]

I don't disagree with deciduous, but we may be talking apples and oranges. By definition, CC's only offers courses at the freshman and sophomore undergrad levels. At those levels, except for research opportunities, I beleive one can get an education at a top notch CC that matches one that is obtainable at a flagship university. Eventually, one will have to transfer to a 4-year and complete courses at the junior/senior levels if he or she wishes to go on to dental school. I don't believe those who complete their freshman and sophomore years at a 4 year have an automatic built in advantage over those who complete the same years and a good CC.

 

[deciduous]

Cheers!! 🙂