Mediocre university for 4 years, or CC-->[High-Ranking] Uni route?

[yanorglu]

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I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I've been accepted to several mid-tier schools (Washington State, Western Washington, Oregon State) but denied from my state's flagship, U Washington.

I heard it's better to do all 4 years of pre-med at a university if possible, instead of the CC route. But would going to a CC and then a really good university be preferable over doing all 4 years at an "okay" uni?

Am I just splitting hairs and it doesn't matter?

 

[Nantes]

I'm not in college, or med school, but from having read the same answers over and over again I can help you out.

"Prestige" of your undergraduate school will almost 100% not matter. The reasons that Ivys and other high-ranking universities have such high med school acceptance rates are because 1) the individuals who go there generally already possess a good amount of determination and intelligence, and 2) (as with many other schools) those who are not excelling in the premed coursework will be weeded out and not encouraged to apply.

Going to a mid-tier state school will not affect your application in a negative way whatsoever. The important things are your GPA, your MCAT, and your ECs. I could list around 5 more other slightly less important things things, such as your personal statement, time of application, and choice of med schools, etc., before I would even think of considering undergrad prestige as any sort of significant factor.

In short, do what will make you happy. If you think that 1 year at CC will be unpleasant, I would 100% go for the mid-tier schools. I will likely be attending a mid/low tier state school next year for undergrad, but it has research and volunteer opportunities a-plenty, in addition to many different clubs, organization, scholarships, and social life that I'm look for. Plus, it will be dirt cheap, so I won't be in any debt for whatever I decide to do after college.

Best of luck to you!

 

[ShaneK]

The rank of your school etc. really doesn't matter at all. The thing that does matter is your performance. Alot of times its ok to go to a CC your first year (This is what I'm doing). The reason people say avoid CCs is because some people go to a uni and at the same time take their sciences classes at a CC thinking they will be easier, but if you take your first year at a CC and make good grades then transfer to a uni and continue to make good grades there is nothing to dispute.

Good Luck 🙂

 

[Cass]

Plus, it will be dirt cheap, so I won't be in any debt for whatever I decide to do after college.
[/lucquote]

QFT. No need to go into debt for your undergraduate degree.

Go where you want/can afford. Just make the grades and do well on the MCAT and you shouldn't have much trouble getting into a good med school.

 

[Depakote]

I'm not in college, or med school, but from having read the same answers over and over again I can help you out.

"Prestige" of your undergraduate school will almost 100% not matter. The reasons that Ivys and other high-ranking universities have such high med school acceptance rates are because 1) the individuals who go there generally already possess a good amount of determination and intelligence, and 2) (as with many other schools) those who are not excelling in the premed coursework will be weeded out and not encouraged to apply.

Going to a mid-tier state school will not affect your application in a negative way whatsoever. The important things are your GPA, your MCAT, and your ECs. I could list around 5 more other slightly less important things things, such as your personal statement, time of application, and choice of med schools, etc., before I would even think of considering undergrad prestige as any sort of significant factor.

In short, do what will make you happy. If you think that 1 year at CC will be unpleasant, I would 100% go for the mid-tier schools. I will likely be attending a mid/low tier state school next year for undergrad, but it has research and volunteer opportunities a-plenty, in addition to many different clubs, organization, scholarships, and social life that I'm look for. Plus, it will be dirt cheap, so I won't be in any debt for whatever I decide to do after college.

Best of luck to you!

This is good advice. I would take a school and stick with it.

I wouldn't jump from a CC to a 4 year school simply for prestige sake. I'd only do this if you were unable to get into a 4 year institution.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

If prestige is what you desire (and its totally fine that you want this) then why not start at the "mediocre" school and then work your way up? If you go to CC, for 1 semester or 1 year, its still a great emphasis on how you did in high school. Chances are if you were a long shot from the top tiers in highschool, you will be viewed the same after 1 or 2 semesters, when reapplying.

 

[ShaneK]

If you go to CC, for 1 semester or 1 year, its still a great emphasis on how you did in high school.

How do you figure? After you have so many hours (which is a number easily attained in a year) you only have to send the transcripts from the CC. You do NOT have to send your high school transcripts.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

How do you figure? After you have so many hours (which is a number easily attained in a year) you only have to send the transcripts from the CC. You do NOT have to send your high school transcripts.

If you check most colleges (im just speaking from the majority of schools in my home state), if you attend 1 year of CC, and get a 4.0, it is NOT enough to transfer to an IVY league or Top tier (just using it broadly as an example). They look at your Highschool Transcript and your SAT scores. They request it with the application because you are fresh out of highschool, and this is what they look it. (trust me, im a freshman planning to transfer, and all req's i have seen require this, at the schools im looking at)

Lets consider some cases: (these are just hypothetical examples)

Student X gets into NYU from highschool. X can't attend because he cant take out a loan, his parents wont do it they have a lot going on and he is 17.

Student X goes to a CC, and then applies for transfer to NYU, because now he has turned 18. NYU not only requests his college transcript, they want to see his SAT scores and his GPA. They also see he has gotten accepted before...so they know they can probably keep him in the pool as he is/was a competitive applicant.

Student Z on the other hand has terrible grades (arguably) for top tier. Z has 3.0 gpa and 1550/2400 SAT scores (hes the average student).

Student Z goes to a CC, and then applies to transfer to NYU. Just because he has a 4.0 in CC doesnt mean hes the most competitive applicant around. 1 semester of college does not tell you anything, where as 4 semesters does. So when NYU requests his highschool transcript and SAT scores (you can check nyu website to see it is what they require) they will most likely not place him in the pool for students who are considered because his highschool grades and SAT scores shows he does not have the type of numbers they are looking for.


I just gave a very dull example. Obviously by no means do stats determine everything. Essays, EC's etc.. are main factors as well. IM just trying to back up what i said in order to answer your question.

Now ofcourse when ur at the 4 semester level, they probably just want to see ur HS results and SATs just for the hell of it, as they will put more emphasis on ur 4 semesters of college.

But at the 1 semester level, i cant imagine that being the most weighted factor in their acceptance decision.

 

[ShaneK]

Ok thanks. I did some looking myself and your right. I am also a freshman getting ready to transfer but the unis I've been looking at don't require high school transcripts after so many college credit hours.

 

[Brandqn]

redacted

 

[xnfs93hy]

Yeah, it just depends on the school.

The university I'm going to be attending requires them if you graduated from high school >= 3 years prior to your application.

All of this is true.

For example, I have found that schools like Ohio State, U Maryland, etc. Schools in that range do not require your high school stuff (HS transcript, ACT scores, etc) after a year at a CC or a regular old four year school.

However, after doing some research (which doesn't take long at all) you will find that it is almost near impossible to transfer from a CC to an ivy or a school of ivy calibre (MIT) unless you are already at a top school. And generally (as mentioned already), many of the schools in the top 50 (JHU, William and Mary, NYU, UNC-CH) will require all your HS stuff.

The further you move into college, the less important your HS record (good or bad) becomes, generally.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Ok thanks. I did some looking myself and your right. I am also a freshman getting ready to transfer but the unis I've been looking at don't require high school transcripts after so many college credit hours.

Haha i see, no problem. I guess i am kind of on the same boat as you in respect to transfering. From the examples i used, i would most likely be Student X (less the part about loans), however i cannot afford a college, so though i am not at a CC, i am at a city school (4 year). Im quite unhappy though, which is why im less motivated and determind to do well in school...which is something that i must change asap, and im hoping to do that if i can take out a loan and transfer. (im not sure that im ready to take on a loan that huge with my parents).

Good luck to you though, if you need advise about what schools to go for and application stuff, just send me a PM. I worked in the college office all my senior year, so im quite knowledgable about these things.

Agreed with the previous post, except all the schools i got into that require me to take on huge loans rank from probably 30 to 90, and ofcourse the school im going to now which is not even on those charts (city school)

 

[xnfs93hy]

What I am going to do is just do a year at my CC, try and get a 3.5 GPA and just transfer to Ohio State. They accept like 80% of their transfers so I suppose if you have high numbers you are pretty much accepted.

I think OSU has a summer semester so I can just apply for that, or take that summer to do research in my home state and just attend in the fall.

They want I think 30 hours to not need the HS stuff. So you could do 16 hours one semester and then another. Take that summer to do whatever and then attend your uni of choice that august or whatever. Easy. That and you just saved thousands and thousands of dollars and got your stupid classes out of the way. 👍

 

[Depakote]

What I am going to do is just do a year at my CC, try and get a 3.5 GPA and just transfer to Ohio State. They accept like 80% of their transfers so I suppose if you have high numbers you are pretty much accepted.

I think OSU has a summer semester so I can just apply for that, or take that summer to do research in my home state and just attend in the fall.

They want I think 30 hours to not need the HS stuff. So you could do 16 hours one semester and then another. Take that summer to do whatever and then attend your uni of choice that august or whatever. Easy. That and you just saved thousands and thousands of dollars and got your stupid classes out of the way. 👍

I understand that you have a rocky academic background to overcome, but I think you are doing yourself a disservice by making 2 assumptions:

1.) assuming that you will not get into a 4 year university out of HS.
2.) assuming you will be accepted to the OSU as an OOS transfer student.


Unless you have a good reason not to apply to 4 year schools (other than fear of rejection), go ahead and apply there. Then if you are rejected, you can explore community college transfers to larger universities, but this should be a plan B.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I understand that you have a rocky academic background to overcome, but I think you are doing yourself a disservice by making 2 assumptions:

1.) assuming that you will not get into a 4 year university out of HS.
2.) assuming you will be accepted to the OSU as an OOS transfer student.


Unless you have a good reason not to apply to 4 year schools (other than fear of rejection), go ahead and apply there. Then if you are rejected, you can explore community college transfers to larger universities, but this should be a plan B.

-I might. I am still going to take the ACT/SAT's and apply this fall, and see where I stand. If I do not like the results, I am going to do a year at CC and apply for that year (summer or fall).

-OSU is very easy to transfer to. They accept about 80% of their transfers according to collegeboard. I also checked out there website and as long as you have 30 hours of credit, all they need is your college transcript. I can do 32 hours in a year. So as long as I keep my grades up, stick with my job, and continue the EC's from high school, I will have something to put on my app, have a good essay, AND good numbers.

I am pretty sure if I do that I will get into OSU-Columbus and/or University of Kentucky.

But yeah, I see what you're saying. I'm going to apply first, see where I stand, and if I do not like it then I will do CC for a year.

 

[Maygyver]

I understand that you have a rocky academic background to overcome, but I think you are doing yourself a disservice by making 2 assumptions:

1.) assuming that you will not get into a 4 year university out of HS.
2.) assuming you will be accepted to the OSU as an OOS transfer student.


Unless you have a good reason not to apply to 4 year schools (other than fear of rejection), go ahead and apply there. Then if you are rejected, you can explore community college transfers to larger universities, but this should be a plan B.

Yeah, as an out of state applicant, make sure to take challenging course at your CC to show the the admissions that you can compete at the college level so to speak. I agree with Depakote though, why not try to apply to a less prestigious school in NJ? Also, have you looked at regional campuses of bigger schools? You could do that and then transfer to the main campus. Also, just so you know, OSU is on a quarter schedule, not semesters.

 

[xnfs93hy]

Yeah, as an out of state applicant, make sure to take challenging course at your CC to show the the admissions that you can compete at the college level so to speak. I agree with Depakote though, why not try to apply to a less prestigious school in NJ? Also, have you looked at regional campuses of bigger schools? You could do that and then transfer to the main campus. Also, just so you know, OSU is on a quarter schedule, not semesters.

I plan on taking challenging courses, if that is what I need to do, then I will.

I don't really want to go to a school in NJ. I know I'm turning down a bunch of colleges but I don't really care for many of the schools here.

I have, I am going to apply broadly this fall and see where I stand. I may get into a regional campus of OSU, and I could just transfer to columbus after a year, that is def. an option.

 

[TheMagicCookie]

Yeah, as an out of state applicant, make sure to take challenging course at your CC to show the the admissions that you can compete at the college level so to speak. I agree with Depakote though, why not try to apply to a less prestigious school in NJ? Also, have you looked at regional campuses of bigger schools? You could do that and then transfer to the main campus. Also, just so you know, OSU is on a quarter schedule, not semesters.

I wouldn't recommend taking classes that might be classified as pre-reqs for med school at a CC. It's smart to take your gen eds and perform well in them to prove that you can handle classes at university level.