I am a Sophomore Theatre Major at a small liberal arts college with a 3.6 cgpa and 3.5 sgpa. I was wondering a couple things, I have taken Gen Chem I, Gen Chem II (and both their labs) Cell Biology, Genetics & Evolution,Bio Diversity and Genes & Molecules (And all of their labs) at my school. Next semester I will be taking an upper level Bio class at my university. But due to my major being very time consuming and a lot of class required for my major being the same time as some pre-reqs I was planning on taking Ochem I & II and there labs this summer along with either Physics I & II (with labs) or 2 calculus classes at the community college. How would Med schools view me taking ochem and either physics or calc at the community college? Also, random question but how have those of you that have shadowed, started shadowing? I am going to start volunteering at a hospital next semester and I hope this will lead to me shadowing but what are some other ways to be able to shadow? Thanks so much.
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Taking classes at a CC is not ideal at most schools. Some care and some dont. I called the schools I was interested in and asked. They did not care as long as I did well. Basically, all A's!! I would do it since you have other science classes to back it up from the univ.
I called my med school and they hooked me up from there along with the docs I knew already.
It you attend a highly regarded LAC, taking o-chem & physics at a community college will look bad. While the general consensus is "you can major in anything" why major in a very demanding, vocational major if you plan on going on to medical school. It is one thing to major in theater, work at it for years and then decide on medicine but choosing a major that keeps you from taking pre-med courses with your peers at your LAC makes it seem like you are going looking for a less competitive classroom experience for the classes which are considered the weed out classes at some schools. Furthermore, your sgpa at this point is on the low side of average and your goal should be to boost that up with classes taken at your LAC. The irony is that summer classes at some community colleges are loaded with LAC and research university pre-meds so the competition is more, not less. On the other hand, I've heard from students taking community college classes with professors who are just impossible so be sure to check out "rate your professor.com "before you jump out of the pot & into the fire.
For shadowing, many students try to make a connection with someone they know (friend's parent, parent's friend, a distant relative, neighbor), ask their own physician for a lead, or ask their school alumni office to help identify local grads who would be willing to help out a current student (some schools have even made this a formal program).
For shadowing, many students try to make a connection with someone they know (friend's parent, parent's friend, a distant relative, neighbor), ask their own physician for a lead, or ask their school alumni office to help identify local grads who would be willing to help out a current student (some schools have even made this a formal program).
Thank you both for your input. What is an LAC? ALso, I am a Theatre major because I act as in films for extra money during school and also enjoy it, I hope that doesn't hurt me.
LAC = liberal arts college. I thought that if you were attending one you would be familiar with the acronym. My apologies.
Can you act in films for extra money without being a Theatre major? It isn't that being a Theatre major is bad but not getting the pre-reqs at your school is not good. On the other hand, if you were to stay at your own school for summer classes you'd be ok. Ditto if you go to an equally ranked school for the summer classes. Taking the summer classes at a community college is sometimes interpreted as trying to get away from taking a tough course at your home institution.
Can you act in films for extra money without being a Theatre major? It isn't that being a Theatre major is bad but not getting the pre-reqs at your school is not good. On the other hand, if you were to stay at your own school for summer classes you'd be ok. Ditto if you go to an equally ranked school for the summer classes. Taking the summer classes at a community college is sometimes interpreted as trying to get away from taking a tough course at your home institution.
This is most of what I would say.
It is one thing to start off at a cc, and another to go back to one.
However, I feel that if you need to take classes there, calc and physics would be a good choice, as far as pre-reqs go, because the material is almost guaranteed to be the same as the four year. Where as with chem or bio, it could be more of a variation, and it may be hard if you are taking a sequence.
Thank you all again, I was going to go to the CC for financial reasons but I can maybe attend one of my state schools but it is just so much more expensive. For me to attend my CC it would be $312 for Ochem I & II. The state school is 40 minute drive (which is money) and also cost near $2,000 for Ochem I & II. Money is an issue so it is a hard choice to make.
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I would save the money and take them at the CC since you have a decent amount of science classes at the univ. I think the summer gives more slack....now if it were a Spring or Fall semester, then I would say no for sure!!
