Non Traditional Vet Student - Is it okay to take my prerequisites at a community college?

[kel2244]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a bit of non traditional pre-vet student. I graduated 2 years ago, worked for a great company, and have now quit to pursue my dream of becoming a veterinarian.

I'm trying to decide where to take a my prerequisites and would appreciate any advice. I have about 9 total: Chem 1 & 2, Physics 1 & 2, Ochem 1 & 2, Biochem, Microbio, and Animal Nutrition.

I called UC Davis they don't seem to care at all if you take your prereqs at a community college, except for the ones specified. I also called Texas A&M and they basically told me it didn't matter where I took these courses either because my "rigor" points are allocated to where you took the majority of your undergraduate coursework which would be at Cornell. I'm not sure what CSU's position is on it, but would appreciate some input. Those are my top 3 schools.

Currently, I'm a California resident, but planning to move to Texas over the summer. Right now, I can take them at UCLA extension or Santa Monica College ( a community college). The plan is to spend the Spring still in Los Angeles, and then move to Austin, TX to establish residency, and apply to Texas A&M. Once in TX, I pretty much have to take them at community college, because taking them at UT for out of state tuition is something like $25,000 a semester.

My GPA is not stellar 3.34 and I'm going to need to really rock it with this post bacc, but I'm not sure if taking them at UCLA extension is worth the additional cost. Any input would be of huge help!

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[JaynaAli]

As long as the school's don't require certain sciences done at a 4 year university, do it at the cheaper place.

 

[Lupin21]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a bit of non traditional pre-vet student. I graduated 2 years ago, worked for a great company, and have now quit to pursue my dream of becoming a veterinarian.

I'm trying to decide where to take a my prerequisites and would appreciate any advice. I have about 9 total: Chem 1 & 2, Physics 1 & 2, Ochem 1 & 2, Biochem, Microbio, and Animal Nutrition.

I called UC Davis they don't seem to care at all if you take your prereqs at a community college, except for the ones specified. I also called Texas A&M and they basically told me it didn't matter where I took these courses either because my "rigor" points are allocated to where you took the majority of your undergraduate coursework which would be at Cornell. I'm not sure what CSU's position is on it, but would appreciate some input. Those are my top 3 schools.

Currently, I'm a California resident, but planning to move to Texas over the summer. Right now, I can take them at UCLA extension or Santa Monica College ( a community college). The plan is to spend the Spring still in Los Angeles, and then move to Austin, TX to establish residency, and apply to Texas A&M. Once in TX, I pretty much have to take them at community college, because taking them at UT for out of state tuition is something like $25,000 a semester.

My GPA is not stellar 3.34 and I'm going to need to really rock it with this post bacc, but I'm not sure if taking them at UCLA extension is worth the additional cost. Any input would be of huge help!

Pierce is a good place for some of those as they have a good relationship with UC Davis. The upper division courses you will have to check with each school as a decent number will not take them unless four year university. Colorado told me a number of years ago they prefer four year, but if everything else looks good, don't mind CC. As ever, always check with every school

Good luck!

 

[Lupin21]

Oh, and A&M is pretty strict on the four year I believe. @epivetlove can tell you more.

 

[singhb09]

Pierce is a good place for some of those as they have a good relationship with UC Davis.

This! Pierce is probably the only reason I received as many interviews as I did this year and why I was accepted to a couple of schools already. I did my bachelor's at CSUN and then did around 20 units post bacc at Pierce. My GPA wasn't much higher than yours but I did it more for the experience. The opportunity you'll have of working with large animals is priceless and is one of those things that will help your application stand out (to some programs, at least. Davis is 100% academics). A few of our students got interviews at Davis this year and as far as I know all of us who applied to Ohio state have interviews as well! It's also very affordable. The only downside is that due to the high volume of pre-vetters, classes can be tough to secure a spot in.

 

[Lupin21]

This! Pierce is probably the only reason I received as many interviews as I did this year and why I was accepted to a couple of schools already. I did my bachelor's at CSUN and then did around 20 units post bacc at Pierce. My GPA wasn't much higher than yours but I did it more for the experience. The opportunity you'll get to work with large animals is priceless and is one of those things that will help your application stand out (to some programs, at least. Davis is 100% academics). A few of our students got interviews at Davis this year and as far as I know all of us who applied to Ohio state have interviews as well! It's also very affordable. The only downside is that due to the high volume of pre-vetters, classes can be tough to secure a spot in.

Yup. I sat on the sign up class page and refreshed the hell out of it as often as I could until someone dropped and I snuck in. Good times. This was a while ago though. lol

 

[singhb09]

Yup. I sat on the sign up class page and refreshed the hell out of it as often as I could until someone dropped and I snuck in. Good times. This was a while ago though. lol

Hasn't changed much. If anything, it's gotten worse, lol.

 

[epivetlove]

A&M only requires that a few courses be taken at a 4-year university, like Micro and Genetics (I think). The prereq page will indicate which. They were also kinda particular about how many "distance" (AKA online) courses you could take, but I think they've become a bit more lenient since I applied.

 

[Lupin21]

A&M only requires that a few courses be taken at a 4-year university, like Micro and Genetics (I think). The prereq page will indicate which. They were also kinda particular about how many "distance" (AKA online) courses you could take, but I think they've become a bit more lenient since I applied.

Good to know! Sounds like schools are at least acknowledging the cost issue. When I applied, there was a decent amount of frowns about science CC courses.

 

[ResoluteMike]

I am a non-traditional student too. I took gen chem, biology, A & P, and genetics at the community college and I have an interview. If the colleges you intend to apply to accept the courses, take them there. Just be prepared to work harder on your own to master the material in a way that prepares you for vet school. My experience taking classes at CC vs State vs Private schools is there is a huge difference in the standards and quality of the education.

 

[Awapi]

I think you've gotten good advice about the classes, I just have something to add as an aside . I am also non-trad and recommend that you download and save (or generally make sure that it's in a safe place) any correspondence you have indicating the cc classes are ok just in case. My top choice school changed their acceptance of a major requirement in between me asking about it and being able to apply. They ended up very kindly giving me a waiver to apply based on the email correspondence I had saved where they said that my classes were fine.

 

[kel2244]

Thank you all for replying to my post, I really really appreciate it!!

For Texas A&M, they require genetics, stats, biochem, and animal nutrition be taken at a 4 year. The woman on the phone said the rest could be taken at a community college, but for some reason I still have a tough time believing this won't hurt me. I fully plan to take the ones listed at a 4 year, but the remaining 7 I can take a UCLA extension - which the woman on the phone from the admissions office didn't know what it was. She thought it was it was distance learning, when it's more of non degree seeking program put on by UCLA for career changers like me.

@epivetlove What would you recommend? Worth the extra cost? I could probably take 3 of the 7 there, and then need to take the rest at a community college.

My alma mater is Cornell, which I think will help for the rigor, but just can't tell if it looks bad.

Also what would be the difference between SMC and Pierce? The large animal experience sounds great. That's definitely one I'm working on, but finding opportunities is a little tricky in LA. @singhb09

 

[Lupin21]

Thank you all for replying to my post, I really really appreciate it!!

For Texas A&M, they require genetics, stats, biochem, and animal nutrition be taken at a 4 year. The woman on the phone said the rest could be taken at a community college, but for some reason I still have a tough time believing this won't hurt me. I fully plan to take the ones listed at a 4 year, but the remaining 7 I can take a UCLA extension - which the woman on the phone from the admissions office didn't know what it was. She thought it was it was distance learning, when it's more of non degree seeking program put on by UCLA for career changers like me.

@epivetlove What would you recommend? Worth the extra cost? I could probably take 3 of the 7 there, and then need to take the rest at a community college.

My alma mater is Cornell, which I think will help for the rigor, but just can't tell if it looks bad.

Also what would be the difference between SMC and Pierce? The large animal experience sounds great. That's definitely one I'm working on, but finding opportunities is a little tricky in LA. @singhb09

Pierce has a program geared towards prevets. SMC does not provide those opportunities. It is where I did most of my pre-reqs and got the extra animal based classes that offered hands on experience that looked good on my app.

 

[kel2244]

@Lupin21 Thanks for the response! A program geared towards vets sounds great, I'll definitely look into that.

 

[epivetlove]

@epivetlove What would you recommend? Worth the extra cost? I could probably take 3 of the 7 there, and then need to take the rest at a community college.@singhb09

I think it would depend on if all the CC courses you plan on taking will transfer appropriately to A&M. You can usually just send in the syllabus to Admissions and they'll let you know if it'll be acceptable or not. Lower level courses shouldn't be a problem, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Also, having attended Cornell, you should definitely get full points for rigor. I think it's based on where the majority of your pre-reqs were completed, but it could be wherever you obtained a Bachelor's degree. It's been awhile since I applied. Just rock whatever courses you have left to take, since A&M weights all 3 GPAs (cumulative, science, last 45) equally. That's what helped me get in. Also, finish all your pre-reqs before you apply, because you get a decent points bonus. Or at least it was that way when I applied.

Also, also, A&M loves diversity of experience, even if that's not a huge part of your overall score. There was a stipulation that if you had at least 100 hours under 4 different veterinarians, you received an extra point up to 4 points. Even half a point can be the difference between an interview invite and a rejection.

If you have any other A&M specific questions, don't hesitate to PM me!

 

[LetItSnow]

Good to know! Sounds like schools are at least acknowledging the cost issue. When I applied, there was a decent amount of frowns about science CC courses.

There's one important addition: When and where you applied. (I know that's what you meant, though.)

The critical piece is that pre-vets consider where they're going to apply and do the research.

When I was applying at UMN, I checked into it and they couldn't have cared less where my classes were from, so every class I could take at a CC I did. (The irony is that my orgo class was taught by a professor at CC .... who also taught orgo at the 4-yr university using the same syllabus/text/assignments/tests/etc. Literally no difference. So the "CC vs 4-yr" thing was idiotic in the setting I was in.) UMN even had PDFs for all the MN community colleges with course listings highlighting exactly which courses met their requirements. It was dummy-proof, which - as a dummy - I really appreciated.

But some schools care about where your credits come from.

So it's a true case of 'do your research'.

 

[lbecktell]

Hi,

nontraditional applicant as well. Started taking my pre-reqs three years ago...two of them at a community college. Finished my "harder" courses at a well-ranked 4 year. Having good interview success so far! I'll report back when/if I do get offered a place somewhere!

 

[gonnabavet]

Non-trad here as well. Took all of my pre-reqs at a small college and online had a great GPA and have received multiple interview offers and two acceptances already. I checked with the individual schools I wanted to attend and made sure my courses would count when prior to enrolling each semester. I then downloaded and saved the emails saying my coursework would be accepted. be sure to double check on the requirements to establish residency in Texas.