PLEASE give me your opinion

[beb]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Only recently have I decided that I would like to be a podiatrist. I go to Cornell University and major in cognitive psych--none of the classes required for my major and prereqs for podiatry. I currently hold a 3.5 gpa at Cornell and have taken general chem I and II there. Would it be looked down upon by podiatry schools if I take the remainder of the science prereqs over the summer at a community college since I have no room in my schedule at Cornell for those classes?

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks so much!

 

[cool_vkb]

Only recently have I decided that I would like to be a podiatrist. I go to Cornell University and major in cognitive psych--none of the classes required for my major and prereqs for podiatry. I currently hold a 3.5 gpa at Cornell and have taken general chem I and II there. Would it be looked down upon by podiatry schools if I take the remainder of the science prereqs over the summer at a community college since I have no room in my schedule at Cornell for those classes?

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks so much!

I go to Marquette. But i completed all my science pre-reqs at Community College. I got accepted to Scholl. I dont think it should be a problem. So far you have a grade of "C" or better from any accredited college in USA, you are fine.

I think you can easily complete the remaining pre-requistes in this spring semester and summer semester. If you are applying for fall-2007. Best of luck!

 

[jonwill]

Only recently have I decided that I would like to be a podiatrist. I go to Cornell University and major in cognitive psych--none of the classes required for my major and prereqs for podiatry. I currently hold a 3.5 gpa at Cornell and have taken general chem I and II there. Would it be looked down upon by podiatry schools if I take the remainder of the science prereqs over the summer at a community college since I have no room in my schedule at Cornell for those classes?

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks so much!

I think this may be program dependent in that some programs may care more than others. I would contact the programs that you are interested in and get their opinion.

Contact info for each school can be found at the link below. Good luck!

http://www.aacpm.org/html/collegelinks/cl_schools.asp

 

[dpmgrad]

Only recently have I decided that I would like to be a podiatrist. I go to Cornell University and major in cognitive psych--none of the classes required for my major and prereqs for podiatry. I currently hold a 3.5 gpa at Cornell and have taken general chem I and II there. Would it be looked down upon by podiatry schools if I take the remainder of the science prereqs over the summer at a community college since I have no room in my schedule at Cornell for those classes?

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks so much!

I agree with Jonwill in that you should check with the individual Podiatry schools that you are interested in applying to.

By the way, I am a Cornell alumni. You have a great GPA from Cornell. I am not sure if you are planning to use the Cornell Premedical Committee Letter for your Podiatry school application or not. If you are planning to use the Cornell Premed Committee Letter, you will have to do some explaining to the committee members and it may or may not be a factor that the committee would keep in mind when generating your composite premed committee letter. The General Biology, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry courses at Cornell are courses that the school traditionally uses to weed out the weak premed candidates from the stronger premed candidates. This is especially true with Organic Chemistry course. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. There are a couple of Cornell Alums at the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. In my class, there were three Cornell alum including myself.

 

[MrFeeties]

you can probably still get in if you take science classes at a community college, but irregardless of grades, consider the academic rigor of the program. I'm starting at Scholl this fall, but I'm teaching organic chem and biochem at a local community college this year part time. Unless CCs out east are different, I guarantee you that you will not receive a quality science education rigorous to prepare you for medicine. The standards I have to teach to are not high and my classes are mostly students studying environmental science, nursing, civil engineering and a few other allied health professions like respiratory therapists. While I do see some bright talented people, I had a teaching assistantship as a grad student and the expectations are so much higher.

If you just want to get in the door, maybe take a few (not all) science classes at a CC, but please excercise judgement and be sure you're not setting yourself up for a much steeper learning curve when you get to podiatry school. Good luck!

 

[iwilldlvr]

I took almost all of my pre-reqs at community college and was invited to interview at all podiatry schools. The only interview I went on, so far, I was accepted. So, I don't think they mind if the courses are taken at community college.

 

[doclm]

If you just want to get in the door, maybe take a few (not all) science classes at a CC, but please excercise judgement and be sure you're not setting yourself up for a much steeper learning curve when you get to podiatry school. Good luck!

Exactly!

MrFeeties is very correct here about how people will be placed on a steeper learning curve if they didn't challenge themselves in undergrad with these science classes. In Podiatry school there is not much time for catch up if you never really learned this material before.

For instance I find it much easier to get good grades in Pod school than some of my friends who skimped on some critical science classes and got in the back door with DAT's. I think all the new applicants need to realize that the Podiatry school curriculm is not as easy as it was to get accepted. Sadly to say, the retention rate of Podiatry schools are lower than MD or DO schools because of their relaxed acceptances. However, I do see a positive change in only allowing the MCAT for the fall 2008 class.

 

[iwilldlvr]

I don't think you can realistically assume that all CC classes are easier than university classes. From my experience, which I realize my be outside the norm, many of my CC classes were much harder than they are at the state university I attend. For some reason, the professors I've had at CC must feel like they have something to prove and actually make the classes harder than needed. On the other hand, some of the university professors have tenure and really don't care about challenging the student. I took both organic chems at CC and they were harder (and better taught) than at the university. I wish I had taken physics at CC instead of the university, because it is the same story- taught much better at the CC and too simplified at the university. Obviously, like I said, that may not be normal. I'm just saying that you can't judge the quality of education by the price. That's a stigma that needs to go away. We can't all afford to take classes at the university level and should not be assumed to be less prepared with the information just because classes were taken for 1/6 of the cost.

You are definately correct about people needing to take pod school more seriously. That first year will not be easy. You can't just slack off like in undergrad. It should be more difficult to get accepted.

 

[cool_vkb]

I think if the guy is not able to adjust the classes in his schedule at Cornell and thats why he is taking classes at CC. Then its fine, i mean what other option he has, apart from spending another year or two to complete Science courses in a Univeristy.

Why simply spend another year just in completing pre-reqs. ofcourse if one has the option to take these classes at a University then he shud take it, but if he is not having any option then he shud take those classes at CC.

 

[cool_vkb]

I'm teaching organic chem and biochem at a local community college this year part time.

Hey what cc are you teaching? i mean do u teach in chicagoland area or outside. Iam going to take Microbiology this spring either at Oakton or Harper, not decided yet. I think it will be great if i cud take some classes under a fellow scholl mate.

 

[iwilldlvr]

Yeah, it always depends on financial ability. If I had to choose between Cornell or CC, I'd definately go with Cornell. Surely they teach at a high enough level and challenge the students. 😀 I mean, it's Cornell!
But, if the money or availability isn't there, you won't be chastised for taking courses at CC. I'm just saying, they really don't seem to care.
Good luck, either way.

 

[krabmas]

bump

 

[krabmas]

I don't think you can realistically assume that all CC classes are easier than university classes. From my experience, which I realize my be outside the norm, many of my CC classes were much harder than they are at the state university I attend. For some reason, the professors I've had at CC must feel like they have something to prove and actually make the classes harder than needed. On the other hand, some of the university professors have tenure and really don't care about challenging the student. I took both organic chems at CC and they were harder (and better taught) than at the university. I wish I had taken physics at CC instead of the university, because it is the same story- taught much better at the CC and too simplified at the university. Obviously, like I said, that may not be normal. I'm just saying that you can't judge the quality of education by the price. That's a stigma that needs to go away. We can't all afford to take classes at the university level and should not be assumed to be less prepared with the information just because classes were taken for 1/6 of the cost.

You are definately correct about people needing to take pod school more seriously. That first year will not be easy. You can't just slack off like in undergrad. It should be more difficult to get accepted.

Part of the challege of a large university is that you may have to teach yourself. Even in the small pod schools not every lecture and not every professor is a great teacher and you may hae to teach yourself.

So just because the class is taught better at the CC does not mean that the student actually has learned as much in the end.

College is not just about learning the subject matter, it is about learning how you learn and learning to teach yourself since this is what you will have to do at any job you receive in almost any field.

I look at students with high grades from large public schools as more self motivates and self taught than those from smaller or CC schools.

Of course there are outliers on either side of this argument, but in general.

 

[beb]

thanks so much everyone!

 

[sunglasses]

I was just wondering if courses such as organic chemistry are actually useful in Pod school. I have all the pre-reqs to apply to Temple except organic chemistry. Thanks

 

[bdaddyjolley]

I was just wondering if courses such as organic chemistry are actually useful in Pod school. I have all the pre-reqs to apply to Temple except organic chemistry. Thanks

Understanding O-chem is very important when learning biochemistry which is a class in pod school. When I say understanding, I don't mean memorizing all those formulas and reactions. I mean understanding the concepts of O-chem such as why the reaction works this way and why the electrons go there. Many concepts from O-chem are needed in biochem because you will have to learn many metabolic pathways and it makes it so much easier to know that concepts than just memorizing the pathway espcecially when you get conceptal questions on tests and not "draw the TCA with all it's structures and name the enzymes".
I was a TA for undergrad biochem and I found that most people with a weak understanding of ochem found biochem hard because they just relied on memorization instead of learning concepts.
I would also assume that a good chemistry background helps when taking pharmacology from what my friends in pharm school say. Hope this helps.