post bac prereqs

[justjack]

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hi,

i'm new to SDN but i'm glad i found it.

i believe this has been addressed before. basically, i'm wondering if taking my prereqs at a community college will be looked down upon.

this is post bac since i finished my undergrade in business already.

or is it better to find a post bac program that'll get me the prereqs i need?

also, i don't have any extra curricular activities/volunteer hours/etc, any recommendations about where i should look if i want something that'll lead me to optometry?

any help would be appreciated.

 

[nikkivale]

hi,

i'm new to SDN but i'm glad i found it.

i believe this has been addressed before. basically, i'm wondering if taking my prereqs at a community college will be looked down upon.

this is post bac since i finished my undergrade in business already.

or is it better to find a post bac program that'll get me the prereqs i need?

also, i don't have any extra curricular activities/volunteer hours/etc, any recommendations about where i should look if i want something that'll lead me to optometry?

any help would be appreciated.

I emailed 2 schools about this, SCO and NOVA and they both basically said that as far as pre req's go its okay to take some courses such as intro to bio, and physics at a community college but you will need to take your upper level courses at a four year college. This is from an email I recieved from SCO:

hanks for your inquiry regarding admission to Southern College of Optometry. We will mail a packet of information in the next day or two.



We do accept community college credits, but based on performance of recent applicants/students, we encourage you to take as many upper level sciences as possible at a four-year program. For example, you might take the two biology courses and the two physics courses at a community college, but I would suggest taking microbiology, biochemistry, and the chemistry courses at a university. We tend to see better results on the OAT when upper level courses are taken at a four-year institution.



Once you have had an opportunity to review our literature, please don’t hesitate to contact us if we may be of further assistance.



Sincerely,

Michael N. Robertson

Southern College of Optometry

Director of Admissions and Enrollment Services

www.sco.edu

[email protected]

1-800-238-0180

901-722-3224

 

[justjack]

thanks for the response nikkivale,

just wondering, what type of info did they send you in the packet?

and for anyone else that did take their prereqs at a JC, did you get questioned or turned down for that reason alone or was it pointed out?

i can kind of understand their point of view, but it's just not financially reasonable since JC's are a tiny fraction of a university's fees. the other issue is what if i do take all the prereqs at a JC and do well on the OAT, would that speak for itself or would it still look the same to them?

 

[nikkivale]

thanks for the response nikkivale,

just wondering, what type of info did they send you in the packet?

and for anyone else that did take their prereqs at a JC, did you get questioned or turned down for that reason alone or was it pointed out?

i can kind of understand their point of view, but it's just not financially reasonable since JC's are a tiny fraction of a university's fees. the other issue is what if i do take all the prereqs at a JC and do well on the OAT, would that speak for itself or would it still look the same to them?

I am in the same boat as you are and i'd like to know also. According to NOVA's catalog your upper level science courses must be from a 4 year. SUNY will accept a couple of courses from a CC but they want the vast majority to be from a 4 year.
When i spoke to a rep from SCO he told me the same as in the email but also said that they noticed in the past the students who had more trouble in optometry school were from CC so he told me it would really be in my best interest to take them at a 4 year. It sucks because when you're a non-traditional student a CC can accomodate much better.

 

[prettygreeneyes]

I don't think that you would be denied flat out because you took prereqs at a CC, but it is something they will take into consideration when making the admissions decision. In a perfect world, all prereqs would be taken at a university, but for many people, that just isn't an option. If you come out with a stellar GPA from a CC, some adcoms may not view that GPA as being equivalent to the same GPA from a university. So, you aren't going to get rejected based on that fact alone, but I think it is something they'll look at. If you feel your app may already be weak in other areas, you may not want to risk the CC.