Pre-reqs at a UC

[SCPardee]

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Happy 2011 SDN!!

I've seen threads in which people ask about taking pre-med pre-reqs at CC, and it seems like that's something to avoid if possible.

What about a UC though? I go to a private school but I want to save some cash for summer school, so is it a good idea to take bio 2 and calc at a UC close to home? It would save the trouble of finding housing near my current university. I'm trying to gauge if that'll be any sort of disadvantage as far as med school admissions are concerned.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Happy 2011 SDN!!

I've seen threads in which people ask about taking pre-med pre-reqs at CC, and it seems like that's something to avoid if possible.

What about a UC though? I go to a private school but I want to save some cash for summer school, so is it a good idea to take bio 2 and calc at a UC close to home? It would save the trouble of finding housing near my current university. I'm trying to gauge if that'll be any sort of disadvantage as far as med school admissions are concerned.

I mean its not a "bad idea" but I doubt you will be successful doing it.

I assume you mean a University of California. You have the be a student at a UC to take classes at one. You can't just walk up to one and register for classes, unlike community colleges they have admissions and acceptances.

There are extension courses at most that were set up for community members, but the budget crunches have cut down on the courses for actual students making it almost impossible for non-students to fit themselves into a class.

 

[SCPardee]

I mean its not a "bad idea" but I doubt you will be successful doing it.

I assume you mean a University of California. You have the be a student at a UC to take classes at one. You can't just walk up to one and register for classes, unlike community colleges they have admissions and acceptances.

There are extension courses at most that were set up for community members, but the budget crunches have cut down on the courses for actual students making it almost impossible for non-students to fit themselves into a class.

http://summer.ucr.edu/ says anyone can take a summer course at UCR, which is where I was planning on going. The course I needed is offered to all applicants.

I was looking for a more productive answer: is there any disadvantage, in terms of med school admissions, if I take a summer course at this UC?

 

[monkeyMD]

Why are you comparing a CC to a UC? Many of the UC campuses are very respected in the world of academia. I think your question is equivalent to asking whether applicants from UCs will be looked down upon. So in my opinion, the answers is no, I do not think that taking a prereq at a UC will hurt you. But UCs are not the cheapest either.

 

[the duck]

Hmm, the UCs are just the top public university system in the world...so I don't know.

You should probably be more worried about if you can get A's, the UCs don't hand them out like candy like they do at privates

 

[alwaysaangel]

http://summer.ucr.edu/ says anyone can take a summer course at UCR, which is where I was planning on going. The course I needed is offered to all applicants.

I was looking for a more productive answer: is there any disadvantage, in terms of med school admissions, if I take a summer course at this UC?

No there is no disadvantage. As others here have stated, UC is the best public university in the country. Its pretty silly to ask if thats bad.

But again, good luck being successful. As I said - there are extension programs that welcome community members to take courses, summer classes are one of those. However, actual students take priority. So its great that the course you are looking at is offered to everyone, however, they are going to let their own students sign up for it first - then if there's space they will let you in. With California budget cuts it is quite likely that there will not be space. I have friends who attend UC Berkeley who couldn't even get the summer classes they wanted at Berkeley. The classes were already full, long before they opened up enrollment to the community. Just too few courses and not enough room.

If you look at the link you posted - UCR students can enroll starting April 7th, visiting students cannot enroll until April 14th. Thats a good long week for classes to fill up, and many will.

And I'm sorry if you feel my response was "unproductive" - I'm trying to warn you that UCs are in a HUGE budget crunch and you probably shouldn't count on being enrolled in the course until you have the confirmation.