Pre-reqs taken at community college.

[xnfs93hy]

I've completed all of my medical school pre-requisites at a community college. My grades in those classes were As and Bs. Do osteopathic medical schools look down upon this? I'm currently in the process of transferring back to my state school due to financial reasons. I attended a CC before moving on to a four year university. Will this cause a problem, when it comes time to apply to medical school? I know that MD schools prefer that you take the pre-reqs at a four year institution. The problem is that I was strapped for cash at the time when I was at the community college. My Dad had lost his job and wasn't able to pay for me to attend a four year school at that time, so I really had no other choice. Will this be looked down upon by D.O. schools? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

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[AsclepiusDO]

I think pre-med students make a lot of stuff up because they "think" they know what they are talking about. I took every single one of my pre-requisites at community college except for physics, and I just got in to two DO schools. I know other people who did the same and just got into MD schools also. Remember, there is no formula for getting in - diversify your experiences and show the schools that you will be a good doctor.

I also couldn't afford a four year school and I talked about that in my essays/interviews/etc.

 

[AlteredScale]

I've completed all of my medical school pre-requisites at a community college. My grades in those classes were As and Bs. Do osteopathic medical schools look down upon this? I'm currently in the process of transferring back to my state school due to financial reasons. I attended a CC before moving on to a four year university. Will this cause a problem, when it comes time to apply to medical school? I know that MD schools prefer that you take the pre-reqs at a four year institution. The problem is that I was strapped for cash at the time when I was at the community college. My Dad had lost his job and wasn't able to pay for me to attend a four year school at that time, so I really had no other choice. Will this be looked down upon by D.O. schools? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

It will not be looked down upon MD or DO. You were in a financial situation in which CC was the better choice. AdComs will understand that.

 

[karling]

Every single science course I've ever taken was at a community college. I've received 4 IIs, attended 1 interview and have 1 acceptance so far. It hasn't been an issue at all.

You're fine.

It will not be looked down upon MD or DO. You were in a financial situation in which CC was the better choice. AdComs will understand that.

There are some MD schools which will not take CC credits. IIRC, Harvard, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins require all credits (at least for the prereqs) to be from a 4-year university.

But OP is asking about DO schools. To be honest, I didn't do much research into MD schools because I knew I wanted to go DO, so I'm not as knowledgeable about that. But DO schools generally do not care. What they do care about is your course load. If you take 2 classes per semester, they may question your ability to handle a rigorous academic schedule. Go to school full time, and you're fine.

 

[601136]

I was accepted to MU-COM with all CC prerequisites (and a CLEP), but take a look at this from a rep at RVUCOM in 2013:

"While your GPAs are very competitive, your application shows an inconsistency in academic experience with many of your pre-requisite courses being taken at the community college level... Community college courses may be less expensive and more readily accessible, but are not considered, by us, as strong preparation for medical school."

 

[karling]

I was accepted to MU-COM with all CC prerequisites (and a CLEP), but take a look at this from a rep at RVUCOM in 2013:

"While your GPAs are very competitive, your application shows an inconsistency in academic experience with many of your pre-requisite courses being taken at the community college level... Community college courses may be less expensive and more readily accessible, but are not considered, by us, as strong preparation for medical school."

Interesting... I received an II from RVU, and as mentioned above, all of my prereqs were taken at a CC.

 

[601136]

Interesting... I received an II from RVU, and as mentioned above, all of my prereqs were taken at a CC.

Their primary issue was the number of schools I attended. In my home state, individual community college campuses are part of a larger network - they share which classes to offer and it's common to attend more than one. It was RVUCOM's position that attending more than a few schools would result in decreased chances for success. Is this true? I'm not sure.

Take all the transcripts on my application, for example. There are 9. Three belong to a single network of community colleges that now offer a combined transcript - they didn't two years ago. One is the SMART which military members are familiar with. It's not a school. One is from a school I took two undergraduate history courses with that were actually duplicates - I had passed an AP exam years before and completely forgot. One was my Post-Bacc year. So did I really hop around to 9 schools? Not really, but I imagine RVUCOM didn't look close enough to tell.

 

[AsclepiusDO]

I was accepted to MU-COM with all CC prerequisites (and a CLEP), but take a look at this from a rep at RVUCOM in 2013:

"While your GPAs are very competitive, your application shows an inconsistency in academic experience with many of your pre-requisite courses being taken at the community college level... Community college courses may be less expensive and more readily accessible, but are not considered, by us, as strong preparation for medical school."

Wow that almost perpetuates the whole "only rich kids can go to medical school" idea. To be honest, I feel like my CC pre-reqs prepared me FAR better than my 4 years institution - which is supposedly one of the "top" schools in the world.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I took 100% of prerequisites at a community college and had no trouble getting accepted. Stop listening to pre-meds that don't know the process.