Q about community college classes

[Nirvana48]

Some background info!
I graduated from Pepperdine last year and I was going to apply to medical school this cycle but I'm deciding to wait until next cycle to improve my MCAT score and etc. After graduating I took some classes at a community college for fun / to prep myself for my MCAT, which I took last month. I took science & non-science classes like psych, sociology, physio, and microbio.
Note: I did not take those classes previously at my 4-yr university, it was just for my own pleasure! They were NOT "retakes". Just want to make this clear I also did not transfer to Pepperdine from a CC. I went to Pepperdine all 4 years right out of high school.

Q #1 How are community college courses looked at on the AMCAS app? If they are incorporated into my GPA calculation, are the classes I took at a 4-yr university considered "superior" to the CC classes??
For example, I had a 3.5 GPA at Pepperdine. With the CC classes I took after graduation included, I'm guessing it will be higher.. let's say 3.7
Will medical schools take the 3.7 for what it is or will they consider it "lower" since the GPA raise came from classes outside my 4 year university? Since I'll be waiting until next year to apply I'm planning on taking more classes this Fall semester and next spring. Is this a smart choice or am I wasting my time?

Q #2 How are letters of rec from community college professors looked at?
While I was taking my CC courses post grad I got close to some of the professors. I want to ask them to write my LOR for next year because I feel like they know me better than the professors I had at Pepperdine. Is it bad that my letters aren't coming from my 4-year university I graduated at? BTW I still have 1 professor from Pepperdine I DEFINITELY want a letter from.
My 3 letters would be: 1 science professor from Pepperdine, 1 science prof from CC, 1 non-science from CC

I'm sorry this is such a long question. I wanted to make it as clear as possible!! Thank you to everyone in advance for reading it all

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[americanroark]

I too need Q 1 answered, I took three community college courses that i got an A in.

By the way for Q2 I would assume they can be as reliable and useful to admissions as any other letter of rec. If it is from a professor or premed advisor then Im sure it willl just come down to what it says about you rather then who they are.

 

[Nirvana48]

It will be a postbacc after a 4 year at a CC. Did you take any required prereqs? any BCPM? They may be looked at slightly less rigorous but how much it will affect you really matters on your overall application.

Oh I see. It's still considered post bacc even though it isn't an official post bacc program? I took all my required prereqs at my 4-yr since I was a biology major. The classes I'm taking at the CC are just extra science/nonscience classes I was interested in that weren't required at my university (like physiology, microbiology, socicology etc) so I guess a couple fall under BCPM.

 

[Nirvana48]

1) Anything you take after you earn a bachelors is postbacc
2) Required was referring was required prerequisites for medical school, not anything that your UG required.
3) You had a 3.5 at Pepperdine and then add CC classes after the fact which can appear like padding
4) Whether you took these for pleasure or not, they will be reviewed by adcoms
5) Without seeing your AMCAS GPA Chart, I cant give you an indication on how much this may affect you
6) In the end, it doesnt matter as it is nothing more but speculation. Just do well on MCAT.
7) If your are applying this cycle then this whole discussion is moot

Ah I see thank you! I am not applying this cycle.
Almost all of the prereqs I needed for med school I took before graduating. Some of the schools I'm interested in do require classes I didn't take such as stats or Spanish which I might take at my CC.

Thank you for the reply!