Question about California Community College pre-med route

[kevEMT]

New poster here. Went through a couple of old posts about community college and pre-med but I've heard conflicting reports that going to a non-UC hurts an applicant's chances at the 4 UC medical schools in CA. CA med schools are insanely competitive so I intend to apply to OOS to increase my chances, pending my MCAT score in the future is actually good.

I can transfer to San Jose State University or USC after 1 year of community college (currently in my first year at CC). Because I was a borderline applicant for USC as a high school applicant, I was told I have a good chance at USC assuming I keep my GPA high (nothing is guaranteed of course). The UCs are so competitive to transfer into that I need to complete organic chemistry and physics before I transfer. I was hoping to take at least organic chemistry at a 4-year to show the adcoms that I am not taking the easy way out.

I just have some questions

1.) Am I better off going to SJSU and saving a lot of money instead of going to USC? I really like USC's gerontology and health promotion program and I can save money on housing by staying at my relative's house. Cost isn't an exactly an issue but if I get admitted to med school I will be bound to borrow anywhere from 250k to 400k in loans over the course of 4 years.

2.) From what I heard, more than half of CA med school applicants end up going out of state. I figure most of these admits are enrolled at private schools. Is it true that private med schools tend to take into consideration strength of undergraduate institution? USC isn't nowhere near Stanford but it should be respectable to help with that aspect? This is assuming I have good MCAT scores and a GPA to begin with

3.) Should I just wait another year and apply to the UCs? Problem is a year's worth of biology, chemistry, physics and organic chemistry along with calculus would be taken at the community college whereas I would prefer to take half of those at the university level.



For what it's worth I emailed various adcoms across the US on thoughts of taking community college classes and undergraduate reputation. Most either replied that if I took community college classes I was expected to take a lot of upper division classes and do well (my major requires upper division biology anyhow). They also mentioned that undergraduate reputation doesn't matter or at least not as high as GPA/MCAT. I can't tell if the adcoms are being really truthful here and trying to get another applicant.

tl;dr. As a community college transfer to a CSU or a private school how much behind I am on the applicant pool for the CA med schools?


Sorry for the long post but any advice would be appreciated.

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[Rachapkis]

The quality of the institution you attend matters, but only to a point. I would counsel you to take two years of community college--work hard and excel at everything you do there. Thereafter, I would attend the best four-year institution that accepts you, provided that finances are not the deciding factor. If finances are a significant consideration, I would be inclined to attend the more cost friendly school (e.g., SJSU over USC) if the only issue is the relative prestige of the schools, rather than personal fit. You will be able to use SJSU as a springboard to attend any of the UC Medical schools (or other excellent schools)--provided you have excellent grades, an excellent MCAT score, good recommendations, and solid extracurricular activities. Right now, I would focus on doing well where you are, developing relationships with your professors, and seeking out extracurricular opportunities that will advance you.

 

[gyngyn]

The number of applicants from the cal state system is really, really small given the size of these schools. I can't remember the last time I have seen an applicant from SJ.
For example, CSULB had only 49 applicants to MD schools last year.
Northridge is about the size of UCLA and yet only had 40 applicants (UCLA had over a thousand).
Fullerton had 36 applicants, Cal Poly Pomona had 31, San Bernardino and LA each had only 30...
Go anywhere you need to go for the first two years, but transfer into a school with a track record of successful applicants!

 

[Toutie]

The number of applicants from the cal state system is really, really small given the size of these schools. I can't remember the last time I have seen an applicant from SJ.
For example, CSULB had only 49 applicants to MD schools last year.
Northridge is about the size of UCLA and yet only had 40 applicants (UCLA had over a thousand).
Fullerton had 36 applicants, Cal Poly Pomona had 31, San Bernardino and LA each had only 30...
Go anywhere you need to go for the first two years, but transfer into a school with a track record of successful applicants!

Do you have any idea what the success rate is for those Cal State applicants?

 

[kevEMT]

The number of applicants from the cal state system is really, really small given the size of these schools. I can't remember the last time I have seen an applicant from SJ.
For example, CSULB had only 49 applicants to MD schools last year.
Northridge is about the size of UCLA and yet only had 40 applicants (UCLA had over a thousand).
Fullerton had 36 applicants, Cal Poly Pomona had 31, San Bernardino and LA each had only 30...
Go anywhere you need to go for the first two years, but transfer into a school with a track record of successful applicants!

Thanks for the response. I just brought up the non-UC factor in public CA med school admissions based on some previous threads on CSUs to med school

California State University Undergrads

Can CSU students get into medical school in California?

How much does the undergraduate reputation play a role in private school admissions? Very minimal unless there is a tie-breaker? I know USC has a good track record to med schools and I know a family friend that can help me to research at Keck/LAC+USC hospital.

 

[gyngyn]

Do you have any idea what the success rate is for those Cal State applicants?

Many of these are modest candidates compared to the rest of the CA pool, I'm sad to say.
Strong candidates will do well, though.

 

[DoctHouse]

USC is super expensive. You're better off financially if you go the csu route and apply OOS instead of specifically attending USC for undergrad, but you do you!

 

[kevEMT]

USC is super expensive. You're better off financially if you go the csu route and apply OOS instead of specifically attending USC for undergrad, but you do you!

My concern with the CSUs is that they are cheap but the ones I am applying to don't have much research going on (I was hoping to apply to some research med schools). Also I'm concerned that since med schools don't get a lot of apps from SJSU that I maybe a borderline applicant even if I hypothetically had a stellar GPA and MCAT scores. I doubt the OOS schools know SJSU whereas most might know USC.

 

[sophop]

Totally n=1, but I have a good friend who got into med school after transferring from a CC to CSUF. I don't believe she had research beyond her thesis, however: 1) I think she had a near 4.0 throughout her UG, 2) she spent a year as a clinical care volunteer in a hospital, 3) it's an IS DO school (and I don't know if she had any other choices). So, it can be done, but...