Recommendation letter from CC??

[psycyndikate]

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I have two science letters but one is from a science professor at a Community College where I did all my pre-req sciences classes. The other is from an upper division science class professor.

Will it affect me negatively because I have one LOR from a CC prof?

Also is nutrition considered a science letter?
Thanks.

 

[searun]

I have two science letters but one is from a science professor at a Community College where I did all my pre-req sciences classes. The other is from an upper division science class professor.

Will it affect me negatively because I have one LOR from a CC prof?

Also is nutrition considered a science letter?
Thanks.

I would recommend obtaining your science letters of recommendation from professors at a 4 year college or university. I believe that they would carry more weight with the med school admissions committee.

If you are going to use a letter of recommendation from a community college instructor, only do so if the instructor has a Ph.D....so that the letter can be signed by Dr. John Doe. An instructor with a masters degree, which is quite common at community colleges, will not have sufficient credibility.

Nutrition certainly is science. But I think that it would be preferable to obtain a letter from a professor of physics, biology, chemistry, orgo, etc. Personally, I don't think med schools give nutrition the respect that it deserves.

 

[chman]

I would recommend obtaining your science letters of recommendation from professors at a 4 year college or university. I believe that they would carry more weight with the med school admissions committee.

If you are going to use a letter of recommendation from a community college instructor, only do so if the instructor has a Ph.D....so that the letter can be signed by Dr. John Doe. An instructor with a masters degree, which is quite common at community colleges, will not have sufficient credibility.

Nutrition certainly is science. But I think that it would be preferable to obtain a letter from a professor of physics, biology, chemistry, orgo, etc. Personally, I don't think med schools give nutrition the respect that it deserves.

I agree. If the professor has a PhD, which most science instructors at my cc had, then it is probably O.K. Just make sure to mix it up and get one from the four year professor as well.

 

[apumic]

Most CC instructors are at the MA/MS level or may be PhD students. You want an LOR from someone whose letter is going to carry weight, someone who has been through a doctoral level graduate program and can speak to your academic and personality characteristics and how successful you are likely to be in med school. An MA/MS instructor simply does not have what is necessary to write such a letter. I would strongly encourage you to get all your LORs from your 4-year -- esp. as this will give you an opportunity to do such things as research or TA for them, giving them a much better set of source material from which to write an LOR.

 

[Miked489]

I don't know what your specific situation is, but I went to a 4-yr university a few years ago and just recently went back to finish a couple pre-reqs at CC. Most schools 'require' the standard 3 LOR's from profs, I contacted both BU and Harvard regarding this and they were completely understanding of straying from the published requirements given certain situations. In this case, I would recommend substituting an LOR from a CC prof, that will probably not carry much weight with the committee with an LOR from work experience or someone that can actually speak to character, potential, etc.

I mean what is your CC prof really going to say, so and so got an A in my class and they are smart?

 

[bamtuba]

OP, so long as the professor knows you well, and is a respected member of an accredited school's faculty, then go ahead and get the letter. Try to get LORs from subjects (if science based) that are either pre-reqs or higher.

I can tell you from experience that a CC letter will not hurt you so long as it is a GREAT letter.

You can refer to my MDapps if you wish, but I have NEVER had anyone complain about my pre-reqs OR letters coming from a CC.

 

[Simplify]

Thanks for the input, Bamtuba. I'd prefer we get more responses from people who have actually used CC letters rather than people making assumptions.

 

[bamtuba]

Thanks for the input, Bamtuba. I'd prefer we get more responses from people who have actually used CC letters rather than people making assumptions.

FYI, my letters came from the following:

1- 4 year university committee letter
1- MD letter
1- PhD letter
2- CC letters, science pre-reqs (Biology and Organic)

All of my pre-reqs were at CC except for calc-based Physics and upper level sciences (see post-bac).

I think adcoms are forgiving if you had GOOD REASON for going the CC route (I worked full-time while fleshing out an interest in medicine and taking these classes). If you went CC before transferring, that should be fine too.

Avoid going CC to get higher grades or to take the "easy way out" during 4 year time.

Otherwise you should be fine. People care surprisingly little about where you did the work so long as you did it well and back it up with other experiences, IMO.

 

[Appless]

Thanks for the input, Bamtuba. I'd prefer we get more responses from people who have actually used CC letters rather than people making assumptions.

I used a CC letter, my gpa is not that great, and my mcat would be considered failure on sdn, and i have 4 interviews so far, and not one person has said much about CC anything at my interviews. I dont think it matters as much as people on sdn like to repeat the same supposed "respected" information over and over again. Would a phd be better sure why not...does it really matter in the end if its a strong letter and the rest of your app is good? Not really.

 

[Simplify]

Thanks for the input, folks.

It's annoying to see people completely discount CC experiences. I'm sure some are sub-par, but then the same could be said about universities.

 

[psycyndikate]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I believe my CC prof is a PhD holder from UCB and he definitely knows me well. And I went to CC my first two years then transferred to a 4-yr to finish the last two years because it was cheaper to go plus I had to work etc.

I feel a little better though from reading all your comments. If a school's gonna reject me because of that, well that's their loss. I did the best I could in getting LORs from profs who actually know me both academically and personally.

 

[Miked489]

I am not going to knock CC as I did a couple pre-reqs there, just saying that you should consider other sources for pre-reqs as the 'requirements' for LOR's from schools are more like guidelines. Especially if you are a couple years removed from the CC, is your prof going to be able to speak to anything more than the grade you earned in the class? Most likely not, and the admissions committee can get the same information in less time from looking at your your transcripts.

I am saying that as opposed to meeting the written requirements of the schools, to which most are flexible, you should obtain LOR's from sources that can best provide unique qualifying support and strengthen your application.

 

[CoolWhipp]

...I think adcoms are forgiving if you had GOOD REASON for going the CC route...

CC's aren't looked at in high regard, but I don't think you have to necessarily have a reason. If you kicked ***** in CC and 4 year, then you kicked ***** over all. Don't make excuses for why you did what you did unless you are writing about how you overcame or learned from some related experience.

 

[chman]

CC's aren't looked at in high regard, but I don't think you have to necessarily have a reason. If you kicked ***** in CC and 4 year, then you kicked ***** over all. Don't make excuses for why you did what you did unless you are writing about how you overcame or learned from some related experience.

I really think people on here make to big of a deal about prestige of schools in general. CC's give people a chance to go to school who many times would otherwise not have the chance. Further, I would much rather take intro pre-reqs at a cc class that has fifty students as appose to one at a four year with four-hundred. Most of my professors at the cc are/were PhD holders, but then again cc's are different like all schools.

I think the real measure of the student's capabilities is if the grades at the four year intitution are of the same caliber as at the cc, along with MCAT scores. I have also talked to med-school advisors at the four year I plan on transferring to and they say it really does not make a difference as long as one takes upper level courses at the university and does well.

What does look bad is going to the cc for pre-reqs once you have already transferred.

p.s.Students at the cc are not pawned off to the TA for basic classes either, which is nice. That is probably why the OP feels that he/she would like to get a LOR, because it is way easier to develop relationships with professors who know you, and not just your student id #.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Don't listen to the silver-spoon-fed trust-fund babies that are obsessed with "prestige" and their schools brand name. Just because someone is a professor at a community college doesn't mean that they are below those at universities. Just because someone teaches at a university doesn't mean that they are in anyway smarter or more credible than someone at a cc. I've had idiot professors at both the cc and uni level and great professors at the cc and uni level. A good amount of my professors at cc are/were actually professors in the UC system. (I'm in southern cali). And to those saying that professors cant get to know their students on a more personal basis, yeah, I'm sure it's real hard to get to know a professor at a cc when youre in a lab that has 20-25 people max and a lecture classroom with with 40 people max. Get over yoruselves and your supposed "absolute" knowledge. Don't make me laugh. Wait. You already are.

 

[obgyny]

Don't listen to the silver-spoon-fed trust-fund babies that are obsessed with "prestige" and their schools brand name. Just because someone is a professor at a community college doesn't mean that they are below those at universities. Just because someone teaches at a university doesn't mean that they are in anyway smarter or more credible than someone at a cc. I've had idiot professors at both the cc and uni level and great professors at the cc and uni level. A good amount of my professors at cc are/were actually professors in the UC system. (I'm in southern cali). And to those saying that professors cant get to know their students on a more personal basis, yeah, I'm sure it's real hard to get to know a professor at a cc when youre in a lab that has 20-25 people max and a lecture classroom with with 40 people max. Get over yoruselves and your supposed "absolute" knowledge. Don't make me laugh. Wait. You already are.

 

[JJMrK]

IMO, get letters from 4 year institutions if possible to maximize their impact on your application. If you can't, you can't. Nutrition is probably OK, but some schools do want a biology, chemistry, or physics science letter, or a letter from your major's department, or whatever.