Second semester junior turned pre-med

[leadingtone]

Hi friends,

In my fairly long-winded college career, I've gone from pre-med to music major to anthropology major to pre-law. And now, with just three semesters of college left (which includes this one), I've decided to make the switch back to pre-med.

My senior year is going to be a seriously busy one but I think that I'll be able to knock out at least one of the pre-req requirements before I graduate. Any suggestions as to which one (I was considering the chemistry pre-req)? After I graduate, I'm planning to divide the remaining credits at my local community college and another local state school (rather than taking them all at the former--any opinions on this matter?).

Thanks!

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[bee17]

You may want to be careful about taking science pre-reqs (biology, chemistry, physics) at a community college. From what I've read, medical schools prefer to see those classes from a 4-year institution. However, you could definitely take an English class (or maybe even math) at a community college, as some schools require those classes, and it doesn't matter as much if they are from a community college.

 

[jqueb29]

Take as many pre-reqs as you can at a 4 year school. You can get in with pre-reqs from a CC, but it is an unnecessary risk to take if you can take them at a 4 year school instead

 

[Doctor Dream]

Hi friends,

In my fairly long-winded college career, I've gone from pre-med to music major to anthropology major to pre-law. And now, with just three semesters of college left (which includes this one), I've decided to make the switch back to pre-med.

My senior year is going to be a seriously busy one but I think that I'll be able to knock out at least one of the pre-req requirements before I graduate. Any suggestions as to which one (I was considering the chemistry pre-req)? After I graduate, I'm planning to divide the remaining credits at my local community college and another local state school (rather than taking them all at the former--any opinions on this matter?).

Thanks!

What pre-reqs have you taken so far? Assuming you took some when you were pre-med before.

 

[leadingtone]

What pre-reqs have you taken so far? Assuming you took some when you were pre-med before.

Unfortunately, I have no pre-reqs under my belt (I signed up for a few lab sciences my second year of college but dropped them once I decided to focus on my new major).

I've done some research on the whole community college versus four year college debate and this is my current plan:

First, I'd knock out the two semesters of General Chemistry at the school that I'm at now (I would take more but it's a seriously expensive private school and I just can't afford to stay here any longer). Then I'd knock out my Bio, Physics, Calc, and English requirements at my local CC in another two semesters and then take Orgo and advanced Bio classes at my local state school (with the hope of graduating with a second degree in Biology in that year long residency).

This is all a super basic sketch (and probably naive given the ridiculous amount of coursework) but I feel pretty good about it. Any thoughts?

 

[bee17]

First, I'd knock out the two semesters of General Chemistry at the school that I'm at now (I would take more but it's a seriously expensive private school and I just can't afford to stay here any longer). Then I'd knock out my Bio, Physics, Calc, and English requirements at my local CC in another two semesters and then take Orgo and advanced Bio classes at my local state school (with the hope of graduating with a second degree in Biology in that year long residency).

Are you going the CC route for financial reasons? Perhaps you could see if you qualify for any scholarships at your state school. Taking an intro Bio class at a CC might not look so bad if you do well in upper level bio classes at your state school, although I'm not sure what adcoms would think about taking Physics at CC. Maybe one of the adcoms on this site can weigh in.

My best advice would be to sit down and have some serious conversations/planning sessions with an academic advisor at your state school, because you seem to have planned out a complex and specific pathway. It would really suck if you planned all this out and then couldn't make it work because of certain requirements at that school, or if you had to delay your application longer than expected.

 

[leadingtone]

Are you going the CC route for financial reasons? Perhaps you could see if you qualify for any scholarships at your state school. Taking an intro Bio class at a CC might not look so bad if you do well in upper level bio classes at your state school, although I'm not sure what adcoms would think about taking Physics at CC. Maybe one of the adcoms on this site can weigh in.

My best advice would be to sit down and have some serious conversations/planning sessions with an academic advisor at your state school, because you seem to have planned out a complex and specific pathway. It would really suck if you planned all this out and then couldn't make it work because of certain requirements at that school, or if you had to delay your application longer than expected.

Everything always comes back down to money. Unfortunately, I just don't have the means to take all of the pre-reqs outside of my local CC (even that's going to be a huge financial burden). And since financial aid becomes a lot less generous once you've already graduated with a Bachelor's, the situation becomes even more bleak. I can't imagine adcoms being too stingy on the Physics requirement if I end up graduating with an additional degree in Biology (paired, presumably, with a killer MCAT score and an equally decent GPA (or maybe that's just my naivety talking))?

Most definitely! That's wonderful advice, thank you. This is all just a sketch but I'm hoping to set up an appointment with an adviser at the state school sometime soon to discuss the specifics of it all. They, as a college, don't have a lot to offer in the way of scholarships but I'm hoping I might be able to finagle something halfway decent.

I wish I had had the foresight to have stuck with the whole pre-med shtick from the very beginning. But I suppose hindsight is always 20/20. Nothing to do but to march on forward!

 

[bee17]

A killer MCAT and GPA would boost anyone's application

There are plenty of non-trads that have been successful when applying to med school. Maybe you'll get an interesting personal statement out of it

I guess my only other advice would be to remember to do other things to make you a competitive applicant and show that you are dedicated to medicine (ECs, volunteering, shadowing).

Best of luck with everything!

 

[Doctor Dream]

Everything always comes back down to money. Unfortunately, I just don't have the means to take all of the pre-reqs outside of my local CC (even that's going to be a huge financial burden). And since financial aid becomes a lot less generous once you've already graduated with a Bachelor's, the situation becomes even more bleak. I can't imagine adcoms being too stingy on the Physics requirement if I end up graduating with an additional degree in Biology (paired, presumably, with a killer MCAT score and an equally decent GPA (or maybe that's just my naivety talking))?

Most definitely! That's wonderful advice, thank you. This is all just a sketch but I'm hoping to set up an appointment with an adviser at the state school sometime soon to discuss the specifics of it all. They, as a college, don't have a lot to offer in the way of scholarships but I'm hoping I might be able to finagle something halfway decent.

I wish I had had the foresight to have stuck with the whole pre-med shtick from the very beginning. But I suppose hindsight is always 20/20. Nothing to do but to march on forward!

I'm no adcom but I think they'd be a little more forgiving given your circumstances about the whole CC vs. 4 year thing. People change their majors, people have limited financial resources, that's how things go sometimes. I think what adcoms don't want to see is someone dodging hard coursework by taking it at a CC. I personally don't see your situation as dodging the hard stuff.

 

[cactus8910]

Everything always comes back down to money. Unfortunately, I just don't have the means to take all of the pre-reqs outside of my local CC (even that's going to be a huge financial burden). And since financial aid becomes a lot less generous once you've already graduated with a Bachelor's, the situation becomes even more bleak. I can't imagine adcoms being too stingy on the Physics requirement if I end up graduating with an additional degree in Biology (paired, presumably, with a killer MCAT score and an equally decent GPA (or maybe that's just my naivety talking))?

I think your plan of taking the lower level prereqs at a CC and upper levels at a state school is good. Hopefully adcoms will weigh in, but I don't think the additional degree in Bio will help much or at all. So if you'd be taking more courses to complete that major, consider just doing the prereqs and a couple of upper levels to save yourself some time and money.

 

[ladyterp]

I completed a 2-year degree at CC, transferred to my state school, and also decided on pre-med in my 2nd semester of junior year. my 2¢ :

As others have mentioned, try to do as many pre reqs at your state school vs cc. I loved my cc experience, and part of the reason I started at cc was $. I'm entirely sympathetic to your predicament. If you can only financially swing your current plan, then that's what you can do. Make the most of it by getting great grades and spending time getting other relevant experience.

Look into jobs at your state school. Most full time jobs come with tuition remission. You might be able to take all of your pre reqs at no cost to you, and make money while doing it.

Federal aid gets sparse after your first bachelor degree, but try to look out for scholarships as much as you can to help out.

Also, most schools say you need to take your final X (usually 30) credits to get a degree from that school. It seems like you aren't planning to take 30 credits at your state school, so look into your ability to get a 2nd degree with mostly transfer credits. IMHO the 2nd degree isn't as important, getting the courses in, mostly at state school, is.

Lastly, when you are ready to apply, check out the policy on pre reqs for the schools to which you apply. It seems like there is a shift towards accepting cc credit, but there were several schools to which I applied that didn't take cc credits. I had to take an extra stats class as a post-bacc to get the required math credits for these schools.

Good luck!!