Should I transfer to a CC from a State School? Please help!

[theamazingbil]

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Hi guys,

I got a huge problem and I need some SDN expertise. So currently, I'm at a state university and I am planning on transferring to a CC for the spring semester and for next year. Going to the university is just not working out due to financial issues and commuting, which takes up a lot of my time (~2 1/2 hours). The CC will be much cheaper and is very close to my home. I am doing well in Bio and Chem, but I am concerned that it will look really bad if I go from the state school to the CC, take all my prereqs there, and then save up and go back to a university after two years. What do you guys think? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in NC if that makes a difference.

 

[theamazingbil]

I just don't want it to seem like I took the easy way out, even though the CC isn't exactly a hundred times easier.

 

[theseeker4]

Hi guys,

I got a huge problem and I need some SDN expertise. So currently, I'm at a state university and I am planning on transferring to a CC for the spring semester and for next year. Going to the university is just not working out due to financial issues and commuting, which takes up a lot of my time (~2 1/2 hours). The CC will be much cheaper and is very close to my home. I am doing well in Bio and Chem, but I am concerned that it will look really bad if I go from the state school to the CC, take all my prereqs there, and then save up and go back to a university after two years. What do you guys think? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in NC if that makes a difference.

It would look bad if you were doing poorly at the university, and moved to the CC to get better grades. It will look bad if you have done poorly so far at the university, and do poorly again at a university when you return to finish your degree. It will look very bad if you get poor grades at the CC.

If you are doing well now, do well at the CC, and do well at a university when you return to finish your degree, you will be unlikely to face many problems getting into med school. Practical concerns with time and money are a legitimate reason to attend a CC for part of your college education. Just make sure your grades demonstrate you are not dodging more difficult courses at the university level (and make sure your target med schools actually accept CC credits, of course) and you will be fine.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

You've really got two choices here.
1) Transfer, save 20 grand at your CC, pending that your parents don't charge rent. And then once you're done with your A.S you'll return to the same schedule of commuting 2 hours.
2) Desperately look for cheap places to live or become a RA at one of your college's dorms. Likewise if your financial situation is tough you should speak with your school's financial department to try to work out a plan to get as much cash as you can from FAFSA or other scholarships.

Either way, commuting 2 hours one direction is not healthy and frankly it's a surprise that any college would let a freshman commute. Most require their students to live on campus for the first year.

 

[theamazingbil]

Thank you guys! And i'm not commuting 2 hours in one direction, but 2 1/2 in total back and forth (gas $ is killer). I will look into the different options but it seems like this is what I have to do. Hopefully, I can get A's at the CC, prove myself with good grades in upper levels at the university, and do really well on the MCAT. My goal is just any MD school. But thanks again. I really appreciate it.

 

[Jas1360]

If you have good grades at the state school and you transfer back for your third and fourth year it shouldn't be a problem. But if you transfer to CC because you are not handling the school academically that could be a bigger problem.

 

[Jas1360]

Also, as far as money look for CC scholarships. I was able to get full tuition at CC and also allowed me to get transfer scholarships too.

There are a ton of science scholarships available for CC.

 

[theamazingbil]

Well I am going to get A's in the gen eds, but possibly a B in Gen Chem I, but that is just because I am just adjusting to college my first semester. I'm improving my study habits now and I have learned how to handle everything. Will that be B a "red flag" or whatever? haha.

 

[theamazingbil]

That sounds awesome! I will look into it.

 

[lobo.solo]

Hi guys,

I got a huge problem and I need some SDN expertise. So currently, I'm at a state university and I am planning on transferring to a CC for the spring semester and for next year. Going to the university is just not working out due to financial issues and commuting, which takes up a lot of my time (~2 1/2 hours). The CC will be much cheaper and is very close to my home. I am doing well in Bio and Chem, but I am concerned that it will look really bad if I go from the state school to the CC, take all my prereqs there, and then save up and go back to a university after two years. What do you guys think? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in NC if that makes a difference.

One lesson that you should learn from this is to become better at planning your future actions. You could have easily avoided this by thoroughly thinking about the pros and cons of being at a university vs. a CC. Anyways, moving on. Like others have said, do well in your classes right now at the univ., do well once you transfer to CC, and do well when you transfer back to uni. Good luck

 

[theamazingbil]

One lesson that you should learn from this is to become better at planning your future actions. You could have easily avoided this by thoroughly thinking about the pros and cons of being at a university vs. a CC. Anyways, moving on. Like others have said, do well in your classes right now at the univ., do well once you transfer to CC, and do well when you transfer back to uni. Good luck

Yeah, you're right. It is what it is now, though🙁 So moving on, I will try to do better🙂 Thanks.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thank you guys! And i'm not commuting 2 hours in one direction, but 2 1/2 in total back and forth (gas $ is killer). I will look into the different options but it seems like this is what I have to do. Hopefully, I can get A's at the CC, prove myself with good grades in upper levels at the university, and do really well on the MCAT. My goal is just any MD school. But thanks again. I really appreciate it.

Chances are you probably spend almost as much gas money as it would cost to rent a decent apartment with friends for 600 a month. Either way, you could go to a CC, but you're not avoiding the eventuality that you'll return to the same exact commute and situation in two years.

 

[theamazingbil]

Chances are you probably spend almost as much gas money as it would cost to rent a decent apartment with friends for 600 a month. Either way, you could go to a CC, but you're not avoiding the eventuality that you'll return to the same exact commute and situation in two years.

I will transfer to a different state school once I save up some money. And you are right, the cost should be similar for gas and rent, but not for tuition. Huge difference there.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I will transfer to a different state school once I save up some money. And you are right, the cost should be similar for gas and rent, but not for tuition. Huge difference there.

Tuiton different at my CC & my state school was about 2,000 less a semester. The biggest cost here are the auxiliary fees i.e gasoline & housing.

 

[theamazingbil]

Tuiton different at my CC & my state school was about 2,000 less a semester. The biggest cost here are the auxiliary fees i.e gasoline & housing.

haha, I wish it was like that here!😛 about a ~5000 dollar difference

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

haha, I wish it was like that here!😛 about a ~5000 dollar difference

In that case I would go ahead go to the CC and get as close to a 4.0, join Phi Theta Kappa and try to apply to smaller state schools or in-state favoring LAC's.

 

[ribbondino]

One medical school in particular told me that they won't even look at prereqs from a community college. It is fairly frowned upon.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

One medical school in particular told me that they won't even look at prereqs from a community college. It is fairly frowned upon.

Creighnton, Tufts, Yale ( only if you finish your degree/ do the majority of your prereqs at a 4 year and go to a CC for the summer, they accept CC then 4 year). Generally it's not the best path, but it's becoming fairly more common especially in California where the universities are too packed and people are forced to go to a CC to graduate on time.

 

[theseeker4]

One medical school in particular told me that they won't even look at prereqs from a community college. It is fairly frowned upon.

Very few will actually trash your application for having CC pre reqs. Pretty much any that recommend against them will be fine as long as you take upper level sciences at the university and do well in those.

 

[theamazingbil]

One medical school in particular told me that they won't even look at prereqs from a community college. It is fairly frowned upon.

I think i'm deciding to just stay at the state school, cut back on credits during the year, do some online classes in the summer, and work a little more as well$$. I guess its worth it to avoid all the hassle Thanks for the help though, guys.