Taking community college courses while at univers (i searched)

[afkari]

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I searched and read multiple posts about this and it seems that people are not recommending taking classes at a community college while at a university. My situation is a little unique and would greatly appreciate some advice:

I am currently taking 18 units this semester at the university. I am planning on taking an additional two classes at a community college to be able to graduate this May, which would total to 22 units. The courses I plan to take at the community college are a 3 unit humanities general education course and a one unit physics lab. I was wondering if taking courses at a community college will be viewed negatively by schools in this case (it will be my first time taking classes at a community college)?

Thank you.

 

[redlight]

i think that's fine.

 

[DrMattOglesby]

Most schools don't care where you take your courses so long as you have valid reasons for doing so. Come interview time, when they ask you to explain your academics it might look really good when you say you traveled around to jam pack so much coursework into one semester.

 

[afkari]

Thanks for the posts! Any other thoughts? 👍

 

[SiR99]

Some universities will not give you credit for taking a class somewhere else while you are enrolled at the university.

if you are trying to do this for your degree, then you need to check with your school, if your doing it for medical school then it doesnt matter.

 

[afkari]

My school will accept it. Just worried about med school.

 

[189362]

I dont think its that big of a deal for 6cr. or whatev it is. Ultimately the your stats and credentials are the determining factors. Good Luck

 

[afkari]

OK thanks. I was just reading in other threads that taking CC classes while you are at the university is not looked upon favorably. That is why I am worried.

 

[scarletgirl777]

OK thanks. I was just reading in other threads that taking CC classes while you are at the university is not looked upon favorably. That is why I am worried.

I would guess that since they are not for prereqs (well, the lab is a prereq but that I don't think matters so much), they are so few credits, and you have a really good reason, they would not care.

 

[TehDoc]

Use search.

 

[236116]

You should be good.

 

[NutCracker2021]

Yeah you should be fine..and btw ur question was soooo not unique lol..

 

[moto_za]

you wont look as competitive as someone who took it at the university and they will think you took the easy way out and probably not invite you for an interview.

 

[PainKiller69]

I searched and read multiple posts about this and it seems that people are not recommending taking classes at a community college while at a university. My situation is a little unique and would greatly appreciate some advice:

I am currently taking 18 units this semester at the university. I am planning on taking an additional two classes at a community college to be able to graduate this May, which would total to 22 units. The courses I plan to take at the community college are a 3 unit humanities general education course and a one unit physics lab. I was wondering if taking courses at a community college will be viewed negatively by schools in this case (it will be my first time taking classes at a community college)?

Thank you.

Humanities are fine. If possible, take the physics lab at your university.

 

[njbmd]

I searched and read multiple posts about this and it seems that people are not recommending taking classes at a community college while at a university. My situation is a little unique and would greatly appreciate some advice:

I am currently taking 18 units this semester at the university. I am planning on taking an additional two classes at a community college to be able to graduate this May, which would total to 22 units. The courses I plan to take at the community college are a 3 unit humanities general education course and a one unit physics lab. I was wondering if taking courses at a community college will be viewed negatively by schools in this case (it will be my first time taking classes at a community college)?

Thank you.

The humanities class should be fine but I would take the physics lab at the same location that I took the physics class (i.e your university). If you can't possibly fit this in (18 hours doesn't leave you much "wiggle room") and you have to have this one-hour to graduate, then take it at the community college. As long as you do high-quality work (no grades less than B+) and receive high quality instruction, where you take your courses doesn't matter much. One caveat is that there are a handful of medical schools out there that do not accept community college credits. Just make sure that you don't apply to one of those. Good luck!

 

[afkari]

Thank you all SO much for taking the time to read and post! So I met with my adivsor to see if I am on track to graduate this May and I am in need of a micro lab in addition to the lecture I am registered for at the unviversity. Now my situation is that I have to take the micro lecture and lab at a CC as well because ALL the micro labs at the university are in conflict with my schedule! So in addition to the previous classes we talked about, I have to talk a 4 unit micro/lab at the CC. In summary, I will have 15 units at the university and 8 at CC (4 for micro, 1 for physics lab and 3 for humanities). What do you guys think now? And sorry for asking for feedback again, I feel like I am paranoid pre-med now!

 

[236116]

Thank you all SO much for taking the time to read and post! So I met with my adivsor to see if I am on track to graduate this May and I am in need of a micro lab in addition to the lecture I am registered for at the unviversity. Now my situation is that I have to take the micro lecture and lab at a CC as well because ALL the micro labs at the university are in conflict with my schedule! So in addition to the previous classes we talked about, I have to talk a 4 unit micro/lab at the CC. In summary, I will have 15 units at the university and 8 at CC (4 for micro, 1 for physics lab and 3 for humanities). What do you guys think now? And sorry for asking for feedback again, I feel like I am paranoid pre-med now!

That is a super-heavy load, depending on your uni courses... will they let you walk in May and take classes over the summer?

 

[afkari]

They wont let me, unfortunately.

 

[236116]

Ugh.

Well, if you can work your butt off, you should be ok. Are the other classes going to be easy, do you think?

 

[afkari]

Yea, I plan on working hard to do well! My classes at the University are OK, meaning that if I put in the effort, I can do well. But nothing hard or really time-consuming like p-chem or biochem! The main thing I am just worried about is how adcoms will be viewing my CC classes. If that's not a problem (like most have said), then I will just focus on doing well in all the work I have to do! Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[DrMattOglesby]

mind if I ask, "What's the rush?"
Why do you need to graduate "on time" ?? Do you have somewhere to go?

Is it because you are holding an acceptance at a med school and NEED to have everything done by the end of the spring?

OR, do you just not want to go through another semester?

You could consider the possibility of picking up a part time job (or research, volunteer, favorite EC) and split up the course load between your last two semesters.

 

[Anthony Hartsoc]

One caveat is that there are a handful of medical schools out there that do not accept community college credits.

What schools are you talking about? I am taking essentially all of my prereqs for med school at the CC level because its a requirement for me to enter into my major at UC Berkeley per assist.org...

 

[Nimrod Q]

to take my pre-meds at my university. I pay for my own tuition and it would be too expensive (and almost an impossibility being that I have been unemployed since November, and the situation will not improve anytime soon).

I am only a semester or so away from graduating, but I am taking time off from my university to take my pre-med requirements at a nearby community college. Therefore, I am pushing my graduation to two years from now so that I can take organic chemistry and advance biology courses (genetics, micro etc) and do lab research at my university, once I finish the rest of my pre-reqs

Are there really some medical schools that won't even take your application into account if you take all your pre-med reqs at a CC? It seems counter-intuitive if they want to recruit under represented students that typically transfer and/or have to work and pay for their own tuition. I understand that CC courses may not be as rigorous as university courses, but I either take them at a CC or wait until I can afford to at my school...and that might put me back a few more years -_-.

Can someone tell me how valid that is?

 

[Pwny]

Med schools in general seem to disapprove students taking classes at a CC, especially science classes. I go to a UC right now, and all the advisers have told me the same thing. As long as you have a valid and strong reason, I guess it should be fine, but it seems that they want to emphasize that it's important to stick to taking classes at the college you're currently attending.

It's not in writing yet, but that's what they seem to be thinking. Has anyone else asked their advisers, because I'm curious if this advice is being given to students at other schools too.

 

[tooindecisive]

Perhaps it's due to the fact that the CC courses are relatively easy (easier curve due to the general student population at cc, and they tend to skip some of the important materials NOT skipped at 4-year universities).
Think about it this way.. so yea let's say you aced your bio classes at CC, but you're also competing against those ivy-league kids who busted their buttocks to ace their bio courses. Some people also try to take their prereqs at cc as a "easy way out"
I think the discrepancy in amount learned/challenged is just too big, even if it's the same "bio101,102".. and med schools like to take that into account.

 

[236116]

There are like, two, mudikle skulz with complexes over CC. Everyone else has seen the light.

 

[slight365]

Perhaps it's due to the fact that the CC courses are relatively easy (easier curve due to the general student population at cc, and they tend to skip some of the important materials NOT skipped at 4-year universities).
Think about it this way.. so yea let's say you aced your bio classes at CC, but you're also competing against those ivy-league kids who busted their buttocks to ace their bio courses. Some people also try to take their prereqs at cc as a "easy way out"
I think the discrepancy in amount learned/challenged is just too big, even if it's the same "bio101,102".. and med schools like to take that into account.

This is actually a myth, and now with standardizations taking place in several states, if not, across the entire country, CC's have become an alternate. I took some of my courses at a CC that is actually in very good standing, shared faculties and science curriculum with the tier 1 state university down the road, and was standardized against them.

Additionally, they also offered advanced honors coursing, and on top of that, recruiters from Tier 1 four years were actively trying to get top students to go to their schools with generous scholarships.

I have also met several who went to CC's as straight A HS students who were accepted at higher universities, but were not able to accept due to financial conditions. After they got their AS, with honors standings, and took their honors courses, they were offered full scholarships to tier 1 universities.

This is the actual little secret some of us took advantage of. I took part of my courses, switching back and forth betwee the uni and a cc, at a CC, which brought me even 300 level courses, and I got a simultaneous AS as I was studying in the uni. As I was done, I first got a NIH research scholarship with salary that was worth approximately $10k for a summer. Open ONLY to CC students. I was also offered tens of thousands in scholarships to go to other tier 1 schools for graduate and other further studies.

The little secret of community colleges. They're not always for screwups. The only thing easier they offer is scheduling. The scheduling rocks. For those that are screwups, they have remedial, non-credit classes. Unless they work, they don't get out of them.

Across the board, one can't generalize, but luckily, the admissions counselors know the truth.

 

[236116]

This is actually a myth, and now with standardizations taking place in several states, if not, across the entire country, CC's have become an alternate. I took some of my courses at a CC that is actually in very good standing, shared faculties and science curriculum with the tier 1 state university down the road, and was standardized against them.
The little secret of community colleges. They're not always for screwups. The only thing easier they offer is scheduling. The scheduling rocks. For those that are screwups, they have remedial, non-credit classes. Unless they work, they don't get out of them.

YAY FOR THIS POST!!!

Have a cookie!

 

[tooindecisive]

This is actually a myth, and now with standardizations taking place in several states, if not, across the entire country, CC's have become an alternate. I took some of my courses at a CC that is actually in very good standing, shared faculties and science curriculum with the tier 1 state university down the road, and was standardized against them.

Additionally, they also offered advanced honors coursing, and on top of that, recruiters from Tier 1 four years were actively trying to get top students to go to their schools with generous scholarships.

I have also met several who went to CC's as straight A HS students who were accepted at higher universities, but were not able to accept due to financial conditions. After they got their AS, with honors standings, and took their honors courses, they were offered full scholarships to tier 1 universities.

This is the actual little secret some of us took advantage of. I took part of my courses, switching back and forth betwee the uni and a cc, at a CC, which brought me even 300 level courses, and I got a simultaneous AS as I was studying in the uni. As I was done, I first got a NIH research scholarship with salary that was worth approximately $10k for a summer. Open ONLY to CC students. I was also offered tens of thousands in scholarships to go to other tier 1 schools for graduate and other further studies.

The little secret of community colleges. They're not always for screwups. The only thing easier they offer is scheduling. The scheduling rocks. For those that are screwups, they have remedial, non-credit classes. Unless they work, they don't get out of them.

Across the board, one can't generalize, but luckily, the admissions counselors know the truth.

... so, with the standardization, are you telling me that cc courses are as tough as a workload of an ivy.. or something like UC Berkeley? 😱

I don't know about other areas, but here in the east coast, cc's are considered quite easy.. and even though there are students who take full-cholarships to cc's (that sounds incredibly hard doesn't it? 🙄) I know plenty of others who TURNED DOWN that cc scholarship for a full-ride at their state schools! wow, ok so according to your anecdotal evidence, maybe they should have gone to cc afterall.. too bad few of the recent duke,jhu,harvard med school matriculants from states schools I know have never dipped their feet into cc.

to the OP. don't do it unless you absolutely have to. If you really have to, know that you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage compared to other applicants.

 

[236116]

blather blather blather

Dude.

ALL schools are WHAT YOU MAKE OUT OF THEM.

Hi, super curves at Ivies! Yay your D at a CC is now a B! Conga rats!

 

[tooindecisive]

Dude.

ALL schools are WHAT YOU MAKE OUT OF THEM.

Hi, super curves at Ivies! Yay your D at a CC is now a B! Conga rats!

LOL. yes. because in the eyes of the adcoms, graduating from MIT with 4.0 is the same exact thing as 4.0 from a cc.

if you think ivy leagues have easy curves, why don't you ask a person who's taken classes from there?
I don't understand what's up with your self-complexity and your "denial" in refusing to believing that "going to a more competitive school as opposed to a cc will give you a legs up in med school app" 😕