Taking pre-req Science Courses at Community College

[Wiesal]

I have heard and simply regurgitated the supposed fact that taking pre-req science courses at community college is harmful to your admission process to med school. They see it as "taking the easier route." Some people would agree with me, and other people would call it stupid ass advice. What's the actual truth?

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[chemist16]

Depends on what you're taking there, why you're taking it, and how many you're taking. If you're taking pre-reqs and a great many of them at a CC, that comes off as "I'm taking it here because it's too hard at my school." If you're only taking one or two, then maybe it's just because you didn't have time during the year to take them and it's fine.

There's also a key difference between people who went to CC for two years and then transferred to a four-year college and people who are at a four-year college who take the courses at a CC.

 

[nwts]

There's also a key difference between people who went to CC for two years and then transferred to a four-year college and people who are at a four-year college who take the courses at a CC.

This right here is extremely important. I could be wrong, but I would think it would be hard to convince medical schools that there was a reason other than trying to boost your GPA that you took your pre-reqs at a community college when you were enrolled at a 4 year university at the time you took the community college classes.

 

[EParker37]

I will just add what Goro said in his application guide. I am a non-trad who did the 4 year UG, got my bachelors and have been working since. I took my pre-reqs at a CC because it was what fit my budget.

Some med schools accept CC credits, some don't. There's no rhyme nor reason to it. Again, MSAR is useful in telling you who does, and who doesn't take the coursework. Here's a rule of thumb.

-If you go to a CC and then to a UG school, that's fine.
-If you go to a CC as a non-trad to get the pre-reqs, for for grade repair as a DIY post-bac, that's also fine.
-If it appears that you're avoiding your UG school's rigorous weeding courses by taking them at CCs, then that's going to raise some eyebrows.

 

[chemist16]

I would agree with the above though a reasonable explanation is possible, such as having a non-science major at a school with heavy course load, thus requiring prereqs elsewhere .

In this case, I'd still recommend doing it at a peer institution. So a four year school if you're at a four-year school.

 

[chemist16]

All depends on the applicant's overall picture. I will say that there has been a shift in the past decade on CC being acceptable to med schools, likely due to the recognition that some many students go that route for financial and logistical reasons. Even the venerable JHU school of medicine is now accepting them

Would you say that this applies more to applicants going the CC-transfer-to-four-year route? It makes sense financially and logistically to stay closer to home and go to a CC before transferring to a four-year school. It makes less sense financially and logistically to be attending a four-year school and then taking your pre-reqs at a CC - especially because you'd be paying for the CC classes on top of what you're already paying the four-year school. I think there's a key distinction to be made here, as I noted above.

 

[releehw]

I will just add what Goro said in his application guide. I am a non-trad who did the 4 year UG, got my bachelors and have been working since. I took my pre-reqs at a CC because it was what fit my budget.

That's what I'm going to do. Gonna get my degree then do prereqs the summer after so it doesn't look suspicious

 

[EParker37]

That's what I'm going to do. Gonna get my degree then do prereqs the summer after so it doesn't look suspicious

But then it sounds like your intention is to bypass the rigor of your UG institution. What I meant was that I have a degree in a totally unrelated field, worked for a few years, then decided to try for med school and started a DIY post-bacc. But if I do it the summer immediately after graduation, then it could be construed differently. The moral of the story here is that every adcom is going to look at CC differently, but if your GPA and MCAT score, plus EC's all fall in line, then the fact it is CC credit doesn't hold as much weight because you have demonstrated that you have the aptitude. If you have a sub-par GPA, low MCAT and take 30+ CC hours, that might call into question the rigor of the CC classes and subsequently your ability to handle the coursework of a medical program. I think many are misunderstanding the idea behind what goro and many others have said about CC.

 

[nwts]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the overall impression I get is that adcoms are pretty good at discerning someone's real motives. If you are really just doing it in order to take the easy way out, they'll probably know. If you really have a legitimate reason for doing it, they'll probably be able to see that. The best way to determine what you should do is try to examine your own motives. Ask yourself honestly why you're doing it. If the answer is because it is easier, assume adcoms will see through attempts to assert that this isn't the case. If the answer is something different that is legitimate, don't worry too much about adcoms failing to understand that everyone has different circumstances.