UC transfer student from community college

[Hopefulpremed123]

Hello all,

So I am currently a freshman at my local community college. I go to school in California and our community colleges have Transfer admission garuntees as well as required cources we must finish before transferring to other UC schools. So the cources I must finish include a year of General chem, a year of organic chem , a year of calculus, and a year of biology. However a year of physics is recommended but not required.

As you all might know the transfer requirements are pretty much the prerequisites for med school. So far as I am a second semester freshman, I am currently taking my second semester of general chem, calculus 2, my first part of the required bio series. Next year, I plan to take the final second part of biology and finish the year of organic chem. That would fulfill the requirements needed to transfer, so I am wondering would it be okay if I finish the physics sequence also at my community college, or should I save it for the UC I transfer to?

Thanks,
Sam

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[KungFuPanda123]

Hello all,

So I am currently a freshman at my local community college. I go to school in California and our community colleges have Transfer admission garuntees as well as required cources we must finish before transferring to other UC schools. So the cources I must finish include a year of General chem, a year of organic chem , a year of calculus, and a year of biology. However a year of physics is recommended but not required.

As you all might know the transfer requirements are pretty much the prerequisites for med school. So far as I am a second semester freshman, I am currently taking my second semester of general chem, calculus 2, my first part of the required bio series. Next year, I plan to take the final second part of biology and finish the year of organic chem. That would fulfill the requirements needed to transfer, so I am wondering would it be okay if I finish the physics sequence also at my community college, or should I save it for the UC I transfer to?

Thanks,
Sam

If there's a legitimate reason for you having taken all your pre-reqs at CC (e.g. it is required in order to get a guarantee transfer to a good 4-year UC) that you can effectively communicate to med schools, then it should be no problem - albeit admittedly less than ideal. As such, taking your year of physics at CC probably won't raise any red flags since you're already there, ready to take your courses.

THAT BEING SAID, I'd say the safest bet is to wait until you get to your 4-year university to take the physics classes so that you can prove that you can handle pre-req courses, even at the 4-year UCI level. If you plan on taking upper-div science courses (are you a science major?), you can honestly take all your pre-reqs at CC and have no trouble. Med schools will just look at your upper-division coursework in the sciences to figure out if you can handle the challenges of 4-year university level courses.

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

If there's a legitimate reason for you having taken all your pre-reqs at CC (e.g. it is required in order to get a guarantee transfer to a good 4-year UC) that you can effectively communicate to med schools, then it should be no problem - albeit admittedly less than ideal. As such, taking your year of physics at CC probably won't raise any red flags since you're already there, ready to take your courses.

THAT BEING SAID, I'd say the safest bet is to wait until you get to your 4-year university to take the physics classes so that you can prove that you can handle pre-req courses, even at the 4-year UCI level. If you plan on taking upper-div science courses (are you a science major?), you can honestly take all your pre-reqs at CC and have no trouble. Med schools will just look at your upper-division coursework in the sciences to figure out if you can handle the challenges of 4-year university level courses.

Hello, yes I am a biology major. So I'll have a lot of fun upper division cources to take haha.

 

[BabyDoctor26]

I was a transfer as well and took physics at the community college prior to transfer. Also, there is nothing "less than ideal" about taking these classes at a community college level. You will have plenty of upper div classes at the university if you are a science major. I can tell you that the difficulty level of the course at the community college vs university level is very similar and I was not left feeling ill prepared for the upper div university classes. The real issue for me was adjusting to quarter system at university vs semester at community college. You have a lot less study time so you have to be much more disciplined with your time. Good luck!

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

I was a transfer as well and took physics at the community college prior to transfer. Also, there is nothing "less than ideal" about taking these classes at a community college level. You will have plenty of upper div classes at the university if you are a science major. I can tell you that the difficulty level of the course at the community college vs university level is very similar and I was not left feeling ill prepared for the upper div university classes. The real issue for me was adjusting to quarter system at university vs semester at community college. You have a lot less study time so you have to be much more disciplined with your time. Good luck!

@Goro @WedgeDawg

 

[Goro]

Agree 100%

@Goro @WedgeDawg

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

Agree 100%

So would you reccomend I save physics for when I transfer as its not required for me to transfer but reccomended. Or would you say it won't look bad if I take physics at the cc as well?

 

[Goro]

Take it when you want to take it.

So would you reccomend I save physics for when I transfer as its not required for me to transfer but reccomended. Or would you say it won't look bad if I take physics at the cc as well?

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

@Catalystik and @gyngyn what are your opinions on the matter ?


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[Catalystik]

As you all might know the transfer requirements are pretty much the prerequisites for med school. So far as I am a second semester freshman, I am currently taking my second semester of general chem, calculus 2, my first part of the required bio series. Next year, I plan to take the final second part of biology and finish the year of organic chem. That would fulfill the requirements needed to transfer, so I am wondering would it be okay if I finish the physics sequence also at my community college, or should I save it for the UC I transfer to?

If the CC-taught course has similar rigor to that offered at the four-year school, feel free to take it before transferring. You might compare the texts used, for example.

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

If the CC-taught course has similar rigor to that offered at the four-year school, feel free to take it before transferring. You might compare the texts used, for example.

But would it look bad that I'm taking the med school prereqs which are required for me to transfer to a 4 year, at a cc? I will be taking many upper division science courses as well after transferring .


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[Catalystik]

But would it look bad that I'm taking the med school prereqs which are required for me to transfer to a 4 year, at a cc? I will be taking many upper division science courses as well after transferring .

CC prerequisites will only reflect poorly if you don't do well on the MCAT and don't maintain a strong GPA after you transfer. The vast majority of med schools have no bias against CC coursework, so long as the classes gave you a strong grounding in the subject.

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

CC prerequisites will only reflect poorly if you don't do well on the MCAT and don't maintain a strong GPA after you transfer. The vast majority of med schools have no bias against CC coursework, so long as the classes gave you a strong grounding in the subject.

So would you reccomend I transfer to a school like uc Berkeley or ucla (provided I get in) or would it be okay if I go to a school like UC Davis(which by no means is a pushover).

Basically would transferring g to the highest tier school be better for ME since I'm coming from community college? What do you think?


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[Catalystik]

So would you reccomend I transfer to a school like uc Berkeley or ucla (provided I get in) or would it be okay if I go to a school like UC Davis(which by no means is a pushover).

Basically would transferring g to the highest tier school be better for ME since I'm coming from community college? What do you think?

In my state it would be of benefit to attend one of the most competitive state schools, as they all have clear distinctions in academic reputation (and a given med school may adjust for this factor).

I am not familiar with the relative differences between UC schools. Maybe @gyngyn will comment.

 

[gyngyn]

So would you reccomend I transfer to a school like uc Berkeley or ucla (provided I get in) or would it be okay if I go to a school like UC Davis(which by no means is a pushover).

Basically would transferring g to the highest tier school be better for ME since I'm coming from community college? What do you think?


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The UC's are all excellent platforms for medical school.
Nobody really cares which one you attended as long as you do well.
UCD and UCSD have the advantage that they tend to matriculate about 20% of their incoming medical school class from their own undergrad...
UCR takes half the class!
We like the Merced grads because they tend to come from the SJV (a seriously under-served area).

 

[Hopefulpremed123]

The UC's are all excellent platforms for medical school.
Nobody really cares which one you attended as long as you do well.
UCD and UCSD have the advantage that they tend to matriculate about 20% of their incoming medical school class from their own undergrad...
UCR takes half the class!
We like the Merced grads because they tend to come from the SJV (a seriously under-served area).

But would you say since I'm coming from a cc, it will be advantageous for me to go to the highest ranked uc I get into(Berkeley or la ) or would you say that won't play a role, and I should just go wherever I want to? Keeping in mind I'll be finish all my prereqs besides biochem at the cc , so I feel I have to prove more to med schools !


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[gyngyn]

But would you say since I'm coming from a cc, it will be advantageous for me to go to the highest ranked uc I get into(Berkeley or la ) or would you say that won't play a role, and I should just go wherever I want to? Keeping in mind I'll be finish all my prereqs besides biochem at the cc , so I feel I have to prove more to med schools !


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A great many fine applicants come from CC's in CA.
It's normal. You don't have any more to prove than those who started in a UC.
You do need to do well in the UC that you choose. This is far more important.

 

[Geo16]

A great many fine applicants come from CC's in CA.

This gives me a relief!
Hahaha