What school should I go to for pre-pharmacy??

[cjtulowiecki]

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Hi, I have previously tried getting answers for my pharmacy-related questions on yahoo answers but most people on there are a bunch of idiots who don't know what they are talking about so I hope i came to the right place to talk to real Pharmacy students. I am 17, live in East Texas and am a Junior in highschool. I am about 90% sure I want to go to school for pharmacy. I plan on going to a 4 year university and obtaining a BS in BioChemistry (through a pre-pharmacy graduation plan). After I want to go to UT Austin's school of Pharmacy. The question i cannot answer myself yet, is which school to go to for my pre-pharmacy studies. My three choices im thinking of right now are Baylor University, UT Austin, and Texas Tech in amarillo. I am rank 3 in my class and i woud like to ask, if money were no object, which school do you think i should attend? From what i've researched on the internet, those three schools are the best for pre-pharmacy and or pharmacy school. I figured by asking here i could get some real answers, possibly from people who have attended these colleges or have looked into them. All answers are greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[romylove]

Attend a community college if you can. Save yourself the money!

 

[bw6]

Hi, I have previously tried getting answers for my pharmacy-related questions on yahoo answers but most people on there are a bunch of idiots who don't know what they are talking about so I hope i came to the right place to talk to real Pharmacy students. I am 17, live in East Texas and am a Junior in highschool. I am about 90% sure I want to go to school for pharmacy. I plan on going to a 4 year university and obtaining a BS in BioChemistry (through a pre-pharmacy graduation plan). After I want to go to UT Austin's school of Pharmacy. The question i cannot answer myself yet, is which school to go to for my pre-pharmacy studies. My three choices im thinking of right now are Baylor University, UT Austin, and Texas Tech in amarillo. I am rank 3 in my class and i woud like to ask, if money were no object, which school do you think i should attend? From what i've researched on the internet, those three schools are the best for pre-pharmacy and or pharmacy school. I figured by asking here i could get some real answers, possibly from people who have attended these colleges or have looked into them. All answers are greatly appreciated, thank you.

Well hopefully I can help since I did what you are considering. I graduated from Penn State with a BS in Biochemistry and molecular biology and just got into pharmacy school this year. I would recommend not going to community college since admissions committees do consider what school you went to... they realize that an A at a major university is much harder to earn than at some community college and that you will not receive the same caliber of education from a community college.

If I were you I would keep money in mind but also pick a decent undergraduate institution with some reputation (not CC). Other than that, just go where you think you will enjoy it because the difference in prestige of major universities is practically negligible when applying to pharm school.

Also, a heads up from a fellow biochemist:
The classes required for my major in BMB did not cover all of the prerequisites for pharmacy school. While I was able to substitute my cell biology and molecular biology classes for the basic biology (which aren't required for BMB) I still needed to take Physiology and Anatomy as electives. All the others (Ochem, Chem, microbio, etc.) were required for me to graduate anyway.

Just make sure your talk to an advisor ASAP when you start as a freshman and figure it all out.

 

[romylove]

I wouldn't necessarily say this is true. My community college has some top rate professors.

My genetics professor discovered one of the HIV suppressing genes, my government teacher holds 5 PhDs, is fluent in 5 languages, and teaches grad school, and my physics professor holds current theories on plate formation and finding extrasolar planets with Earth-like qualities.

Community colleges can be just as good as universities.

 

[bw6]

I wouldn't necessarily say this is true. My community college has some top rate professors.

My genetics professor discovered one of the HIV suppressing genes, my government teacher holds 5 PhDs, is fluent in 5 languages, and teaches grad school, and my physics professor holds current theories on plate formation and finding extrasolar planets with Earth-like qualities.

Community colleges can be just as good as universities.

Regardless, top professors tend to be researchers and researchers don't go to CC for their work. I'm not saying you can't get a good education at CC, I'm just saying these colleges aren't as good as universities. They don't have the ranking, research funding, etc, etc that earns an undergraduate institution respect. Whether you think you got a "university quality" education at CC or not, admissions committees will not look at a community college education on the same level as a well respected university.

You may find a GREAT community college that can rival certain big time universities. But, in general, the classes at CC are easier and the education is not as good. Yours may be the exception, but the committee reviewing your application is still likely to look down on a community college when comparing it to a well respected university.

Sorry, life isn't fair.

 

[owlegrad]

I always wonder if I should go back and repeat my undergrad. I mean if I didn't go to a university, what was the point?

 

[Rx MPLS]

Whether you think you got a "university quality" education at CC or not, admissions committees will not look at a community college education on the same level as a well respected university.

You may find a GREAT community college that can rival certain big time universities. But, in general, the classes at CC are easier and the education is not as good. Yours may be the exception, but the committee reviewing your application is still likely to look down on a community college when comparing it to a well respected university.

Sorry, life isn't fair.

This isn't true across the board. Contact the school you are interested in for their opinion; they will tell you if they give preferential treatment to university students over community college students. If they don't prefer one or the other, a community college will save you a boatload of cash.

 

[romylove]

I always wonder if I should go back and repeat my undergrad. I mean if I didn't go to a university, what was the point?

Well gee, now that I know, I feel like I ought to apply to the local university and redo all of my work at 4x the tuition rate. Yup, I'll just head right out and do that.

 

[bw6]

Haha ok ok... all of you community college people are getting offended and completely missing the point. Yes, if you can get into pharmacy school with a CC education and save the money go for it.

But you clearly haven't read the first post that started this thread where he clearly states IF MONEY WERE NO OBJECT.

So, if money is not taken into consideration you will likely get a better education at a university. Not definitely, but more than likely. It will look better on your admissions but if you can get in with a CC education it puts you in the exact same situation.

So once again, the person clearly wanted an opinion based off of money being no object. So I repeat my opinion that money aside, a university would be a better choice than a community college.

 

[Rx MPLS]

Haha ok ok... all of you community college people are getting offended and completely missing the point. Yes, if you can get into pharmacy school with a CC education and save the money go for it.

But you clearly haven't read the first post that started this thread where he clearly states IF MONEY WERE NO OBJECT.

So, if money is not taken into consideration you will likely get a better education at a university. Not definitely, but more than likely. It will look better on your admissions but if you can get in with a CC education it puts you in the exact same situation.

So once again, the person clearly wanted an opinion based off of money being no object. So I repeat my opinion that money aside, a university would be a better choice than a community college.

If I had to do my undergrad experiences all over and I had piles of money sitting around that I didn't know what to do with, I would probably choose a private college. I don't know if it's true, but I suspect many have better teachers (as opposed to researchers) than the public universities (where the undergraduate teaching ranged from adequate to terrible, in my experience). Since I haven't ever attended a private college, this is pure speculation on my part, though.

 

[owlegrad]

So once again, the person clearly wanted an opinion based off of money being no object. So I repeat my opinion that money aside, a university would be a better choice than a community college.

Fair point. Because money is no issue (per OP), I recommend retiring to the Bahama's and just owning a private beach somewhere. 😉

 

[romylove]

Fair point. Because money is no issue (per OP), I recommend retiring to the Bahama's and just owning a private beach somewhere. 😉

The Bahamas? Pfft. More like Paris.

 

[bw6]

Haha I am liking this thread. The idea of money being no object?.. so foreign to me seeing as I am building piles of debt.

Makes me curious as to why money doesn't matter to you... are your parents paying? Hook them up and take the cheaper choice. Maybe they'll give you a few of those saved $$ that you can put towards pharm school.

 

[dancingallday]

I've seen pharmacists come out of pharm school that had gone to CC's before who were brilliant at what they did, and I've seen pharmacists who had done 4-year degrees at universities prior to pharmacy school who were absolute dunderheads. And vice versa. It really doesn't make that much difference, I promise; it has more to do with you and the way you apply yourself. Save your parents' money and go the CC route.

 

[hsb1104]

The only thing I can say about a University vs. Community College is it might better prepare you for the caliber of studying/work needed. Maybe it's just me but I did my 2 years at CC then transferred to a University to get a bachelors. I received a fine education at my CC and I'm glad I didn't pay for all 4 years of school at a University. However, I had a slight shock period my first semester at my university. The amount of work/studying required and expectations were higher than I had at my CC. If I went straight from CC to pharm school I feel I'd have had an even bigger shock period but this could just be me.

 

[JADpharm28]

I would just like to say that I have been at a CC for almost all of my credits. I transfered to a large public university, stayed one semester and headed straight back to my CC ASAP. The education there was a JOKE. The classes were harder only because the professors didn't give 2 $h!ts about their students and expected them to figure everything out on their own (including graduate level material in a Chem II course). I have many gripes about the university I went to.

My personal opinion? You must find the school that best fits YOU. Don't go where you think you should go based on opinions of people on SDN you've never met, where people you do know tell you to go, where has the "best reputation." I went to this university because I had heard from many that it was a "great" school for science/pre-med/pre-health education and it was not. Do as much research on these schools as possible and go to the one that best fits YOU and your needs/desires instead of trying to please your parents, society and pharmacy admissions boards.

 

[bw6]

My personal opinion? You must find the school that best fits YOU. Don't go where you think you should go based on opinions of people on SDN you've never met, where people you do know tell you to go, where has the "best reputation." I went to this university because I had heard from many that it was a "great" school for science/pre-med/pre-health education and it was not. Do as much research on these schools as possible and go to the one that best fits YOU and your needs/desires instead of trying to please your parents, society and pharmacy admissions boards.

Agreed, except for the last part. If you plan to go to pharmacy school you absolutely should be worried about pleasing the admissions boards. After all, if you want in to a certain school and they don't like a CC education then you should take that into account.

Also, this post seems to imply that because you have to do more work on your own with less personal help it is a worse education. This type of education will definitely prepare you better for the PCAT and likely (as posted previously by hsb) better prepare you for pharmacy school.

So yeah, go to the school that best fits you and if that is CC then more power to you. However, don't take JADpharm's advice and have a lack of concern about what the pharmacy schools think about this. Do you research and make sure whatever you choose WILL PLEASE the admissions committees.

After all, if you don't care what they think then you can't expect them to like you as a candidate. Good luck getting into a pharmacy school without impressing the admissions committee.

 

[JADpharm28]

Agreed, except for the last part. If you plan to go to pharmacy school you absolutely should be worried about pleasing the admissions boards. After all, if you want in to a certain school and they don't like a CC education then you should take that into account.

Also, this post seems to imply that because you have to do more work on your own with less personal help it is a worse education. This type of education will definitely prepare you better for the PCAT and likely (as posted previously by hsb) better prepare you for pharmacy school.

So yeah, go to the school that best fits you and if that is CC then more power to you. However, don't take JADpharm's advice and have a lack of concern about what the pharmacy schools think about this. Do you research and make sure whatever you choose WILL PLEASE the admissions committees.

After all, if you don't care what they think then you can't expect them to like you as a candidate. Good luck getting into a pharmacy school without impressing the admissions committee.

I agree, if you have a dream of getting into that ONE specific school, then you must do what it takes to get into that school. But, is it really worth it to be miserable at a school for 4 years just to get into the pharmacy school that youthink you need to go to? Keep all options open. Do research. Know what you are getting yourself into. If you go to a school that will please the admissions committee, but you absolutely hate being there, you might change your career goals as a result and then spending time/money at that school may have been a waste (if you only went there to please pharmacy schools). Also, there is no guarantee that you will even get into the desired pharmacy school, even if you went to a big name university. The committee looks at more than just where you went to undergrad

(On a personal note, if I would have stayed at the university I was at, I would have not learned as much as I am learning now. It is a professor's job to teach and relay information to the students. If we wanted to self-teach, we wouldn't be going to college.)

 

[DrDrugs2012]

I figure its time for me to wade in with my usual diatribe. A thread about ranks, and prestige wouldn't really be quite complete without it eh?

Yes, it is certainly true that there are gifted professors and high quality community colleges. It is also true that both of those may rival or even surpass that at many more prestigious universities. But whether the community college is good or not really isn't relevant because its all about perception. Whether it is true or not, on average, community colleges are not regarded as giving its students a high quality education. Unless the admissions committee of a pharmacy school which is likely not close to your community college (by proximity or relationship), or your personal statement is about how many Nobel prizes your community college faculty have won, the admissions committee will never know the quality of education you received. But its not just the perception of the degree of rigor of the coursework. Its also about the students those schools. Not so many 4.0 GPA/1600-2400 SAT students go to community college, but more go to universities. Top students go to places that seek top talent. Furthermore, it is assumed that competitive students take extracurricular/cocurricular opportunities which exist on their campuses. Whether its research with a professor or some 'prestigious' organizations, these are things that the average community college does not offer or at least certainly not to the same degree that is available at a university.

So at the end of the day, what will University of Washington think about East Orange County Community College of Miami Florida? I'm pretty sure that a 4.0 from UCLA carries more weight in their minds. None of this means that you cannot have success after going to a community college. I would be my life savings that there is someone somewhere super famous who only went to community college. But its funny how Harvard keeps producing billionaires isn't it? (Fun fact: 5% of the world's billionaires have a degree from Harvard).

 

[Nelcovp]

Go to the cheapest school that's close to you.

 

[kcwang]

I have taken classes both at community college and 4 yr university, so I will give you a summary base on my experience (by all means, the summary below is base on MY EXPERIENCE ONLY)

"Decent" University (By Decent, I mean top 40):
Status
Yes some graduate schools and companies favor the "status". I have gotten a positive response from dean of pharmacy school because where I "attended"
Education
Varies, but in my case the classes are harder. There are always bad apples out there, you just have to pick the right professor.
Connection
Great connections, lots of opportunities
On Campus Life
Depends on you, but you only get this once in your life time
Student
More arrogant sobs than cc. This goes back to connections, I met a few who agree with my goal and offer helps in the future
Tuition
Self explanatory, but I have seen many with scholarships and finicial aids. I know this person who makes $$ off finicial aid by going to university.

Community College:
Status
Nobody knows your college, but it doesnt matter in admission for some graduate schools
Education
All of my favorite classes and most of my favorite professors are from CC. Yes, they are not famous, but they generally care a lot. Classes tend to be easier. Professor to student ratio is well balance (I went to a university with 1:300 ratio)
Connection
There are opportunities on CC, but in my case I had way more opportunities in a 4yrs University
On Campus Life
None in my case. Half of the students rush to home or work after classes.
Students
I was very impress by the maturity of the students. I had one class where everyone (yes, every student) was so positive and helpful. They even bring food and school supplies to the classes. Each person tries to contribute something to the class (no one ask them to do this).
Tuition
I paid 10x more at University

My advice: Don't go to an University if you are not planning to use it to your advantage

 

[DH1987]

I've went to a community college for all of my time as a college student. Yes, some classes can be easy A's there. All of the science courses that I've taken at the community college, however, were a decent challenge. I did have to work for most of my A's. And if the quality of your education really does play a big part on your performance on the PCAT, then my community college did a damn good job preparing me. And really, I didn't see anything on the PCAT that wouldn't be covered by courses at my community college.

I believe that you're really just paying for the name/prestige when you go to universities for undergrad courses. I don't know, maybe my community college is just that good. But if you wanna take anything from my post, just don't write off a community college as being inferior just because it doesn't have a big name.

 

[xtsukiyox]

bw6, again, your whole "pleasing the admissions council" stance is somewhat ignorant.

In AZ, and in a few other select places, the CCs are held to the exact same standards as the Unis, because of transfer arrangements. My O Chem is equivalent to the one taken at the Uni. And I bet you didn't have to take the ACS exam at the end of yours.

In some parts of the country, I've heard it reported that CCs are more like technical colleges extending high school.

To generalize the quality of CCs - and how adcoms look at them - across the board is, in your position, nothing short of hubris.

My advice has been, and will continue to be, start at a CC (if they're decent quality where you live) then transfer to Uni at the end of your sophomore year if you need the bachelors. You will miss most of the 100 person lecture hall horrors this way, not to mention cost. Also, take your education into your own hands and educate yourself on the system.

Since money is no object, I would take the difference between the Uni & CC attendance costs & go on a cruise during summer or something. 😀

 

[bw6]

bw6, again, your whole "pleasing the admissions council" stance is somewhat ignorant.

In AZ, and in a few other select places, the CCs are held to the exact same standards as the Unis, because of transfer arrangements. My O Chem is equivalent to the one taken at the Uni. And I bet you didn't have to take the ACS exam at the end of yours.

In some parts of the country, I've heard it reported that CCs are more like technical colleges extending high school.

To generalize the quality of CCs - and how adcoms look at them - across the board is, in your position, nothing short of hubris.

My advice has been, and will continue to be, start at a CC (if they're decent quality where you live) then transfer to Uni at the end of your sophomore year if you need the bachelors. You will miss most of the 100 person lecture hall horrors this way, not to mention cost. Also, take your education into your own hands and educate yourself on the system.

Since money is no object, I would take the difference between the Uni & CC attendance costs & go on a cruise during summer or something. 😀

Nothing about that was ignorant.

Some admissions committees prefer classes from a university and some don't care. I clearly stated that you should "go to the school that best fits you and if that is CC then more power to you." Nothing about that is ignorant or insulting to community college.

And you chose the phrase pleasing the admissions committee tpo point out how you thought I was ignorant. I stand by that statement. If your goal is to go to pharmacy school, you should do whatever you can to please the admissions committee. This statement has nothing to do with community colleges whatsoever. If the admissions committee has no preference on where you do your undergrad, then like I said before DO WHAT FITS YOU BEST.

If, however, they prefer a university, then you should take that into account. If the admissions committee is not pleased with your application, you will not get in. Never did I say that going to CC would be looked down upon by every admissions committee.

So I reiterate, do whatever you need to to please the admissions committee whether it is a university, a community college, or dancing the polka during your interview.

 

[xtsukiyox]

Your sweeping overgeneralizations are, in fact, ignorant. Also, you judging what an adcom does or doesn't want to see - who are you? A fellow applicant. You have no special insight, beyond your personal, anecdotal data.

I would recommend not going to community college since admissions committees do consider what school you went to... they realize that an A at a major university is much harder to earn than at some community college and that you will not receive the same caliber of education from a community college.

If I were you I would keep money in mind but also pick a decent undergraduate institution with some reputation (not CC). Other than that, just go where you think you will enjoy it because the difference in prestige of major universities is practically negligible when applying to pharm school.

Regardless, top professors tend to be researchers and researchers don't go to CC for their work. I'm not saying you can't get a good education at CC, I'm just saying these colleges aren't as good as universities. They don't have the ranking, research funding, etc, etc that earns an undergraduate institution respect. Whether you think you got a "university quality" education at CC or not, admissions committees will not look at a community college education on the same level as a well respected university.

You may find a GREAT community college that can rival certain big time universities. But, in general, the classes at CC are easier and the education is not as good. Yours may be the exception, but the committee reviewing your application is still likely to look down on a community college when comparing it to a well respected university.

Funny, my s/o's biology teacher is researching genetic manipulation of plants for therapeutic purposes. My O Chem teacher is researching chemical replication of photosynthesis. My religion teacher & sociology teachers had research projects going too. Guess that doesn't count...

I have highlighted the worst of your generalizations, then got bored when you started backpetaling & claiming you didn't say the things you said. YOUR phrasing was "admissions committees." I simply quoted you. Your statements later are less blatent, but certainly remain adamant with the sentiment expressed above: CCs are inferior to other schools, prepare you worse, and are looked down upon by adcoms. With few possible exceptions (which you don't seem to believe).

I am willing to admit that you need to be cautious about the caliber of some CCs. However, where you are, in your little corner of the USA, is not the same as everywhere across the country - even though, time and again, you post as if that is the case.

I will now allow you to continue to backpetal from the statements I responded to above.

 

[kcwang]

I believe there is some truth in bw6's statement that "admissions committees will not look at a community college education on the same level as a well respected university.", but obviously this doesn't apply to all the school. While I was at University of Michigan for interview, there were people from UCSD, Brown, Cal etc.. No one was from cc, and the dean went ahead and said we generally have good experience from graduates of these schools. I wouldn't say adcom look down on CC, but some of them do favor some school. Also a "C" in some reputable schools' Ochem courses are consider "B", and usually adcom know this from experience.

I agree with xtsukiyox on the caliber of cc. One of my favorite ochem professor (who also teach at CC) once told us that some ochem courses at cc are much tougher. He went ahead and nailed us for the rest of the quarter with his hardcore but reasonable exams (the avg for one midterm was 30%) I took some classes at CC, and I learn the same material as I would in the University. The exam at CC were easier for me, and it wasnt because the material is easier. The professors from my university just tend to put more "tricky" question on the exam.

 

[DrDrugs2012]

Ok, he is an applicant. I am not. Thanks to some things i have done before and some people I know, I DO have special insight, and I promise you that admissions committees look at where you went to school. And the question isn't about the candidates wh have a 4.0 at a community college... but if you are deciding on an applicant and one has a 3.0 at community college, and another 3.0 at a prestigious school regarded as 'tough', with all else being equal, you can bet your mortgage they will go for the prestigious school applicant every time.

No one said the world is fair. There are lots of reasons to go to community college. Money, location, course offerings, time, etc. And not all community college students nor community colleges themselves are bad. for example, you can't throw a rock along the northeast corridor (washington dc to boston) without hitting ten colleges and universities, many prestigious. So going to community college in the northeast means a different thing than out west where you can drive two hundred miles without hitting another higher education institution.

But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what you think or know, or whether your community college is tougher or not. The perception persists. So to be on equal footing, you need to have better performance coming out of community college.

Just trust me on that.

 

[bw6]

Regardless, top professors tend to be researchers and researchers don't go to CC for their work. I'm not saying you can't get a good education at CC, I'm just saying these colleges aren't as good as universities. They don't have the ranking, research funding, etc, etc that earns an undergraduate institution respect. Whether you think you got a "university quality" education at CC or not, admissions committees will not look at a community college education on the same level as a well respected university.

You may find a GREAT community college that can rival certain big time universities. But, in general, the classes at CC are easier and the education is not as good. Yours may be the exception, but the committee reviewing your application is still likely to look down on a community college when comparing it to a well respected university.

Sorry, life isn't fair.

These points made in the previous post were points I touched on way back before people got offended.

xts - I'm sorry you think my generalizations are ignorant but these generalizations are often made - I reference my post from days ago "life isn't fair". I was simply advising the OP to see what the adcom wants.

It seems as though the community college people here are getting overly defensive and that is not the point of this thread. I will simplify my "ignorant generalizations" to one ignorant generalization:
Universities are more respected than CC. You may get a great education at CC, but that does not change the perception. So one more time, life isn't fair.

Don't attack me for posting this, it is the way the majority of the nation thinks. I never said it was right, I simply pointed out the perception. Xts don't continue attacking what myself and the previous post state. We did not create the perception that CC isn't as good, we are merely informing you that it does exist. I don't want to play a game of semantics with you where you pick out every little word and try to show how it is wrong. I have given the gist of what I was saying in this post.

 

[owlegrad]

I really think the only relevant thing that can be said is "check with the schools you are applying to". If it is not stated explicitly, I would not assume that they frown on CC credits.

/thread

 

[DelawareStudent]

I really think the only relevant thing that can be said is "check with the schools you are applying to". If it is not stated explicitly, I would not assume that they frown on CC credits.

/thread

👍

I'm CC to Pharm and only one school raised any flags, and it was because my A&P did not have a biology pre-req.

Fortunately for me, I contacted the schools BEFORE I took the classes, so it was never an actual issue.

 

[xtsukiyox]

xts - I'm sorry you think my generalizations are ignorant but these generalizations are often made - I reference my post from days ago "life isn't fair". I was simply advising the OP to see what the adcom wants.

This, again, is exactly the attitude I was objecting to. You do not know what every "adcom" wants. My adcom didn't care. In fact, 15% of the class of 2010 didn't ever go to Uni. The only reason that % is so low is because they admit bunches of students from CA, where it is standard to have a bachelors.

Life isn't fair? How much more condescending can you get? It has nothing to do with fairness, and everything to do with your facts. I will reiterate: you cannot generalize for every adcom and every CC across the USA.

It seems as though the community college people here are getting overly defensive and that is not the point of this thread. I will simplify my "ignorant generalizations" to one ignorant generalization:
Universities are more respected than CC. You may get a great education at CC, but that does not change the perception. So one more time, life isn't fair.

Not every adcom cares whether you went to a CC or a Uni. One more time. You cannot make that generalization.

Don't attack me for posting this, it is the way the majority of the nation thinks. I never said it was right, I simply pointed out the perception. Xts don't continue attacking what myself and the previous post state. We did not create the perception that CC isn't as good, we are merely informing you that it does exist. I don't want to play a game of semantics with you where you pick out every little word and try to show how it is wrong. I have given the gist of what I was saying in this post.

Lol OK, so now you speak for the majority of the nation? How does that matter to a prepharm? Nada. As owlegrad said, it depends on the school, ask them first. Nobody is going to care about your expensive - I mean, prestigious 4 year education once you're a PharmD. Similarly, once you have a bachelors, nobody cares whether the first 2 years of that bachelors was at a CC or not, as long as your credits transferred as equivalent. Not a single person.

There is one point you've made I do agree with: you have to do whatever it is the adcom is looking for in order to get in. However, I disagree that every adcom is looking for Uni experience. If that were the case, a bachelors would be required for every school, dontchathink?

Let me set the record straight. I am not suggesting the OP only go to CC. I am suggesting the first 2 years there, then go to Uni & finish the bachelors if s/he can't get in in the interim (assuming there are schools the OP wants to go to that don't require a bachelors). With the caution that some CCs suck, in many parts of the country they seem to do a perfectly good job of training people.

ETA: My 15% was low. 7-8% did not have degrees. CCs here require you to have extraneous classes to obtain an associates. Some of those people may have taken classes at Uni, but some percent of them never have.

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

 

[DrDrugs2012]

Heh. Now you're all just ignoring me.

Whether a school accepts community college credits as 'equal' to university credits for the purposes of prerequisite coursework is irrelevant. That only excludes the students who See my previous post.

BW6 is still right - the perception exists - and whether its right or not is still irrelevant.

People on this site should stop feeding potential applicants really, really bad advice. And as I say, there are MANY legitimate reasons to go to community college. I am certainly not against CC's. But applicants should still know they must outperform at CC because most faculty at most schools will look at a CC vs a UCLA and consider a 4.0 at CC equal to a 3.5 at UCLA.

 

[xtsukiyox]

These points made in the previous post were points I touched on way back before people got offended.

Oh, that makes it okay then. 😕

xts - I'm sorry you think my generalizations are ignorant but these generalizations are often made - I reference my post from days ago "life isn't fair". I was simply advising the OP to see what the adcom wants.

It seems as though the community college people here are getting overly defensive and that is not the point of this thread.

Boy, you sure have a lot of opinions about where discussions can and cannot go. I will remind you again that this is a public forum. Your arrogance is shown in these comments where you feel you can dictate what others should or shouldn't say.

Xts don't continue attacking what myself and the previous post state.

Oops.

I don't want to play a game of semantics with you where you pick out every little word and try to show how it is wrong.

Just because you say this doesn't mean it's what I'm doing. Nice try in devaluing my points though.

I responded to the meat of your post above, but felt your clear condescension & disrespect merited specific calling out.

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[xtsukiyox]

Heh. Now you're all just ignoring me.

I am not discrediting what you're saying, nor am I intentionally ignoring it. I just have a specific response for bw6.

People on this site should stop feeding potential applicants really, really bad advice. And as I say, there are MANY legitimate reasons to go to community college. I am certainly not against CC's. But applicants should still know they must outperform at CC because most faculty at most schools will look at a CC vs a UCLA and consider a 4.0 at CC equal to a 3.5 at UCLA.

Here's a disconnect. I would hope that students would do better at a CC for one reason: it's all 100/200 level classes. If you're at a Uni, your GPA will eventually reflect upper division courses, which I would hope would mean they're harder.

I don't think a single person would recommend stopping at only CC work if they don't get into pharmacy school.

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[Deja]

don't worry bw6, I totally agree with you

to the OP... since you want to go to UT Austin's school of Pharmacy, then go to UT Austin for undergrad too! plus, I heard austin is a pretty awesome place to live lol