What should I do?

[Maali]

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Okay so I'm a senior in highschool and am going to go to either a state university or a community college for 2 years and transfer into Loyola Chicago. The state uni is Northeastern Illinois University and my community college option is Oakton. I want the best chances of doing great in undergrad but am wondering if I should attend NEIU or Oakton then transferring to Loyola to finish my undergrad. If I decide to go to oakton I can take up to 10 credits in the summer. If i take classes all year long at oakton I'd finish Gen eds in 1 and 1/2 years which means I can transfer to Loyola in the Spring semester so that I get a head start into finishing and so I can also take Organic chem and Physics before I take the MCAT during 3rd year of undergrad. Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do. Thanks alot guys 🙂

 

[Maali]

Okay so I'm a senior in highschool and am going to go to either a state university or a community college for 2 years and transfer into Loyola Chicago. The state uni is Northeastern Illinois University and my community college option is Oakton. I want the best chances of doing great in undergrad but am wondering if I should attend NEIU or Oakton then transferring to Loyola to finish my undergrad. If I decide to go to oakton I can take up to 10 credits in the summer. If i take classes all year long at oakton I'd finish Gen eds in 1 and 1/2 years which means I can transfer to Loyola in the Spring semester so that I get a head start into finishing and so I can also take Organic chem and Physics before I take the MCAT during 3rd year of undergrad. Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do. Thanks alot guys

 

[bigdogrob4284]

I would go to the state university. Some med schools don't like community college classes, especially if you take Pre-reqs there. But either way, lots of people do CC and still get accepted with no issues.

 

[DylanE]

For what it's worth, I'm really glad that I went to CC first. I didn't know where I was headed so I went there and took a bunch of random classes (no pre reqs) before transferring and getting into a much better school than I would have otherwise (University of Ca, I was looking at CSUs before). Managed to work out some kinks and enjoy undergrad a bit since it wasn't much of a course load. Once I transferred I hammered out the pre reqs and graduated in 2 years(as of this quarter). Just saying, it saves money, gives you a chance to get warmed up before jumping into university, and no one I've ever talked to, who knew their stuff, said that some non science CC classes were going to hold me back.

 

[Xenops]

A lot of people on this site with bash community colleges, but I enjoyed it. It was cheaper, you get better relationships with instructors, and class sizes were smaller. It was especially good for me because I was behind on math and was able to catch up.

Just note that some med schools (ie Hopkins) do not like pre-reqs done at CC's, but most will accept them. 🙂

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

For what it's worth, I'm really glad that I went to CC first. I didn't know where I was headed so I went there and took a bunch of random classes (no pre reqs) before transferring and getting into a much better school than I would have otherwise (University of Ca, I was looking at CSUs before). Managed to work out some kinks and enjoy undergrad a bit since it wasn't much of a course load. Once I transferred I hammered out the pre reqs and graduated in 2 years(as of this quarter). Just saying, it saves money, gives you a chance to get warmed up before jumping into university, and no one I've ever talked to, who knew their stuff, said that some non science CC classes were going to hold me back.

This. Going to CC is fine but save the pre-reqs (calc, bio, phys, chem, English) for a 4 year university. Not sure what that leaves you with, gen-eds I guess. What are you thinking about majoring in?

 

[Aevyn]

Out of pure curiosity, why did you make two separate threads with the exact same message?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1000356

 

[sector9]

Merging identical threads and moving to hSDN

 

[Daneosaurus]

This. Going to CC is fine but save the pre-reqs (calc, bio, phys, chem, English) for a 4 year university. Not sure what that leaves you with, gen-eds I guess. What are you thinking about majoring in?

Why save prereqs? MOST community colleges have transfer agreements, therefore the course has to be taught at similar level as 4 year schools. Also, not sure why you would put all your prereqs in the last 2 years - that makes it impossible to take all your prereqs, take MCAT, and matriculate immediately. Of course, this assumes a 4 year timeline, with 2 years at CC.

 

[Maali]

Which is better to go to a good community college such as Oakton in Desplains IL, or a bad state school such as northeastern illinois univeristy. I can finish at the community college in 1 and a half years since I'll be taking summer courses. If I do CC I'll transfer to LUC during their spring semester which will enable me to take OChem and Physics 4 semester and 5 semester of undergrad right in time for the MCAT. If I do state school I'd finish in 2 years transfer to LUC and take only 1 semester of OChem and Physics before the MCAT. Any advice?

 

[sector9]

Moving thread to hSDN

 

[Solomon]

Which is better to go to a good community college such as Oakton in Desplains IL, or a bad state school such as northeastern illinois univeristy. I can finish at the community college in 1 and a half years since I'll be taking summer courses. If I do CC I'll transfer to LUC during their spring semester which will enable me to take OChem and Physics 4 semester and 5 semester of undergrad right in time for the MCAT. If I do state school I'd finish in 2 years transfer to LUC and take only 1 semester of OChem and Physics before the MCAT. Any advice?

If you can get into the University, then there's nothing wrong with that. But CC won't hurt you either, so long as you perform to standards. The misconception is that going to CC will kill your chances with Med Schools and that's just not true.

Due to some problems with transcripts, I'll be in a positon in which I'll have to go to CC for my first two years and transfer.

Personally, I think if you're going to transfer, then I'd just go with the CC. Plus, you'll be able to finish at the CC faster and transfer. Just remember that you'll have to live up to standards, as some believe CC applicants seem to be under scrutiny

Is there any particular reason why you want to transfer to LUC? I only ask because I see you'd transfer from one University to the other with the second option.

Good Luck 👍

 

[Instatewaiter]

Don't do your pre-recs at community college. Many med schools outright say they do not accept pre-recs from CC.

 

[nysegop]

Go to CC. Just don't take any pre-reqs there. You can save a hell of a lot of money at CC.

 

[DesertPT]

A lot of med schools specify which pre-reqs can be taken at CC and which can't. However, I would highly recommend going to CC for a year or two and doing all the GE's you'll need and other classes because it is so much cheaper. Be careful though - look at what majors you'll be doing at the universities you think you'll transfer too. Most people end up taking classes at CC that don't transfer to uni as the things they need for their major. So if you really want to be efficient with college, unfortunately you have to make a plan early and really stick with it.

 

[Maali]

Okay so I'm a graduating senior and don't know where to go for college. I'm from Chicago and have the choice of NEIU or Oakton CC. At either of these institutions I would be taking my gen eds and only the following prereqs for med school : Biology and Chemistry. I'm going to leave O CHEM, Physics and biochem etc. for Loyola Chicago( LUC) when I transfer. I want to go to Oakton but I've heard med schools would rather you go to a University and I want to have the best chance at Med school. Also NEIU isn't all that of a university as it accepts almost everyone no matter what their ACT/SAT score is. My route that I would like to take are the following: Take courses at Oakton for the 2013 summer right after I graduate and compete the 2013-2014 school year at Oakton. Then taking summer courses at Oakton in the 2014 summer and taking 1 semester of the 2014-2015 school year there and that will give me about 40 credits, give or take. After that I would transfer to LUC. My other route would be doing summer courses for the 2013 year at oakton, going to NEIU for the 2013-2014 school year and taking more summer courses at oakton in 2014 summer. Taking one last semester at NEIU and transferring to LUC. Basically I would transfer after 1 and a half years of my undergraduate career. I don't know which choice to take though and would like someones advice. THANKS!

 

[sector9]

Merging related threads