Whats better? 3.8 at CC or 3.3 at 4 year university?

[Bluesanzen]

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I want to retake some of my intro classes which is better:

getting a 3.8 - 4.0 in community college intro to biology
or a 4 year university where realistically, a 3.2 - 3.5?

This goes the same for introchemistry....


also.. for D.O. schools they do grade replacement. So... if i take a class at community college...its still intro to biol but a different course #, will it still directly replace my grade? or will I have to put my previous intro to biology course grade... of a 1.9 =(

 

[Colbare]

I want to retake some of my intro classes which is better:

getting a 3.8 - 4.0 in community college intro to biology
or a 4 year university where realistically, a 3.2 - 3.5?

This goes the same for introchemistry....


also.. for D.O. schools they do grade replacement. So... if i take a class at community college...its still intro to biol but a different course #, will it still directly replace my grade? or will I have to put my previous intro to biology course grade... of a 1.9 =(

Go with the CC. 71 credit hours of my bachelor's degree came from a CC which includes all of my pre-reqs and calc and I still got interviews and an acceptance. I don't think intro bio is as interchangeable as the regular BIOL 1401 or whatever. I would definitely check with AACOMAS for that one.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Definitely a 4.0 from a community college. To say a 4-year means nothing. You know what's a 4-year? DeVry. There are too many. If the 4 year was MIT or Cal Tech, then their 3.5 looks better than the 4.0.

 

[DocEspana]

I... what... no..... people are getting into med school with classes from CC's? With more than one core from there?

<runs to his mommy/AACOMAS to complain that you are all cheaters and it's not fair. IT'S NOT FAIR! ::cue tantrum::>

 

[Maeby Funke]

I go to a 4 year university and my A&P professor teaches the exact same class at the local CC. He posts his lecture recordings from both classes online and they are practically word for word the same.

Why do you think the cc classes will be significantly easier?

 

[Bluesanzen]

Well not from Devry, but from my State University. I want to retake about 6 classes so I can boost my GPA over 3.0. You do not think its interchangeable so it can not replace the grade? The reason why I would prefer cc:

1) its cheaper
2) I like the smaller class size. I can learn much better
3) I hate the bio labs at my University. Absolutely hate, especially when I took it before. I want something new.
4) bio classes are usually full...since non matriculated students get last priority. most likely I would not be able to get in.
5) Debatable of whats easier... I have all my old exams and my lab from my university...but god the 700 ppl can really suck.

 

[Kuba]

I wouldnt go back to CC to retake classes taken initially at an university.

 

[FiremedicMike]

I want to retake some of my intro classes which is better:

getting a 3.8 - 4.0 in community college intro to biology
or a 4 year university where realistically, a 3.2 - 3.5?

This goes the same for introchemistry....


also.. for D.O. schools they do grade replacement. So... if i take a class at community college...its still intro to biol but a different course #, will it still directly replace my grade? or will I have to put my previous intro to biology course grade... of a 1.9 =(

This is a decision entirely for the medical school. If I was in your shoes, I would call the schools you are interested in and ask them. I called the schools I was interested in and found them to be extremely helpful. As a matter of fact, one of the schools invited me to come meet with them tomorrow, I'm quite excited about that.

 

[DocEspana]

I hold my opinions on this because I went to a mid-level private school and had a 4.0 GPA without even trying (okay 3.9 something. point is the same). It was clearly challenging to some, and it was the pre-med curriculum... it just wasn't a school known for it's pre-med education. They did have teachers who also moonlit at the local CC. I didn't have them (adjuncts weren't allowed to teach pre-med cores), but people did and they felt the same way: challenging to some, very easy to most.

I transfered to a high-level public university where I shared most of the professors for my cores with two different Ivy League Universities (as best as I can tell there is only one region where that is possible to do easily, so I may be locating myself with this). At this institution it was SIGNIFICANTLY harder to get even B's. My GPA dropped dramatically and everyone found classes very challenging. My GPA wasn't fantastic, but it was decent enough by the end to not close too many doors. At this school we were told by admissions officers who would come that they realize we get lower GPAs and get our asses handed to us academically, and they look past the GPA when they see what school we went to. They said that, at least in the states bordering my alma mater, the medical schools are all aware of the grade trends and a decent score at that school is considered on par or better than a gpa a few decimal places better at a weaker school.

I can say that one interviewer told me the same thing right in my interview ("dont apologize for your GPA, we see this a lot from <my school> its a pretty normal score for applicants from there") Admittedly I got waitlisted and never came off the waitlist there, but it was comforting to hear it right in an interview that they realized a 4.0 at the private school of questionable quality doesnt equal up to a 3.3 at a school known for killing you with the toughest education they can.

are my experiences applicable to everyone? Not sure. But I'm willing to extrapolate out if you're willing to allow me.

 

[SNDO]

I retook the entire biology series at a CC, and got 4.0/4.0/3.9 in the series. There are 2 reasons why I did that:

1) Initally took the biol series at my university, and got crappy grades (2.3/2.1/2.6)
2) Retook biology at a CC to see whether or not I was able to understand biology or if I was a lost cause. It turns out I do understand it when it's taught properly! IMHO, the biol series was taught horribly at my university. All I remember about it was my prof's research on chili peppers

I told this to one of the schools I interviewed at when asked what changed from my last application to the current one (I'm a re-applicant). I am accepted at this school.

So I don't think it "looks bad" that you are taking classes at a CC. It's so much cheaper. Just make sure that the CC-biol series is equivalent to university-biol series. I think that helps 🙂

 

[Bluesanzen]

I understand what your saying between a random university. My school is in the top 20 in the U.S. I am not sure if its known for being hard, but definitely the averages for science is a 2.6-2.8. I had a math class with a 2.5 avg. So I am not sure what sort of reputation my school holds but its pretty known for its research. Even so, in honesty, if I were to retake bio the highest I could probably get is 3.7. This probably might not happen as I might end up with a 3.5 or even a 3.3. Anything higher than a 3.2 for intro series in anything is considered pretty good. So I am really not sure what to do.....

 

[Maeby Funke]

I understand what your saying between a random university. My school is in the top 20 in the U.S. I am not sure if its known for being hard, but definitely the averages for science is a 2.6-2.8. I had a math class with a 2.5 avg. So I am not sure what sort of reputation my school holds but its pretty known for its research. Even so, in honesty, if I were to retake bio the highest I could probably get is 3.7. This probably might not happen as I might end up with a 3.5 or even a 3.3. Anything higher than a 3.2 for intro series in anything is considered pretty good. So I am really not sure what to do.....

At the university level I'm pretty sure that's the norm. The averages in all my science classes are usually about 60-70% and the profs will try to curve up to around a 73-77% class average, which is under a 3.0 GPA wise.

 

[Colbare]

You won't go wrong retaking at the CC unless maybe you're applying to Harvard or something and you plan on making A's where everyone else makes C's. I wouldn't bet on adcoms curving your GPA in their eyes based on the specifics of a certain institution you attended as an undergrad unless you're in DocEspana's situation or one similar. It will be much harder to explain your 2.7 biology average than why you decided to make A's/B's in bio at the community college.

If you're confident you can make A's where you originally took the classes do it if you're really worried about what adcoms will think. If you want a new opportunity with different teachers retake at the CC and call AACOMAS to see if they are acceptable replacements.

 

[mafunk]

Here is my two cents about CC vs University.

I was a T.A. at SUNY Binghamton, which is one of New York's flagship public universities (in other words for the studios kids, not the partiers).

Anyway....

In addition to grading papers, I held a two hour discussion once a week for my students. My best student, by far, was a girl who was a CC student. She was not a matriculated university student. My class was her only unviersity class. My point is that any school/class is what you make it. So in my personal opinion, your CC classes are just as valid as your university classes.