What's wrong wth taking pre-med classes at a C.C.?

[Rhys]

Hi everyone! I think this board is spectacular as are the people who post here, but I'm a little bothered by the few comments I've read that have scorned taking science courses at community colleges.

I want to take my pre-med science courses that I need while I finish up my M.A. in English, and community college offers the least expensive, most schedule-friendly solution. I suppose my question is, why does it matter where you take the classes? No matter where they are taught, the properties of physics and chemistry are not going to change whether you take it at Harvard or your local c.c. It's the same info. with the same textbooks.

Also,people seem to view c.c. classes derisively as being 'too easy', but as I said before, the info. you have to learn is the same. Besides, with undergrad classes at universities often numbering in the hundreds for students, you get multiple choice and grading curves which would make it 'easier' than a small class at a c.c. without these 'advantages'. (I detest grade curving.)

Would med. schools really look down upon my taking those classes at a c.c. with an excellent curriculum and instructors while I finish up my Master's degree at my state university? Has anyone here taken any courses at a c.c.? As always, I appreciate your sharing your experience/advice. Thank you!

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[Atlas]

Nothing is wrong with it. Just do well. BTW, it is annoying to post the same question in different forums. Everybody checks most of the forums, so it's only necessary to post your question in one place.

 

[sandflea]

weeeellllll.....i didn't have a single multiple-choice science exam in four years of college (and my pre-med courses were huge).

and the fact that the grades were curved did NOT work to my advantage. it wasn't curving where the boundary for an A was simply dropped--it meant that grades were handed out based on the distribution curve of the percentages of the entire class. so it means that your grade on an exam didn't depend solely on how well you as an individual did--the performance of everyone else factored in just as highly. it pitted everyone against everyone else and made it extraordinarily difficult to pull off an A.

from what i understand, this is why taking premed courses at CC's is generally not preferred. yes, the basic material is still the same, but it's the evaluation and the actual handing out of grades that is more lenient. BUT, this isn't to say that you can't do it. plenty of people, especially those out of college, who do this and are accepted into med school. but realize that there are med schools out there who won't accept your coursework. you may want to check with a few adcoms at a few schools you're interested in to see what they would prefer.

 

[racergirl]

I agree. Check with some schools to make sure they'll accept cc courses. Then make sure you do well on the MCAT, to show that you learned the material. Some might look at (for example) As in community college physics with suspicion, but if you also score 10+ on the physics section of the MCAT, you'd go a long way in alleviating those suspicions, I would think...

 

[none]

A couple of schools don't accept CC courses, but the vast majority do. Schools that subscribe to that sort of snobbery don't deserve your application money anyways. Go for it! The only problem I had with taking ochem at a CC was that I didn't get upper division units when I tranferred, but a few quarters of research caught me up. This doesn't seem to be an issue for you.

 

[postbacchus]

I took my pre-med classes post-bacc at a CC, and it DOES make a difference. I just got accepted at Tulane, though, so not that big a difference. What helped me was (1) good GPA at a major university in non-science classes(3.75) (2) good GPA at the CC (3.99 for science classes) and (3) doing decent at the MCAT (33 - 10V, 11P, 12B). I had an interview at UCSD, and the interviewers definitely put me on the defensive, asking, "Why do you think you're ready for med school if you took all your science at a CC?" I used the above reasons to explain myself. It will be an issue, though, so be prepared to defend your choice, and make sure you get great grades.

The bigotry, I think, comes from the perception that the competition is less in classes, and the grade inflation issue. This is because most med students come from highly competitive science programs, and those are the people you'll be competing with in med school.

My 2 cents...

 

[Atlas]

At my CC, I only had 1 science class with multiple choice tests. Plus, only ONE of my science classes graded with a curve. There are tons of rumors flying around how CCs are soo much easier than 4 year schools. Well, I'm here to refute that. All of the schools I'm interested (Tulane included) said they do not discriminate against people with CC credits. They look at it like everyone has their own avenue they take to get to medical school. Not everyone will go to Harvard or Yale from their undergrad education. Many people decide later on in life to pursue medicine. Most schools share this view of individuality or "diversification". It's a good thing. Study hard and you shall prevail!

 

[slptodoc]

Rhys
I had similar concerns initially because I already had degrees but needed the science prerequisites....
I called the schools where I knew I wanted to apply and asked them about their view/acceptance of coursework from specific CC in my area.
I had no problem what so ever.
They just emphasized that I needed to do well in the courses and get a decent MCAT score.
So, I'd suggest calling your preferred schools so you can put your mind at ease!
I know it saved me a great deal of money and my classes were just as tough as the ones I had in 4-year programs.
Good luck!
L