Will Community Colleges affect your chances?

[juliagoolia]

I didn't get the grades i wanted in high school. I got mostly B's and decided to attend a community college for 2 years then transfer to a 4 year university. I was wondering if i got mostly A's at the community college if it would affect my chances of making it into dental schools. Thank you for anyone that can answer this.

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[Maygyver]

The general consensus is no. However, in general, it is best to take prereqs at your 4 year uni, or atleast some upper level science courses so admissions know you are capable of excelling and have stopped your slacker ways of the previous years. Are you in HS now?

 

[Vicviper]

I took all of my pre-reqs at my community college before I transferred, and in my 4 dental school interviews, at 3 it didn't come up at all (Columbia, Howard, Pittsburgh), and at 1 (Loma Linda), my interviewer mentioned that they somewhat look down on taking too many pre-reqs at the CC. So, I'd suggest probably not taking all Ochem, Gchem, and Physics like I did before you transfer, maybe just 2 out of the 3 - but if you find that it will be much more convenient for you to take all 3 at the CC, then sure, go for it, but know that there will be a slight stigma.

In the long run, going to a CC will affect you slightly to none as far as your chances for dental school. What WILL affect you is if you do awesome at the CC and then start doing really badly once you transfer, they'll look badly at that. So, as long as you can prove to them that you can hold your own in higher division classes you're fine.

I got into 3 dental schools from the CC (Just interviewed at Loma Linda last week, so I'm still waiting on that), so you can too, just keep up the hard work.

 

[Silverman780]

If you do well it really doesn't matter where you do your pre-requisites

 

[DrMattOglesby]

i did all my science pre-reqs at a CC post BA degree (save OChem + Biochem). It didn't come up during interviews...the only thing that came up was why I attended so many different schools (5 transcripts and 250+credit hours).

 

[xnfs93hy]

I took all of my pre-reqs at my community college before I transferred, and in my 4 dental school interviews, at 3 it didn't come up at all (Columbia, Howard, Pittsburgh), and at 1 (Loma Linda), my interviewer mentioned that they somewhat look down on taking too many pre-reqs at the CC. So, I'd suggest probably not taking all Ochem, Gchem, and Physics like I did before you transfer, maybe just 2 out of the 3 - but if you find that it will be much more convenient for you to take all 3 at the CC, then sure, go for it, but know that there will be a slight stigma.

In the long run, going to a CC will affect you slightly to none as far as your chances for dental school. What WILL affect you is if you do awesome at the CC and then start doing really badly once you transfer, they'll look badly at that. So, as long as you can prove to them that you can hold your own in higher division classes you're fine.

I got into 3 dental schools from the CC (Just interviewed at Loma Linda last week, so I'm still waiting on that), so you can too, just keep up the hard work.

Basically.

You are also saving a crap load of money in the process.

 

[xnfs93hy]

Wow. This thread is giving me so much inspiration. It seems like HS means absolutely nothing. PSU Med school. Nice!

 

[hardy]

I did the first year at a CC and at my harvard interview it came up. The student interviewer asked me why I went to a CC and I said it was cheaper while providing pretty much the same as a 4-year University. She wasn't very satisfied with my answer and kept probing. So your mileage may vary. The big H was the only place where it even came up though.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I did the first year at a CC and at my harvard interview it came up. The student interviewer asked me why I went to a CC and I said it was cheaper while providing pretty much the same as a 4-year University. She wasn't very satisfied with my answer and kept probing. So your mileage may vary. The big H was the only place where it even came up though.

What do you expect man? its Harvard. They are all a bunch of elitists.

And by student interviewer, do you mean a Harvard University STUDENT? Or a member of the faculty?

If it is the former; Why are they having students conduct interviews?!

 

[hardy]

What do you expect man? its Harvard. They are all a bunch of elitists.

And by student interviewer, do you mean a Harvard University STUDENT? Or a member of the faculty?
If it is the former; Why are they having students conduct interviews?!

Oh, they were not bad at all. I already knew at the time I wasn't going to Harvard due to my wife's work situation. I think the interviewer was just trying to ask me a difficult question and I didn't give a too convincing answer by just saying cost. I simply didn't think what I would answer to this question ahead of time. All the other ivy leagues I interviewed at were way, way worse. The worst probably was Dartmouth were they mentioned the words ivy league at least every 3 minutes. The Harvard people were very down to earth. Nice place to go if you can.

And yes, it was a student. They have one current medical student and two faculty members interview applicants and they all write a report.

 

[DrMattOglesby]

Wow. This thread is giving me so much inspiration. It seems like HS means absolutely nothing. PSU Med school. Nice!

very accurate assessment Jeff! high school will only count in terms of getting you into XX college/university.
likewise, once you apply for residencies, no one will care what you did in undergrad. It's about the most recent performance you gave.
and thanks for the approval of my school! lol...im starting this august <here we go!>

 

[Maygyver]

very accurate assessment Jeff! high school will only count in terms of getting you into XX college/university.
likewise, once you apply for residencies, no one will care what you did in undergrad. It's about the most recent performance you gave.
and thanks for the approval of my school! lol...im starting this august <here we go!>

BOOOOO! GOOOOO BUCKS!

PS: PSU is a good school, but I'm not allowed to say it. GL with med school