taking classes at a community college, bad?

[Anonymous]

I'm planning on taking some of my science classes (200-level) at the community college over the summer. Do med schools look down on that? I don't want to take them at my university over the summer because of the extra expenses. Any thoughts? It would be classes like Physics, Genetics, Microbio and some CORE non sciences.

[ResearchingGuy]

At face value, courses taken at a respected Community College are just fine. As a Community College grad (with Highest Honors) and a member of Phi Theta Kappa, I have nothing but good things to say about our nation's two year colleges.

The general consideration is that all courses taken should be transferable to a four year college -- no "what it feels like to take Organic Chemistry" as a substitute for a solid Organic series.

There used to be a concept called "Grade Shopping" where people would take transferable required courses at a Junior College during summer vacation because they knew they could make an easy grade and transfer it back to their transcript at their home school. That whole thing disappeared pretty fast, but some admissions folk might still key on that concept.

If you need to take courses at a Community College because of financial or family constraints, it shouldn't be a problem. Just be prepared to explain exactly why you opted to take those course there and why you are a much better prospect for the school to which you are applying.

Simple. Straightforward. Honest.

Best of Luck!

[Timtamslam]

Good question. I have been wondering the exact same thing. Only I will be graduated from my undergraduate work and want to return to a Community College. I transfer from a Jr. college to my university now and have found the classes to more demanding at a Jr college. In fact Stanford was at one time a Jr college, go figure. My situationis a bit different however. California State schools have done away with postbac students and second Bachelor degrees in an effort to save money. Real smart Arny. So really I have two choices, grauate and do my prereqs at a Jr college or don't graduate. I find it hard to imagine any school would look down on this considering these classes are lower division classes which most science majors finish in a year anyways. Any insite from anyone else?

[wolfvgang22]

It doesn't matter so long as the credits are from a school that regularly transfers student's credits to universities. Get your A's more economically and conveniently at the community or junior college. I wish I had done more of that, instead of basically throwing away money at a real expensive private university for "prestige" that got me nowhere fast.

Now some elitist will come along and say "All things being equal, I would take a student who attended Haaawvard and got A's over the student who attended Redwood Community College and got A's..." :roll:
Whatever. US schools use formulaic cut-offs based on grades and MCAT scores and don't seem to spend a lot of time ranking schools unless you are going head to head for a real competitive seat and have the exact same grades as another highly qualified applicant. If you can get that far into the competition, you'll get into a US med school (including DO schools) somewhere IMHO. Just know your stats and target your applications accordingly toward schools that routinely take students like yourself.
Caribbean schools just don't care where you went that much. An accredited A is an accredited A, especially as far as off-shore schools are concerned.

[DeansRedHalo_]

I know this topic is kind of dead at this point, but the general consensus here in Tennessee is that the best science programs in the state are at community/juco/smaller colleges. The reason is that the classes are smaller and more intimate and generally promote a more hands on approach to learning the sciences, as opposed to a gigantimous lecture hall filled with 250 people.

The testing at the smaller colleges is often construed as being more specialized and in-depth (more essay, less MC), whereas the larger universities tend to "streamline" their exams across multiple sections.

Keep in mind I'm referring to what most of us would call the core sciences, not dealing with advanced biochem or p-chem or anything along those lines. In that case the small college is at a disadvantage in terms of facilities, research, faculty, etc.

T-Jay

[h20h]

i started @ a CC and took some upper div science courses prior to transferring and it turned out to be a huge nightmare when the courses i took were evaluated. i had to re-take microbiology all over again. i got a B+ the first time around but the uni i transferred to ONLY gave me credit for the lab and not the lecture. my advice is for you to get rid of as much GE courses @ a CC and take your upper divs elsewhere.

[OLDPRO]

Okay I read a post on another Forum (Old premeds) that an admissions counsoler stated that it did matter for US med schools? It's not competative! Thats why I hate US med schools they make things up to keep US out of medical schools, I had PHD's teaching me in CC so.......how can it not be as competative? Just made up to choose students and make more $$$ for the big unitversities. IMO