<p>This is my first year in college and I'm taking chemistry, biology, calculus, and english at a community college. I read a lot about how med schools hate it when students take premed requirements at a CC. Are my chances of getting into medical school drastically decreased? </p>
<p>I'm transferring out in one year so I will be taking organic chemistry and physics at a 4 year university. How will medical schools look upon this? Is there anything I should know or do to improve my chances?</p>
<p>You're not screwed.</p>
<p>In general, taking required courses at a cc is not as good as taking them a 4 year school. But a lot of that is dependent on the reason WHY you are at a CC. If you're there because of finances or family situation, then explain that when applying and I don't think you'll have any problem.</p>
<p>If, however, you are at a CC specifically b/c the courses are easy, then it's problematic. Especially if you explain it that way. Of course you can lie, but keep in mind that many med schools judge your character as well as your academic record and I think that lying to an interviewer and them feeling you're dishonest is a big deal.</p>
<p>To top all this off, if you get a B in a class at a CC, I believe that will raise a lot of flags at most schools. Won't categorically deny you admission, but will hurt your chances.</p>
<p>From what KTD has mentioned, at least some med schools will flat out refuse to accept premed requirements taken at a CC.</p>
<p>Are you a full time student at a CC or are you at a CC and a 4 year college?</p>
<p>Med school is extremely competitive so anything like that will hurt your chances.</p>
<p>i'm a full time student, I didn't do so well in high school (3.2 GPA) and I only applied to the 2 schools I thought I could afford. My state school (University of Maryland) and community college. I didn't get into UMD so I had no choice but to go to community college. I'm definitly not staying for another year. Theres a transfer agreement between this community college and UMD so i'm going to UMD one way or the other, unless I can get into a better school (hoping for Johns Hopkins).</p>
<p>Geeze you guys make it sound like medical school is impossible if you went to medical school. What's the point of a pre-med curriculum at a community college?</p>
<p>BTW what range should I keep my GPA at in community college? Are you guys saying if I get below an A at any premed courses that i'm screwed?
Does anyone know if they accept community college pre med requirements at Johns Hopkins, Washington university at S.T. louis, University of maryland baltimore, and Cornell?</p>
<p>Hmmm I guess I could try applying to UMD spring semester to see if I can get in, but it's not guaranteed that I get in because I would have less than 30 credit hours so they do look at my high school transcript and SATs which were horrible. So is this a good idea? To try to get into a 4 yr university ASAP?</p>
<p>Again, I don't think you are completely screwed. I firmly believe if you have a compelling reason (and it sounds like you do - are you paying for school yourself?) then it's something that you can explain. Yes, there are some schools that are probably now out of the question, however, they are probably out of the question for most kids applying to medical school and thus represent nothing you should particularly worry about. One of my best friends from the later years of undergrad spent two years at a community college in his hometown because he got a track scholarship to go there. His CC didn't even offer organic chemistry, so he took it as a junior at my undergrad institution. He's now a first year medical student at the medical school in our home state. (he didn't get in on his first try, but that was due to a low MCAT score and he was told as such during his exit interview). So I know for a fact that you can get into medical school by going to a CC. </p>
<p>One thing that "MAY" (or may not) be important is the reputation of the CC you are attending...and that's something that medical schools in your state and very closeby in your region are going to have a better handle on. You're in Maryland and so if you apply to schools in Texas, it'll likely be a tougher sell. I don't have any evidence (antecdotal or otherwise) to confirm my suspicions, but it's something to think about when you do get around to selecting schools to apply to.</p>
<p>As for the GPA you should have when you leave the CC, as close to 4.0 as possible. That's going to be important to give you the best chance. You're not done for if you end up with less than a 4.0, but it doesn't make anything any easier.</p>
<p>A++ is oversimplifying the situation and failing to realize that (like almost everything else) a lot depends on the schools you are applying to. </p>
<p>As for your transfer situation, I think it's okay to finish out your AA degree b/c that is likely the best decision for you financially from the sounds of things. But I would avoid taking too many pre-med requirements there. Avoid Organic and physics at the CC level at the bare minimum (but also bio and gen chem too), and work instead on finding classes that will fulfill graduation requirements at other institutions. From a time and money standpoint UMD sounds like the best choice because everything will transfer. The advisors probably also have a better understanding of what courses overlap with the gen ed requirements at UMD and can be of greater help, rather than you having to find all the information yourself about what will and will not transfer. The farther away you are from your CC the less likely it is your second university will accept the transfer credit.</p>
<p>bigredmed, a lot of people, including counselors have told me that if you transfer from community college as a BIO or BIOCHEM major that it doesn't matter if you took your pre reqs are community college since you showed that you're competend enough in your upper level bio classes at 4 year university.</p>
<p>You would still be at a disadvantage compared to a person who took all of their science courses at a 4-year university. And why wouldn't you be? If person A went to a university for all 4 years and has a 3.7 GPA, that's more impressive than person B who also has a 3.7 GPA but took all of the weeder premed courses (organic chem, intro bio) at a CC and then took easier upper division bio courses at an university.</p>
<p>ah. ic your point nocalguy. </p>
<p>question though. so, the fact that im at community college already, what's the courses i should take here and what courses should i not take yet until i transfer to univ. probably ucsb</p>
<p>I would still go ahead and take the prereq's at the CC. I think the disadvantage would be relatively mild. Try for as high a GPA as possible and the key is, of course, to keep up that science GPA once you're in a university.</p>
<p>coool. thanks.</p>
<p>reading some of the other topics on this board I found that a major in biochemistry is looked upon even though people say its next to impossible to get a 4.0 GPA. I'm currently majoring in biochemistry at a CC, would it have as good an effect having a 3.8-4.0 GPA at a CC than at a 4 year university?
What I mean is, is it much easier majoring in biochemistry at a CC than a 4 yr university? Would majoring in biochemistry with a say 3.8 GPA look better than a 4.0 in say...psychology?</p>
<p>BTW how are the sciences in CC compared to universities? Do they teach you less at a CC? Would I be adequately prepared to take organic chemistry at a university even though I learned general chemistry in CC?</p>