<p>I am soon to be a freshman at Community College, and I plan on utilizing the institution's 2-year transfer program in order to transfer to the College of William & Mary.</p>
<p>I am very interested in a career in medicine, particularly pathology. How is starting off at community college viewed by Medical Schools, is it bad to take ANY prerequisites there (I understand it's generally viewed as best to take them at the 4-year, but seeing as this is a 2-2 year program, I feel it's a bit unrealistic to take all the pre-reqs in my last two years, especially considering hopes to apply during my senior year and take the MCAT earlier), and if a community college start is viewed negatively, how can I best offset it?</p>
<p>Aside from the lack of academic rigor in community college, I'm also concerned about the lack of opportunities for extracurriculars, internships, etc. here. Also, with W&M's transfer policies, grades don't transfer, only credits. Would I end up submitting two transcripts to prospective medical schools or what?</p>
<p>When applying to medical school, you are required to submitted official transcripts from every college you’ve ever attended, including any courses you took as dual enrollment during high school. AMCAS will use all your college grades to compute your GPA.</p>
<p>Medical school adcomms understand that financial considerations sometimes constrain an applicant’s options. Your CC credits are not the optimal way to start your journey to med school, but it’s won’t disqualify you either–although there are a few medical schools which will not accept any CC credits. (Virginia Commonwealth, Creighton, JHU, probably a few others I’m not aware of.)</p>
<p>You can ease adcomms concerns about your academic bona fides by taking upper level science coursework in chemistry and biology at W&M. A’s at your 4 year college will reinforce the idea that your A’s at CC weren’t flukes.</p>
<p>As a transfer, you will probably want to postpone you application until after you graduate. Med schools will want 2 years of grades from a 4 year college. It also takes time to establish relationship with professors in order to get LORs. (You’ll need 3-5.) W&M also offers a committee letter–and you will need to check if they have any restrictions on it. Often colleges will not give committee letters unless you have completed at least 2 years of classes at the college. </p>
<p>Use your extra year to improve your ECs.</p>