<p>Right now im enrolled to be going to UC Davis. However ive changed my mind and decided to stay here at community college (which has already begun). I realize that the classes here are much easier. Wheras UCD i run the risk of having a GPA below 3.5 or near 3.5, here at CC i know i can get a 3.8 or 4.0 GPA. You guys know that difference in GPA is huge! I figure its not that im inept that im making this choice to stay here, its just that im trying to get a few points into my GPA. I figure i can get involved with research during my upper grad years which by then ill transfer to UCB, UCLA, or UCSD. If need be, i can visit the hospital here and do some volunteering hours until and get in a hundred hours or two (so i dont look like a lazy bum in lower division on my transcript). Somebody has told me that my decision not to go to UCD was a terrible one and im missing out on the "college experience". Also that im missing out opportunities for undergrad research. Like i said, im going to get involved with research in upper grad. Is my plan erroneous (for getting into med school)?</p>
<p>Going to a CC to boost your GPA is specifically THE reason why going to one will hurt you in med school admissions. Not only will taking a percieved easier course load hurt you, but missing out on some important EC's, namely research, will also be a negative.</p>
<p>That said, it certainly does not ruin your chances of getting in to a med school, but I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say that you'd probably get into the same level of med school by taking the CC route and having a higher GPA as you would by getting a 3.5 at UC Davisand having better EC's and more time in four-year school. This means of course that if your estimates on your performance are correct, you would have a lot of opportunities to work hard and exceed a 3.5 at UC Davis, whereas at a CC you have almost no margin for error.</p>
<p>ehhh i know a doctor who did that and he's fine, he's making his money and he's enjoying what he does... the only thing that really makes a diffence with your path is whether you want to go to a prestigious med school or just a regular med school to become a doctor....</p>
<p>funkmasta,</p>
<p>I don't think that you're limited only to "regular" medical schools if you go to a CC first.</p>
<p>phillySASer08, i really like ur answer it was right on the money. But really its a matter of calculation and i think people have different opinions. So ur thinking the lower GPA with a university outweights the higher GPA with going to community college. However, wouldnt the community college route be easier for applying to "normal" medical schoools that probably dont care if you went to community college? Doesnt the problem occur more with the prestigious ones? For example, i've heard that carribeans hardly care at all where u got your A from, they wanna see you are a legit student who did well and did all your prerequisites. At places like these i figure the higher GPA attained from community college can only be an advantage. This question isnt necessarily only for phillySASer08, its an open question for anyone.</p>
<p>...but the Caribbean's not "regular" medical school. Regular medical school is like UC Irvine instead of UC San Francisco.</p>
<p>This is a terrible decision. Medical school admissions has become so competitive that going to a CC specially to inflate yoru GPA will look bad to "normal" medical schools as well as prestigous ones, especially when you have a chance to go to a 4-year university.</p>
<p>It's about more than how it looks.</p>
<p>You want to tell me you have to make this decision for financial or admissions reasons? Fine. It's a blow you can recover from. But this is not just about tactics: this is about who you want to be.</p>
<p>You should pursue the best education you can possibly get. You owe that to your patients. If you think that's at a CC, then fine, but that's not what you're telling me. If you have to do this because you can't afford it - and I mean really can't afford it - then also fine; but that's not what you're saying. And if this is the only place you get in, fine - but that's not what you're saying.</p>
<p>I will say this: you are choosing a hard path. It is always going to be hard. And the more shortcuts you take at the expense of your own education now, the harder it gets later on. And when you're going into a field where people depend on you - which is true of many fields but is especially true of medicine - then that starts to affect not just you, but other people too.</p>
<p>I'm not telling you you'll be harmed (though you probably will) or that you'll get a substandard education (though you might) or that patients will die from it (though they could). I'm telling you that I wouldn't want to be that kind of a person, seeking backdoors into the system and trying to exploit loopholes by looking for shortcuts.</p>
<p>And maybe it'll turn out well for you. And maybe you'll be a great doctor. But it'll be despite this decision, not because of it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm telling you that I wouldn't want to be that kind of a person, seeking backdoors into the system and trying to exploit loopholes by looking for shortcuts.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hey, I see nothing wrong with going post-bac pre-med as a backdoor. :)</p>
<p>Post-bacc isn't a backdoor unless you use it as a plan all along because it's easier.</p>
<p>Many kids use that option legitimately if they weren't premeds or if they feel like they underperformed during college and want to prove themselves (i.e. "I drank too much and could've earned better grades, so I want a second chance", not "State school is too hard so I'm going to take easier classes").</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you walk into college knowing that you're going to exploit an "easy" post-bacc option, then yes, I have issues with that.</p>
<p>BDMike,</p>
<p>I know that...I was just being facetious.</p>
<p>see mak2675 I don't really like to say I told you so...but I told you so.....</p>
<p>if you think UC Davis would be too hard for you, how do you expect to get through a typical medical school curriculum...? If you do get in. Seems counterintuitive to me.</p>
<p>come on guys, now i know u guys may be able to go into rhetorical style emotional appeal by telling me that im taking the "easy road" in life like as if i were a defect in the system. But come on wheres the logic! Its a simple case of exploiting an open target opportunity. Look, im doing everything legitimately and certainly not cheating. Community college isnt easy, its easier but not by far. Whether i am wrong or right for exploiting an easier opportunity it seems people are either way going to be upset about what im doing. Someone who has been through the conventional tough route has a tendency to burn a little inside if they see someone find a new easier way. Look its human nature, but I figured the average IQ on these boards is wayyyyyyyyy higher than the average person, and i guess i had wrongly assumed that being smarter (which high IQ correlates highly with) means relying more on logical argument but i guess thats not the case. I just wanted a logical valid reason perhaps with an objective fact or two on why community college is not beneficial for premed assuming that my GPA say increases .3 points for going to community college. Look im not saying im trying to take ur freedom away from replying like u guys are, but emotional rhetoric shouldnt be the basis for argument, but merely a supplement to it. Dont think u have a case if thats the device u use, although u are very free to try.
phillysaser08's response was right on the money.</p>
<p>Anyways i think ive made my decision, so i dont really need anymore help and thank u all and i mean that sincerely</p>
<p>Emotion and logic are not mutually exclusive. If you want to tell me that my post was not syllogistically formed, then... well, you're incorrect. BlueElmo also gives you a syllogistically formatted response.</p>
<p>Insulting our intelligence (with incorrect insults no less) is not going to make us more favorably inclined towards your decisionmaking capabilities.</p>
<p>Sounds to me like you were just looking for people to agree with you rather than advice.</p>
<p>I'd hadn't looked at this thread previously...but a couple of things...</p>
<p>1st if you weren't really going to agree with opinions that were different than your own, why even post here? You basically have said that you aren't changing your decision so what was the point.</p>
<p>2nd, if you want logical arguements, you are going to have to explain during all your interviews why you went to community college - and the reasons you have given will work against you significantly. Of course you can lie, but there is a substantial part of the admissions decision which is based on components of character. Ethics and professionalism in medicine are very, VERY touchy subjects at a lot of medical schools. The path you have chosen without compelling reasons, reflects very poorly on your character - manipulative, conniving and disingenuous are all adjectives that come to mind. If you were to lie during the interview those are all amplified. Now perhaps you'll be able to get lucky and fool a medical school into accepting you. Or maybe get one to overlook what you've told them if you tell them the truth that you went to cc b/c it was easier. But in the end, a pattern of behavior like this will catch up with you.</p>
<p>By the by compelling reasons to attend a cc include cost, familial issues, or like one of my good friends athletic scholarships to attend. Most people who attend for these reasons worry about how they can prove their ability to admissions committees, but you've taken an oppisite approach which therefore will impact you far more than it will those other people.</p>
<p>Third, going to cc, even despite future intentions of transfer or career goals, is associated with a heavily decreased liklihood of actually making it to a 4 year institution and graduating. A number of factors likely play into this, but the fact is that even though you say "that's not going to happen to me" many talented people burn out in cc, and that prevents them from ever going on for more schooling. I've seen it with plenty of people I graduated with - people who are taking 4-5 years to finish their associates, even though they swore they'd be on to a 4 year institution after a year and a half. So not only do you have the ubiquitious issues that come from med school admissions for anyone, but you've put yourself in a hole in that category(med school admissions), and even further, decreased your liklihood of even getting a bachelors degree...</p>
<p>Is that enough logic for you?</p>
<p>Finally, Bluedevilmike and myself are actually in medical school. We have no reason to really care if you try to get in via an "easier" route. It's no skin off my hide. We're here just to lay out the real implications of decisions made by students who are actually willing to listen to what we have to say.</p>