<p>I think I read this somewhere in this forum, but I can't find it anymore...</p>
<p>Do med schools care if you take your major courses (life science 1, 2 or maybe chemistry) at a CC over summer... (to avoid having to live on campus)?</p>
<p>I think I read that this was a bad idea, but I'm not sure. Thanks!</p>
<p>taking premed prerequisites at a CC over the summer is looked down upon by med schools. on the other hand, if you take those courses at your university's summer school program then its not a problem (although there is some controversy over this as well).</p>
<p>thanks bruinboy...</p>
<p>but what exactly is the controversy? That the summer courses aren't exactly the same since they're condensed to six weeks?</p>
<p>If you are attending a four year school, but take the cc classes over the summer , it looks like you were looking for an easy course. Even if you take it at your four year school over the summer, some say that also isn't as good as taking a regular semestar of it because it's a rushed class. Remember, these courses prepare you for the MCAT - you want to spend as much time on them as you can (as opposed to "just getting them out of the way"). That's the controversy in a nut shell.</p>
<p>1.) Some medical schools refuse to accept CC classes at all, entirely, of any sort. You can imagine that the remaining schools do not look favorably upon them. (Source: KTD's postings on these boards.)</p>
<p>2.) Summer courses at your home (or similar) institution can be problematic.</p>
<p>A.) Obvious way: They interfere with other priorities -- school years should be focused on school with "extra"curriculars, but your summers should be spent in research, clinical service, standardized test taking, community service, etc. Taking classes interferes with these extremely important components. For example, my second summer was spent studying for the MCAT, serving in a village in Mexico, and holding down a full-time lab job in cancer research. Imagine holding down organic chemistry at the same time.</p>
<p>B.) Less obvious way. One poster here (phillySAS) reports that his advisors believe summer classes are looked down upon in general. While I have never heard this, it strikes me as intuitive. I also know that his school has a reputation for strong advising.</p>
<p>I believe it's intuitive because summer classes are reputed to be graded on easier curves. This is partly a self-perpetuating phenomenon, but it may partly be financial in nature. (Colleges need to give kids an incentive to take summer classes.) In any case, whether this is remotely true or not, reputation is what matters here.</p>
<p>C.) Can you learn the material equally well in six weeks? It will come up again on the MCAT. Many students -- I would not be one of them -- would find it much harder to learn in that context, and they would suffer when the time came to take standardized tests.</p>
<p>From my experience, summer courses are very condensed versions of the normal course, because of time constraints. This can definitely make it more difficult.</p>
<p>But everything depends on grading.</p>
<p>It is certainly harder to learn the material in such a short timespan. But it doesn't matter if the professor gives out a higher percentage of A's and B's.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses, they're very helpful...</p>
<p>But what about taking care of GE classes over summer (at the home institution)? Besides the fact that it would take time away from extracurricular activities, would medical schools look down upon these? Thanks again</p>