Hey guys I’m thinking of applying to med school now. I am a math major at UC Berkeley but it seems like that isn’t working out.
I am going to take a year off next year and in that time period I figured I’d complete most of the pre med requirements at community college. Then I’ll take the orgo classes at UCB. I have already taken the math requirements at UC Berkeley and I’ve gotten a’s in them.
Would I still have a shot at med school?
I checked that forum and I’m not able to post on the main forum and none of the subforums would answer my questions.
The usual thought is that it is best to have at least some of the pre-med courses at a four year school, since some medical schools look down on community colleges. There may be a few that do not accept community college course work at all for pre-med courses (e.g. JHU until recently).
If you will be majoring in a biology, chemistry, physics, or math subject, then you should have plenty of upper division course work in that subject at a four year school. If you will be majoring in some other subject, using some elective space for a few upper division courses in those subjects may show some of those medical schools that you can handle that course work at a four year school.
However, if “that isn’t working out” means that you have a low GPA, then you may have already seriously damaged your chances of getting into any US MD medical school.
good god no. This is a terrible, terrible plan. Nothing says “I can’t handle rigorous academics” like taking time off from your actual school to take the pre-requisite courses at a community college.
How is this not a pre-med topic? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/ In fact the stickies at the top of that forum would have already answered this question.
True, if you are a matriculated student at a four year school, as opposed to a CC student who will transfer later, it will look worse to medical schools.
This is a spoken policy that my upperclassmen and health profession office reminds students:
If it’s science related, take it at your flagship university. If it’s not, it’s probably safe to take it elsewhere.