I’m a career changer who is looking for more clarity on doing a post-bacc at a 4 year vs. a Community College? I am 30 and have an okay-ish (3.5) gpa, but no science coursework at all and a career that is about as far from medicine as you can get (I currently write for TV). Am trying to decide between a DIY state school post-bacc or CC (I am in California, for reference).
I’ve heard many say that Community College is alright (and Ryan, I know you have an episode of OldPre-Meds from around 2017 and it was mentioned that doing CC coursework as a career changer is okay!)…but then I listened to a later episode (where you helped a programmer get into med school), and mentioned he was grilled on why he did his post-bacc at a community college at every single interview. So, it was likely viewed negatively.
Wondering if you have any more current clarity/advice on this?
I think community college is ok as long as you can do very well and have a decent MCAT score to show. But there may be more resources available at a 4 year college (premed advisors, a committee that can write you a recommendation, upper science courses that may not be available in CC). I was a career changer too and went through the formal post bacc at a 4 year college that can provide a committee letter for up to 2 years after completion of the program. The duration was only 1 year. Do what works for you. Good luck!
A week ago my stance was to go with a brand name for postbac - but after listening to Dr. Scott Wright (https://www.mappd.com/about) on a podcast tonight, I’ve refined my stance. Dr. Wright says that schools don’t pay too much attention to which school you went too, but it’s caveated to high heaven. For example, if you are doing undergrad, avoid taking science courses at CC over the summer can make you look like your are seeking the easy (ier) A. Another example, if you have poor grades at a 4 year and go to a 2 year for the easier A’s, the feeling from Dr. Wright is that the schools can see right through this.
So we can fairly reason that if the schools can see through those 2 examples, then is it really a stretch to say they can see through the desire to get A’s and go to CC?
There’s no definitive guidance here - but in my DIY postbac, I’m learning TONS about how the nuances of grading at different institutions can affect a DIY postbac!