Community College

Hi,


I am,33, a Pre-med Student, I’m Married, I have a Son(2yrs.) and my wife is about to have our 2nd child. I have a B.A. in Digital Imaging/ Advertising Photography (2x major). I am planning to take all of my Bio, Chem, Phys at a community college. I’m 1/2 way through my 2nd. semester of Bio and Inorganic Chem right now. I’m also planning on taking an MCAT prep course(Princeton Review) once I finish all my pre-reqs.


My worry is that Med schools will discriminate because of the community college, regardless of my grades and my MCAT.


I’m prepared to work extra hard, get A’s, and do well on the MCAT, but I don’t really want to fight the establishment.


Does anyone know of someone who’s accomplished their pre-Med at a Community College and been accepted?



It’s a good question, and one that’s been asked many times. You may have better luck searching in the “Pre-Med Discussions” forum, which is where the mods may move this one.


The answer is that you are correct, in that your grades will likely be seen as less competitive. That doesn’t mean that it makes your plan an impossibility; it’s just one more hurdle. And I suspect you’ve cleared bigger ones already, even this far along your path . If it’s not possible for you to take your courses anywhere but a CC, all you can do is excel there, and on the MCAT, and see where it takes you. Good luck, and welcome!

(yup, Adam, you were right)


Why must you do your prereqs at a CC? You don’t mention if you’re limited by geography, schedule, $$$ …


It’s possible to get in with prereqs done at a CC but your MCAT will have to be even higher and the rest of your application even more impressive. And no matter how hard the CC is, you’d better do REALLY well at it - no room for anything but A’s, basically.


You are putting yourself at a relative disadvantage but that is your decision to make. Just know that when the time comes, it’ll be THEIR decision (the Admissions Committees) and your choices now may influence their choice later on.


Mary

I really don’t have an option other that CC right now. I hope I can make it work. This is (as I’m sure it is for anyone) the most daunting challenge I’ve ever taken. I hate to be more of an underdog.


I’ll move this post over to pre-med and see what they have to say.


Thank you so much for posting.


I really appreciate the input.


Bryan

  • Bryan Said:
Hi,

I am,33, a Pre-med Student, I'm Married, I have a Son(2yrs.) and my wife is about to have our 2nd child. I have a B.A. in Digital Imaging/ Advertising Photography (2x major). I am planning to take all of my Bio, Chem, Phys at a community college. I'm 1/2 way through my 2nd. semester of Bio and Inorganic Chem right now. I'm also planning on taking an MCAT prep course(Princeton Review) once I finish all my pre-reqs.

My worry is that Med schools will discriminate because of the community college, regardless of my grades and my MCAT.

I'm prepared to work extra hard, get A's, and do well on the MCAT, but I don't really want to fight the establishment.

Does anyone know of someone who's accomplished their pre-Med at a Community College and been accepted?



yes its been done but it's harder at some schools to get accepted it is looked at.

You need to call the schools you are interested in and just plain ask.

I myself, question the differences between CC and UNI but there are those in academia that believe there is a vast difference.

Fighting the system (City Hall) is a lot of work

DO schools are a better choice all around for this in the US and Caribbean schools ( MY way to be a rebel ) are also a way to physician.

If you want to get into US schools then you will need to Keep a high GPA, the lower (under 3.5 ) will really diminish your chances of a US acceptance.

Mind you this is just my opinion.

Lets see what others say.

REBEL!

I have not started my premed courses yet and actually came to the site just now to ask the same question.


I met with the director of PreMed programs as well as the Dean of Admissions a state Medical School in the city where I reside (Midwest USA) to ask exactly this question: “How can I do this successfully without being full time and having limited acedemic resources?”


She suggested that I take all of my prereq classes at our CC. She said that at least 15 applicants are accepted via the ED program that attended the CC and did well (29+ on the MCAT). She indicated that some CC’s vary in rigor but the fact that you have a family, children on the way, a career, etc (in her opinion) more than makes up for the fact that you are taking courses at a community college.


I think that in these situations…for the particular school you hope to attend, you should go straight to the horses mouth and ask how it would reflect upon you as an applicant.


Essentially, one major element of this discussion has not been address that, I too, would like some feedback: Is there anyone who has made a successful go at this from a community college standpoint?

  • shrekkc Said:
Essentially, one major element of this discussion has not been address that, I too, would like some feedback: Is there anyone who has made a successful go at this from a community college standpoint?



Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone who attempted this route; I think most ended up taking at least some University courses prior to applying.

My first year back in the saddle, so to speak, I did at a community college. I took Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, and some less interesting stuff. I did the rest of my pre-reqs at a 4 year.

If this is the best path for you, I sincerely wish you luck with it! Perhaps you can be the first OPM CC-only success story .

Thank you for sharing your experience! Your path is essentially what I intend as well and I thank you for being candid. I have personally been getting frustrated with mixed responses on the CC topic with several people saying (in person) don’t take ANY CC prereq’s while admissions officers tell me to take them all at a CC and to take Microbio, Biochem, Genetics in the year between MCAT and and admission.


I’m trying to establish what path will work best and I especially appreciate you sharing yours!


Thanks!

Thanks for the posts everyone.


Given my circumstances, I think it would be more of a setback for me to attempt a transfer at this point. I think I’m better off sticking with my plan, which is to take advantage of the scheduling and price available at the CC, get A’s and pour an enormous amount of effort into a great MCAT score. All of which I would do at a 4yr inst. if that were good options for me here (upstate NY), but the CC also makes it more feasible for me to participate in volunteer/ intern programs and/or possibly an EMT program.


However, I definitely will call my prospective Med-Schools and just strait-up ask. It couldn’t hurt. Could it?


Bryan

  • Bryan Said:
However, I definitely will call my prospective Med-Schools and just straight-up ask. It couldn't hurt. Could it?

Bryan



Go ahead and give em a call for sure . Others may be able to say whether this time of year is a good time to call (I'm not sure how busy the end of interviews/beginning of chaos season is), but regardless, all the admissions offices I've spoken with have been very friendly and accommodating.

Bryan,


Absolutely the best thing to do is call the admissions offices at the schools that interest you. Their opinion counts the most, since they’re the ones who will (or will not) admit you.

  • shrekkc Said:
I think that in these situations...for the particular school you hope to attend, you should go straight to the horses mouth and ask how it would reflect upon you as an applicant.



I could not have said it better myself! Even though there is a ton of value within OPM's forums & the forums of other on-line groups, never should you take our word over what you get straight from the source. And, if you get 'the word' from the source & it differs from what is being espoused here, I ask you to please return here to update us. All of us are at widely disparate points in this process & things change. No one here has ever, to my knowledge, given intentionally erroneous info, but we certainly are at risk for giving out-of-date info with nothing but the best of intentions.

  • shrekkc Said:
Essentially, one major element of this discussion has not been address that, I too, would like some feedback: Is there anyone who has made a successful go at this from a community college standpoint?



At no point have I ever siad it could not be done from a CC, just that going that route will spur additional scrutiny of your application & that AdCom GPA expectations are usually higher for folks applying having done predominantly or exclusively CC work. Outside of a felony conviction or death, there are no other things that guarantee a death sentence to your application. However, to maximize your chances & to make your life less challenging, I would strongly recommend, if at all feasible, you choose to do your work at a 4-yr institution.

But, if a CC is your best option (both of you guys sound like you have very legit reasons to go CC in lieu of a 4-yr), then take that bull by the horns & ride'em for all it is worth! It certainly can be done from the CC-route, it just may prove more challenging & prompt additional scrutiny. If you are a competitive applicant, then even the extra challenge should not prove insurmountable.

Regarding knowing someone who has specifically gotten into medical school from an exclusively CC route. I am 100% confident that there are folks out there who have done it. But, I must admit, I do not know anyone personally. I must concede, it is also not a topic I ever brought up with any of my med school or resident colleagues. Once you are in, no one really could give a rat's ass where you did your pre-reqs - everyone's focus is on surviving medical school.

Best of luck & success to you both!!!

For what it’s worth, I asked this question of the admission’s staff at the University of Colorado on behalf of a pre-med student. Their reply was:


“…we would strongly discourage her from


taking them at a Community College; however for Colorado there is no rule that would exclude her because of this issue. Please have her call us and talk about this issue.”


I guess the bottom line is that calling and asking directly is the appropriate course of action.


Good luck.

I met with the same admissions counselor that shrekkc was talking to (I think), and we have a different situation in our area. The reputation and instruction at the local CC is pretty darn amazing. Really amazing. (The best teacher I have ever had…) And they have a close relationship with the local med school; ie. familiarity with the coursework. And if you do well on the MCATs, then you know the material, right? Maybe we’re just in a unique situation here. I love our CC with good reason.

Well put!

Keep in mind it also depends on WHO you talk to. I called UCLA and received 2 different answers:


(1) any work done at an accredited school (CC, Univ, etc) will be accepted


(2) all work needs to be done on a full-time basis at a CSU/UC via Extension/or other fully accredited “University”


Personally I’m a fan of face-to-face meetings if at all possible. The last ad rep told me I should make an appointment to meet with someone with specific questions in hand… sometime in May.

Bump great question. CC will need to be my route as well.

What I think everyone needs to understand about this community college prerequisites versus four-year college/university prerequisites controversy is that the issue isn’t about the rigor or the competitiveness between the two types of schools—we all can find posts and anecdotal evidence from instructors and from students praising both kinds of courses in their depth and rigor. What the controversy is really about is how familiar medical school admission committee members are with the schools’ instructors. Because community college budgets (with the exception of the open admission four-year state universities which take on the dual roles of community college and state university like Utah Valley University in Utah and Saint Petersburg College in Florida) are smaller than their four-year state college/university counterparts, community colleges will oftentimes have to use seasonal instructors and/or recently graduated adjunct professors to teach the premed prerequisites. So when the admissions committee members sit down to discuss candidates’ academic preparation, committee members most likely won’t be able to declare, “Oh, I know Professor John Smith at XYZ University. He always teaches a couple of the premed courses and his courses are pretty rigorous. This candidate who took courses from him should be ready.” They more likely will be asking, “Is anybody familiar with this school? Does anybody know who teaches the premeds there?”

YES, I know of specific examples (I will concede there might be 1 or 2 more but since I was interested in this topic for myself it is unlikely)


Within my MCAT prep course, I met some folks who were doing the CC route, there were at least 10 from JCCC.


In my graduating class of 175 (one hundred and seventy five) at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, I KNOW ONE person who did their pre-reqs at the Johnson County Community College. I also know of another person in the same prep course who did not get in the MD school but got in at the DO across town.


Let me introduce them to you:

  1. A newly retired (he was still on active duty during the prep course) Colonel in the US Army (“full bird” Colonel O-6) West Point graduate with a masters in international relations and an instructor at the Command and General Staff College (Ft Leavenworth) he had many achievements including the Army War College.


    He was one of the SHARPEST people I have EVER known, great attitude, work ethic, leadership ability et al. (shockingly and unbelievably to me anyway) did NOT get in the MD school but did get in the DO school and was graduated SECOND in his class (he is now a FM resident right here in Wichita, I get to interact with him weekly anyway)

  2. A nurse practitioner with a PhD in nursing education (EdD) and who most recently was a faculty member and nursing school administrator at a nearby BSN program.


    There are certain threads with both of these friends of mine:

  3. They were at the TOP of their respective game, NO academic skeletons or deficiencies to overcome.

  4. Both presently involved in teaching or classroom activities.

  5. They both did VERY well on the MCAT (one 29 the other 31!)

  6. They had approached this having done all the “homework” (orderly stepwise and consistent plan and performance)


    I dare say clearly above the rest of us!


    OK so there you go, counting both graduating classes; 175 for KUMC and about the same for KCUMB… TWO of 350? I know that I was not “good enough” to chance those odds.