Hello everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m 26 and basically just starting! I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but life got in the way and well I’m here now and that’s all that matters:) I had a question for anyone with advice. I’ve started my classes @ a college of technology, which I’m assuming is just like a community college. I was planning on getting my 2 year Associate of Science degree there and then going to a 4 year institute to finish my B.S. The reason I’m going to the two year college first is that the tuition is a lot cheaper and it’s close to home. Will this have any impact on my getting accepted to medical school? My grades have been great so far and I’m planning on keeping it that way. If anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it! I’ve decided that this is it, now or never. My husband is very supportive of this and we don’t have any children yet. I’m planning on getting through medical school first and then having children. All we have now is our 8 month old Saint Bernard puppy:) He is a handful, but we love him to death! Sometimes I have these feelings like maybe this is a silly idea, but I know in my heart that I won’t be happy unless I’m a doctor. I saw a quote someone else had posted and I love it!
“it’s not how smart you are it’s how hard you work and dedicate yourself to something no matter what outside force tries to deter you.”
Thanks for you help everyone! Good luck!
Laura
Hi Laura,
Welcome. I recently joined OPM and had the same basic question with regard to Community College. After rather exhaustive research on this site and then ultimately talking to the medical school staff personally I will say that it depends…
The general consensus seems to be that it is perfectly acceptable if you plan to finish your upper level courses at a four year institution so long as the CC is accredited. There may be some that frown upon CC but I do not believe it to be the norm. I further believe that many of these negative opinions originate from speculation rather than hard data. To be certain though I would contact any med school that you plan to apply and simply ask them. It is pretty easy to discern if the person on the other end of the phone is sincere.
I did, in fact, contact a few medical schools and found no one that was unwilling to accept CC schooling. I also believe that one school in particular believed it was the prudent thing to do with regard to expense.
Anyway, I do not believe you will regret your decision to forge ahead with your pursuits…it is usually those that never try that live with regret.
Regards,
Ben
It does depend on the situation, as the previous poster said.
That said … community college classes MAY put you at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to med school admissions. There are some ADCOMS (admissions committees) who see CC courses as less rigorous than 4-year university courses. Very few med schools will tell you they will outright reject CC courses, but from what I understand, they do prefer the 4-year uni courses. In other words … you look better on paper if you’ve done your pre-reqs at a 4-year university.
If you do do some of your pre-reqs at a CC, make sure you do upper-division coursework at a 4-year university, and kick ass. (Well, you’ll have to kick ass no matter what! But you already know that. 
)
And don’t forget about volunteer work, clinical experiences, shadowing, etc. too. Those also need to be part of your med school admissions “package.”
Best of luck, and keep posting on your progress!
hello everybody
Hello, dao dao dao … share your story! (If you feel like it, that is). We’re a friendly lot. 
Taken from another thread:
Oh, the debate between taking premed courses at community college versus taking them at four-year colleges. This is an eternal debate on this board. Basically, the safe approach is to take your premed prerequisites at a four-year college in order to avoid the hassles and demeaning attitude some medical schools have of community colleges courses. With that said, though, consider the following points which muddles the safe approach: (1) the past Surgeon General of the United States Richard Carmona was a high school drop-out and had only attended community college before entering UCSF medical school; (2) twelve states have authorized their community colleges to become combined community colleges and a 4-year state colleges (like Utah Valley University and St. Petersburg College); (3) many cash-strapped, private 4-year colleges pressure faculty to lower grading standards in order to retain and attract students; (4) by design and policy (California, in particular), career changing and/or part-time and/or evening students are mandated by certain public college systems to only attend community college for their coursework; (5) I remember some study found that half of all the grades given to Harvard and Stanford undergraduates were at least an “A-.â€
With that said, I think following list of criteria in order of importance is a more realistic view on how to choose a college to complete premedical prerequisites:
First, is the considered college regionally accredited? If the college isn’t regionally accredited, there is no point in considering it any further.
Second, does the considered college offer the needed premedical prerequisites in a timely manner? A college that will only be offering O-chem five years from now won’t be that helpful.
Third, can you achieve at this college? A prestigious “F†won’t help anybody.
Fourth, can you afford the considered college?
Fifth, does the considered college offer premedical classes at the time of day and during days of the week when you can attend?
Sixth, does the considered college have a rapport with medical schools? Or, to rephrase, does the college have a good track record of getting its students into medical schools? You’d be surprised. As an example, my 4-year college alma mater hasn’t sent a graduate to medical school in over 20 years. The small science faculty of my alma mater readily admits they don’t know anyone at any of the nearby, regional medical schools. Contrast this with the nearby the community college which has sent at least one non-traditional premedical student to medical school every year. The community college biology professor knows several medical school admission committee members and has written plenty of medical school recommendations.
Seventh, if you haven’t narrowed your list to a college after the end of the sixth question, then you should take a 4-year college over a community college to avoid the hassles some medical schools apply to community college credits: As examples, Wake Forest will accept community college premedical science prerequisites as long as a the advanced-level classes of the prerequisites (like biochemistry for o-chem and biology) have been taken. Louisville will accept community college credits as long as a 4-year college has accepted those community college credits. But if you plan on achieving in those advanced-level premedical courses (which is a good idea regardless of which type of college you attend) and transfer your community college credits to the 4-year school where you’ll be taking those advanced-level courses, you’ll be able to prove yourself up to snuff to those elitist medical schools. As an aside, I think the posters OMTDave and craigmire both recently got into medical school having done their entire premedical post-baccalaureate coursework at community colleges.
B.
Laura -
One thing stuck out that no one has addressed in your post. You say “I’ve started my classes @ a college of technology, which I’m assuming is just like a community college. I was planning on getting my 2 year Associate of Science degree there”.
Well, IS the college of technology just like a community college? I know that for ITT Tech, many of the courses do not transfer to 4 year institutions. If the credit doesn’t transfer, it would not count. I’d verify that the credits are transferable college credits. This probably varies by institution and course so just think you should doublecheck.
Kate