Is it possible to take the course requirements at a community college? I am a HS teacher and would like to continue working while taking some prerequisite courses. It would make a career change a more feasible option if I could do night classes at the local CC.
Thanks!
you can, MANY schools will consider it a big negative though and even if you have a 4.0 from community college you will still likely have ~50-70% of the science knowledge of people that got good grades at a 4 year school.
If you are not very selective about med school or want to do be a DO I think community college is a good option.
If its a necessity that you go to community college and really kick ass in other areas I would imagine some med schools will understand that
Could I just take courses at a state school and not be a part of a post-bacc “program” then?
Yes, there are plenty of folks doing DIY post-baccs.
There is still a stigma against CC course in the minds of many adcoms, fair or not. I realize that there are many quality CCs and many quality professors at CCs, some of which may actually be better than 4 year schools. The reality is that taking courses at a CC will put you at a disadvantage when applying when compared to traditional students from 4 year universities.
I always recommend that people take their courses at the best 4 year school they can afford and that works for them. If you have to take the pre-reqs at a CC, you should try to take at least a couple of upper level science courses at a 4 year institution and do very well on the MCAT. The MCAT is the great equalizer, so doing well on it can help counter some of the negative perception of CC courses. And, of course, you should get all A’s. An A at a CC is not perceived the same as an A at a 4 year, and anything less than an A is perceived as worse than the equivalent grade at a 4 year institution.
You definitely don’t have to take a formal post-bacc program and can take your courses however you want at your state school. You will need to investigate registration issues, however. At some schools, non-degree students register last, making it very difficult to get into to the intro level science courses. I was fortunate in that at Ohio State, non-degree students actually registered fairly early in the process (after graduating seniors), but I know many people who have ended up enrolling as degree seeking students simply to be able to get into classes. It doesn’t matter than you have no intention of actually finishing the second degree.
Another advantage to going to a state school is that you will likely be able to access the services of the pre-med advising office, even as a non-degree student.
FWIW - I was also a high school teacher. I found that for the most part, the 4 year schools did not offer the pre-reqs at night. I ended up quitting teaching to go back to school full time, but I was fortunate to have the support of my husband while doing so.