Hi guys! so glad i found out about oldpremeds. A little about myself. I am 25 years old and i want to go to medical school. I don’t have a bachelors degree yet but working on it this fall. I gradated high school in 2008 and like most went to college, i originally was going to go for graphic design and did that for two years. I took mostly art classes and some social science classes. I got my AA in design from a private college where i lived in Arizona. I then decided that i wanted to go for my bachelors in design in California. Unfortunately i went to another private college where none of my credits transferred and had to basically start at square one all over again, mind you I’ve been going to college for at least 4 years by now. I did one whole year and decided because of financially reasons i need to get a job. So I did what anyone would do… and went to cosmetology school. It took me another year to complete that and have been doing it for the past 2 years. I love it don’t get me wrong i love going to work everyday but it does not fulfill me. I feel like I can do so much more and I’m just watching life go on by. I need to know that what I will do for the rest of my life will have an impact on the world around me.
For the past 3 years I find myself more and more thinking about the human body. It fascinates me, what its capable of doing, how it works, how it is so beautifully designed. I know that this is where I need to be. So since I don’t have a bachelors degree my first step is to do that. This fall I will be applying to a community college to begin again. I’ve decided to take most of my classes again, I had a c in intermediate algebra in 2008. I only had gotten a C because i didn’t study for the final before then i had an A in the class… i was young and naive. I am someone who loves to learn so I am ready to take this on.
Sometimes I get a little discouraged because its taken from my perspective a long time to realize what i really want to do. I don’t have a real support from my parents because I’ve switched what I wanted to do in life. I hope once I complete my first two years at community college their attitude will change and know I’m serious about doing this.
I have some options that i wold like to share with you guys and see if you guys can pass some words of wisdom here.
Because I went to school for so long i have accumulated 50+ thousand dollars in debt so financial aid wont lend me any more money but in california for low income students your tuition can be waived all you have to do is pay for your books and other supplies so i planned on staying here in California until I can transfer to a university. If I go to Arizona i would have to financially pay for all my tuition and books.
option 1: complete two years for community college in California and then transfer to ASU(Arizona State University) and be able to live back home with my parents so i can solely focus on studying.
Option 2: complete one year of community college in California, transfer to community college in Arizona then transfer to a University.
Option 3: wishfully i would like to complete community in California and then transfer to UCI or UCLA
Financial I earn less then 20k a year so i know option 3 might be impossible
I will be applying also to scholarships as well.
I would love any advice or wisdom from anyone 
thank you!
for Fall semester 2015 I hope to take
English 101
intermediate algebra or trig
intro to chem
Spanish 1
also I will be shadowing hopefully beginning in August-mid July
Welcome!
I am also going the CC route to fulfill many of my pre-reqs (also due to hefty school debt and medical debt). Here are a few things to consider when making the choice between the options:
- Call the universities in AZ that you’d like to go to and ask if they will take the CC credits you accumulate in California. I know most state schools take credits from CCs within their state, but many do not take credits from CCs outside of them. Make copies of each of the course descriptions on the CC course catalogs and send them to the person you are speaking to so they can confirm with their course catalog/requirements that they will transfer over.
- If you take a year of classes at one CC and take a year of classes at another CC, make sure you take all your multi-course series at one university before going to another. For example, when I did my bachelors, I had to take 3 calculus classes to complete a math requirement for a year of math. If I had taken only 2 out of 3 classes, I would not get credit for them anywhere.
- Note that there is a SLIGHT prejudice against CC pre-reqs at certain medical schools. Honestly, I’ve read so many threads on here and made so many calls to schools to confirm if they take CC courses, and the majority of them do. If you’re dead set on Duke’s medical school, then that’s out, but even Johns Hopkins now accepts them. Plus you will be transferring to a 4 year university, and once you take your upper division courses there, you’ve proven you know your stuff.
Also, you are only 25; even for people who graduate with their bachelors on time, they’ve only been out in the “real world” for 3 years. Plenty of people during that time are just starting to get to know themselves. At my current job, I know several people who didn’t start their bachelors for their highly technical field until they were in their late 20s/early 30s. My point is, don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your choices.
@ocpremed wrote:
Option 3: wishfully i would like to complete community in California and then transfer to UCI or UCLA
Financial I earn less then 20k a year so i know option 3 might be impossible
Why not Cal State? There’s 4 or 5 of them near you. And if your current vocation is of the type that you can easily find a job elsewhere, then there’s more than 20 Cal State campuses to choose from, and they are less expensive than the UCs.
@Dullhead wrote:
@ocpremed wrote:
Option 3: wishfully i would like to complete community in California and then transfer to UCI or UCLA
Financial I earn less then 20k a year so i know option 3 might be impossible
Why not Cal State? There’s 4 or 5 of them near you. And if your current vocation is of the type that you can easily find a job elsewhere, then there’s more than 20 Cal State campuses to choose from, and they are less expensive than the UCs.
UCI is the one closest to me so id really want to go there. I never really considered going to a cal state but ill look in to it and see if its a good option.
@Gray wrote:
Welcome!
I am also going the CC route to fulfill many of my pre-reqs (also due to hefty school debt and medical debt). Here are a few things to consider when making the choice between the options:
- Call the universities in AZ that you’d like to go to and ask if they will take the CC credits you accumulate in California. I know most state schools take credits from CCs within their state, but many do not take credits from CCs outside of them. Make copies of each of the course descriptions on the CC course catalogs and send them to the person you are speaking to so they can confirm with their course catalog/requirements that they will transfer over.
- If you take a year of classes at one CC and take a year of classes at another CC, make sure you take all your multi-course series at one university before going to another. For example, when I did my bachelors, I had to take 3 calculus classes to complete a math requirement for a year of math. If I had taken only 2 out of 3 classes, I would not get credit for them anywhere.
- Note that there is a SLIGHT prejudice against CC pre-reqs at certain medical schools. Honestly, I’ve read so many threads on here and made so many calls to schools to confirm if they take CC courses, and the majority of them do. If you’re dead set on Duke’s medical school, then that’s out, but even Johns Hopkins now accepts them. Plus you will be transferring to a 4 year university, and once you take your upper division courses there, you’ve proven you know your stuff.
Also, you are only 25; even for people who graduate with their bachelors on time, they’ve only been out in the “real world” for 3 years. Plenty of people during that time are just starting to get to know themselves. At my current job, I know several people who didn’t start their bachelors for their highly technical field until they were in their late 20s/early 30s. My point is, don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your choices.
California schools have a transfer to ASU route but have been looking at their transfer credit sheet to make sure things would transfer. everything seems good for bio and chem. Math is a little harder to read on the credit sheet but its looking good. I think ill be taking organic chemistry at university if my plan works out.
right now i think my best option is to stay in California for the two years of cc and then transfer to ASU where I can live with my folks and wont have to worry about rent or other bills. That way I can fully focus on school and getting experience for med school applications
hello guys!
just thought i’d give an update!!
the long road ahead: a year later.
so I finished out the year in community college in Orange County,CA I did 4 classes: Psychology, Media and Society, English 102 and Intermediate Algebra.I received all B’s for all the classes which is kinda of a bummer considering i was at a high b, low A of the grading scale unforgettably, it was just not enough for the A’s i wanted but overall I’m satisfied with what I got considering it was also my first time back since having a full time job. ,
Afterwards I decided that if I really wanted to purse this life long goal i would need to move back home to take some of the stress of life out of the picture, things such as rent and other home bills. So now I am back home with my folks in Arizona were I was able to enroll in a CC in order to transfer to ASU eventually hopefully within a year and a half.
i still have to work as i have a little bit of credit card debt and need a new car (i have a Honda accord 91’) so ill be working full time and then going to school part-time. it stresses me out because I cant fully commit to a full time student schedule. I am hoping that once attending ASU ill be able to work full time and be full time as a student…
This semester ill be taking : Public speaking and an online math class (i have to take a transition math class before allowed to go into trig.)
I’m hoping in the spring 2017 i will be taking bio 101 and chem 101 with trig. any thoughts out there? should i attempt it? advice?
all i have left before transferring are bio 1&2 and chem 1&2
Hang in there and good luck to you! You’re so very fortunate to have parents that are willing to help you with this goal!!!