i’m currently working right now and i cannot afford to take a postbacc program due to 1) cost and 2) time, since classes are normally offered in the daytime.
am i shooting myself in the foot if i take night classes at a community college for my prereqs? pls know that i live in southern california and budget cuts have severely limited some options with the UCs and Cal States.
Hello wacky.
I’m in the same boat, but able to attend classes during the day. I work nights, we have a janitorial business. I couldn’t afford a post bacc program or another bacc degree. My BA was in humanities, so not enough science. I’m in my first semester with a CC and loving it. I’ve talked to several advisors at the 2 schools I’m planning on applying to and they said that it doesn’t matter where you get your prereqs, as long as it’s accredited. The bigger concern with the advisors was that I get as much patient related experience because I have no medical/health related background. I’ve worked in customer service and finance for years, I’ll be 38 this year. Anyhow, I suggest you contact the schools you’re interested in and talk to advisors. Also, attend as many open houses with local medical schools and talk to as many people there as possible. If you’re in S Cal, you should be able to travel to alot of schools, maybe even down to San Diego. Work hard on the classes, get high science gpa, great mcat score, lots of patient/volunteer experience (schools told me about 500+ volunteear hours), know everything about the schools you’re applying to. anyhow, gotta run but good luck.
Hey sysyphas,
I couldn’t pass by welcoming a first time poster with the screen name of my favorite character from greek mythology
Generally, it is perceived by the adcoms that courses from CC are less rigorous than at 4 year schools. However, this perception seems to be less in the west than the east, partly I speculate, because
1)California’s CC are the exception to this “rule”
2)the more widely dispersed population centers and college locations in western states
3) the western states pact on medical schools (I think 11 states belong to the pact)
For non-trads who usually have more logistic constraints, it is my perception than community colleges are less of a negative than say for younger students. This is also true if you have never had any of the pre-reqs before. If someone had take the pre-reqs before at a 4 years school and is redoing them at a CC, that would have a large negative impact on the application
Of course doing well in the CC classes and doing well on the MCAT will is expected. Many people suggest trying to take at least a pre-req or two or an additional advanced course or two at a 4 year school if possible.
Another way to look at this, it is better to take them at a CC then not take them at all
BTW, I am presenting on non-trads and leading a discussion group at the upcoming AACOM national conference in April and I have on my question list to ask the anticipated admissions staff on the community college issue to try to get something more concrete than assumed perceptions of the adcoms
- wackyzachary Said:
i'm currently working right now and i cannot afford to take a postbacc program due to 1) cost and 2) time, since classes are normally offered in the daytime.
am i shooting myself in the foot if i take night classes at a community college for my prereqs? pls know that i live in southern california and budget cuts have severely limited some options with the UCs and Cal States.
am i shooting myself in the foot if i take night classes at a community college for my prereqs? pls know that i live in southern california and budget cuts have severely limited some options with the UCs and Cal States.
Welcome to OPM. CCs are not recommended if you can avoid it, even in CA. Odds are, unfortunately, you will not be getting into a CA med school. There are also no "pacts" that include CA med schools. Therefore, your CC units will be a strike against you when applying OOS. Not that you can't get into med school after taking prereqs at CC, many people have. But it weakens your application, and honestly (from my own experience) many CC classes will not be as demanding as 4 year, thus leaving you less prepared for the MCAT. If you have to do CC, Santa Monica and Pasadena are the two most respected, but probably only in CA.
Have you looked into USC's postbacc premed program? It's expensive, but very well respected and definitely provides a quality education. You get the USC brand name, priority registration, excellent LORs, and classes are never cancelled. There are student loans available to cover tuition and living expenses, so you can quit work and focus 100% on school. I have kids and did the USC postbacc, volunteering and MCAT in 1 year and was accepted to some top 10 MD programs this year. It put us into debt but we look at it as a worthwhile investment. Feel free to send me a private message if you want more info about it.
hi antman,
i would love to talk to you more about this privately. how do you send a personal message here? 