The Glade 4.0

So I knew this was going to happen, but knowing it isn't making it any easier for me to deal with it now that it's here. I'm finally at the point of transferring into the University of Arizona now and my pace has to slow down. I did 31 credits last year and some part of me was hoping to stay close to that this year at the U. It drives me nuts that they make very little effort to create class availability for working people.

So I'm not faced with the decision of taking more sciences at the community college and having it look worse on an application to medical school or taking them at the university and taking an extra year or more in school. I've gotten differing opinions on whether med schools will care that I took something like Intro Biology at a community college. For every story of somebody that says it matters, I see a story of somebody who said it didn't matter for them. Of course, I don't know which of these people are white males so that I can make a valid comparison. I just know that they want to see me taking sciences and all the upper division science course work depends on me having knocked out entry level sciences.

I feel ready to just take them at the community college and hope that rocking the MCAT will put med schools at ease. I don't want to still be a resident by the time I hit 45.

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The Dude abides.

Perhaps try speaking with the admissions departments of the Med. Schools you are interested in applying to and asking them.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

From what I have read, it all comes down to who is on the admissions committee. All credits are considered valid regardless of where they're from, but that doesn't mean the person on the committee at whatever time will care/not care.

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The Dude abides.

I am majoring in electrical engineering, and not any sort of medical program. I also live in St. Louis, not in Arizona. My experiences may not be directly applicable to your particular situation.

I did all of my core math and science curriculum at a community college. When I transferred, not only did I not get any grief about it, but five minutes into the meeting with the program director, I was offered a job tutoring their pre-engineering courses. (That I had worked as a math tutor at the community college probably had something to do with that, mind you). My circuit analysis course did not transfer due to some political BS with the college. The conversation I had was literally, "You have X, Y, and Z classes on your transcript. Welcome to the program! By the way, all of my tutors have graduated."

By midterm, half of my classmates in each of my classes had dropped. Everybody that I recognized from the community college was still there at finals. The students who did their first two years at the university were getting **** murdered.

That isn't a rarity among universities in the area. It's fairly well-documented that the students they get from community colleges do better than their own students. They have higher grades, lower drop-out rates in the junior and senior level classes, and retain knowledge better. The university that Kulidwen graduated from has a contract with the various St. Louis community colleges to take their transfer courses for precisely that reason. They actively recruit prospective engineering students from the local community colleges, and their advisors generally send students over the age of 25 there to take their math and science requirements.

I have noticed tutoring math that the community college also sees a metric **** of pharmacy majors as well. I suspect that a lot pharmacy programs are doing the same thing that the local engineering schools are doing.

Here's what it boils down to: Community college students do very well in four-year schools. That kind of performance makes the four-year school look good. You may run into a few knobs who want to give you some hassle over taking classes at a community college, but I can pretty much guarantee there's going to be quite a few people who will want you afterward. I'm sure there's more than one four-year school in your area. Go ask around.

Being able to start your program immediately is a big selling point from the school's perspective. If you transfer now, and tack on the extra year, a program will take you, but they have to run you through all these pre-requisite courses. You'll likely be doing stuff like organic chemistry and algebra-based physics (which I believe you've already taken), and that's where a lot of their students fail out. They're looking at you signing up for the program just in time to take the weed-out courses and possibly get chopped from the program in your first year. If you take the rest of your science courses, the college is looking at a student who can enroll straight into the meat and potatoes. They dig that. They also aren't looking at the risk of you bombing out of the weed-out courses, because you've already taken them.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

From what I know, it depends hugely on getting a recommendation from your schools pre-med committee, as well as how well that committee is thought of by the med schools.

Failing that, rock your MCAT. But I know someone with a 42 who didn't get entrance into 4/5 schools he applied to, due to a failed semester 7 years prior- even though he had a 4.0 GPA starting when he came back pre-med.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Screeling, I know you have 'roids, but Im gonna hug you anyways and wish you luck. I can't wait to talk to you when you are in Med school!

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Dream as if you'll live forever...
...Live as if you'll die tomorrow

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