JC or 4 year

[mvaish09]

So i am a high school senior who has applied to college and heard from all of them
unexpectedly i was rejected from Davis and Berkeley and UCLA and San Diego (sadness yes)

but i was accepted into Irvine and Santa Barbara

i was leaning towards Irvine
until

my father pointed out the 2 year jc route then transfer

however, my ultimate goal is to be a cardiologist
and so therefore i need medical school


how do you think i should go about pursuing my ultimate goal with biology as my major and perhaps a psychology minor


what is the safest or most beneficial route do you think
how successful do you think i will be in each route

and how will it affect my chances at a medical school?

also...money is tight.

any suggestions/comments/people i can talk to who have done this? successful people?

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[ksmi117]

So i am a high school senior who has applied to college and heard from all of them
unexpectedly i was rejected from Davis and Berkeley and UCLA and San Diego (sadness yes)

but i was accepted into Irvine and Santa Barbara

i was leaning towards Irvine
until

my father pointed out the 2 year jc route then transfer

however, my ultimate goal is to be a cardiologist
and so therefore i need medical school


how do you think i should go about pursuing my ultimate goal with biology as my major and perhaps a psychology minor


what is the safest or most beneficial route do you think
how successful do you think i will be in each route

and how will it affect my chances at a medical school?

also...money is tight.

any suggestions/comments/people i can talk to who have done this? successful people?

First of all, I think if you have acceptances you should take one of them instead of going to a JC. If you really would rather go to one of those other schools over Irvine or Santa Barbara, you can always transfer from the 4 year school.

As far as majors go, major in whatever you want to. A biology major is definitely not a requirement for med school. If you like Psych, go for it. Also, don't double major because you think it will look good, do it because you want to. Med schools don't really care about majors. They care about whether or not you can get good grades in the classes you take.

I think the safest route will be whatever you enjoy the most. If you hate your classes, you will likely not do as well in them. I can't really know how successful you will be, but if you try hard, I'm sure you will do well.

 

[mvaish09]

wouldnt it be cheaper to go the jc route? what is the disadvantage of going that route?

 

[ksmi117]

wouldnt it be cheaper to go the jc route? what is the disadvantage of going that route?

Yes, it would be cheaper. However, the huge disadvantage I see is the chance that your JC courses will not transfer to your undergraduate degree. Also, pre-meds are often advised (I don't know how truthful this advice is) to not take any pre-reqs for professional school at a CC or JC. If you do decide to go the JC route, I don't think it will be that disadvantageous, but I wouldn't want to worry about the tranferring of credits and such.

 

[mvaish09]

yeah but idk i heard about a program that guarantees transfers to a uc and so i would be saving money that way and the courses would be transferred but i understand what you are saying
i would be caught in a loop hole
have u heard of anyone that has done this successfully though?

 

[ksmi117]

yeah but idk i heard about a program that guarantees transfers to a uc and so i would be saving money that way and the courses would be transferred but i understand what you are saying
i would be caught in a loop hole
have u heard of anyone that has done this successfully though?

Nope, not off the top of my head. But there are plenty of people who went to a CC for a few years and then transferred who post on the Pre-Allo forum. I'm sure if you search wisely, you'll be able to find a thread about this somewhere in Pre-Allo.

 

[Appless]

I actually did what you are talking about. I went to a JC for 1.5 years then transferred to UCI. Im graduating this quarter and applying this june and looking back on the whole JC experience and my time at UCI I'd say do not go to a CC. Just take UCI. I know many HS students think going to UCLA will give them some huge advantage over say UCI but honestly it wont. Unless you hate UCI or UCSB for some reason id just take those. I went the CC route becuase I had no choice and my parents cant pay a dime for my college, so it was the best way for me. Personally Id take UCI or UCSB just becuase going to UCSB it will be harder to focus, I know it was for my friends who are there now. Going the JC route really put me at a disadvantage when trasnferring and putme behind in my classes. Its also sort of a shock when you go from the joke that is a CC to a real university especially one on the quarter system. If you have more specific questions I dont mind answering them since I basically did what you are saying.

 

[ksmi117]

Please don't post the same thread in multiple forums. I promise other pre-allo kids come to hSDN besides me. Just be patient. I'm going to merge this thread with your other thread.

 

[Vicviper]

There are a number of guaranteed UC transfer programs from the CC - I did one from UCI called TAG, it was basically that you take General Chem at the CC and as long as you can keep a 3.0 and get B's in Gchem you're guaranteed a seat in the school of Biology. I'm pretty sure UCLA has a similar system. If you're short on money for school and you can't get student aid, $20 bucks a unit at the CC vs. 3k a quarter at the UC saves a ton. I personally liked my CC classes much better than some of my classes at UCI, I found the teaching caliber at my CC (Cypress College) to be for the most part superior for the science classes (especially since UCI is a research school, with classes being taught by researchers, not teachers). Sure, they do say that Adcoms somewhat look down on taking any pre-reqs at the CC, but I really don't think it's that big of a deal. I took all of my pre-reqs at my community college, and I was accepted at Columbia Dental, and the issue of the CC didn't even come up - but that's just my experience.

If you go to the CC you definetly miss a big part of the "College experience," but you need to figure out of that's a big deal to you or not. I kind of missed it, but it really wasn't a big deal for me - different for everyone.

Also, as long as you go to assist.org and confirm that the class you're signing up for counts at the school you're planning on transferring to, there is never any worry if it won't count or not. So that's a non-issue.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Irvine is a pretty decent school. I think its better you go there, than a JC. You wont need to transfer in that case, but if you still want you can.

 

[Californian]

go straight to UC irvine... transferring is a bitxx!

 

[DrMattOglesby]

id invest my money in UCSB over UCI...but thats just me. UCSB had the coolest campus ive ever visited.

 

[JJMrK]

Go to Irvine or SB. The risk with the JC transfer route is that you may not get out in 4 years, and that med schools won't like pre-reqs taken at a JC (who knows if this is true, but then again, what if it is?).

Personally, I'd go to Irvine since you may have more opportunities for shadowing, clinical research, LOR from a physician, etc.

 

[Vicviper]

Personally, I'd go to Irvine since you may have more opportunities for shadowing, clinical research, LOR from a physician, etc.

And you're forgetting the best benefit to a premed/dent/pharm/vet at Irvine, incredible access to research opportunities.

 

[JJMrK]

And you're forgetting the best benefit to a premed/dent/pharm/vet at Irvine, incredible access to research opportunities.

I'm sure there is research going on at UCSB, but like I said the access to clinical research might be better at UCI because of the affiliated medical school. Not that you necessarily need clinical research to be accepted anywhere, I'm just sayin'.

 

[Vicviper]

Oh sure, yeah, you're right. But at UCI, I've found that just about every other biology student is in research, and it's very accessible.