Re-taking pre-med courses: Community College vs. HES

[drgoldenboy]

Hello All,

I am in the midst of trying to determine whether I should re-take pre-med classes at the reputable Harvard Extension School or re-take pre-med classes at the local community college. I have to re-take 4 pre med classes (2 biology and introduction to chemistry I & II) and take for the first time both physics courses. My sGPA is a 2.7, but there is an upward trend in non pre-med science GPA. From what I have gathered, community college classes are not frowned upon at DO schools; but I suspect that in my particular case they might be because I am re-taking the majority of my pre-med courses at a community college AND I am moving from a top 10 ranked liberal art school where I did poorly in these pre-med courses to a community college. I would rather go to a CC to retake these classes because it is cheaper and offers less risk of getting a poor grade. Harvard Extension is more expensive, the rigor is well known to medical schools, but offers a higher risk of doing poorly (and hence is self-defeating). I am committed to working my butt off, but there are no guarantees, and I want to safe-guard myself from overwhelming myself with incredibly difficult courses while I work a full time job.

Constructive thought is appreciated. Thanks!

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[drgoldenboy]

Another idea is to re-take classes at a community college and then take a few graduate level classes at Harvard Extension. Let me know what anyone of you think of this idea. Thanks.

 

[DrMikeP]

Hello All,

I am in the midst of trying to determine whether I should re-take pre-med classes at the reputable Harvard Extension School or re-take pre-med classes at the local community college. I have to re-take 4 pre med classes (2 biology and introduction to chemistry I & II) and take for the first time both physics courses. My sGPA is a 2.7, but there is an upward trend in non pre-med science GPA. From what I have gathered, community college classes are not frowned upon at DO schools; but I suspect that in my particular case they might be because I am re-taking the majority of my pre-med courses at a community college AND I am moving from a top 10 ranked liberal art school where I did poorly in these pre-med courses to a community college. I would rather go to a CC to retake these classes because it is cheaper and offers less risk of getting a poor grade. Harvard Extension is more expensive, the rigor is well known to medical schools, but offers a higher risk of doing poorly (and hence is self-defeating). I am committed to working my butt off, but there are no guarantees, and I want to safe-guard myself from overwhelming myself with incredibly difficult courses while I work a full time job.

Constructive thought is appreciated. Thanks!

There is no state college nearby? CC will be ok at most DO schools, BUT your sgpa is bad and you need to look as good as possible. You must fix whatever is killing your gpa, was it due to work? If you don't fix it then you are back where you started.

Does your CC offer Org and Biochem? If you go the CC route then you really really need to ACE all of your courses and the MCAT to show it wasn't just you trying to find an easy out at a CC.

 

[drgoldenboy]

Exactly right, the sGPA needs to be raised. I did poorly in these classes my first year of college because I had no idea what I was doing. But, I figured it out and can perform well now.

The CC nearby doesn't offer biochem but it does offer organic I and II. Umass-Boston is nearby. Maybe I can do a blend of courses at the CC and Umass-Boston, but I bet that might also look suspect.

What do you think about the idea of taking everything at the CC, and then taking a couple of graduate level courses at Harvard Extension to show that I can do medical school work?

 

[DrMikeP]

Exactly right, the sGPA needs to be raised. I did poorly in these classes my first year of college because I had no idea what I was doing. But, I figured it out and can perform well now.

The CC nearby doesn't offer biochem but it does offer organic I and II. Umass-Boston is nearby. Maybe I can do a blend of courses at the CC and Umass-Boston, but I bet that might also look suspect.

What do you think about the idea of taking everything at the CC, and then taking a couple of graduate level courses at Harvard Extension to show that I can do medical school work?

You could and it would look better, but still expect to nail the MCAT and make pretty close to straight A's. You want to get as close as possible to the avg gpa for DO schools, see the AACOM site and do some checking at the schools you really want to get into and make sure they're ok with CC classes. I don't of any DO school that won't. ~3.25 will likely get you over the cutoffs and let them see your MCAT.

 

[χmaverickχ]

For what it's worth, I talked to some of the faculty at CUSOM and they definitely prefer classes taken elsewhere than at community colleges. Plus, judging by your gpa, I think it would benefit you to do HES, so the potential colleges you want to attend can see that you are truly challenging yourself. That would be a great asset in your interview

However, cc classes are much cheaper so that's all dependent on your pocketbook

 

[mathnerd88]

What's really going to make or break your application is your MCAT score, even if you get all A's. Adcoms want to be assured that you're just not fluffing your GPA with a couple of easy CC courses. Your MCAT will definitely paint the whole picture a lot better.

On a side note, I did attend HES and did very well. It is indeed much harder than even my undergraduate classes. There was no curve. I wasn't retaking classes though.

 

[drgoldenboy]

Over the course of the last year I decided to take re-take bio 1, cell biology, and Anatomy and Physiology 1 for the first time, all at a CC. I achieved a 4.0 in all of those courses. I still need to re-take chem 2, and take physics 1 and 2 for the first time.

As of now, I plan to re-take chem 2 at the CC in the fall, and take physics 1 at Harvard extension school. However, I'm a bit nervous about putting myself in the HES physics course as my math schools are pretty weak (re learning algebra this summer). Does anyone have any advice for how I might proceed (i.e. take physics at CC to safeguard GPA because my math skills are weak, or take the chance at HES). I've heard HES is very difficult, and I don't want anything on my transcript that isn't 4.0. I was thinking that if I do classes all the classes at the CC, then maybe I should also take A&P 2 with physics 2 in the spring, and then take genetics & microbiology in the summer to demonstrate that I can handle upper level science courses and a heavy load. However, if I took physics at HES and did well, i probably wouldn't take those summer classes.

Do people have any more suggestions on my strategy/general advice on other courses to take? With a 4.0 in all of these courses, I would still only have a 3.16 sGPA (~3.3 cGPA).