Taking prerequisite's at community college

[SeeTheSun]

Do optometry schools look down on students who take prerequisite courses at a community college? The reason i ask is because, i have two semesters left before i transfer and have a lot of freedom with my schedule so i was thinking about getting a lot of prerequisites out of the way. I am in the honors program at my community college so i can also try to get honors credits in these classes if that would help. thanks in advance! ^_^

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[jc328]

Try dig some old threads using the search function, there are plenty discussions out there. IMO the best way is to call the schools to get a direct answer.

 

[JaneAustenFan]

Do optometry schools look down on students who take prerequisite courses at a community college? The reason i ask is because, i have two semesters left before i transfer and have a lot of freedom with my schedule so i was thinking about getting a lot of prerequisites out of the way. I am in the honors program at my community college so i can also try to get honors credits in these classes if that would help. thanks in advance! ^_^

Not sure about Optometry schools, but for MD and DO I decided to call today out of curiosity and every California UC med school said that they have no problem with cc classes (even if you have graduated or taken classes from a 4-year university) especially considering the difficulty getting classes at the local CSUs (California state universities) for post-bac students. Yale was fine with it as well and an admissions representative at Stanford thought that "it was ridiculous that people still believe that it makes any difference to the committee at all as long as the college is accredited." What she pointed out that was interesting is that you can take a lot of the lower division classes at CC, but the upper division courses are usually not offered in abundance at community colleges so you would likely end up taking them at a 4-year college at some point any how. There are a few med schools that don't like CC courses once you have gone to a 4-year, but they aren't any of the schools I am interested in any how. Always go to the source; they generally know best.

 

[kiwi5frog]

Not sure about Optometry schools, but for MD and DO I decided to call today out of curiosity and every California UC med school said that they have no problem with cc classes (even if you have graduated or taken classes from a 4-year university) especially considering the difficulty getting classes at the local CSUs (California state universities) for post-bac students. Yale was fine with it as well and an admissions representative at Stanford thought that "it was ridiculous that people still believe that it makes any difference to the committee at all as long as the college is accredited." What she pointed out that was interesting is that you can take a lot of the lower division classes at CC, but the upper division courses are usually not offered in abundance at community colleges so you would likely end up taking them at a 4-year college at some point any how. There are a few med schools that don't like CC courses once you have gone to a 4-year, but they aren't any of the schools I am interested in any how. Always go to the source; they generally know best.

So few people get off their butts and call. props

 

[JaneAustenFan]

So few people get off their butts and call. props

Thanks. It was pretty painless. I heard so many different answers and decided, "what the hell, just call". I am glad I did. It helped me narrow down the list of the schools I plan on applying to as well.

 

[SeeTheSun]

sounds like a good idea, ill just call them

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Not sure about Optometry schools, but for MD and DO I decided to call today out of curiosity and every California UC med school said that they have no problem with cc classes (even if you have graduated or taken classes from a 4-year university) especially considering the difficulty getting classes at the local CSUs (California state universities) for post-bac students. Yale was fine with it as well and an admissions representative at Stanford thought that "it was ridiculous that people still believe that it makes any difference to the committee at all as long as the college is accredited." What she pointed out that was interesting is that you can take a lot of the lower division classes at CC, but the upper division courses are usually not offered in abundance at community colleges so you would likely end up taking them at a 4-year college at some point any how. There are a few med schools that don't like CC courses once you have gone to a 4-year, but they aren't any of the schools I am interested in any how. Always go to the source; they generally know best.

that being said, also understand that there will be many MANY applicants with similar stats that didn't go to community college, and being that community college classes are commonly considered less rigorous (which is not always true), why would a medical school choose the person with community college credits. so while they are actually accepted, they are likely descriminated against. i assume this would carry over for optometry school, however i am not completely sure on the competitiveness of it. good luck on contacting the schools, but you may not get an accurate answer.

 

[gatewasani]

yea, I contacted some medical schools around, and they said CC classes were ok, that said, every school is different, so just CALL, it's really simple.

 

[JaneAustenFan]

that being said, also understand that there will be many MANY applicants with similar stats that didn't go to community college, and being that community college classes are commonly considered less rigorous (which is not always true), why would a medical school choose the person with community college credits. so while they are actually accepted, they are likely descriminated against. i assume this would carry over for optometry school, however i am not completely sure on the competitiveness of it. good luck on contacting the schools, but you may not get an accurate answer.

I am sure about it because I called and asked. If I can't get an accurate answer from the medical school admissions office of each school, I can be sure to get it on SDN, right (sarcasm)?

 

[TriagePreMed]

that being said, also understand that there will be many MANY applicants with similar stats that didn't go to community college, and being that community college classes are commonly considered less rigorous (which is not always true), why would a medical school choose the person with community college credits. so while they are actually accepted, they are likely descriminated against. i assume this would carry over for optometry school, however i am not completely sure on the competitiveness of it. good luck on contacting the schools, but you may not get an accurate answer.

If the MCAT is high, that's the consistency that the classes are worth the same. If you end up in the dumpster with the MCAT, that will be when you run into problems. Seriously, would you rather take an A student from Duke with an MCAT of 30 or a community college A student with a 36?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I am sure about it because I called and asked. If I can't get an accurate answer from the medical school admissions office of each school, I can be sure to get it on SDN, right (sarcasm)?

you are right, because "we accept community college credits" and "community college credits are considered the same as university credits" is exactly the same. a solid mcat will help yes, and good ECs will be acceptable, but if you honestly think that 3.8 from a CC = 3.8 from an Ivy are equal than you are high. again, i do not know the competitiveness of optometry schools, and community college credits may be just fine, but why take the chance?

 

[kiwi5frog]

From the Optometry admissions perspective, the where you took the class is not what eliminates applicants. communication skills (essay and interview) and lack of shadowing are some of the heaviest factors. (oh and of course, elimination of low GPA/OAT combos)

I know Western for sure DOES weigh a community college student below a university student though. Some factors that might affect that is the way in which they calculate the GPA. If you get a C in OCHEM, then retake it at CC with an A, Western will calculate an A.

SCCO, which is very pro-CC (pro as in they are open about CC being great learning environments) will calculate those same grades as you getting a B in OChem (averaging the C and A)

So it depends on where you want to go. Schools don't really have a *good* reason to lie to you about what they will or will not weigh. They get tons of applicants and can pick and choose the ones they want at will. If they don't like CC, they'll tell you. If they don't give a damn, they'll tell you. They aren't trying to shmooze CC students to apply by saying "CC's are good for us!" then turning around and rejecting on that basis.

 

[JaneAustenFan]

you are right, because "we accept community college credits" and "community college credits are considered the same as university credits" is exactly the same. a solid mcat will help yes, and good ECs will be acceptable, but if you honestly think that 3.8 from a CC = 3.8 from an Ivy are equal than you are high. again, i do not know the competitiveness of optometry schools, and community college credits may be just fine, but why take the chance?

First of all it is not about what I think, I asked the individuals of each school's admissions office and that is the information that I have to work with; I am certainly not going to base any decision on some egotistical *******'s prejudices regarding community colleges. The admissions office at each of the schools I called (I didn't call every ivy med school, because frankly I wouldn't want to attend most of them.) said that they absolutely accept the courses from community colleges and that they have no negative impact on one's application. Period. If you want to argue about it call and argue with them.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

i am bored with this argument.

OP- if your prereqs are at a community college and you have other classes above and beyond them to show you can handle the upper level sciences, then your CC college credits will look much better than if you have none.

 

[caitsiex]

It varies by optometry school, but your safest bet is to call the optometry school. To save you a phone call to SUNY: I was told by the dean of admissions and during an interview that SUNY optometry does not love cc courses for pre-reqs. While they'll accept them, they want to see that you can handle upper level courses of these pre-reqs at 4 year colleges.