Taking Prerequisites in community college

www.westernu.edu/pharmacy/
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^ yeah, I go to a small private school... total of about 5000 students. stinks that they don't offer many of the basic courses. Most of the students are Econ or pre-med students, so it's pretty difficult for me since I am like the only person who is pre-pharm (switched from pre-med to pre-pharm my senior year)

The pharmacy schools did encourage that I take courses from a CC, but those were only regarding the courses that were not offered at my school. My question is, how about courses that are offered at my school? For instance, microecon is offered only during winter quarter at the univ, so I wanted to take it at a CC instead so that I can graduate a quarter earlier in the fall. Would pharmacy schools misunderstand and think that I tried to take "the easy way out" by taking courses at the CC instead of at my university (which is more difficult)?

Thanks to you both for your responses! Congrats fenil2005 for getting into your pharmacy school of choice! :)
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littletwinstarr said:
The pharmacy schools did encourage that I take courses from a CC, but those were only regarding the courses that were not offered at my school. My question is, how about courses that are offered at my school?
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Which school's are you applying to? Unless you give the names of the school's you're applying to, no one's going to be able to give you a definitive respond. Different school's have different preferences.
 
I don't think it should be an issue really. Plus what is graduating early really? I don't think the timeline will matter to them, it's more that you did the requirements satisfactorily. :thumbup:
 
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sure! here they are (just a rough list):

Univ of Illinois at Chicago
Midwestern Univ - Downer's Grove, CCP
Univ of Southern California
Univ of California - San Diego
Univ of California - San Francisco
Univ of the Pacific
Western Univ of Health Sciences
Loma Linda
 
UIC is notoriously biased against CC only students. They also like to see science prereqs taken at a 4 year school. They limit OOS to 10% of the student population.
I find it hard to believe that your school doesn't offer freshman english composition. Every school I know of, offers that course.
 
^ sorry. correction. I have already fulfilled the english composition requirement. I just need to take speech, human anatomy (only have vertebrate anatomy at my school), microbiology (i already took cell and molecular bio, but I heard that it's not the same), and microeconomics and psychology. I just wanted to take microecon and psychology at the CC to graduate a little earlier (for personal and financial reasons). All of my other pre-pharm requirements (general bio, general chem, physics, and calculus) have been done at my university.
 
littletwinstarr said:
^ sorry. correction. I have already fulfilled the english composition requirement. I just need to take speech, human anatomy (only have vertebrate anatomy at my school), microbiology (i already took cell and molecular bio, but I heard that it's not the same), and microeconomics and psychology. I just wanted to take microecon and psychology at the CC to graduate a little earlier (for personal and financial reasons). All of my other pre-pharm requirements (general bio, general chem, physics, and calculus) have been done at my university.
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I believe UIC will accept vertebrate anatomy (don't quote me =P). Please correct me if wrong. :thumbup:
 
Taking those social science courses at a CC should be fine in your case because they're not really the science core pre-requisites. Just make sure the schools you're applying to accept CC credits.
 
UIC COP used to accept vertebrate anatomy, but they changed their minds for the 2003 catalog year.
 
littletwinstarr said:
^ sorry. correction. I have already fulfilled the english composition requirement. I just need to take speech, human anatomy (only have vertebrate anatomy at my school), microbiology (i already took cell and molecular bio, but I heard that it's not the same), and microeconomics and psychology. I just wanted to take microecon and psychology at the CC to graduate a little earlier (for personal and financial reasons). All of my other pre-pharm requirements (general bio, general chem, physics, and calculus) have been done at my university.
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UCSF doesn't require any anatomy or microbiology courses, and usually won't care if you take the other classes at a community college or at a university--as long as you complete the courses.

If you really want to make it easier for yourself, you can take microecon, speech and psych all online--maybe it's just me, but these courses seemed a lot easier online than if I were to do them onsite. :laugh: Good luck!
 
stkyrice said:
If you really want to make it easier for yourself, you can take microecon, speech and psych all online--maybe it's just me, but these courses seemed a lot easier online than if I were to do them onsite. :laugh: Good luck!
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Beware of online classes though:
i do not think many school accept those...
USC does not, for example!
 
I went to very expensive school for undergrad..and now I wish that I would have taken more classes at a cc!! I don't think it matters to the pharmacy school just as long as you do well. I did take org 2 at a cc and it was pretty hard...so I don't think that community colleges have the "really easy" reputation that they use to have.
 
I've taken all my pre-reqs at cc and for some classes, I've had to work my butt off to get good grades. I certainly don't think it's the easier route (or harder route for that matter). Chemistry is chemistry, no matter where you take it. One things for sure: it certainly is the cheaper route ;)

lessotto said:
Beware of online classes though:
i do not think many school accept those...
USC does not, for example!
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I've taken a few online classes and you cannot distinguish the online classes from on-campus classes on my transcript, so I don't know how the school would be able to tell.
 
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If you take prereqs at a CC, you'd better do well in them. Like, As across the board. CCs have a reputation for being easier than most universities/colleges (even if it's not necessarily true), so you really have to shoot for the stars, regardless of what your circumstances are.
 
I got into several schools with most prereqs at cc.

Just wondering what "prestigious" private univ doesn't offer such common classes????? I mean all cheap CSU univ in Cali offer these classes lol. m
 
b*rizzle said:
If you take prereqs at a CC, you'd better do well in them. Like, As across the board. CCs have a reputation for being easier than most universities/colleges (even if it's not necessarily true), so you really have to shoot for the stars, regardless of what your circumstances are.
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Shouldn't you be shooting for "the stars" regardless of where you go? Because in my circle of friends, a few people have gotten in by only attending a jc/cc, and others, who attended ucla, usc, etc, have not. Sucks to be them.

Alot of my friends (who are already pharmacists) wish they did the JC/CC route. Although, it may not be the best route to pharmacy school, but if your motivated and you know exactly what you want to do, its probably the quickest route.

littletwinstarr: do what you have to do to finish the pre-requ, even if it means taking it at a CC. It won't hurt you if you take classes at a cc/jc
 
its absolutely fine. it will most likely be easier and in the end, its the GPA that matters
 
How bad is it if you take a biology or chemistry course at a community college for the prereq (assuming that your university gives credit for it)?
 
hye345 said:
How bad is it if you take a biology or chemistry course at a community college for the prereq (assuming that your university gives credit for it)?
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I don't think it matters I guess it depends on the school your trying to get into. But make sure you have excellent grades. I took all my pre-reqs at a CC and got accepted at two schools in TX.
 
I took human physiology and communications at a community college & got into UCSF, USC, and UCSD...so no, it does not matter.
 
Definitely depends on the school. Check with the schools you plan on applying to.
 
It doesn't matter. If you are worried about it, do a search of the forums and there are countless discussions over this topic.
 
I believe that there is more than one way to teach bio and chem or any course for that matter. But the concepts are pretty much the same any where you go. This is why I think it does not matter what school you take it , as long as the school accredited, of course. There is also one other caveat when taking cc courses, and that would be with the schools that do not accept cc credit. Those schools are few and far between at any rate.
 
Im freshman at a community college and am taking my pre-reqs for pharmacy here. Should I transfer to a 4yr college my sophmore year to increase my chances...?
 
sheenarob172 said:
Im freshman at a community college and am taking my pre-reqs for pharmacy here. Should I transfer to a 4yr college my sophmore year to increase my chances...?
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I am not poking fun at you, but this has got to be the most discussed question ever in the history of SDN. If you search the forum, you will find dozens of identical posts and people expressing their opinion and discussing this topic from every angle possible. ;) :luck:
 
You could have written a shorter reply rather then a long paragraph about the search function.

This topic is a famous point to bring up. However, even after searching and reading replies, i would guess that youd still feel a little uncertain. Your best course of action is to be proactive and contact your prospective schools and ask an adviser or even someone at admissions about said universities position on pre-pharm taken at a Community college.
 
Travisgee said:
You could have written a shorter reply rather then a long paragraph about the search function.
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Gee, the way you said it in one less sentence is sooooooooo much better. Give yourself a pat on the back muchacho.
 
Travisgee said:
You could have written a shorter reply rather then a long paragraph about the search function.

This topic is a famous point to bring up. However, even after searching and reading replies, i would guess that youd still feel a little uncertain. Your best course of action is to be proactive and contact your prospective schools and ask an adviser or even someone at admissions about said universities position on pre-pharm taken at a Community college.
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You mean the two sentences I put down are considered a paragraph ? :laugh:

I was trying to be nice and help him. If he read the previous threads - he would be able to see dozens of replies. I doubt more than a handful of people will respond in this thread because it has been beaten to death, hence he wouldn't get as broad scope of opinions as if he did his research.

Also of course even after reading past threads, he would still be uncertain - after all , we are a bunch of students ourselves, except for minor exceptions, the people on this board are not exactly adcoms and can't tell you anything besides their humble opinion.

For my third paragraph I would say: this is not a pre-allo forum, hence no need to be so tense. :luck:
 
Hi, I'm a student at Lansing Community College and was wondering if getting my pre-req's here was smart to do. The Pharmacy school im looking forward to is Wayne State University. I heard Ferris and University of Michigan were too hard to get into.. I did research on Wayne State and they're looking for people with average of a 3.71 GPA. They said they accept more students who go to their school as oppose to a Community College. Should I just keep taking classes at my community college and try to get in? or should I just go to wayne state for 3 years and take the pre-requisites there? Also, I was born in a different country so does that give me a better chance to get into Pharm School?
 
I would talk to the school. Noone can advise you better on how to get in than the school itself.
 
I am a 3rd year in UCSB, I am a biochem major currently with about 3.31 GPA still got some prerequisites like microbiology, anatomy and physiology, public speaking.... to finish. My school does not offer anatomy lecture or lab ,physiology lab and public speaking. I am thinking graduate two quarters early and go to community college to finish the rest of prerequisites, so I don't need to take classes from both UCSB and community college because it seems like a pain to me. So is that a good or bad idea to do?
 
Chromatography said:
I am a 3rd year in UCSB, I am a biochem major currently with about 3.31 GPA still got some prerequisites like microbiology, anatomy and physiology, public speaking.... to finish. My school does not offer anatomy lecture or lab ,physiology lab and public speaking. I am thinking graduate two quarters early and go to community college to finish the rest of prerequisites, so I don't need to take classes from both UCSB and community college because it seems like a pain to me. So is that a good or bad idea to do?
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If you have completed your difficult courses at a 4yr university (Organic, physics) - no ADCOM will look at your app in a negative light if you finish the rest at a CC. I have read many apps coming from Cali - you kids go to 5, 6, sometimes even 7 different colleges before you apply to professional school. I wouldn't worry about it.

~above~
 
Hi,
I'm currently taking Organic Chem 1. My professor's test are really hard and I don't know if I'm going to pass. I didn't do well on the last two tests. And he is only teaching one session for organic next semester and the class was filled. The other professor is even harder.

My question is: If I retake organic chemistry at my local community college (they have a strong nursing program that is up there in the state. most of their classes are strong). Would look to Pharmacy schools? Is it bad to have classes from a local community college school?


Thank you.
 
Search the forums and you'll a large number of these discussions already finished.

You don't make it clear, but it sounds like you're taking classes at a University. If that's the case and you retake the course at a community college, then YES. It looks bad.

It shows you're shopping around rather than just knuckling down and finishing what you started at your school of choice.
 
pharm B said:
Search the forums and you'll a large number of these discussions already finished.

You don't make it clear, but it sounds like you're taking classes at a University. If that's the case and you retake the course at a community college, then YES. It looks bad.

It shows you're shopping around rather than just knuckling down and finishing what you started at your school of choice.
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I respectfully disagree with just about every point you make.;) :laugh:

In the day and age where state universities in my home state are completely closing down admissions and eliminating nearly all class sections but 1 or 2 (and those are jammed packed with over 100 people on a waiting list), taking classes at CC may be your only option to fulfill your pre-reqs. I was finishing my last pre-req at CC myself after graduating from a four year university, not because I was "not ready to finish what I started" or "shopping around" but simply because there wasn't anything offered at a local 4 year university that I could take.

In OP's case, he states he may have a problem getting into a section at a four year university, so I don't see why he shouldn't take it at CC. As for OP's grade, it will look heck of a lot worse, if he will finish the class and potentially get an F than if he withdraws, takes it at CC and gets a better grade there.

As for mods: I respectuflly wonder why you stilll can't make a sticky of all the threads CC vs. 4 year university classes. It would be very beneficial and people could easily locate and read all the feedback on this topic. This way a wealth of information would be available to them readily instead of just 1-2 individual replies in their thread that may themselves come from people who are biased on this topic.
 
I know a bunch of people that have taken all their pre-reqs at a CC and have gotten into pharmacy school. Just make sure you get good grades because bad grades at a CC look really bad. Its all relative. Good luck!
 
doc ss 26 said:
I know a bunch of people that have taken all their pre-reqs at a CC and have gotten into pharmacy school. Just make sure you get good grades because bad grades at a CC look really bad. Its all relative. Good luck!
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:nod::nod::nod:
 
Cheb, the problem is that OP is whining about how difficult the class is instead of giving up his/her party time, getting a tutor, and putting time in.

Organic is almost completely repetition and memorization. It requires time, and not much else beyond basic understanding on rxn concepts.Now, whether OP is "shopping around" is another issue... but an irrelevant one. How we perceive OP's intentions is moot; it's how Prospective Pharmacy School A will perceive it that is at the heart of this issue.

OP, if at all possible, my advice is to stick with it in the university if at all humanly possible. Moonlighting at a CC while enrolled in a university has to look bad to AdComs... They don't care about economical woes, they don't care about hard professors. If you can't cut it, why won't they just take the girl/guy that did/can?

Maybe it's time to put plan B into action? You have one, right?
 
I do recognize there are some great CC's out there. So, if I was an adcom member, I wouldn't be took quick to judge someone based on pre-reqs from a CC. However, you will have to prove yourself on the PCAT. It's the perfect redemption lol.

Sidenote: I, too, had difficulty with Organic Chemistry I. My teacher gave amazing lectures, but the tests were near impossible. I got a C in the class, and the majority got D's and F's. However, I retook the class with another teacher and made an A...and the difficulty level was about the same...that time though, I used a book titled Organic Chemistry as a Second Language. Check that out! O-chem became a cinch. It takes committment though.

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Second-Language-Translating/dp/0470129298/

^^^best investment you can make for that class.

Good luck with everything. Also, don't be discouraged by your experience in that class. A majority of students on here will admit that O-Chem was their toughest pre-req course. Your situation is totally normal. If your goal is to become a pharmacist, then by all means go get 'em!
 
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cheburashka said:
I was finishing my last pre-req at CC myself after graduating from a four year university, not because I was "not ready to finish what I started" or "shopping around" but simply because there wasn't anything offered at a local 4 year university that I could take.
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I can only assume, but I think the OP is still in university. That makes the situation very different from yours. You had already graduated university. I think the biggest red flag when it comes to cc is if you are currently attending a university AND take some of your prereqs at a community college. Sure, you might have circumstances where the classes in your uni are all full and etc, but I don't think any adcom is really going to ponder that at first glance.

Besides, from what the OP said, he IS looking for ways to find "easier" classes. He said it himself: the OTHER prof is HARDER, which implies that there is another class open .... it's just he doesn't want a harder class.

To OP: Take the hard class. Learn the material well. Ace it.
 
cheburashka said:
I respectfully disagree with just about every point you make.;) :laugh:

In the day and age where state universities in my home state are completely closing down admissions and eliminating nearly all class sections but 1 or 2 (and those are jammed packed with over 100 people on a waiting list), taking classes at CC may be your only option to fulfill your pre-reqs. I was finishing my last pre-req at CC myself after graduating from a four year university, not because I was "not ready to finish what I started" or "shopping around" but simply because there wasn't anything offered at a local 4 year university that I could take.
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He's currently enrolled in an undergraduate program. Finishing your pre-reqs at a CC AFTER you've already completed your bachelors is not the same as being enrolled in a university currently and taking a course off-campus because "the other [university] professor is even harder." He's not having a hard time getting into the course; he's having a hard time getting into the easier professor's section, so he's looking into taking the CC class. To me, that is exactly what "shopping around" means.

In OP's case, he states he may have a problem getting into a section at a four year university, so I don't see why he shouldn't take it at CC. As for OP's grade, it will look heck of a lot worse, if he will finish the class and potentially get an F than if he withdraws, takes it at CC and gets a better grade there.
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As none of us are on Adcoms (where's Admissions Maaaaaan when you need him?), we are of course speculating. I personally think it would it raise some eyebrows to see a W from University and a good grade at a CC. Not in a "you're not getting in" way, but I would want to know more about it. OP, if you pursue this option, be prepared to explain your actions.

As for mods: I respectuflly wonder why you stilll can't make a sticky of all the threads CC vs. 4 year university classes. It would be very beneficial and people could easily locate and read all the feedback on this topic. This way a wealth of information would be available to them readily instead of just 1-2 individual replies in their thread that may themselves come from people who are biased on this topic.
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I can bring it up, but I think there are way too many of these threads for this to be possible. But that's also exactly why I recommend users use the search function.

OP, if you want some more polar views on this, search this topic in the pre-med forums.

Either way: good luck in Organic Chem. It can be a bear of a course.
 
People I personally know on this board and myself believe that when it comes to CC you need to talk to the schools you are interested in and get their opinion on what you are doing.

I know many universities that do not look highly at a CC transcript, especially if you did all of your pre-pharm work there. Going into my freshman year I had 18 hours of CC credit but that was done in high school and they were all non science courses. Some pharmacy schools prefer that you do their curriculum since they understand the difficultly of it. An A at a CC could easily be a D at the university you are applying to, I know this from experience.

As crazy as it sounds, a 3.5 looks a lot better than a 4.0 in certain cases.
 
Passion4Sci said:
Cheb, the problem is that OP is whining about how difficult the class is instead of giving up his/her party time, getting a tutor, and putting time in.

Organic is almost completely repetition and memorization. It requires time, and not much else beyond basic understanding on rxn concepts.Now, whether OP is "shopping around" is another issue... but an irrelevant one. How we perceive OP's intentions is moot; it's how Prospective Pharmacy School A will perceive it that is at the heart of this issue.

OP, if at all possible, my advice is to stick with it in the university if at all humanly possible. Moonlighting at a CC while enrolled in a university has to look bad to AdComs... They don't care about economical woes, they don't care about hard professors. If you can't cut it, why won't they just take the girl/guy that did/can?

Maybe it's time to put plan B into action? You have one, right?
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What this gentleman said.

Anyway is your ochem course graded on a curve. At my UC, a 65/100 on an exam is an A+++ :D
 
I sure hope I'm not screwed because my university does not offer A & P - I am forced to take it at an affiliated CC if I want financial aid to pay for it.
 
pinksparkly said:
I sure hope I'm not screwed because my university does not offer A & P - I am forced to take it at an affiliated CC if I want financial aid to pay for it.
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If you take the whole ellitist " CC is better than 4 year, UC is better than CSU and IVY is better than second tier schools" seriously and more specifically personally, then I suppose, yes - you are indeed absolutely and completely screwed. :laugh:
 
cheburashka said:
If you take the whole ellitist " CC is better than 4 year, UC is better than CSU and IVY is better than second tier schools" seriously and more specifically personally, then I suppose, yes - you are indeed absolutely and completely screwed. :laugh:
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It isn't what he thinks... it what's people looking at applications think. There's a negative stigma attached to CCs. No matter how nicely you paint it with whatever teflon brush you choose, that's a fact. Right or wrong is irrelevant.

That said, again, if your university simply doesn't offer A&P, you don't have any choice, and I doubt it'll put you out of the running unless you have some other fatal flaws.
 
Passion4Sci said:
It isn't what he thinks... it what's people looking at applications think. There's a negative stigma attached to CCs. No matter how nicely you paint it with whatever teflon brush you choose, that's a fact. Right or wrong is irrelevant.

That said, again, if your university simply doesn't offer A&P, you don't have any choice, and I doubt it'll put you out of the running unless you have some other fatal flaws.
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Sent you a pm.
 
To the OP what you are thinking of doing is called class dodging. If you attend a 4 year university and your university offers all of the classes you need for your prereqs, then they expect you to take it there. If you had done all of your classes at a CC well then there would be fine, but for you its going to look like you are switching to a seemingly less difficult program just to get a good grade. It would also be fine if there were other circumstances besides "The other professor is even harder" preventing you from taking the class.

To pinksparkly, you have no other choice but to take it at a CC, and I dont think it would hurt your application at at all.
 
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