Will Taking Prereqs at Community College Hurt My Chances?

Session 121

Does taking your prereqs at a community college hurt your chances of getting into a more selective medical school? Well, it depends. Read on to find out why!

Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points.

By the way, the episodes in this podcast are recordings of our Facebook Live that we do at 3 pm Eastern on most weekdays. Check out our Facebook page and like the page to be notified. Also, listen to our other podcasts on MedEd Media. If you have any questions, call me at 617-410-6747.

[0:16] Question of the Day

Q: “I have a question regarding community college postbacs and specifically how medical schools view them. If in your experience, you’ve had students who did most of their prereqs at a community college, are they still able to get accepted to more selective medical schools?

I know that in the past, you’ve mentioned that going from university to a community college can be seen as a red flag. Is that still the case if you have the MCAT and GPA to match what the school is looking for?”

A: There could be multiple reasons why you’re doing classes at community college.

Either you did poorly in undergrad and you went to community college because that’s just what fits your life and schedule now. Or you did well in undergrad, but you need the prereqs so you’re doing them at a community college.

Those tell two different stories and one is obviously much easier to overcome than the other. And so, what’s the situation for you?

Our student says she did well in undergrad. Her grandpa died in her first semester so her mom moved out to Colorado and she graduated early and came back to help her mom with work. She had no idea what formal postdocs were at the time until realizing later on that CU has one.

She really likes the community college she goes to since she gets very good one-on-one help and it costs about a tenth as much.

[02:05] Looking at Your GPA

Your undergraduate GPA is good so it’s not an issue. I wouldn’t even give it a second thought as to why you’re doing it at a community college. You have a good reason why you’re doing it at a community college. So you’re not trying to prove anything because you already have proven your academic success at the institution that you were at before.

Now, you’re just taking the prereqs and what you need to do to get into medical school at the community college. So it’s not a red flag at all. Maybe there will be some schools out there that still don’t like the idea of community colleges but don’t mind them.

“One of the silver linings of this pandemic is that COVID has presented many schools with an opportunity to reevaluate requirements and processes in terms of necessity versus preferred.”Click To Tweet

Probably what’s going to happen is, schools are going to take a really hard look at their processes.

Historically, part of their rubric was to mark off two points if it was a community college. Hopefully, we could get rid of that because it’s hurting our students.

[4:36] Community College Classes

Q: “Do medical schools view all classes that are taken out of community college as lower division? A lot of community colleges like the one I go to offer Microbiology, Anatomy, and Physiology. And if I were to have taken those in universities, they would have been operative but I know that could be different.”

A: In your case, it doesn’t matter if it’s an upper-division or lower division. You’re not trying to prove academic capability. You’re just out there taking the courses you need to take to get into medical school.

Microbiology, Anatomy, and Physiology are not prereqs for medical school. Why take them if they’re not required? Or is it just preparation for medical school?

Our student says it’s a little bit of both since she also did AP biology in high school. She tested out of Biology then at the college level.

A lot of medical schools completely accept that but some require you to take a year of operative classes. She was a Biological Anthropology major so she has Neuroanatomy and Genetics classes, but they’re all within the Anthropology department. So now she’s wondering exactly how this will be viewed by medical schools.

“Take what you can and the schools are going to evaluate how they're going to evaluate them.” Click To Tweet

Usually, Microbiology will count as one of the Bio requirements. It likely won’t be an issue. You can always reach out to a school.

Look at the MSAR the AAMC puts out. Unfortunately, you have to pay for it. That will list some requirements for each school. Or you can just reach out directly to the school without that, tell them your situation and ask if the class you’re taking will count.

[6:43] Advice to Students on Which Schools to Apply to

Q: “What would your advice be to students who are trying to figure out which schools to apply to? Maybe they have a GPA that’s above the average for that school, but an MCAT in range or vice versa. Is there one that you should be putting more emphasis on that makes you a good candidate for a school?”

A: Neither. I go against the grain with this philosophy in terms of picking schools. Students should not be picking schools based on stats. Every student does this and what that does is perpetuate the stats.

Students are only applying to schools where they are in reigns or self-selecting and the school only has those options to choose from. Those are the stats that come out every year but it’s not who they accept, that’s just what they accepted.

Because so many students self-select, all those stats stay the same. Unfortunately, schools are not transparent.

“The MSAR is not transparent with the lowest MCAT or GPA they will accept.” Click To Tweet

Two years ago, I gave a talk at the admissions committee conferences for admissions officers in Toronto. I told them the reason why premeds are disappointed is that they’re not transparent. They hide these cutoffs from students and so the students won’t apply to their school, where they may be an amazing fit for the class and their mission. They won’t let them know that they’ll accept the 3.1 students, because their MSAR says that their 10th percentile is 3.7.

There’s just so much miscommunication and myths around stats in terms of GPA and MCAT. And this scares students from applying to schools where they may be an amazing fit because there’s something in their application that the school is really looking for.

“Throw stats out the window. Where do you want to be? What's your number one choice in terms of school?”Click To Tweet

Obviously, stats are important but you can still get into Harvard with a 2.5 GPA. Instead, do your research in terms of mission, vision, what sort of programs they have, residency, and resources. If they don’t have that program you’re interested in, maybe think about not applying there. 75% of students change their mind anyway once in medical school but it’s a start.

Start by not looking at stats and instead, look at the location, weather, class size, curriculum type, and all these other things that will determine if you’re going to be happy there.

Then as you start to build your list, do some looking at GPA and MCAT. Ignore the median and look at the 10th percentile and check how close you are to the 10th percentile mark. Are you confident enough in your whole application to know that you’re right around that 10 percentile mark? And if you’re confident that you’re a really good fit for the school then go ahead and apply.