Did I hurt myself by taking A&P at a CC?

[Upstateguy770]

Hello there,

 

I have completed all my course work at a Community College ( 1-year general chem,  a year of organic, a year of of General Bio, and one year of physics) before realizing that I was interested in the PA profession. The most recent classes that I completed were Anatomy and Physiology earning  A's in both classes this year. Mainly I am worried because these are perhaps the most important classes(or so I hear) for consideration into many PA programs and I know these classes are more than likely harder to get high grades in at the 4-year university level. If it make any diffence the CC that I attend is one of the top ones in the nation, in fact The Cornell school of Sciences are really big on recruiting our students. Any information/feedback greatly appreciated.

[dndandrea]

Hello there,

 

I have completed all my course work at a Community College ( 1-year general chem,  a year of organic, a year of of General Bio, and one year of physics) before realizing that I was interested in the PA profession. The most recent classes that I completed were Anatomy and Physiology earning  A's in both classes this year. Mainly I am worried because these are perhaps the most important classes(or so I hear) for consideration into many PA programs and I know these classes are more than likely harder to get high grades in at the 4-year university level. If it make any diffence the CC that I attend is one of the top ones in the nation, in fact The Cornell school of Sciences are really big on recruiting our students. Any information/feedback greatly appreciated.

Most people who attend community colleges are also working part time or full time. This shows that you're capable of juggling school and work while getting good grades, which is not easy. I completed the majority of my pre-reqs at a community college and none of the PA programs I had interviews with or got accepted to had any problem with or questioned about my pre-reqs being completed at a community college. In the end it really depends on the area you live in and the schools you plan on applying to. I have read that some schools look down upon community colleges which leaves me completely flabbergasted.

[UGoLong]

I did mine in CC. It was not questioned anywhere I applied.

[Johnson2018pac]

It must be a regional thing, but where I live CC courses aren't really thought of as subpar. The program I was accepted into had no problems with them at all. I took many of my pre-reqs at the local CC rather than the university just simply because they were 1/5 the price as the university ones.

On a sidenote, I retook A&P II for a refresher at a community college before applying (had taken it many years before at a 4 year college) and the CC course was it least 10X better taught.

[UGoLong]

I think community college gets a bad rap. For those of us who went to school while having full-time jobs and families, it was an effective way to go. The evening classes especially seemed to be populated by students on a mission and instructors who wanted to be there.

 

Here's what I had to say about it in my book:

 

"After my year at Otterbein, I took the rest of my prerequisites at night at Columbus State Community College. If you ever feel your enthusiasm for life waning, consider sitting in on a community college night class and meeting some of the students. You’ll find that you aren’t the only one there with a dream."

[dmdpac]

I updated all my prerequisite classes for PA school at a local community college.  I specifically asked the program I wanted to attend if this was going to be a problem on my application.  They told me that so long as my classes weren't completed at one particular CC it wouldn't be an issue.  (The one CC in question has a pretty bad reputation.)

 

If you have questions about a particular CC contact your school(s) of choice and ask the question directly.  It seems, however, that there are quite a few of us who had transcripts from local CCs and didn't have a problem.  It would stand to reason, barring unforeseen circumstances, that you shouldn't have a problem, either.

[Steve]

OP, where do you go? It sounds like you're from my neck of the woods. Maybe TCC or BCC? I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I think community college gets a bad rap... 

 

I think, at least in part, that it gets a bad rap from the people who spent 15x on their own education and aren't capable of seeing alternative routes. Kind of a keeping the man down type of thing. They have to justify their path and $$ spent and the easy way of doing that is by saying "inferior education!". The GRE and MCAT will be a good place to dissociate yourself from the stigma.

[Upstateguy770]

Monroe community college in Rochester NY. I took the Pharmacy college admissions test last year and after two tries I scored in the mid 80th percentile (the first time quantitative really dragged my score down, but scored high on Chem and Bio.sections both times) I attribute a lot of my success on that exam from the  MCC chemistry and biology as well as math departments. I also took  a cell Biology and Microbiology class at a 4-year state school and they were the hardest B's that I have ever worked for. Not because the material was more in depth, but because of the amount of information and the responsibilty you had for organizing the key concepts for exams, where in CC they seemed to tell you what you needed to know for both lecture and lab exams.

 

Thanks so much for all the feedback and Happy Holidays!!

[aliss929]

I did 100% of my prerequisite courses at a community college... worked out fine for me, just make sure the schools you're applying to will accept them. Some school websites explicitly state that they do not accept CC credits.

[dndandrea]

Monroe community college in Rochester NY. I took the Pharmacy college admissions test last year and after two tries I scored in the mid 80th percentile (the first time quantitative really dragged my score down, but scored high on Chem and Bio.sections both times) I attribute a lot of my success on that exam from the  MCC chemistry and biology as well as math departments. I also took  a cell Biology and Microbiology class at a 4-year state school and they were the hardest B's that I have ever worked for. Not because the material was more in depth, but because of the amount of information and the responsibilty you had for organizing the key concepts for exams, where in CC they seemed to tell you what you needed to know for both lecture and lab exams.

 

Thanks so much for all the feedback and Happy Holidays!!

 

I've had the opposite experience. My community college was tougher, but I learned so much. Also, my professors were 100x better at the community college. I've had a pretty poor experience at my 4-year college even though i've had straight As in all my upper electives and final pre-reqs there.

[MedicinePower]

Took all of mine at a CC. I start PA school in 2 weeks.

[EMEDPA]

I've had the opposite experience. My community college was tougher, but I learned so much. Also, my professors were 100x better at the community college. I've had a pretty poor experience at my 4-year college even though i've had straight As in all my upper electives and final pre-reqs there.

several of my CC courses were better than the same classes taken years earlier at the university of CA. smaller class size makes a difference. at UC undergrad bio classes had 350+ students. at CC they had 35.

[ElatedPA-S]

I took all of my pre-req's at the local community college.  The A & P labs included cadaver work as a standard.  Instead of 100+ in a lecture hall with no cadaver's, I paid 1/5th the cost and had a class of 15 students.  Having taken A & P at both the University and the CC I am really kicking myself for having wasted the time and money at the University.  The CC even included a special Pro-section cadaver class while I was there.  The old cadavers were being returned and the new one's brought in, so the professor's designed a very small class (6 students) to teach student's how to prep and dissect the new cadaver's for the next round of A & P classes.

 

I learned more A & P in 6-weeks dissecting down that cadaver that I ever had at a University.  My PA school of choice had no issues with CC courses, I start my PA classes in 2 months.