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Do PA schools care if your prereqs are from a CC?


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I'm graduating with a degree in psychology next spring. I've taken some of the prerequisites for PA school but have received the minimum grades due to health complications, so my GPA has suffered greatly.

 

I'd like to retake all those classes but as a result of not doing well in them, my university has prevented me from taking science courses.

 

I've contacted the university I'm most interested in applying to and they told me that they do not mind if my credit comes from a CC. Do most PA schools care where you finish your prerequisites? I just have a lot of reasons to stay local, finances being the main one.

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In my case, I had one particular school that was my top choice (DeSales, where I go now). I had received a humanities degree from out of state, and when I moved up to PA, I did half of my classes at the CC, and half at Desales. I did this for 3 reasons - 1). they are a very tough school and I wanted to show them that I could directly compete with their students (they have a undergrad->masters program as well), 2). I wanted to make my application stand out, and 3). I wanted my letters of recommendation to come from people they knew.

 

If it's possible to do something like this at your PA school of choice, I'd recommend it. There is nothing in the world like networking to get your foot in the door. By the way, many universities have adult learner programs where you pay a significantly reduced tuition if you're taking classes and aren't degree-seeking. Yeah, the classes I took at DeSales were much more expensive than at CC, but they were also much less than traditional students paid for them, and I considered it an investment. For me, it paid off (though, I did have a strong academic and HCE background too... don't think it would have worked out for me if I'd come in applying with a 3.0 or something.)

 

My two cents.. Do 1/2 and 1/2 if you can, or even 70/30 - if you have a weak area of your application, I would suggest not trying to go the easier way because you'll be competing with people that have near 4.0 from 4-year universities.

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Most won't care. But you can easily avoid applying there. They specifically say on their web site "we do not accept CC classes." I think I found only one that said A&P has to come from a university. I can see why they do it - CC classes are a piece of cake in general, and that can mess you up when you have to REALLY know this stuff. But it should be ok.

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I may be in the minority, but I've found my local CC's science courses to be as challenging as my University's sciences. I took Bio 1 for non-science majors at CC and am taking Bio 1 for science majors at University and the CC was at least as challenging (except for lab - which is the principle difference between science/non-science major courses anyhow).

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you'll be competing with people that have near 4.0 from 4-year universities.

 

I hope you're wrong here because my Cum. will be in the neighborhood of 3.4 with a science of approx. 3.75. Still, 4.0ish is tough to beat considering slightly more than half of my pre-reqs will be completed @ CC. Again, hoping you're exaggerating :P

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Glad others have been challenged at CC's as well. I always wondered what the drag on CC's was all about when I was sweating bullets in my A+P and Micro class. Especially now that I've transferred into a 4 year and realize the difficulty level is not much greater (if any at all) and in some cases easier. But I guess it all varies course to course and school to school.

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Most won't care. But you can easily avoid applying there. They specifically say on their web site "we do not accept CC classes." I think I found only one that said A&P has to come from a university. I can see why they do it - CC classes are a piece of cake in general, and that can mess you up when you have to REALLY know this stuff. But it should be ok.

 

My CC Cell Bio (took it again upper div in Uni) used Lehnninger. My upper div used (Microbio of) The Cell. I will always be grateful for both.

 

To the OP, I don't know you or your story personally. If it is indeed true that you had health-related upset, then that could make one heck of a personal essay in PA school application. However, and please don't take offense, but if it is not true then you need to face facts and deal with it head-on (which is sorta what you're doing either way). And that wouldn't necessarily mean you wouldn't get in.

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My CC Cell Bio (took it again upper div in Uni) used Lehnninger. My upper div used (Microbio of) The Cell. I will always be grateful for both.

 

To the OP, I don't know you or your story personally. If it is indeed true that you had health-related upset, then that could make one heck of a personal essay in PA school application. However, and please don't take offense, but if it is not true then you need to face facts and deal with it head-on (which is sorta what you're doing either way). And that wouldn't necessarily mean you wouldn't get in.

 

Well the whole health issue is another problem in itself. Since there's still so much stigma on mental illness, I'm hesitant to bring in being diagnosed with depression. I spent the first 2 years of my undergrad not taking it too seriously--that I feel responsible for. I started improving my first semester in my 3rd year, and then started getting symptoms of depression that following spring. Until then, just a lot of really unfortunate events affecting my performance in school ie having to get surgery for an infection, my mother being hospitalized, my best friend getting in a fatal car crash, things like that. It's just been quite a bumpy ride for me.

 

I spent my past summer off from school so I could focus on treating my depression and basically getting my life together. I'd say my grades (and my life, in general) have improved. I just have a lot of catching up to do and need help figuring out the best path to take.

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I think it really depends on the school. You will probably will have to call and ask one of the admissions counselors.

 

At first I was *hoping* that it wouldn't matter; however, after speaking to 5 admission counselors at a recent AMSA conference at UC Davis, three of the schools (Touro Nevada, Touro California, & Western University) told me that they prefer that the prereqs are taken at a 4-year college/university. Now, I don't know if they were trying to make me feel discouraged or not, so if anyone disagrees, please feel free to correct me!

 

Now, those three school really did make me feel uneasy because I didn't know how I would be able to afford taking all my prereqs at a university! However, I talked to 2 other California PA programs and they told me that although they DO prefer classes taken at a university... they do understand if you can only take them at a CC. They said that as long as you're working, volunteering, or considered a "full-time student," then it's okay. They just said it looks bad if you're only taking 1-2 classes because it doesn't look like you're challenging yourself.

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My first 2 years and roughly half my pre-reqs were from CC.

 

CC was such a better experience and I feel I took so much more away from it, the professors were there to teach and 1000x better. 2nd two years were at an undergrad school and also where I graduated from.

 

Didn't have any problems though. I strongly recommend CC - way better quality of education, and so much cheaper!!! But a few schools do care. So call and ask the ones you apply to I guess.

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Generally speaking, and I could be wrong, I believe the top tier schools prefer (and possibly may not accept CC credits) pre-reqs from 4-years. I think the majority of programs are okay with CC credits though. You can e-mail or call the admissions department of prospective schools to clarify with them specifically. They got those phone calls all the damn time :P

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