Question: I want to take a few credits over the summer so I can transfer into a university. None of the colleges near me offer the class I need during summer so I was going to take it at a community college. My adviser said that having a science class from a community college will keep me out of medical school. Is that true? How much will this one class impact my future?
Answer: Great question. One class at community college will not make a big difference on your application. If you were taking all of your science classes at community college, that would look fishy. However, one community college class is definitely not going to keep you out of medical school. Many students get into top schools with some community college classes.
Academic achievement is an important part of getting into medical school, but definitely not everything. You’ll want to make yourself competitive in 8 main areas: academic performance, community service, leadership, clinical experience, research, humanism, hobbies/extracurriculars and letters of recommendation. If you’re strong in those (or at least most of them), you’ll be able to be accepted to medical school. One community college class will not matter if the rest of your application is strong.
To learn more about how to stand out in these categories, check out my eBook 10 Steps to Accepted.
Best of luck to you!