How Do Medical Schools View Transfer Students (Especially from Community Colleges)?
/Learn how to approach your medical school application as a former transfer student or a community college alumnus
Learn how to get into medical school as a former transfer student
Introduction
Many students transfer during undergrad, and millions attend community college each year. If you’re a former transfer student or a community college alumnus, you probably know by now that you’re far from unusual. But if you’re applying to notoriously competitive medical schools, you may be nervous about how admissions committees will view your background.
You might be eager to get some numbers showing how applicants like you have fared before. That’s a little tough, since medical schools don’t generally release data about how many former transfer or community college students they accept. Some past research tells us that med school applicants who attended community college were 30 percent less likely than students who’d only attended four-year institutions to make it to medical school. The same data also showed that the more undergraduate institutions an applicant attended, the less likely they were to be accepted to medical school.
Don’t let those numbers scare you too much, though. While they do directly address the question of how medical schools view former transfer or community college students, the data are also from 2014, and many med schools have since increased commitment to admitting students from diverse backgrounds.
In this guide, we’ll cover how to make the most of your time as a premed undergraduate, regardless of how many or what kind of institutions you’ve attended, and how to address your background as a transfer student within your medical school applications. We’ll discuss turning your educational history into a strength, rather than a weakness.
Transferring from community college to a four-year college as a premed student
Will medical schools accept premedical requirements taken at community college?
Yes. Most medical schools will accept or recognize any premedical requirements you take at your community college, as long as these courses are accepted by the undergraduate institution you transfer to.
But keep in mind that most medical schools prefer that you complete the bulk of your premed courses at a four-year college or university (for example, see the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s policy and BUSM’s policy). Medical schools want to be sure that you’re academically prepared for those rigorous pre-clinical years. This means you should try to take as many of your premed courses as possible at a four-year institution, especially your upper-level courses. You can also demonstrate your preparedness through a strong MCAT score.
Some medical schools have differing policies about accepting community college courses. UC Irvine only accepts upper-division biology taken at an accredited four-year-institution, while Yale accepts community college courses so long as they include labs and are comparable to what’s offered at a four-year institution.
Check out the specific policies of your wish-list medical schools now, well ahead of the application process and even before your final years of college, so that you can make a plan to complete all the coursework you need.
Is it okay if my grades drop after I transfer?
While the coursework at your community college is likely rigorous, transferring to a new undergraduate institution can still be challenging. You’re navigating an unfamiliar campus, developing relationships with classmates and faculty, trying extracurriculars, and taking on upper-level coursework all at once (not to mention managing potential work and family commitments). While balancing everything can be overwhelming, we advise you to devote as much energy as possible to maintaining or improving a stellar GPA.
It’s also not a good idea to intentionally enroll only in “easy” courses in hopes of gaining higher grades after transferring. But you also don’t want to take on so much high-level coursework in your first semester as a transfer that your grades drop.
Admissions officers will want to see both a high GPA and evidence that you were able to adjust to upper-level coursework at your four-year college or university. Choose rigorous courses—just not so many that your grades decline. If you’re concerned about making good choices with your schedule, seek help from your university’s advising offices—there may even be an administrator or mentor assigned to help transfer students settle in.
After transferring, how do I improve my resumé or CV to be competitive for medical school admissions?
Students who attend only one undergraduate institution can spend four years building a role within an extracurricular or community organization, research group, or local hospital.
But you can also immerse yourself in extracurricular and service opportunities in just two years. If you’re planning on transferring, get a good look at the premed offerings at the four-year colleges you’re considering. Research them carefully and arrive on campus with a sense of a few volunteer or clinical opportunities that appeal to you. In your first semester, as you settle into a new academic routine, try to choose one additional extracurricular activity to balance your schedule out. Once you’re fully at home at your new institution—including having a strong set of first semester grades—you can bulk that up.
(Suggested reading: How to Choose the Right Extracurricular Activities for Medical School)
Are there any advantages to having started my premed journey at community college?
Definitely! You might have attended community college to save money, to balance supporting a family, or to give yourself more time to choose your academic pursuit. Consider your time at a two-year college as part of your story—which you’ll have a chance to convey in your AMCAS personal statement—rather than as a weakness.
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In addition to considering how your community college background shapes you personally, ask yourself how it might shape your professional outlook. Might your time at community college set you up to be a more community-minded doctor later in life?
One study found that doctors who’d attended community college were more likely to practice medicine in underserved communities than doctors who’d never attended community college. Another study found that students who attended community college before medical school were more likely to eventually practice family medicine than their peers. These two studies show how many community college students go on to be doctors who support populations in need.
If those studies sound like you, know that your background is far from a disadvantage. In fact, it’s a strength you can draw on as you write your essays and attend interviews.
Your time at community college or multiple colleges will likely give you more access to diverse communities compared with students who only attend one four-year institution. This can positively inform your future work as a doctor, no matter your eventual specialty.
So, how do medical schools view community college transfers overall?
There’s no simple answer to this question, because the admissions policies and views of medical schools can vary. (That’s, in fact, exactly what Sunny Gibson, the director of the office of diversity and community partnership at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University said in response to a community college student asking just this question.)
But if you prove yourself to be an academic standout and involved community member at both your community college and the institution you transfer to, admissions officers will recognize your achievement and readiness for medical school.
You can reflect on your educational path in either your personal statement or your secondary essays. You’ll also want to be prepared to speak to your transfer experience in your medical school interviews. Ideally, you can show admissions officers how transferring from one college to another gave you the same tools you will need to handle the transition to medical school, and from medical school to residency.
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Final thoughts
If you are, will be, or were a transfer student, feel confident about applying to medical school. Not only do you have a great chance of finding a medical school that is right for you, your background may actually provide an edge in the admissions process. Rest assured that your specific educational experiences will serve you throughout medical school and into your eventual career as a physician.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
