But if the classes were online you will still have to retake them, even if your degree is in-person.
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That would work, assuming UMass will accept all your transfer credits from SNHU–which may not happen.
Students almost always lose credits when they transfer schools unless it’s directly from a CC to an instate public college which they have an articulation agreement with.
You could call up the registrar at Mass and ask if they will do a transcript audit for you and tell you which credits will transfer and which won’t. if they won’t, you won’t know until after your transfer has processed and your transcript has had a departmental review.
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Okay so let me ask. If I finish my bachelors at SNHU, but retake all of the STEM courses at UMASS Lowell over the next year… could I do both and be accepted into med school?
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By the way, if your user name is your real name, I recommend that you change it to something anonymous. Once you make the change it will apply retroactively to your previous messages.
@thumper1 can you post the instructions again for how to do that?
And if that doesn’t work, one of the admins can change it for you.
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You can do both, but I’m not sure I understand your reasoning why you want to continue attending a school (SNHU) where the online nature of your degree will be a detriment to your career and professional plans?
Also retaking classes you’ve already passed is bad thing for professional school admission. It looks like grade grubbing (which adcomms hate) plus it’s real double edged sword: get an A and adcomm think, “Of course BenKiesc got an A, he’s taken the class before”, Get something less than an A and it’s a real black mark on your application.
The better course of action is take higher levels of any community college class or online classes you’ve already taken. Take biochem. Take biostatistics. Take advanced inorganic chemistry. Take neuroscience or anatomy & physiology. Get As in those classes and it will go a long way toward convincing admission officers your good grades elsewhere weren’t a fluke or a result of easier academics.
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To answer everyone’s questions.
I thought many dental schools don’t require advanced math and physics courses, so I skipped the calculus courses being honest.
As far as many grades in chemistry courses. Never got below an A-. So pretty good. I had good partners in class and really fun.
So based on the advice in this forum, I should drop out of SNHU (get a W), reapply to UMASS Lowell… I guess transfer credits from community college or maybe don’t? I would hope I would not have to redo a 4 year degree.
Definitely plan on UMASS Lowell route though. Graduate with degree in environmental science. Hire a tutor and get through the calc. I could even switch majors if there would be more favorable undergrad to med school. I just thought environmental science would be the quickest since I already started.
Please, please talk with a transfer advisor at UMass Lowell before you do something like this. Make sure to tell them your plans and see what they say.
And also talk to the dental schools to make sure you really understand what is needed.
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I agree with @MMRose.
Please also meet with a pre-health advisor to make sure you understand the requirements for a competitive med/dental school application. I would also suggest meeting with career services to explore other careers that do not require med/dental school. That may be your best bet.
Good luck!
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Okay good idea. I will keep doing my coursework until I have a definite plan, because there is always the case that it would not be possible, and then I would rather stick with SNHU. I will make phone calls.
In terms of major switch…
“In the US you can go to medical/dental school with any major as long as you have the prerequisites. If you can finish the prereqs in time, or if you’re willing to graduate a little later, then there’s no reason to change majors.”
It took me until 26 to decide, but I don’t believe it’s wrong to decide to go to med school in your late 20s. I used to think if you didn’t figure your life out by 21 it was too late.
I told my parents actually my plan. My mother of all people is very nervous I’m taking on more than I can handle. So the definite plan should be, reach out to the college and see what they say before I jump the gun.
Some other careers I’ve tried. Went to a technical college. My associates of science is in collision repair. Worked as a mechanic for 5 years. I guess mechanics can make great surgeons. Lol.
Medical/dental school will still be there when you’re ready. In the med school class 1 year ahead of my older daughter’s class, there was a 42 year old first year student.
it’s true you can major in anything and still go to med school provided you have taken all the required pre-req classes.
My older d was physics & math double major. Her younger sister was another math major. Both went to med school.Their med classmates included a wide range of majors—agriculture (forestry specifically. She was forest ranger in Alaska before med school. She’s now a MD/PhD doing residency in hepatology), Italian & enology (pulmonology/critical care), English (surgeon), theology (oncology, He’d been a youth pastor for 8 years before med school), biomedical engineering (ENT), Spanish (IM), electrical engineering (urology), sports communications (rural family medicine), sociology (neonatologist) and music theory (family medicine).
However, it’s going to take some careful planning on your part. Please talk with a career advisor who is experienced in advising health profession students.
SNHU does have career advisors for both online and in-person students, but because SNHU’s focus is on technical and business training, the advisors there may not be very helpful for those aiming toward medical/dental school. It’s kind of out of their wheelhouse.
BTW, mechanics can become doctors. You certainly wouldn’t be the first…
Edited to add; if you like working with your hands, think about orthopedic surgery. D! spent the better part of a year being mentored by an orthopedist in med school and she thought seriously about pursuing it as her specialty. She said orthopedics is a lot like carpentry and requires being comfortable using electric saws, drills and chisels, and having excellent 3-d visualization skills.
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Here’s the thing. Last June, you were looking at doing a masters in Environmental Science, and in September, you were asking about doing an undergraduate in Occupational Safety. Now you are considering dental/medical school. You seem to still be exploring career tracks, which is OK.
However, I do not see medical/dental school to be a realistic career path for you. Aside from the difficulty in being accepted to medical school in general, it is extremely expensive. It is also extremely difficult. In fact, unless a person has a passion for the field, or at least, a long-term serious interest, they are highly unlikely to complete medical or dental school, and will be left with nothing but whatever debt they happen to incur from student loans. The fact that you seem to still be exploring interests and possible career paths indicates, to me at least, that you have neither the passion, nor a long-term interest in career in oral surgery that is required to complete such a degree and subsequent specialization.
Now, I applaud the determination and perseverance that it took you to finish your undergraduate degree after a number of false starts. It bodes well for your chances in succeeding in many careers. However, it also indicates that academic studies are really not your biggest strength. Unfortunately that is exactly where you need to be extremely strong if you want to successfully complete studies and training required for a dental surgeon.
What about Environmental Science attracted you to the field? You started as a chemical engineering major, and there is a large overlap between the two, so that is the direction in which your interests seem to be.
I think that you should start looking for a job in that field, and then, later, see if there are any further degrees or courses that would help you advance your career. Serious interest or passion can often help people who find academics to be challenging succeed in such studies. So you could probably complete a masters in a field which you really find interesting.
So my advice is to first figure out what you want to do, work in a couple f years, and then consider if you want to do a graduate degree in that field.
Good luck!
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UMass Lowell will REQUIRE that you send all transcripts from ALL previously attended colleges. It’s not an option.
You can think about this…eventually. It might be a good choice. But many medical school students find their interest while they are doing rotations during years 3 and 4 of medical school.
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I’ll post one of these again. Read through it and you’ll see where people came from in their “prior to med school” lives and average age. If you think you can be someone a future med school will write about and have the dedication to get the needed ECs done, go for it. If you don’t think it’s you, I’d continue the career exploration. It’s all up to what you feel, and then the chance of getting accepted if you apply.
You can start reading at page 3 or 4 if you want to skip over some of the fluff.
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the best thing you can do to help clarify if you want to pursue a career in medicine or dentistry is to shadow professionals in both fields AND volunteer to get exposure to one of both fields.
Do it now before you make and final decisions about changing career paths. How do you know you’d actually like what dentists (or doctors) do day-to-day? Yes, dentistry and medicine both are high paying professions, but you have to like what you do. There are a lot of negative associated with both professions and money (no matter how much) just isn’t worth it if you hate your life.
Shadowing and volunteering are expected ECs for both med and dental school. (Expected in that it’s a soft–unwritten–requirement and you won’t be accepted without it.) So shadowing and volunteering aren’t a waste of time.
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That is the thing. It’s easy to look cool reading about it and thinking of myself as a dentist, but I’m not sure I would even like it. I would want to find out first before I make a commitment.
As for environmental science, I’m sort of falling out of love with the career choice. I wanted to do engineering but couldn’t get past the math, but environmental science isn’t really that. However it is a very broad major that can open the door to many careers.
As far as med school, some schools are much easier to be accepted into than others (not saying coursework is easy). My largest struggle in school was math, and as I understand med students don’t require advanced math courses.
Dentistry is something that has peaked my interest. It seems like a rewarding career. You get to work directly with patients. Why I loved engineering, it can be a hands on career choice. It’s not just a numbers crunching job like business or economics. Some are great for that, but I believe to be a food doctor takes a creative brain as well.
Then you need to find a dentist who you can shadow…and I don’t mean one time…I mean once a week or some other regular schedule. You can’t possibly pick a career based on your own visits to the dentist, and what you see on TV.
Perhaps see if your own family dentist would be willing to sit down first and talk to you about his or her job…and go from there.
You have insufficient information.
ETA…have you read the health professions site that was linked above? There are TONS of health related careers where you can have direct patient contact. Doctor and dentist aren’t the only ones.
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Really? Oh please do tell others the easier medical schools to get accepted to. EVERY single medical school in this country rejects far more applicants than it accepts. Far more!
According to college websites when looking for schools, I live close to Boston U. They have a less than 3% acceptance rate. Mississippi State med school has a 45% acceptance rate.