How can I fulfill prerequisite courses for graduate schools if I'm currently working?

Graduate School
1

I am out of school and currently working, and am considering applying for graduate programs outside of my major. The problem is graduate programs may want “background” in specific areas that aren’t on my transcript, I am uncertain about what my plan of action should be to meet their prerequisites, or if it’s even feasible at all without quitting my job.

First of all it’s not clear whether I need official academic credit or if they’re “soft” prereqs which I can demonstrate by taking a MOOC from Coursera, Edx., etc., or even from OpenCourseWare (or even reading up textbooks on it)? I’ve seen at least one program which seemed to suggest official credit at first, then later down seemed to say Coursera is OK. I would think something like med school would be strict on this, but what about a MS/PhD program in a STEM field such as biomedical engineering, bioinformatics or electrical engineering?

If I have to take courses for official credit, then where I can I take them online? I have a hard time finding a website/university that offers prereq type courses in biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, etc. I doubt any online school, even accredited, would do, since graduate schools care about the prestige/reputation of your institution. For example, there is Athabasca University which is an accredited online Canadian school, which sounds like it might work, but would grad schools especially from the US consider it not “reputable” enough? (I plan on applying to a mix of American and Canadian schools).

Does anyone have suggestions on online schools that I can choose? (Reputable/won’t hurt my chances on an application, but preferably doesn’t cost too much).

There is a local university near me but they don’t offer the online/after-hours courses I want. Besides that there’s no other university anywhere close (I live in a remote area). The additional problem is that I cannot do a science lab online - does that mean even online science courses won’t be enough because I don’t have the lab experience? (I suppose that also means doing premed is impossible without quitting my job because med schools are probably strict on lab prereqs?) There’s also the problem of scheduled exams during working hours - I may be able to take time off work, but in the event I can’t I may be forced to fail a course. (Which is why I prefer MOOCs if possible, in addition to being cheaper).

Has anyone been in a similar situation before? I appreciate your help.

2

The department should tell you, but in general prerequisite means a credit-bearing course at a university or college (although you can complete it online if the college offers online courses and it makes sense to do so). For a PhD program, you definitely want to take a credit-bearing course, and preferably the in-person format.

That’s because these courses require labs, recitations and other hands-on sections that are difficult to do online.

I have seen people take prerequisite courses and post-bacc pre-med programs while working full-time. You have to find a college/program that offers classes in the evenings and weekends, when you can take them. Or you need to work a very flexible job that will allow you to leave during the hours you have class. But the vast majority of even very flexible positions aren’t going to enable you to miss class twice a week for a T/R 9-11 class, so you’ll have to figure out which schools nearby you offer evening classes.

If the local university doesn’t offer any evening classes in the field you need them in, you may have to move. Or do a full-time program.

3

Or if you only need a couple of lab courses see if you can get a 6-10 week leave of absence/sabbatical and do the courses in the summer sessions. You can get 2 semesters worth of a lab science in summer school that way, and it is often possible to do 2 at a time (but not more, as you typically have classes 5 mornings/week and labs 2-3 afternoons/week