I’m new here to college confidential, so I thought I’d make my first post one that has been burning in my head the past few weeks.
I am in a situation where I could take my pre-requisites online through UNECOM, or I could take these courses at my local CC. I am not in a financial position to afford the 4 year down the street, as I am an OOS student, and will be due to my current enrollment as a non-science master’s student there. One organic chem course of 5 credits would cost me about 10k, and my financial aid does not cover courses outside my major’s code.
To finish out my pre-reqs, I need organic chem 1/2, biochem, and physics 2, all of which are offered online at UNE, or in-seat at my local CC. These are affordable options, but may affect my competitiveness. I have e-mailed the schools I am interested in applying to, and most of them say they want the courses to be completed at a four year accredited university, which UNE is, but prefer in-seat, which my CC is. With this information, would you advise someone to take their pre-reqs at a 4 year online or CC inseat? I’m incredibly torn.
Thanks!
Many (most? all?) medical schools will not accept 100% online coursework for classes that have a laboratory component. Consult the admission website of each medical school you’re interested in for specific requirements. Also spend $30 on the MSAR and read the online class policies for each school. (For example, some medical school require student to obtain written permission before enrolling in an online pre-req. Others will only accept online lab-based pre-reqs for applicants who are active military stationed overseas.)
You have an additional issue. As a non-science major you will need 2 LORs from science professors you have taken a class with as part of your application. A LOR from a professor who knows you well personally from a butt-in-the-seat class will be much stronger than someone from an online class. (I’ve taken distance education coursework. It’s really hard to make a connection w/ your prof or classmates since people are never online at the same time.)
You will be much better off attending your local CC.
You will probably need to pony up and take biochem at least at a 4 year college. Why? 1) Biochem typically is not offered at CCs. 2) Some adcomm members really have issues with CC coursework and view it as less rigorous than coursework taken at a 4 year college. (In fact, a handful of medical schools flat out will not accept CC credits as fulfilling med school admission requirements and more schools won’t accept them unless supplemented by additional upper level science coursework taken at a 4 year.) Adcomms want to see how you stack up against [more competitive] students at a 4 year college so they know your CC grades aren’t flukes.
You need to be aware that whether you take your coursework online or at a CC, either action will make your application less competitive than someone who has followed a more traditional educational path and taken pre-reqs at a 4 year college.
I have to ask, is there any burning reason why you must take your med school pre-reqs right now while you’re living out of state? Why not wait until you’ve finished your masters, then either establish residency in the state where you’re currently living or return to your home state and take your pre-reqs there?
(Please, please, please don’t say you’re too old to wait. Unless you’re in your 50’s, you’re not too old to wait 2 years to put yourself in a much better situation to put together a strong med school application. Think of it this way–do you want to apply to med school as quickly as possible or do you want to apply to med school with a strong application that gives the best chances for an admission.)
I am totally lost or behind the time, but how can you do a lab online is beyond me.
If you are that concerned about cost, you can transfer to one of those low cost Universities listed in the following thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1651944-very-low-cost-oos-coa-universities-less-than-25k-coa-for-everything-p1.html
They are very good Universities and some have good premed classes. For the amounts you are paying for ONE class, you can pay their tuition for a year.
The lab portion of an online class is handled in one of two ways:
- a virtual reality lab that allows a student to run computer simulations of an experiment
- do-it-at-home lab kit
Neither are ideal and both have serious issues–which is why med schools won’t accept credit for online labs