My Fiance, has just recently started going to College, we live in SWFL at the moment. Due to living location uncertainty, she has a few terms in at Columbia College Online. Seems like a good school, definitely fits her lifestyle at the moment. The problem is, she just recently firmly decided exactly what she wants to shoot for in life. Starting out as a Psychology major, realizing her internal motivation to be a Psychiatrist. Just curious the exact route of getting there… Due to it being an online college with campus’ around the U.S. (not one being practically close). She’s unable to complete MOST if not ALL of the MCAT course requirements… Is there some sort of program, available to students like this? As if someone had a scenario in which they completed a Bachelors degree and didn’t have all the requirements? Would the simple solution be let her finish out her Bachelors and enroll in something like UFL, USF, or UT, and allow her to take the BIO and CHEM classes she needs? Just looking to clear her mind, and set her on the best path possible.
*Moving to an area for a different school right now is kind of out of the question due to us both going to college. (financial reasons).
We could though move within 2 years due to me graduating.
Thanks in advance, I prowl around this forum a lot. Very helpful community.
Leaving aside the issue of an online degree (which medical schools may or may not accept as meeting their admission requirements)–yes, there are special programs for individuals who have not completed their med school pre-reqs until after they have graduated from college. They are called “career-changer post-baccalaureate programs.”
There is a database of post bacc programs available here:
https://apps.aamc.org/postbac/#/index
Select Career changer as the special focus.
These are formal programs which are intensive 2 year, full time program.
The best, most successful programs are offered by private universities and are quite expensive. There is no financial aid for post-baccs other than loans. (True even if your fiancee attends a program at a public U.)
She could also do a post-bacc informally thru the campus of local university. She would probably need to enroll at the university as degree- or certificate-seeking student since she need to take at least 9 science classes (2 bio, 2 physics, 5 chem)–which is more classes than most universities allow non-degree seeking students to take. Again, there will be no financial aid except for unsubsidized loans.
You say she has decided on medicine (and psychiatry!!) as a career--
Has she shadowed any physicians to see what the day-to-day life of a doctor is like?
Has she worked extensively with at-risk populations (like the mentally ill or elderly demented since as a psychiatrist these will be her future patients) to see if she can stand being around the sick, injured, dying, physically disabled, mentally ill and elderly demented and their families all day, day-after-day?
Medical school admission is a long road with many written and unwritten expectations of applicants. (The above two are just some of those unwritten expectations.)
I have a friend that uses this college and has graduated, there is no mark of an online… thank you very much for the information I appreciate the lengthy post.