<p>I am currently an undergraduate majoring in business economics at University of California Irvine and I have one year left to graduate. I have not only taken 3 science classes and UC Irvine will not let me get into the biology program. What can I do now to prepare for med school? I have heard of post baccs but I am pretty sure I will not have any money for that. Are there any options other than post bacc ?</p>
<p>You don’t need a formal post-bacc program. You do a “do it yourself” by taking your remaining science, math and social science pre-reqs at a local college, even at a local CC. (I’d advise taking your OChem and biochem at a 4 year college if at all possible.) </p>
<p>You don’t need to be enrolled full time as a degree seeking student to take your courses. You can pursue your coursework part-time while working if money is a consideration. Not the fastest route, but it will get you there. (My older D did it this way; she’s now a 4th year med student.) </p>
<p>The other thing to do ASAP is to start volunteering at clinical sites (hospital, public clinic, rehab hospital, nursing home, group home for the disabled). You should also find some community service type of activities you are interested in and start volunteering with those also. Lastly, you need to contact physicians you may know (or not…) and ask if you can shadow them.</p>
<p>Med school adcomms expect applicants to have all of these activities so the sooner you can get started, the better.</p>
<p>You don’t have to get “into the biology” program, you just have to take the pre-requisites… Bio, Chem, organic Chem, Calculus, English, Physics. And do the volunteering/shadowing that the above person mentioned.</p>
<p>Talk to a Medical Professions/Health Career adviser. Your school will have one for pre-meds.</p>
<p>I want to take the pre med classes at a community college but community college does not have the upper division classes I need. Are there any four year colleges that will let me take these upper division classes ?</p>
<p>??
What upper division classes do you need? Premed prereqs are lower division.</p>
<p>What science classes have you taken so far? grades?
(your classes are on the quarter system, correct?)</p>
<p>You need:
1 year of Bio
1 year of Gen Chem
1 year of Orgo
1 year of Physics
1 semester of Calc (or maybe 2 quarters?)
You already have the one year of Frosh Comp as a GE req’t.</p>
<p>not sure of the new req’ts…others can chime in with corrections:
Psych or Sociology (or do you need both?)
biochem (is this a req’t or a suggested class?)</p>
<p>Anyway…these are all lower division.</p>
<p>Biochem will account for approx 1/3 of the questions in the BS portion of the 2015 MCAT. Biochem is being added to admission requirements at many schools.</p>
<p>Psych and soc are both needed for the 2015 MCAT Human Behavior section, but so far only about a dozen schools have added social science requirements to their admission requirements. </p>
<p>op</p>
<p>It is very difficult for a business major to fit the pre-med requirements in your schedule. The best way to go for the pre-med in the third year at UCI is to graduate with your business degree first and do your science requirements as post bacc in a specialized program, There are programs in LA just that for you.</p>
<p>You can search for post bacc schools here:</p>
<p><a href=“https://services.aamc.org/postbac/”>https://services.aamc.org/postbac/</a></p>
<p>Psych and Soc, both
Biochem is basically required for the MCAT and many med schools. One class is the bare minimum.
1 semester neuroscience is suggested if you can fit it in but it’s more like an extra. Other extras that are seen positively would include Science&Society classes, Ethics/medical ethics/scientific ethics, philosophy in general, foreign languages spoken by immigrants (Creole, Kiswahili, Russian, Soso, Urdu… even French for the francophone areas of Africa).</p>
<p>How many among all these classes have you taken?
You don’t need to be a major to register for these.
They can fit in your “elective” slots 
and it’s unlikely anyone will ask any question about it.
If you don’t take your final major classes, you can stretch finishing your BS to a 5th year and
fit in as many premed classes as you can - seeing how Orgo really needs to be taken at
a 4-year college, take the prereqs for that and take Orgo at UCI during your “stretch” (5th)
year. Check how much FA would continue for your 5th year at UCI.
For instance, if you don’t have Physics, Chem, and Psych, register for Physics 1, one business class
and Psych 101. Second quarter, take Physics 2, Chem1, one business class (not required to
complete the major). Third quarter, take Chem2, and two more premed classes.
Summer session in community college: Bio and Physics 2 to round up the 3rd quarter
and complete the year (with a good grade pretty guaranteed since you’d have taken part of Chem2
already). Stretch/5th year: Quarter 1 - Business major requirement, Orgo, one easy gen ed (soc?)
Quarter 2: Major requirement, Orgo, one more class. Quarter 3: complete business major,
Biochem. What you have left for premed take at your local CC.
No need for a post bacc and that solution is even cheaper :)</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids, sorry I did not mean upper division classes. I noticed that the community colleges do not have the last class in the series for general chem, physics and organic chem. I can finish the rest of the requirements at community college. Can I take those three classes at another university without actually matriculating in that university ? </p>
<p>Yes, you could register for the summer session at any university - most public universities have a process for students taking classes for the summer session.
Don’t take a majority of your science core classes at the community college, and not Orgo, since Med Schools don’t like that (they see it as “trying to take a shortcut”)</p>
<p>Yes, you can be a guest student at another univ…you won’t get aid.</p>
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<p>? Is that true? I find it strange that Calif CCs don’t have second-semester gen chem, physics or ochem. Are you sure???</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>I just checked Fullerton College. They have BOTH semesters of Gen Chem and Ochem. Didn’t check physics, but likely has that too.</p>
<p>I think you are confusing semester classes with quarter classes…since you go to UCI. When taking quarter classes at a UC, you take 3. When taking semester classes at a CC, CSU, UCB, or UCM, you ONLY take 2…to fulfill the year req’t.</p>
<p>Likely the rest of the CCs offer the same classes.</p>
<p>@unichick91 </p>
<p>@MYOS1634, I did not understand the last sentence. Are you saying that it looks bad if I take most of my requirements at a community college ? I was planning on doing just that…</p>
<p>I don’t think it is unusual for college graduates to fulfill their prereqs at a CC</p>
<p>@unichick91 Were you confused about quarter classes and semester classes? </p>