Advice requested for non-trad

[eaton3122]

I completed my undergrad 10 years ago with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Finished with a 3.96 GPA. I have decided that I want to pursue medical school, and I have a couple of decisions to make and would like some input. I was able to find a little information on my first question through the search function, but wanted to get some more recent opinions to make sure the answer was the same. As for pre-reqs, I still have to take 8 hours of biology, 4 more hours of gen chem, and 8 hours of ochem. Do you guys think that it will negatively affect my competitiveness if I take the biology and gen chem classes at a local community college? This would obviously be my preferred method because it would be much cheaper and I could take them in the evening after work. I'm planning on doing the ochem at a university.

My next question relates to specific classes....so, the requirements for the medical schools I'm looking at only state that they require 8 hours of biology. So, should I just take Biology 1 & 2 or should I take different biology classes like Anatomy & Human physiology or something similar? Any input and help would be appreciated! Thanks!

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[DrMidlife]

Engineering degree + 3.96 + good grades in recent coursework + strong MCAT = no concerns about academic prowess. Take your prereqs wherever you like, just get A's.
(Note to those playing at home: this is a perfect example of when it's fine to take CC coursework. It's after a very high GPA in a very difficult science-heavy major at a regular university. See the difference between this and a low GPA or liberal arts story?)

Take the normal bio prereqs. The normal prereqs include a fair bit of anatomy and physiology and typically the syllabus matches the MCAT content nicely. Other lower div bio/chem/ochem may be nursing prereqs. Imho if you can slap a couple of upper div biosci classes onto your schedule, such as biochem / micro / pharm / neuro / genetics, that's worthwhile.

Don't let anybody tell you that you need to retake physics until/unless F stops equaling ma.

Respect the MCAT. Plan on needing months to prepare, plan on spending money on prep. It matters so hard.

Best of luck to you.