Earned my degree pretty much online...Can I matriculate?

[AltruisticMed]

So I'm in a unique situation where I pretty much earned my degree online, through a regionally accredited school by doing Credits by Examinations. Basically, I took GRE subject tests, CLEP exams, etc and tested proficient in the subject areas I sat for and was granted credit for the classes which eventually lead to my BA degree.

So my question is, will my online degree severely affect my chanced of matriculating into med school, even though the college is regionally accredited?

I'm thinking of either enter a post bacc program to take some of the pre req science courses that require a lab, to allow me to appear better on paper. I can obtain LORs from physicians that I have shadowed and program directors for whom I have volunteered. Also I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I've taken several practice tests over the past couple of months and my scores have been ranging from 38-42, mostly 39s and 40s however.

So, assuming I can score a 38-40 on the real MCAT, would that make me more competitive without having to do the post bacc or not? The reason I'm asking is mainly from a timing standpoint. I'd rather not do the post bacc if scoring ~40 would negate that need and extra time it would require.

Thank you for you any advice/suggestions you can provide!

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[Poetic Silence]

Accreditation is all that matters. Credit hours, EC's, research and grades are all that matters. How the classes were taught should not matter.

However, an. N campus post bacc sounds like a great idea, if only to prove to yourself you can handle it.

Were your science classes online, too? How does that work?

 

[DocVapor]

I'm not sure that an institution just being accredited is 100% ok. Take a look at your transcript and make sure that it doesn't indicate which classes were online. If it doesn't (and most don't) then you'll probably be ok. The other thing to consider is how many actual classes did you take vs. how many were you granted credit for. I may just have misunderstood your post but it seems to me like a lot of your degree came from just sitting for exams and getting credit.(?) If that's not the case and you did put in a solid 15-18 credit hours/semester then don't worry about it. ADCOMs do look at transcripts and if they see light course loads it may be a mark against you. But if you do get that stellar MCAT score then it may be overlooked.

Personally I would see how you end up doing on the MCAT. If you score high, and it's early in the cycle, apply MD/DO AND get the ball rolling on a post-bacc as a backup. That way if you don't end up with any acceptances you haven't wasted a year/semester/etc.

 

[AltruisticMed]

Accreditation is all that matters. Credit hours, EC's, research and grades are all that matters. How the classes were taught should not matter.

However, an. N campus post bacc sounds like a great idea, if only to prove to yourself you can handle it.

Were your science classes online, too? How does that work?

The classes weren't really online per se..I just earned from from a online regionally accredited college through credit by examinations. The bulk of my credits, around 93%, were all earned through examination credits. The other classes (Sociology, Public Speaking, Psychology, etc) I took at a local community college.

 

[AltruisticMed]

I'm not sure that an institution just being accredited is 100% ok. Take a look at your transcript and make sure that it doesn't indicate which classes were online. If it doesn't (and most don't) then you'll probably be ok. The other thing to consider is how many actual classes did you take vs. how many were you granted credit for. I may just have misunderstood your post but it seems to me like a lot of your degree came from just sitting for exams and getting credit.(?) If that's not the case and you did put in a solid 15-18 credit hours/semester then don't worry about it. ADCOMs do look at transcripts and if they see light course loads it may be a mark against you. But if you do get that stellar MCAT score then it may be overlooked.

Personally I would see how you end up doing on the MCAT. If you score high, and it's early in the cycle, apply MD/DO AND get the ball rolling on a post-bacc as a backup. That way if you don't end up with any acceptances you haven't wasted a year/semester/etc.

Yes that is correct, I took a lot of GRE exams, CLEP exams, etc and provided those scores to my college and they granted me credits for those corresponding/equivalent courses. For example, I took the GRE Biology exam and the GRE Chemistry exam and was granted 24 lower and upper division credit hours for each of them. Giving me a total of 48 credit hours. I pretty much did the same thing with all the other subjects and was granted enough credit hours through examination to receive a B.S in Liberal Studies.

I believe you may be correct in having a post-bacc as a back up while still applying. I need to schedule to sit for the actual MCAT and then also figure out which schools I want to apply to. When does the application cycle begin?

 

[DrMidlife]

You have to get 3-4 letters of recommendation to apply to med school, and at least 1 or 2 have to be from faculty. If all else is in order, GPA/MCAT-wise, it seems likely that's your biggest problem.

Best of luck to you.

 

[WhovianDO]

Don't most universities require so much coursework to be done at their institution in order to receive a degree? And don't they require so many hours in upper level courses?

 

[Poetic Silence]

Don't most universities require so much coursework to be done at their institution in order to receive a degree? And don't they require so many hours in upper level courses?

This is what also concerns me. I can't see how an accredited university would allow testing one's way out of a class while still receving the credit for it. You would still be required to take higher level coursework to earn the credits your degree requires.

 

[AltruisticMed]

You have to get 3-4 letters of recommendation to apply to med school, and at least 1 or 2 have to be from faculty. If all else is in order, GPA/MCAT-wise, it seems likely that's your biggest problem.

Best of luck to you.

I can probably obtain 2 letters from faculty from the professors of the few courses I actually took on campus at the beginning. The rest I can obtain from physicians that I shadowed over the last year. I hope that would satisfy that requirement.

 

[galaxyx]

I think the problem is going to be that most schools will want you to have actually taken the pre-reqs, not credit by examination. There are a few schools that accept online courses, but I suspect even those would be leery of someone who didn't even complete online courses.

 

[mcca0273]

It is going to depend on the medical school. MANY medical schools specifically tell you that science prerequisites CAN NOT be done online. I found this out after taking two of them myself and then emailing the University of Wisconsin Medical School and they said they do not count those courses in no uncertain terms. I called them to explain that I had my exams proctored and I performed numerous labs from home that were graded by a well respected professor at a major university. They did not care - online is not counted. I know that your transcript may not specifically say your course was online, but I think you would be running a risk. Basically, if there is a lab requirement, online is out. Sorry for the bad news. Hopefully you're not looking to apply to a med school with the same restrictions.

 

[AltruisticMed]

Don't most universities require so much coursework to be done at their institution in order to receive a degree? And don't they require so many hours in upper level courses?

This is what also concerns me. I can't see how an accredited university would allow testing one's way out of a class while still receving the credit for it. You would still be required to take higher level coursework to earn the credits your degree requires.

Most universities do. But my college does not as they specialize in this particular area. It's a complicated system when it comes to upper and lower level credits from examination, but basically taking the GRE grants me both upper division and lower division credits in a particular area. The CLEP exams usually just grants me lower division credit. The logic is: The GRE is the extrance exam into a graduate school, after one obtains their bachelor's. So if one can successfully pass the GRE exams with a high enough score, one then demonstrated their knowledge and proficiency in an undergraduate subject area(both lower and higher division), and therefore credit hours are granted.

 

[Poetic Silence]

Most universities do. But my college does not as they specialize in this particular area. It's a complicated system when it comes to upper and lower level credits from examination, but basically taking the GRE grants me both upper division and lower division credits in a particular area. The CLEP exams usually just grants me lower division credit. The logic is: The GRE is the extrance exam into a graduate school, after one obtains their bachelor's. So if one can successfully pass the GRE exams with a high enough score, one then demonstrated their knowledge and proficiency in an undergraduate subject area(both lower and higher division), and therefore credit hours are granted.

Unfortunately, it is my understanding that such credits are not accepted by most, if any, medical schools.

 

[DocVapor]

Unfortunately, it is my understanding that such credits are not accepted by most, if any, medical schools.

Yeah, I feel schools want to see actual coursework. It's not to show that you can master the material necessarily, it's to show that you can handle the course-load / EC's / shadowing / stress / etc and not self-destruct. You certainly will not be able to just study for a little bit and then test well on the material in medical school, you've got to be in it for the long haul.

After your clarification I would apply to a some formal post-bacc programs that offer the prerequisites NOW. You can still take the MCAT and such and start applying to probably lower tier schools this year - the cycle starts in June. If you get into the post-bacc, great. Your actual med school apps will probably at best get tabled until you've got some post-bacc work under your belt and can demonstrate the ability to handle the load. Hopefully you will get in for matriculation next year, but no guarantees. You may have to keep working on it.

 

[silleme]

The biggest hurdle is that the science coursework requires grades and lab grades. By testing out, you've negated this. You might have to go back and take a year of Chem, OChem, Bio, and Physics, all with lab to meet the minimum standards for most med schools.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Yeah this is definitely a lot different from the usual online course or Clep questions we usually see. What exactly shows up on you transcript for this place?

In this case a postbac, formal or informal might be needed to meet requirements and prove to ad coms that you've got what it takes.