I need some help on my situation

[Tomoloy]

Hey guys!

Just looking to get some answers as to what you guys would do given my situation and some advice for myself.

Currently, I am a senior and going to graduate after this fall semester with a BA in psychology. I was previously a bio major aiming to go to medical school but, had some issues come up and fell off the wagon deciding to not pursue an MD. 2 years later I am now looking to get back into the medical field after many discussions with doctors and other students. My main reason being that I was born with club foot and feel that I want to give back to the younger children that are born with similar conditions that I can relate with. So bottom line - I have all prereqs except for one year of organic chem and one year of physics. My questions are as follows:

1. Since I am graduating I will not be able to take the year of physics and o chem during my undergraduate career, would you guys advise taking the classes at my undergrad university or would a CC in my hometown be acceptable?

2. Should I consider a post bacc program or would doing the above be satisfactory?

3. Would psych research be OK for podiatry school or should I consider doing some research that pertains more towards the biological sciences?

Thanks for reading this post and I hope that you guys have some advice for myself as I get back into the medical world and can enjoy the ability to treat and help others!

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[pacpod]

1. I suggest doing the pre-reqs at a 4 year undergrad. I think it looks better to have your pre-reqs from a 4 year as opposed to a community college. A CC is fine for other courses (I did 12 hours at one to catch up from a major change early in college) though.

2. If your cGPA and sGPA are good after finishing your pre-reqs, I would say you are fine. It isn't necessary to have a degree in the natural sciences if you finish all the pre-reqs. If you feel your GPA needs work, a post-bad would be helpful.

3. Related research is always a plus but I don't think unrelated research will hurt. It will show the schools that you have experience with research if anything. I did mine in bioinorganics (not at all related to the foot and ankle) but it still made for good discussion during interviews. I would be able to easily discuss your research with interviewers (especially if it has been a couple years) because if it is on your application, they will ask about it in the interviews.

Good luck!

 

[Tomoloy]

Thanks pacpod!

My cGPA right now is about a 3.2 which seems somewhat avg of admitted student profiles across the schools. So a post bacc may be unhelpful.

Also, in your guys' opinion does it seem to make a difference with taking CC courses vs university ones?

In addition, I have a C- in ochem I lecture thus, I have to retake it for the C (hopefully higher). Do pod schools do any forgiveness or replacement for such situations?

 

[LittleMopeHead]

Schools require prerequisites taken at an accredited college or university. I highly recommend taking all required courses at the University and not from a community college because the difficulty level can be different (generally competency is taken more when you take the courses at the University level). When taken at a community college, admissions committee may look at it and wondered why you didn't take it at your University and may ask you questions during the interview. Here's something I've written on another post:

"Podiatry schools do not frown on students taking classes at a local college. It's a personal choice. All they care is if you've completed the requisites at an accredited college/university. However, some schools may question you during the interview on why you took the classes at the local college instead of at the University, and your best answer would probably be to save money. They will not frown on it, but may question on your choice that's all. They may see why there's a gap in your transcipt in taking courses at the University (assuming you took a whole year off to take classes at the local community college). One thing to note is that it will depend on your University and the degree that you are getting because the requisites may need to be completed only at the University. In this case, it's best to take them at the University no matter how hard it is. Another thing to keep in mind is the transferrable classes from the local college to the University. Some may not be compatible toward your degree, so you must look into it before taking courses at the local college. I had to take my requisites only at my University since it was required, and I took about 30 credits of electives (history, English composition, sociology, etc.) at my local college and transferred over. My personal advice is to take all requisite classes at the University since podiatry would not be any easier. Take the challenge and prepare yourself."

 

[Tomoloy]

Interesting point you made. I was always told that CC courses did not make a difference to admissions committees. Maybe because the MCAT is standardized so scores on that probably determine your competency of a given subject? I do not know, but thanks for your input. I would not be taking them at a CC because of easiness just because it would be easier for me to actually get into the classes I am looking at (impacted colleges/universities in California...).