Online Organic Chem II?

[filmtomd]

Hi! I'm a non-trad student and did a "career-changer" post-bac to take my pre-medical requisites and during that year I opted to take Biochem over Ochem II. I'm applying next cycle and decided I want to take Ochem II. Anyone have any thoughts regarding taking Ochem II online? I've made my school list and looked at MSAR and pretty much all the schools on that list say they accept online Ochem II. Should I be in the clear then? I don't want to raise any red flags to admissions but I'm working full-time to support myself and it's really the only way I can take Ochem II at this point.

Additionally, I was considering online Ochem II at UCSD extension or University of New England Online. If anyone has any insight or experience to these programs i'd be really interested to hear what you think! Thanks.

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[Faster Horses]

Genuine question here - what looks better to an admissions committee... a 19 year old kid who went to Ochem II in person at their name brand college campus where the chem profs have a well know history of having super tough courses and the kid makes a B. Or, non trad online applicant makes an A in their Ochem II class while attending Online From the Comfort of your own Bed University? Not trying to be a smart*** seriously curious. If it was on the adcom, in the meeting, all things equal and these two folk's apps were more or less the same - I would have to give the 19 y/o kid the nod.

 

[JustintheDoctor]

Genuine question here - what looks better to an admissions committee... a 19 year old kid who went to Ochem II in person at their name brand college campus where the chem profs have a well know history of having super tough courses and the kid makes a B. Or, non trad online applicant makes an A in their Ochem II class while attending Online From the Comfort of your own Bed University? Not trying to be a smart*** seriously curious. If it was on the adcom, in the meeting, all things equal and these two folk's apps were more or less the same - I would have to give the 19 y/o kid the nod.

Now spin in many non-trads story with it such as myself.
I will take OCHEM from "bed university" but while working 36-50 hours a week as an ICU nurse with thousands of hours of critical care experience titrating drips, bedside procedures, working with docs on vent settings and what drugs they should get...
Now take that immature 19 year old who might work part time as a scribe or a grocery store employee.

Non-trads are judged differently by adcoms, they look at the whole picture - especially DO schools and reformed MD programs. (if the school accepts online, ofc)

 

[purplepuppy391]

Hi! I'm a non-trad student and did a "career-changer" post-bac to take my pre-medical requisites and during that year I opted to take Biochem over Ochem II. I'm applying next cycle and decided I want to take Ochem II. Anyone have any thoughts regarding taking Ochem II online? I've made my school list and looked at MSAR and pretty much all the schools on that list say they accept online Ochem II. Should I be in the clear then? I don't want to raise any red flags to admissions but I'm working full-time to support myself and it's really the only way I can take Ochem II at this point.

Additionally, I was considering online Ochem II at UCSD extension or University of New England Online. If anyone has any insight or experience to these programs i'd be really interested to hear what you think! Thanks.

I haven’t applied to medical school yet but I took ochem at UCSD Ext if you have any questions about the class itself!

 

[LunaOri]

There is no problem with taking the course online. And my answer to Faster Horses' question is, I would take the nontrad with the A over the kid with a B, because the nontrad is getting a top grade while also working full-time and fulfilling other responsibilities, while the kid's only "job" is to get good grades. The only way the kid gets the pick is if the school is a killer (MIT/UChicago/CalTech) and the kid is also working 30 hours a week to put him/herself through school.

 

[filmtomd]

I haven’t applied to medical school yet but I took ochem at UCSD Ext if you have any questions about the class itself!

Oh awesome! Did UCSD Ext have an online lab as well?

 

[purplepuppy391]

Oh awesome! Did UCSD Ext have an online lab as well?

the only chem labs I saw were for gen chem

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

UNE has both lab and lecture. I'm doing mine there, similar boat.

 

[filmtomd]

UNE has both lab and lecture. I'm doing mine there, similar boat.

Nice! did you reach out to the schools you're applying to to before enrolling? And if you've started the classes how is it going so far? Thanks!

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Nice! did you reach out to the schools you're applying to to before enrolling? And if you've started the classes how is it going so far? Thanks!

Yeah, many schools accept online courses now. I had a potential list of like 30ish MD that were in areas I'd be okay living then cut down to 20 based on stats and interest. DOs dgaf.

I started the class about 2 weeks ago. It's basically what most of my other lab course lecture classes have been, problem sets on an online homework system. I haven't done the lab parts yet because I've been traveling, it's go at your own pace and you can finish early and max out at 16 weeks.

 

[filmtomd]

Yeah, many schools accept online courses now. I had a potential list of like 30ish MD that were in areas I'd be okay living then cut down to 20 based on stats and interest. DOs dgaf.

I started the class about 2 weeks ago. It's basically what most of my other lab course lecture classes have been, problem sets on an online homework system. I haven't done the lab parts yet because I've been traveling, it's go at your own pace and you can finish early and max out at 16 weeks.

thank you!! that's really helpful and good to know!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Genuine question here - what looks better to an admissions committee... a 19 year old kid who went to Ochem II in person at their name brand college campus where the chem profs have a well know history of having super tough courses and the kid makes a B. Or, non trad online applicant makes an A in their Ochem II class while attending Online From the Comfort of your own Bed University? Not trying to be a smart*** seriously curious. If it was on the adcom, in the meeting, all things equal and these two folk's apps were more or less the same - I would have to give the 19 y/o kid the nod.

In reality, I think your GPA is what matters here. It's the same reason getting a degree in chemical engineering doesn't excuse getting Bs and Cs- those classes are WAYY harder than what I took for biology, but med school adcoms just go "Well darn, they got Bs and Cs." In my experience, we don't dive into the circumstances as much as we probably should.

But hey mods/faculty, if I'm wrong here, correct me. This is my understanding but I could be wrong.

Yeah I agree with LunaOri, the non-trad with kids getting an A in ochem is a lot harder than what I did.

@JustintheDoctor, you are indeed putting in those hours man. Power to you

 

[ahnonemoose]

I took biochem from UCSD Extension and it was a great experience. However, since I'm in Texas, I will not use USCD Extension for organic chemistry.

Virtually every Texas school uses TMDSAS instead of AMCAS. TMDSAS has a list of acceptable courses. These are the UCSD courses acceptable to TMDSAS: University of California San Diego

Notice UCSD Extension organic chemistry courses CHEM-40010 and CHEM-40011 are not listed as acceptable courses.