Quick Question! (Online school)

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David2

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Hey All!

I'm currently at a top 20 public state school, with a pretty good track record of sending graduates to med school. I'm a Junior business major, using electives and summer to take med school requirements.
For various reasons in a different thread, mainly a full time internship I am thinking of transferring to Excelsior College, because I could take exams and be done in 1 more semester max... rather than 1.5 years in my current school. (A little behind)
-3.5~ Gpa in science
-3.6~ GPA in business (With hard courses, calc, lots of econ)
This is a bit different than normal because I'm not looking to take pre-reqs online... I was just going to take them at local schools, in person of course.

I have called several admissions offices and they are mostly split, some saying that is completely fine, others saying if your doing good finish out at the ranked school, we look at it more favorably..... but it wouldn't necessarily hurt you, and if your science GPA is high, it doesn't matter. So I'm kind of confused haha!

If I transferred to the online school, I would be able to 1. Finish early, save tons of money. 2. Focus entirely on 1-2 science courses per semester, extremely helpful considering I have orgo and physics coming up.

Do you think this would hurt me? Just wanted extra opinions... I think my science GPA would be a touch higher because I could focus in on it, and again, this is only to get my business degree online.... my pre reqs will all be done in person.

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I was waiting for someone more knowledgeable to give a more thorough/better answer but:

Seems like a pretty bad idea to me. The admissions people are probably required to tell you that it wouldn't hurt you, when in fact it probably would - as I understand it, they can't outright say things like "we look down on community college courses" because that would be discrimination based on income.

It just feels weird and awkward and might raise eyebrows, especially given your somewhat lackluster GPA. I suppose it might not matter at all if you were to crush the MCAT.
 
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You shouldn't rush medical school. 1.5 more years to have a "more attractive" in person degree is a better option. Shows the adcoms you stuck in there, gave the extra effort (than testing out) and made a plan to graduate.

Think of it this way: Say you went the Excelsior route, would you be sorry of your choice, wishing you had finished at the Brick and Mortar school?
Does Excelsior have a "pretty good track record" of sending people to med school?

Once you receive your degree you can't un-ring that bell; a choice you are going to have to live with and be proud of the rest of your life. (or not)

Best of luck.
 
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