Active Duty Army - Questions on finishing a degree

[FirstSnowz]

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[QueenAudrey]

Welcome, sister/brother!

If you browse around these forums and search a bit (see the magnifying glass icon in the top right under the word "Alerts"?) I suspect you'll discover that your situation is fairly common. Check out the Nontrad section too, chock full of veterans.

I am no expert, just another vet, but I will address a few things.

1 - AMCAS, the sort of common app for MD/allopathic med schools, will calculate your cumulative and science GPAs based off ALL of your college courses, to include those courses that got you a 3.4 and 2.5. Unfortunately, you don't get to just start over with the 3.7.

2 - If you want to go to a DO/osteopathic school, which will also result in you becoming a doctor, they have grade replacement -- meaning that if you retake a course, the earlier, lower grade goes away. Someone else can explain this more clearly, I'm sure.

3 - It is very important to make sure that your current program is regionally accredited. There are plenty of online degree mills looking to take money from an unsuspecting soldier. Be careful.

4 - It is OK to take some courses online when you are in the military, but try to take the pre-reqs in person, preferably at a 4-year university, not a community college. You can accomplish this through attending what's called a "post-bacc," either a do-it-yourself/a la carte at a local university or a formal program such as Goucher, Columbia, etc.

5 - It is also important to start volunteering with those less fortunate than yourself (ex: food bank, homeless shelter, juvenile hall tutoring, etc.) and in clinical situations (hospital, hospice, clinic, etc.) Even just a weekend shift or 2 a month will add up over the next 4 years.

6 - Ask Army or civvie doctors if you can "shadow" them, which means silently tag along and observe the physician-patient interaction. Aim for 40+ hours doing this.

Good luck!

 

[FirstSnowz]

4 - It is OK to take some courses online when you are in the military, but try to take the pre-reqs in person, preferably at a 4-year university, not a community college. You can accomplish this through attending what's called a "post-bacc," either a do-it-yourself/a la carte at a local university or a formal program such as Goucher, Columbia, etc.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the thoughtful response. I will definitely look through these forums, as well as opening up to DO possibilities as well. I have a question about this line in particular. My question is more that if I earn an "online degree" from this school, and then complete the required premed coursework at a 4 year in person, is this an acceptable route? Or do they not accept "online degrees" at all, even with the premed courses completed elsewhere?

 

[QueenAudrey]

My school accepts them as long as they're from an accredited University.
MSAR Online tells you whether an MD school will accept online credits.

Assuming you have no GPA damage from the online degree, and that you are successful in your premed coursework in the classroom for at least two full time years, and that your MCAT is solid, I would view the online work as net neutral. Good to see academic work going on while you're active duty, now let's see how you do as a legit premed.

I was a medic with 11 years in service with active army and air national guard. My sgpa and cgpa were both around 3.5, and a 22 on the mcat. I have been accepted at every school I interviewed at so far. Don't doubt for a second that these schools don't understand the scope of what we have accomplished as medics/ corpsman. It has come up in every interview and so far everyone understands that we have been able to do things that most civilian emt's, techs, and nurses aren't allowed to. With that being said, an online degree shouldn't be an issue considering the constant moving around involved with being in the military

Oh and i had about 40 credits at a community college with online classes. Hasn't come up once.

Online degrees for medical school are all but useless for medical school.

 

[QueenAudrey]

So...my interpretation is you will be fine as long as:

a) your current institution is accredited

b) you do a 2 year post-bacc in person at a 4-year university when you get out, and get straight A's

c) you crush the MCAT

You can do it! Hoooooooah

 

[FirstSnowz]

So...my interpretation is you will be fine as long as:

a) your current institution is accredited

b) you do a 2 year post-bacc in person at a 4-year university when you get out, and get straight A's

c) you crush the MCAT

You can do it! Hoooooooah

Thank you for the reply and putting this together =). I appreciate all the advice and I definitely have a better idea of a path to med school!

 

[wxman393]

Thank you for the reply and putting this together =). I appreciate all the advice and I definitely have a better idea of a path to med school!

Thanks for your service.

To add on, pick out a few of the schools you are interested in and email admissions. Certain schools are more picky when it comes to online programs. Some are completely cool with even taking the pre-reqs online while others require brick and mortar pre-reqs.

Definitely consider DO route as well. They are traditionally very friendly to military personnel.


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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Hey all, I'll try to keep this straight to the point but here's some quick background information:

Currently active duty army, very interested in going to medical school. 3.1 High School GPA, 2180 SAT score. Went to a community college where I earned about 20 credits (3.4 GPA), went to a 4 year university where I earned about 75 credits but failed to complete my degree (2.5 GPA, tanked my last two semesters) at which point I decided to enlist in the army. I am currently in a program in the army where I earn 60 credits through an accredited university, where I will receive an A.S. in Medical Laboratory Sciences, and I can use those credits towards a bachelors from the same school (B.S. in Medical Laboratory Sciences). I started to take my academics more seriously and I currently have a 3.72 GPA in this program. After this program I will also have my Medical Laboratory Technician certification through ASCP, and I will be working as a lab tech for the remainder of my army contract (~4 years)

On most medical school websites, it says that they don't accept online courses. Given my situation, an online degree would make the most sense as I could potentially be stationed anywhere, or get deployed and not be able to attend classes in person. I was wondering if when they say online courses are not accepted, if that means at ALL or only the pre req courses?

For instance, could I use the credits from this program to complete my degree online and keep my current GPA (3.72), and then when I get out of the army take my pre-reqs elsewhere in person?

Active duty here as well. Welcome. I just want to reiterate a few things.

1) it is generally accepted that online degrees are to be avoided unless you have excellent reasons to have an online degree, of which being active duty is probably number one.

2) make sure you do the prereqs in person. That's the catch to 1). Most schools don't seem to care if the degree is online so long as the prereqs are done at a 4-year institution.

3) seriously consider DO. Grade replacement and an upward trend will be great for you.

Your story is similar to mine. I'm still in the process, but feel free to PM me with questions or to bitch about the military.

 

[wxman393]

Active duty here as well. Welcome. I just want to reiterate a few things.

1) it is generally accepted that online degrees are to be avoided unless you have excellent reasons to have an online degree, of which being active duty is probably number one.

2) make sure you do the prereqs in person. That's the catch to 1). Most schools don't seem to care if the degree is online so long as the prereqs are done at a 4-year institution.

3) seriously consider DO. Grade replacement and an upward trend will be great for you.

Your story is similar to mine. I'm still in the process, but feel free to PM me with questions or to bitch about the military.

Agree with all. Just wanted to say that every school is a bit different. Just as an anecdote, I know of 17 schools (both MD and DO) that do not care if pre-reqs come from an online venue (to include labs). I am not here to argue or justify the benefits of completing coursework in a traditional brick and mortar institution. Coming from the AD side, it's not always easy to get to a 4-year, or even 2-year, institution to complete classes in person. Evaluate your options and do what works best for your future goals. I mention this because it is not impossible to matriculate into medical school having completed online pre-reqs.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Agree with all. Just wanted to say that every school is a bit different. Just as an anecdote, I know of 17 schools (both MD and DO) that do not care if pre-reqs come from an online venue (to include labs). I am not here to argue or justify the benefits of completing coursework in a traditional brick and mortar institution. Coming from the AD side, it's not always easy to get to a 4-year, or even 2-year, institution to complete classes in person. Evaluate your options and do what works best for your future goals. I mention this because it is not impossible to matriculate into medical school having completed online pre-reqs.

Actually there are a couple threads (one on pre-allo and one on pre-osteo) that list all the schools that accept online prereqs.

 

[wxman393]

Actually there are a couple threads (one on pre-allo and one on pre-osteo) that list all the schools that accept online prereqs.

Good deal! I always recommend reaching out to confirm as I assume these requirements are dynamic. I know there are a few schools now that don't even have pre-reqs. They are only "recommended". Whether or not you can still earn an interview/gain an acceptance without doing any pre-reqs is a different story.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Good deal! I always recommend reaching out to confirm as I assume these requirements are dynamic. I know there are a few schools now that don't even have pre-reqs. They are only "recommended". Whether or not you can still earn an interview/gain an acceptance without doing any pre-reqs is a different story.

Yeah. I guess you could completely self study, but I feel like the best way to ensure success on the MCAT is to take the prereqs (+ prep).

 

[happyatethem]

I'm applying this cycle. Everything above is solid. Just a few personal reflections:

1. Tap Tuition Assistance money for all its worth. I tried to save my GI Bill for medical school.
2. If you have time/can get clearance, take some prereqs on active duty. It sucks, but it helped me keep going, knowing I was making progress.
3. Research Amcas Fee Assistance Program. You're junior enlisted, I'm guessing? I qualified and applied broadly. You and your parents would have to below a certain income threshold (larger than you think).
4. Look at your GPA across the guidelines that AAMC has in terms of science and non-science, and see what your scores look like from freshman through senior year (if there are gaps in time, just take each incremental clump of 30 credits as a year). Just get an idea of any specific outliers, and how bad so you know your gpa per amcas.
5. There is a military to enlisted program called E2MP or some such nonsense (two years too late for me, yes i'm bitter). Cumulative 3.2 and 27 mcat required for entry (not sure). They enroll you in their post-bacc, remove you from your unit and clinical work, and prep you for MCAT, and may even assist with EC's. You add a couple of years to your service obligation, and must apply to USUHS. Look into it if you're interested. You'd be stationed in Bethesda I think.
6. Read threads, catalogue and summarize your experiences, see what you're missing in terms of service, shadowing, etc. Hit up physicians in your section, but also make sure you include at least one primary care (peds, family med, internal medicine, or ob). I don't have this and I wish I did.
7. You've got four year's left? You can commission as a PA with a degree, some basic prereqs, and a qualifying SAT (You have one). Google Interservice Physician Assistant Program. I'm not discouraging you from being a doctor, but if med school is potentially 4-7 years away, make money, learn more about healthcare, and build a professional resume. Again, their is a service obligation (it stopped me dead in my tracks).
8. Subscribe to Interfolio, get letters of recommendation, and hold on to them. You can have them updated when you're ready to apply. This way you have a copy. People, especially high ranking people, move around almost every 2-3 years. You will probably stay at one duty station. Keep your contacts.
9. Have a support system or a battle buddy. Someone who can keep you going.
10. I did every prereq in person, including english. But I took some psych/soc fillers online.
11. Grade replacement did not work for me. I retook one class, but I did it at a different school from my parent institution. Either they have to be repeats from the same school or they have to be the same title, is my guess as to why mine weren't accepted.

Good luck OP. I mostly lurk, but shoot me a pm if you have any questions. Schools you should know: USUHS and ETSU Quillen, and the state schools where you are stationed. Oh, and research the pre-med competition within your state, some states are much less competitive. Thank you for your service 😀

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

5. There is a military to enlisted program called E2MP or some such nonsense (two years too late for me, yes i'm bitter). Cumulative 3.2 and 27 mcat required for entry (not sure). They enroll you in their post-bacc, remove you from your unit and clinical work, and prep you for MCAT, and may even assist with EC's. You add a couple of years to your service obligation, and must apply to USUHS. Look into it if you're interested. You'd be stationed in Bethesda I think.

It is called EMDP2. The packets are accepted once a year, but the deadline is November 1, so I doubt you'd make it for this year. You must have a bachelors degree and a minimum SAT of 1800 or ACT of 28 and a cGPA of 3.2. You will add a lot of time to your obligation. They basically tell you not to apply for this if you aren't comfortable doing 20.

The instructions for each service is on the USUHS EMDP2 website, which you can Google. I'm applying for this program this year. It took me about 6 months to get everything together.

The prep program is a one-year postbac followed by a year of electives while going through the application cycle. These are taken at George Mason University, but you are attached to USUHS. You have to apply to USUHS, but you are allowed to apply to civilian schools and can go to whichever school you choose (must apply to HPSP for civilian schools).