Advice for dilemma

[DD214_DOC]

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Hey all,

I would appreciate some help with my dilemma. I'm currently doing a Master's from Walden University (one of those online schools) but am considering dropping it to enroll back into an undergrad program. The purpose of going back to undergrad is twofold: more science courses can raise my science GPA, which is currently a 3.33, and cumulative, which is 3.29. I had intended on entering lower-division for a BSN program. If I made A's in the two courses I would be taking, my science GPA would increase to a 3.46 and cumulative to 3.33. The caveat, however, is that med schools won't know until I finished in December. However, it would really help if I had to reapply a third time. Should I consider another degree program, such as chemistry? Or music?

The online master's program is interesting. It's not easy and stupid like I thought, but it requires a lot of time. I'm also not sure anyone would take it seriously because of where it's from, even though it's pretty tough work. Also, each course is 5 credit hours, so they're effectively fleecing students out of money. Each course is $1500. Not to mention, I'm not really sure how a M.S. in Psychology would even help me. However, the overage money is nice.

My intent is to take the EMT-B course from Aug-Dec and work full-time as an EMT starting in January.

Is the M.S. worth it? Should I drop it to take additional undergrad, and eventually get the BSN if med school never works out? Should I consider another degree program in science such as chemistry or physics, or a nonscience degree program in music (I do miss playing) with the anatomy and physiology courses on top to bump the SGPA and in case I ever want to take the EMT-P course? Any advice is appreciated, as I've hit a roadblock. Thanks.

JKD

 

[group_theory]

None of us can tell you what to do or which road is best. My initial impression is that you are hell-bent on spending more money on tuition to earn more degrees - who knows how addition coursework will be looked upon ... whether it's from Walden or another undergraduate program post-Masters (or post-bac if you drop out of the MS program).

What you should do is contact your premed advisor and/or the admission officer of the nearest medical school and have an honest one-on-one discussion about your options. Also, figure out what went wrong w/ your initial application cycles - you got multiple interviews so on paper you were good enough - what happened? Figuring this out might save you thousands of dollars (in tuition and in application fees) and also make you a better applicant in the future (not just med school, but residency interview, job interviews, etc)

P.S. For what it's worth, most people's initial impression of online degrees (degrees earned entirely online) is negative. This is especially true in academia (academic snobbery at its best). You admitted to yourself that you initially didn't expect this much hard work. Whether this stereotype is right or wrong is a subject of another futile debate (which in itself won't resolve anything since the public will still have these stereoptypes regardless of who wins the debate).

Best of luck

 

[DD214_DOC]

I decided to go back to ugrad and finish my B.S. in Chemistry. I'm less than 2 years away from the degree and the extra science should help out. I wouldn't mind going on to get a PhD in chemistry or physics or master's in medical physics, which is possible, if I'm never admitted to med school.

Unfortunately the only chem I have left is pchem.