Are online classes frowned upon?

[willagirl]

Hi everyone! I have been searching the forums about those of you who took online classes and application to vet school.

I am in a career change, pursuing my dream of being a vet. I already have a bachelors and masters degree from Old Dominion University. I am currently just working on the few science classes I didn't take back in the day, to fulfill my pre-req requirements.

I am considering taking a few of them online, like genetics and biochemistry. I know most schools accept online Animal Nutrition and Animal Science.

To those of you who have been accepted or are going through the process; did any of you take online classes and did it become a problem, hindrance or was it frowned upon when you applied? I know I can contact the school, but sometimes it is like contacting the IRS, you may get a different answer depending on who you talk to! Thought I would come to the forum and talk to those that actually went through it!!


thanks so much! I love this forum! It is so helpful!!

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[Betsy1990]

I honestly would say don't take the chance. I wanted to take a class last summer (Physics) where you could physically do the lab or do it online. I contacted my advisor who then contacted the vet school's admissions counselors who told me that there is always a chance there will be discrepancies with online classes and not to take the chance. Just my personal experience and I'm sure it varies from school to school.
I'm in Biochem right now and I CANNOT IMAGINE taking the class online. I'm already lost as it is and I go to lecture three times a week plus a discussion session.

 

[PetPony]

I think it depends if the class has a lab portion or not. I was told to not take chemistry, physics, etc online because they have labs. But I think I remember UGA saying that biochem for example is ok, because it doesn't have a lab portion.

I would really say, call the schools you are interested in and ask. Or better, email them, because then you have their answer in writing, so if there are any problems during the admissions cycle, you can show them you were told it's ok.

 

[jtom]

If the class is not a science class, I dont see any problem with it being online. I took 4-6 general education classes online and never had a problem with schools. I even took general chemistry I and II online and took the labs in class and never heard anything about it. I also think taking biochem online is not only ok by schools but I know a few schools (Cornell) who specifically say they accept it as an online course because they do not require the lab portion. However, I would not take any other upper level science classes online just to be safe.

 

[Emiloo4]

I took biochem online and got accepted. Just don't make a habit of online classes. Biochem online wasn't that bad. The only downfall was that it would have been easier to ask the professor questions face to face instead of email. It depends on what type of student you are whether it will work for you or not, but all 12 schools I applied to accepted it and said it was one they have one their "cleared" list. I took it at Oregon state.

 

[SocialStigma]

I took genetics online and it was accepted.

 

[Trilt]

I love online classes, and am a serial online class taker. (I also TA'd an online class for two years). I've had at least one online class for 6/8 of my semesters in college. Most of the time I was taking a non-science/required course, but I also took orgo II, micro, stats and animal nutrition online. In courses that had a lab, I just took the lab the semester after the class.

I was accepted, but I would honestly just contact the schools you're interested in applying for and ask their opinion on online courses, or consult their websites. I know the two schools I was serious about applying to had very differing opinions: NCSU said they were fine, while A&M was a little more guarded: "A limited number of correspondence courses may be acceptable. Students should consult the admissions office."

 

[OH Bunny Girl]

I took Comp I online. Not a science prereq I know, but in order to make sure it was going to be accepted by my vet school of choice I had to first contact CVM admission who told me to contact the professional admissions office. I then had to send them a course overview to ensure that the course I wanted to take met their standards.

So I would keep all this in mind BEFORE you pay money to take an online course.

 

[gnomie]

I am just about finished with my online genetics class and was accepted, I was however VERY careful to make sure that the one I took would meet the requirements of the schools I was applying to.

I too am a career changer and found it difficult at times to find the classes I needed without being a matriculated student at a university, so this online genetics class was really the only option I had. I can't say that I love the online learning thing, and it can be hard to stay motivated, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how helpful my professor is.

I agree with others who have mentioned that you should probably stick to the non-lab classes, and try to take as many traditional classes as possible.

 

[Katie8]

just to throw my two cents in, I am a huge fan of online classes. Mostly because I hated going to class (what can I say, I love to SLEEP and a.m. classes were a challenge for me to attend 😎) I took Physics II, Organic Chemistry I, and Microbiology (and several others, but only listing the science, pre-vet courses) and was accepted to 5 schools this cycle 😀 sooo taking them isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I will say that I took all of these online courses at a 4-year institution (MSU and NCSU), so all of them were approved by the school for the pre-vet students to take and still qualify for admissions purposes. I don't know if schools would care what kind of institution your online course came from.

 

[Emiloo4]

I will say that I took all of these online courses at a 4-year institution (MSU and NCSU), so all of them were approved by the school for the pre-vet students to take and still qualify for admissions purposes. I don't know if schools would care what kind of institution your online course came from.

I agree that if you want to be on the safe side, take online courses from a 4 year university. Maybe not every single one of them, but that's what I did just to feel a little better about it.

 

[JoAnna423]

I have taken 22 credits online, mostly electives but both of my math path pre-reqs (that most schools require) were done online. I never even considered vet schools looking down upon this until I started really looking into ALL the different schools...my advisors never mentioned it either. The only schools that I have seen that make a DIRECT statement about it are Missouri (which flat out told me the number of online classes I had taken would hurt my application) and I think Tennessee which states that they do not accept an online speech class, (I took mine online).

Online classes worked for me because I had a small child...the semester he was born I took two online classes only (7 hours)...I would hope that instead of viewing this as a negative thing, a school might see that "hey most people take off a semester to create a person, this person actually stayed in school, online or not".

Like everyone says, I think it totally depends on the school...try to take non pre reqs online, but if you do have to take some pre reqs online it happens. Online classes were what worked for me...and I more than proved myself with my other semester loads and grades 🙂)

 

[orcagirl]

Cornell and UGA do not accept online labs. As far as I know the lectures are fine. I didn't apply to either because I took the physics lab and lecture online. Purdue, Ohio, NC State, WSU, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Illinois didn't seem to care about this though.

 

[LeilaFay]

I haven't been accepted any where, but check with the course requirements at the schools you wish to apply to. Some say "with lab" right next to it, so I would assume the hands on laboratory experience would be beneficial.

I know at my university, when they cut funding, they cut labs first, and labs are always the best part! But as long as you get that piece of paper saying you did the lab, that is probably what they are looking for. All the manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination activities should benefit you.

 

[orcagirl]

I found it annoying because of how much other laboratory experience I had already had. I had taken two labs a semester and I worked in a research lab, which isn't the same, but I still knew what I was doing. And I had to figure out all the labs on my own.

 

[willagirl]

Well, I took a chance and emailed University of Florida (my #1 choice) and they gave me the thumbs up! I asked if I could take Biochemistry, Genetics and Principles of Animal Science, online, from Kansas State University, and they said yes. The big point was to make sure if you take online classes, they are from an accredited, true university. Basically, they have an actual campus, etc. that students can attend traditionally. Thanks everyone!!

 

[LeilaFay]

That's excellent news! Good luck 🙂

 

[sheepurtle]

Hi All, I also had a question about online courses: I currently live in a remote area and need to take microbiology + lab a pre-req. The local university only offers a microbiology for nursing students but that class is not acceptable for pre-vet admissions (according to the pre-med/vet advisor). So my plan was to take an online micro (lecture portion) course at CSU and then try to do the micro lab at the local university as an independent study (basically tag onto the lab portion of the university course with the nursing students, but do extra labs/work so the curriculum matches with an acceptable micro lab). I should probably email the vert schools I am interested in to see if this would be acceptable, but I'm curious whether anyone on here could comment on the situation? Thanks so much!

 

[PetPony]

Hi All, I also had a question about online courses: I currently live in a remote area and need to take microbiology + lab a pre-req. The local university only offers a microbiology for nursing students but that class is not acceptable for pre-vet admissions (according to the pre-med/vet advisor). So my plan was to take an online micro (lecture portion) course at CSU and then try to do the micro lab at the local university as an independent study (basically tag onto the lab portion of the university course with the nursing students, but do extra labs/work so the curriculum matches with an acceptable micro lab). I should probably email the vert schools I am interested in to see if this would be acceptable, but I'm curious whether anyone on here could comment on the situation? Thanks so much!

Why don't you get the description, syllabus etc of that class and send it to the schools you are interested in. Advisors don't always get it right and maybe it'll work for you.

 

[willagirl]

Which biochem class at Oregon State did you take, the 450 or 550? Since they are on the quarter system, did you have to take 2 quarters? Any advice would be great. I don't want to come up short on credits.

thanks