ASU online cirriculum

[chaiteacity]

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I am a student at ASU and I take online classes. I am dead-set on being a physician. Due to life circumstances, I am unable to attend traditional university because I have to work to support myself and I take classes online. My second job at Starbucks pays for it. My question to all of you is do you think taking online classes, even though the course description does not differ from those taken on campus, is permissible to a medical school? I am getting my BS in biochemistry. Most of the labs for prerequisite coursework have to be completed in person on campus. Do you guys think determination and good stats (GPA, MCAT, ECs’, etc) are enough? Should I give up now and find something more accepting of my degree type? I don’t want to waste my time and all my money applying, but I have never wanted anything more.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[differentiating]

Will it hurt your application? Probably. Online classe are generally seen as less rigorous, and ASU isn’t well-regarded enough as an institution to counteract that stigma. Iirc, there are also a number of schools that don’t accept online prereqs, so I would look into that. I can’t remember if you were the poster whose life circumstances were that you wanted to move to NYC, but that’s one situation where I don’t think adcoms would be sympathetic.

Would you be able to get in somewhere? Possibly - it’s hard to say without GPAs, MCAT, and ECs. If you have no other weaknesses in your application, I’d think you could stand a chance at getting in *somewhere* if you apply broadly, but nobody knows for sure.

 

[chaiteacity]

Will it hurt your application? Probably. Online classe are generally seen as less rigorous, and ASU isn’t well-regarded enough as an institution to counteract that stigma. Iirc, there are also a number of schools that don’t accept online prereqs, so I would look into that. I can’t remember if you were the poster whose life circumstances were that you wanted to move to NYC, but that’s one situation where I don’t think adcoms would be sympathetic.

Would you be able to get in somewhere? Possibly - it’s hard to say without GPAs, MCAT, and ECs. If you have no other weaknesses in your application, I’d think you could stand a chance at getting in *somewhere* if you apply broadly, but nobody knows for sure.

Thank you for the honest advice! No, I am not that poster. I am a non-traditional applicant and have an immense amount of family problems. I don’t say that with the intent to gain sympathy from anonymous online persons. I am 21 and have just gone back to school so I am still working out my plan. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being overly optimistic and my desire to succeed and be a physician wasn’t clouding my judgement.

Thank you kind stranger!

 

[seanm028]

Iirc, there are also a number of schools that don’t accept online prereqs, so I would look into that.

Yup - each school dictates its own policies when it comes to whether or not they accept online prereqs. Some put this policy on their websites; others you'll have to contact the admissions office to know for sure. There are also a couple threads floating around here where people have put together lists of schools that do/don't accept online credits.

 

[chaiteacity]

Yup - each school dictates its own policies when it comes to whether or not they accept online prereqs. Some put this policy on their websites; others you'll have to contact the admissions office to know for sure. There are also a couple threads floating around here where people have put together lists of schools that do/don't accept online credits.

Thank you!

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

I am a student at ASU and I take online classes. I am dead-set on being a physician. Due to life circumstances, I am unable to attend traditional university because I have to work to support myself and I take classes online. My second job at Starbucks pays for it. My question to all of you is do you think taking online classes, even though the course description does not differ from those taken on campus, is permissible to a medical school? I am getting my BS in biochemistry. Most of the labs for prerequisite coursework have to be completed in person on campus. Do you guys think determination and good stats (GPA, MCAT, ECs’, etc) are enough? Should I give up now and find something more accepting of my degree type? I don’t want to waste my time and all my money applying, but I have never wanted anything more.

Thanks a bunch.

Taking online classes is a good idea as a start to familiarize yourself with the material. Being successful as an online student does indicate that you are a self-starter and capable of academically functioning on your own. That is my opinion.

One thing to consider is the transcripts at the institution that I teach at no longer distinguish on-ground vs. online vs. hybrid. I suspect this could be happening at other institutions as the divide between online/onground/hybrid is getting smaller. I have not had time to thoroughly research this aspect.

A suggestion is to take the syllabi from prospective online courses and send them to various medical schools and ask for their feedback about them. As an instructor, I would be interested in hearing specific feedback about my courses so that I could make them better.

 

[Moko]

Online coursework for pre-requisites is not accepted at my school and many others. Make sure that you do your research now to ensure that you can still apply broadly enough to schools for which you will be competitive despite this limitation. Good luck