ASU Online for DIY post-bacc

[nunubee]

Hi everyone. First time poster.

I'm just starting my medical school journey at 36. There are many reasons, and many challenges I need to overcome (low GPA), but I want to focus this post on where to take prereqs.

Because of my job, I'm required to bounce around between Texas and Germany. Therefore, there's no opportunity to take in-person classes.

Arizona State University has a huge online program that offers almost every major, and they have every premed prerequisite that I'll need. The labs are also online, except for Organic Chemistry, which requires you to travel to Arizona for a week in the summer to do the labs in person. That's not a big deal (even though I'd rather take that online too).

Something I like about ASU is that they split each semester into 7-8 week sessions. Essentially, I can take bio 1 and bio 2 in one normal semester. I like to focus intently on one class at a time. I should be able to knock out all prereqs in about a year at that pace.

Does anyone have experience taking the premed prereqs at ASU Online? Since I need a GPA boost I'm looking for lenient grading. But I'd also like some support from the school when it comes to getting recommendations and guidance on applying. Even though the courses are not specifically marked as online, I'm sure medical school's can tell. Is this a huge negative, even after COVID times?

I'm debating between ASU and UNE for the online prereqs.

Any feedback is appreciated.

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[AJS59]

The experts will know more but my impression is a significant portion of medical schools don't accept online prereq's unless they were completed during COVID (especially for lab classes). There may be some that allow this but not most.

 

[nunubee]

The experts will know more but my impression is a significant portion of medical schools don't accept online prereq's unless they were completed during COVID (especially for lab classes). There may be some that allow this but not most.

This document from the AAMC shows that quite a few MD schools accept online courses.

 

[GBOAF]

OK, I know a little bit about this because I was in exactly your position. I started at 39. One difference is that I had already gotten my Bachelor's from ASU and, a couple of years later, decided I wanted to shoot for medical school. I work full-time to support my family, and I have a couple of kids. It didn't seem feasible to go to an in-person class, so I started enrolling at ASU with the exact same plan of getting a DIY post-bacc done.

Then, I started to talk to people who had been through the process and eventually some outside advisors. Almost everyone told me the same thing: med schools may accept online classes and labs, but they look down on them as less rigorous. I think it's ridiculous, personally. I did my Bachelor's online and have taken several in-person college courses. Online classes can be an ass-kicker with multiple papers and discussion board posts due in an 8-week semester, along with all the regular quizzes and exams. You say you want easy grading, and I did have some classes that were a breeze, but I had some tough profs, too. So far, my in-person post-bacc courses have been less demanding and stressful than many courses I took online at ASU. But it is hard to top when an in-person class is good. The interaction in class is enormous, especially in some of the more difficult classes. So yes, they will accept them, but they judge the rigor of your school, your courses, your course load, all of that. If an admissions person is looking at two candidates and one did everything online and the other did it in person, it will be judged differently, and there is not much you can do.

Another negative aspect of all online courses is the lack of interaction with professors. For med school, getting good LORs is important. It can be another differentiator in your application. It is still possible to interact with your professor at ASU. Pretty much all of mine had virtual office hours. But it's not the same and can make it difficult to establish that relationship that gets you an LOR. I took this and what I mentioned previously into account and finally dropped ASU and went with a local post-bacc program and haven't regretted it at all. It did cause me to make a lot of major changes in my life like leaving my comfy, well-paying job. But no regrets.

I will say, because it is ASU which is fully accredited and nationally recognized, the arguments about lack of rigor carry a little less weight. Also, I'm sure admissions committees will take into account your journey as a non-trad and how this was the only way for you to make it happen. Another good thing about it being through ASU is that is that your transcript says nothing about the classes being online. The transcript says Arizona State University, Tempe Campus. The degree I got for my online BS says ASU on it, like a regular degree, with nothing about it being done online. They will know eventually when they review your app, but you'll still be able to apply like everyone else. I'm sure with some excellent writing and a good story about why online only was necessary, you still have a shot at an acceptance somewhere, probably more DO, though.

You'll run into other issues being all online, like getting all the ECs you need. I don't know how you'll get clinical hours, volunteering, or shadowing done. It may be possible, but it's going to be tough. Problems for another day, I guess, but you need to think about it.

One recommendation I would make is to reach out and talk to some med school admissions reps. A lot of schools have emails or office hours for this kind of thing. Ask them directly, you'll get honest feedback. I hope this helps and good luck either way.

 

[nunubee]

OK, I know a little bit about this because I was in exactly your position. I started at 39. One difference is that I had already gotten my Bachelor's from ASU and, a couple of years later, decided I wanted to shoot for medical school. I work full-time to support my family, and I have a couple of kids. It didn't seem feasible to go to an in-person class, so I started enrolling at ASU with the exact same plan of getting a DIY post-bacc done.

Then, I started to talk to people who had been through the process and eventually some outside advisors. Almost everyone told me the same thing: med schools may accept online classes and labs, but they look down on them as less rigorous. I think it's ridiculous, personally. I did my Bachelor's online and have taken several in-person college courses. Online classes can be an ass-kicker with multiple papers and discussion board posts due in an 8-week semester, along with all the regular quizzes and exams. You say you want easy grading, and I did have some classes that were a breeze, but I had some tough profs, too. So far, my in-person post-bacc courses have been less demanding and stressful than many courses I took online at ASU. But it is hard to top when an in-person class is good. The interaction in class is enormous, especially in some of the more difficult classes. So yes, they will accept them, but they judge the rigor of your school, your courses, your course load, all of that. If an admissions person is looking at two candidates and one did everything online and the other did it in person, it will be judged differently, and there is not much you can do.

Another negative aspect of all online courses is the lack of interaction with professors. For med school, getting good LORs is important. It can be another differentiator in your application. It is still possible to interact with your professor at ASU. Pretty much all of mine had virtual office hours. But it's not the same and can make it difficult to establish that relationship that gets you an LOR. I took this and what I mentioned previously into account and finally dropped ASU and went with a local post-bacc program and haven't regretted it at all. It did cause me to make a lot of major changes in my life like leaving my comfy, well-paying job. But no regrets.

I will say, because it is ASU which is fully accredited and nationally recognized, the arguments about lack of rigor carry a little less weight. Also, I'm sure admissions committees will take into account your journey as a non-trad and how this was the only way for you to make it happen. Another good thing about it being through ASU is that is that your transcript says nothing about the classes being online. The transcript says Arizona State University, Tempe Campus. The degree I got for my online BS says ASU on it, like a regular degree, with nothing about it being done online. They will know eventually when they review your app, but you'll still be able to apply like everyone else. I'm sure with some excellent writing and a good story about why online only was necessary, you still have a shot at an acceptance somewhere, probably more DO, though.

You'll run into other issues being all online, like getting all the ECs you need. I don't know how you'll get clinical hours, volunteering, or shadowing done. It may be possible, but it's going to be tough. Problems for another day, I guess, but you need to think about it.

One recommendation I would make is to reach out and talk to some med school admissions reps. A lot of schools have emails or office hours for this kind of thing. Ask them directly, you'll get honest feedback. I hope this helps and good luck either way.

That's really informative! Unfortunately, online is my only option right now because of my job and need to be in Germany for part of the year. I'm fine with going to a DO school because primary care is where I eventually want to end up.

Did you eventually matriculate to medical school?

 

[GBOAF]

That's really informative! Unfortunately, online is my only option right now because of my job and need to be in Germany for part of the year. I'm fine with going to a DO school because primary care is where I eventually want to end up.

Did you eventually matriculate to medical school?

Glad it was helpful. I'm definitely also applying to DO because I'm not picky. I just want to get in somewhere. At my age, I don't have time to lose a year because I thought I was too good for a DO school.

I'm still working on everything right now. When I started my post-bacc last year, I had zero science or math prereqs. I won't be done with them until next year, but I'm still applying in the 2025-26 cycle and planning to take the MCAT in January 2025. We'll see!

 

[postbaccgalore]

Hi everyone. First time poster.

I'm just starting my medical school journey at 36. There are many reasons, and many challenges I need to overcome (low GPA), but I want to focus this post on where to take prereqs.

Because of my job, I'm required to bounce around between Texas and Germany. Therefore, there's no opportunity to take in-person classes.

Arizona State University has a huge online program that offers almost every major, and they have every premed prerequisite that I'll need. The labs are also online, except for Organic Chemistry, which requires you to travel to Arizona for a week in the summer to do the labs in person. That's not a big deal (even though I'd rather take that online too).

Something I like about ASU is that they split each semester into 7-8 week sessions. Essentially, I can take bio 1 and bio 2 in one normal semester. I like to focus intently on one class at a time. I should be able to knock out all prereqs in about a year at that pace.

Does anyone have experience taking the premed prereqs at ASU Online? Since I need a GPA boost I'm looking for lenient grading. But I'd also like some support from the school when it comes to getting recommendations and guidance on applying. Even though the courses are not specifically marked as online, I'm sure medical school's can tell. Is this a huge negative, even after COVID times?

I'm debating between ASU and UNE for the online prereqs.

Any feedback is appreciated.

If I were you I would do online. Not all medical schools would take online and guess what- you're not getting/shooting for every medical school. You only need 1. Also, it's all about context. I was just reading about a brown graduate who was in the military and finished up pre-med courses at his local community college. Clearly brown didn't care. It's all about context.