HELP!!!! UCLA ext or Cal State LA

[LAcmw]

hey guys....

i'm still struggling...here's my question to all of you...since we all know it's difficult to take science courses/labs at night.... what does one do?? UCLA extension offers concurrent enrollment for their classes, but they're hit or miss. --according to one advisor,....'it's tough, but not impossible' to take that o-chem class with a lab at night. so what does one do..start the sequence, but never finish it at UCLA extension...?? and, how does that look when you're taking a few classes at UCLA ext then a class at Cal State--i'm jumping all around? they seem to make things really difficult. so with just a little bit of prefacing that i've done... what is the best option???

take the classes at night and just pray that UCLA will let me do the concurrent enrollment, and therefore finishing the prereqs while still working full-time and not have to take out huge private loans?

or...

matriculate at Cal State LA as a second bacc..do my science courses in the morning and struggle with a not so well paying job in the evening?? and...what kind of job at night would pay all that well??

i'm sure most of these questions have been answered....thanks in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dfg]

Hi, sorry I don't have any knowledge about what Med schools think, but I am in a similar situation with regards to taking classes at UC/CSU. One thing I want to mention in case you didn't know the CSU's have a similar program to Concurrent enrollment called Open University. Though if you're planning to take 3 or more classes a semester it is probably cheaper to enroll and pay full time tuition. (btw CSU's are on the semester system and started last week). Also I would think most jobs would be flexible if you are only taking one or two classes during work hours, not to mention the possibility of getting classes at 8-9 or 12-1. Labs are a huge problem no question, you need to work around a four hour block there somehow.

My personal experience has been flexible scheduling is the least of your worries, its damn near impossible to get into some classes at all due to their being full all the time everywhere. Organic Lab at a UC? in your dreams I'd say at this point but what do I know.

 

[cosmicstarr]

Hi LAcmv,

UCLA's program does look appealing beacuse of all the courses offered at night. However, I would also be concerned about the Chemistry sequence where you have to try to enroll in the GChem Lab and Ochem Lab during the day with the regularly enrolled students. I am not sure how difficult that would be, and I would be worried that the labs would fill up before anyone from Extension can enroll. The option of taking the labs at another school is also questionable because I think a lot of community colleges combine the Chemistry lecture and lab, so you cannot just take the labs at these schools. At Cal State LA it looks like the Gen. Chem lecture and labs are also combined into one class. O-Chem does separate the lab and lecture into separate courses.

The other problem with the evening schedule is that two required prereqs. might be on the same night. For example, Physics 1 and Bio 1 might be on the same night, so it limits the amount of classes you can take, thereby extending the time to complete all the prereqs. The day schedule of course gives a lot more flexibility.

I think ultimately, I will make the decision to attend school full time to refresh/finish my prereqs, and I will have to quit my current job.