Non-Traditional Here

[russellang]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I had a question for you all. I am working a traditional full time 9-5 job and I am having to take some classes I need to get into vet school. However, I am having trouble finding any courses at any of the universities near me that are not during these hours. I thought about taking them online but they are biochemistry and microbiology with labs so that complicates things.

Thanks so much.​

 

[Tricolorbadness]

Where are you located? One of my prereqs I took in the evening. Another I had to take during the day, but my work schedule was flexible which permitted that (took a long lunch). It depends on what is offered where you are and what your working situation is. I'm not sure, but an online prereq may or may not be suitable. Anyone else have an opinion or experience with this?

 

[HandD42]

I ran into the same problem with my schedule. The major university in my area only offered Micro smack dab in the morning with the lab afterwards. Not workable with a full time job.

I did a lot of digging my found a community college in my area that offered both the class and lab at night.

It is not suggested to do all of your classes at a cc but one or two is usually fine. I also emailed all my schools I applied to before I registered for the class in order to make sure they would accept this class from a cc and it was fine.

Try looking for cc that have nursing programs, many of them offer micro and may offer it an night or on the weekend even.

Good luck!

 

[Tambotie]

I was in the same boat. I took my prereqs like Chem and Physics at community college but micro, biochem etc I had to take at the university. I would leave work, go to class and come back to work. I am a financial analyst and so as long as I got my work done and let everyone I work closely with know where I was every hour of the day they were okay with it. Some days I would work 12 hours or so just b/c the prior day I had a class and lab which totally hosed that working day. Also, I took classes in the summer too. As with this schedule I could manage 2 maybe three classes at a time so it took me longer to retake some old stuff and get the other prereqs in. I am not going to say it hasn't been without challenges and some extra stress. But it is doable.

 

[that redhead]

I would suggest community college courses that would transfer appropriately or evening classes. I know my university sets aside special time blocks in the evening (6:30 and later) that are only available to those like you who have a full time job and are not full time students.

 

[russellang]

I am located in boston. I will have to look at community colleges. My only issue is not so much how it looks taking classes at cc's but whether their microbiology is the appropriate level (not 2000 level). My other issue is biochemistry as it is definetly an upper level course and I doubt a cc would offer it. Now I do have a few other classes I have to take but they are nutrition and another animal science class so I can take them online easily but these other two are a bit tricky to deal with. I would also prefer to take micro and biochem in seperate semesters so I am willing to do it but I will be risking it as the schedule will not be out until after I have committed to an evening course route-for instance if I can find a biochem evening class in the fall, I will be banking on someone offering a microbio evening course next spring.

Unfortunately, I cannot leave work etc to make classes during my work schedule. Any other ideas?

Thank you

 

[Crazy Hippos]

I had the same problem so I enrolled as a "non-degree" student at another university that offered the courses I needed in the evenings.

 

[HandD42]

I am located in boston. I will have to look at community colleges. My only issue is not so much how it looks taking classes at cc's but whether their microbiology is the appropriate level (not 2000 level). My other issue is biochemistry as it is definetly an upper level course and I doubt a cc would offer it. Now I do have a few other classes I have to take but they are nutrition and another animal science class so I can take them online easily but these other two are a bit tricky to deal with. I would also prefer to take micro and biochem in seperate semesters so I am willing to do it but I will be risking it as the schedule will not be out until after I have committed to an evening course route-for instance if I can find a biochem evening class in the fall, I will be banking on someone offering a microbio evening course next spring.

Unfortunately, I cannot leave work etc to make classes during my work schedule. Any other ideas?

Thank you

I took both micro and biochem at a community college but like I said I got both classes pre-approved at the schools I was interested in. May not work for all schools.

Also I know for schools like MN they list each CC in the area and what classes each school offers that would qualify to meet their requirements. If there is a vet school in your area see if they may have a similar list or call the admissions department, they are the best ones to know which area colleges offer the classes you need.

If none of those options work you may be forced to leave your job or go down to part time to finish your classes if you cannot make your schedule accomodate. Hard choices🙁

 

[annemal22]

So I am in a similar situation, trying to update my microbiology and biochem for a couple of schools that have age requirements on prereqs. I am in MA as well. Harvard extension school offers biochemistry at night with a lab, Mass Bay Community College in Wellesley offers alot of those classes as well becuase they have an assosciates degree to prepare students for nursing programs, also, as an online option the University of New England (in Maine) offers all these science pre-reqs online. THe greatest thing about them is that they are specifically for people who are changing careers to the medical field. Another plus to these classes is that the labs are online AND you can start the classes WHENEVER you want! So you don't have to wait for a particular semester. You should look into it and contact the schools you want to apply to to make sure these are acceptable. University of New England is a four year degree school so this is the added bonus. Hope this helps for you, or anyone else having this issue.

 

[russellang]

Even the labs are online? Is it like virtual labs? That sounds interesting but I dont know if the admissions staff will be looking at me like I am crazy because they see I did an online lab, not sure if they would take it, I can always call them.

Thanks

 

[nyanko]

How on earth do you do a microbiology lab online???

 

[VeganSoprano]

I don't think any schools require biochem lab, if that helps at all.

 

[annemal22]

Nyanko- Not quite sure how you do a micro lab online. . . just know that they offer it. I haven't taken the class myself.

 

[russellang]

I don't think any schools require biochem lab, if that helps at all.

Thats good to know, I assumed they wanted the lab as well. You are right though, I checked one school and it says only the course is required. I was unaware biochem is four credits for the lecture- I assumed the four credits was three for the lecture and one for the lab.

Thanks

 

[August West]

I am a non-traditional applicant as well that decided to abandon my current career path and pursue vet med about a year and a half ago. I have worked full-time through the entire process this far. All of my pre-requisites have been taken through the local state university's Extension program either at night or on the weekends. I have typically scheduled two such courses per quarter and have finished all of my bio, chem and physics class already without having to quit my job. I also shadow and assist a small animal vet once or twice a week and have started taking Animal Science classes at a local community college that houses a 300 acre animal facility. Every Sunday I help run a rescue adoption with one of the vet techs I've met through the clinic. The plan all along was to establish this part of the path while keeping my full time job until I could no longer do so logistically. In the next next couple months I plan to leave the job, though, and exponentially increase all of my class and clinical hours. I will not be applying until the following cycle giving me another year and half to finish my last couple pre-reqs, complete as many Animal Science courses as possible and experience as many different forms of vet med applications in various clinical setting including large farm animal and equine at the community college facilities, lab animal research at a local institution, wildlife rehabilitation and also continue working at the small animal clinic.

The hardest part is the idea of giving up my income stream. There is a distinct chance that I will be able to work some paid hours at the small vet hospital just to help me get by. Otherwise, I plan to get by on the little savings I have as well as the 401k that I have accumulated over the past 8 years. For those that do not know, one can withdrawal from their retirement fund with little penalty if it is to be used for educational purposes.

If there is a will, there is almost always a way.

 

[parietal]

I also worked full time throughout my prereqs and did not have evening classes available, but I switched jobs so I could work about 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. depending on my semester schedule, then take my classes in the afternoon. Fortunately, I had a flexible boss who didn't care when I worked as long as I completed everything before daily deadlines.

I did have a few morning classes that were not offered at any other time, and then I'd start even earlier, rush to class and rush out and finish my work on my laptop before deadline. It was a pain in the butt, and my GPA for my morning classes is likely slightly lower than my GPA for my afternoon classes, but you do what you have to do.

There is no way I could have completed my prereqs at my previous job, where my schedule was entirely at the mercy of the news.

So I think it does help to think outside of the box. Maybe your current job won't work, but is there another position within your company or field that would?

 

[StartingoverVet]

I would also point out that at some point you will have to quit your job if you get accepted. I saved a few of the courses I couldn't do through night-time or weekend extension until the end so I could take them during the day after my employment ended. That keeps me in school through the summer before vet school starts but kept me fully employed through the process.

Just be sure to check where you are applying because not all schools allow you to take classes the summer before (but many do), and some schools need a certain % of classes completed before applying (although many don't) so you can't reasonably expect to take 8 classes the last six months or something like that.

It is working out for me though.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Have you looked into Harvard Extension School? My friend was able to take her Orgo with lab after work hours, so I'm guessing they also have Micro and Biochem.

 

[pdjy]

I'm a non-traditional too ... I quit my job back in January, have been focused on school and volunteering/shadowing so that I may apply this fall.

Since my runway is short, I'm taking classes pretty much anywhere that will be accepted. It's my understand that for the most part, GE classes will be accepted from CC whereas certainly classes (ie Genetics, Physio, Biochem) should be taken at a 4 year school. There are a quite a few 4 year schools (ie Oregon State) and their Extension colleges (ie UC Berkeley, UCLA ...) that offer the "upper-division" courses. Keep looking and you'll find the right courses.

Last, I do believe that some schools (Tuskegee comes to mind) may indeed have a Biochem Lab required which has thrown a small wrench in my plans.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=9729097

Good luck to you!