Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well in these trying times. I graduated a few years ago and I am applying this upcoming cycle and haven't found a thread addressing this topic on if its okay for science pre-reqs to be completed online now? I have a few remaining courses such as physics 2 with lab, biochem, cell bio and wanted to take them over the summer. My local state university is likely going to have all online courses for the summer. As someone who hasn't taken online courses before I am a bit nervous on 1) If it's going to be accepted and 2)How to best prepare for those summer courses? Any suggestions and tips for preparing for online science courses if they are infact accepted by dental schools would be greatly appreciated!
Online courses and Covid
- Thread starter toothhype
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I'm guessing they are making room for exceptions right now but you should contact the schools to make sure.
Thank you for responding. Do you think admissions offices are still open at the moment? I tried calling a few schools and no one answered earlier this week
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Prehealth advisors are getting feedback regarding COVID-19 contingency policies and procedures. Email the admissions offices. Someone is working, but probably not at the school.
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Be cautious about taking too many online courses at once. Sometimes, but not always, online courses can actually take more time and effort to do than on-ground courses--there are several reasons for this. To be successful in online courses usually requires two skills: 1.) Being self-disciplined with your time. 2.) Being able to teach yourself. This is the advice I give my students when they are starting online courses.
Thank you for your feedback! I've never taken online courses before. I wonder if some courses shouldnt be taken online such as physics with lab?
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There are students that need to take physics courses (with labs) and are unable to come to campus to do the hands-on labs. That is the reality--we have students in the military, students taking care of parents and/or young children, students with full-time jobs, and students with variable work hours (such as in agriculture). We do not turn these students away. Instead, we offer a full variety of online courses to accommodate these folks. [I should also note that schedule conflicts are common in advising students: English 101 is the same time as General Chemistry 2. I have many online students due to schedule conflicts.]
As far as the physics lab component goes, the experiments that are typically done in an on-ground setting are easily adapted to being done at home. For example, an on-ground lab might consist of rolling a marble down an incline in order to measure the acceleration of gravity, g. You can do that at home. No need to come to campus to do that experiment. For the courses I teach online, the students use a lab kit so they have the necessary supplies in order to conduct basic experiments at home.
Thank you for your response. I was wondering if you were an instructor at an online school and could give feedback on determining if a program is regionally accreddited? I want to have a back-up option incase my local state university gets filled up as I want to finish my pre-requisites this summer
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Yes, I am an instructor. I teach chemistry and physics at a community college--please message me for details, contact info, etc.. I teach both on-ground and online courses and I make available the full spectrum of courses (e.g. introduction to chemistry, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, etc.) each term. I have never turned away a student who needs a course.
In the US, accreditation is done regionally. Usually a particular school will list the accreditation information on its website. I recommend looking up "regional accreditation" to find the governing body that accredits your particular institution. If you go on the Department of Education website, you can download a gigantic list of every school that is accredited.
I hope this helps and I welcome any questions.
