Online courses and Med School Applications?

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The One Who Knocks

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Hi everyone,

Just a question. I'm a junior, and I have not taken any of my BCPM courses online or anything like that, but I have taken an online psych course, and several online gen-eds.

I have had time to think about it, and I'm wondering if those online courses will have any detriment to my application. More importantly, they are NOT listed as online courses on my transcript, so my question is, will med schools even know they were taken online?

Is there a part of the application that requires you to specifically designate certain classes as online or not? And if they are not listed as online courses on your transcript, what is stopping somebody from deciding not to share that it was an online course?

Thanks for the help, I appreciate any insight.
 
Hi everyone,

Just a question. I'm a junior, and I have not taken any of my BCPM courses online or anything like that, but I have taken an online psych course, and several online gen-eds.

I have had time to think about it, and I'm wondering if those online courses will have any detriment to my application. More importantly, they are NOT listed as online courses on my transcript, so my question is, will med schools even know they were taken online?

Is there a part of the application that requires you to specifically designate certain classes as online or not? And if they are not listed as online courses on your transcript, what is stopping somebody from deciding not to share that it was an online course?

Thanks for the help, I appreciate any insight.
The same thing that's stopping someone from not reporting a previous poor transcript from another college... the risk! But no, I don't think you have to report it on AMCAS or anything unless, as noted above, a secondary specifically asks for it.
 
Schools won't know that it was online unless the school is nowhere near where you were living.

I needed to take an online English post-bac class to meet the requirements for some schools and no school I emailed had a problem with it as long as the school was regionally accredited (I emailed schools from the low-tier all the way up to top tier). I think you're fine as long as you aren't taking the science pre-reqs online
 
I had some online classes listed on my amcas that I took at a community college and had transferred to my undergrad. I didn't report them as being online classes (where would you even do that? I didn't have any secondaries that asked) and it hasn't been a problem.
 
The same thing that's stopping someone from not reporting a previous poor transcript from another college... the risk! But no, I don't think you have to report it on AMCAS or anything unless, as noted above, a secondary specifically asks for it.

Schools won't know that it was online unless the school is nowhere near where you were living.

I needed to take an online English post-bac class to meet the requirements for some schools and no school I emailed had a problem with it as long as the school was regionally accredited (I emailed schools from the low-tier all the way up to top tier). I think you're fine as long as you aren't taking the science pre-reqs online

I had some online classes listed on my amcas that I took at a community college and had transferred to my undergrad. I didn't report them as being online classes (where would you even do that? I didn't have any secondaries that asked) and it hasn't been a problem.

Would you guys say that the majority of schools ask about the online classes, or a minority? Also, does anybody have a list of schools that ask about this? Does anyone know if Wayne State School of Medicine asks?
 
Would you guys say that the majority of schools ask about the online classes, or a minority? Also, does anybody have a list of schools that ask about this? Does anyone know if Wayne State School of Medicine asks?
Check the school-specific secondary pages for questions. None that I have seen have asked it (looked at like 10-15 schools I'll be applying to next year, all CA and private schools).
 
Check the school-specific secondary pages for questions. None that I have seen have asked it (looked at like 10-15 schools I'll be applying to next year, all CA and private schools).

Hey, I used this resource http://www.prospectivedoctor.com/medical-school-secondary-essay-prompts-database/ and found that very few schools ask about online classes in their secondary questions.

JUST TO BE SURE, is this the ONLY place that they would ask about that, on paper? There's nowhere else? I just want to be sure so that my mind is at ease, haha.

Thanks for your response.
 
Hey, I used this resource http://www.prospectivedoctor.com/medical-school-secondary-essay-prompts-database/ and found that very few schools ask about online classes in their secondary questions.

JUST TO BE SURE, is this the ONLY place that they would ask about that, on paper? There's nowhere else? I just want to be sure so that my mind is at ease, haha.

Thanks for your response.
The primary doesn't ask for you indicate online courses, so only the secondary is left. If the secondary doesn't ask, then you're good.

If any online course is being used as a pre-req, I would personally still call the schools to ask if it's okay to use online courses. If they aren't being used as pre-reqs then definitely don't worry at all.
 
The primary doesn't ask for you indicate online courses, so only the secondary is left. If the secondary doesn't ask, then you're good.

If any online course is being used as a pre-req, I would personally still call the schools to ask if it's okay to use online courses. If they aren't being used as pre-reqs then definitely don't worry at all.

None of them are pre-reqs, but one Intro Psychology. Is that a pre-req that I would have to worry about? The rest are gen-eds.
 
None of them are pre-reqs, but one Intro Psychology. Is that a pre-req that I would have to worry about? The rest are gen-eds.
I highly doubt that the few schools that require psych would have a problem with it being online. Which schools are you using it for?
 
I highly doubt that the few schools that require psych would have a problem with it being online. Which schools are you using it for?

Haven't completely decided yet, but do you know which schools require psych as a pre-req?
 
Haven't completely decided yet, but do you know which schools require psych as a pre-req?
I just know Rosalind. The MSAR also says whether or not online counts at each school for pre-req (Rosalind accepts online psych), so you could check that. If MSAR says they don't, follow up with the school since MSAR isn't always right
 
I just know Rosalind. The MSAR also says whether or not online counts at each school for pre-req (Rosalind accepts online psych), so you could check that. If MSAR says they don't, follow up with the school since MSAR isn't always right

Okay, but the vast majority don't have psych as a requirement, and thus, won't need to be notified that it was taken online, correct?
 
I just know Rosalind. The MSAR also says whether or not online counts at each school for pre-req (Rosalind accepts online psych), so you could check that. If MSAR says they don't, follow up with the school since MSAR isn't always right

Also, I just emailed my pre-med advisor and she told me that med schools ask about online courses in the primary application. Is this true? I don't know whether she is speaking truth or not.
 
Also, I just emailed my pre-med advisor and she told me that med schools ask about online courses in the primary application. Is this true? I don't know whether she is speaking truth or not.
No, they don't. Relax. Seriously, this is not something to worry about and you will be fine.
 
So, why do you my advisor said it's in the primary? Could she be confused with something else?
It's only if it's in the title of the course. Some universities will have, say Chem 1A and Chem N1A, where the N denotes an online course. What I suggest, and I think every student should do this, is request every transcript from any university you've taken classes at to see EXACTLY what med schools will see and follow what's on your transcript. If it's not on your transcript, med schools won't see.
 
It's only if it's in the title of the course. Some universities will have, say Chem 1A and Chem N1A, where the N denotes an online course. What I suggest, and I think every student should do this, is request every transcript from any university you've taken classes at to see EXACTLY what med schools will see and follow what's on your transcript. If it's not on your transcript, med schools won't see.

Hey. Just got an email from my pre-med advisor, and she said:

"I'm pretty sure it's part of the data entry you do, along with logging if a class was honors etc.".

Is this true?
 
Hey. Just got an email from my pre-med advisor, and she said:

"I'm pretty sure it's part of the data entry you do, along with logging if a class was honors etc.".

Is this true?
No it's not true, how many times do we have to tell you? Look at pgs 41-44 of the AMCAS instruction manual, "Special Course Types". Indicating online courses is not an option.
 
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