Online physics at BYU?

[hawaiiandaisy]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi,
I am a junior in a small undergraduate institution at the moment and was wondering if anyone had any experience with taking online courses at Brigham Young University. I'm planning on applying to vet school in the next year and a half and really do not want to take Physics at my university (I have an issue with the teacher who is currently the only one teaching the class and the last I heard the highest grade on his midterm was a 67% and he refuses to curve)...
I was wondering whether you all think it would be better to take the class at my university and get a low grade or take it online and have a byu class on my transcript?
Oh and taking it at another nearby campus is not an option because I live on an island, with only one school...
Thank you 🙂

 

[FutureZooVet]

Honestly, if the professor really is that bad, take it online. You can always say it didn't "fit" with your schedule, if they even asked, which I doubt they would. I'm assuming your school does not offer it online?
As far as BYU on you're transcript, before you start worrying about how its going to look, make sure you can actually take a class from them. BYU tuition is expensive since it's private. Additionally, their online courses may be different, but its a difficult school to get into and if you go on campus whether you're Mormon or not, they have certain... standards and expectations. I would imagine as a non-degree seeking student, none of these will be an issue (plus honestly, how would they enforce it?), but check to be sure. Why BYU anyway?

Finally, as far as how it looks on you're transcript, BYU is actually highly respectable I've heard great things about many of their departments. As long as you don't take say, evolution or physiology, I wouldn't worry about its reputation and who knows, it might actually look good on your transcript if you're at a smaller university now.

 

[musher]

Another thing to keep in mind, is whether the online course has a lab, and whether the vet schools you plan on applying to require a lab. (And if the BYU class will transfer well.)

 

[hawaiiandaisy]

Honestly, if the professor really is that bad, take it online. You can always say it didn't "fit" with your schedule, if they even asked, which I doubt they would. I'm assuming your school does not offer it online?
As far as BYU on you're transcript, before you start worrying about how its going to look, make sure you can actually take a class from them. BYU tuition is expensive since it's private. Additionally, their online courses may be different, but its a difficult school to get into and if you go on campus whether you're Mormon or not, they have certain... standards and expectations. I would imagine as a non-degree seeking student, none of these will be an issue (plus honestly, how would they enforce it?), but check to be sure. Why BYU anyway?

Finally, as far as how it looks on you're transcript, BYU is actually highly respectable I've heard great things about many of their departments. As long as you don't take say, evolution or physiology, I wouldn't worry about its reputation and who knows, it might actually look good on your transcript if you're at a smaller university now.

Thanks for your response 🙂 My school doesn't offer it online and BYU was the only distance education program that I could find that was offering college physics online. If you know of any others, please let me know! (I've checked lots of community colleges and other universities on the west coast and their distance education programs...) I read on their website that most people in good standing at their universities do not have a problem getting accepted into the distance education program. The actual onsite campus, I'm not that sure about. The tuition seems to be about $600 per class, which is expensive, but worth it in my opinion.
Thanks for the info about their reputation, I wasn't sure how are they viewed in academia and wanted to make sure it wasn't going to reflect badly on my transcript.
Another thing to note, I am a transfer student at my school already and have lots of transfer credits from multiple universities and community colleges (going to be such a pain when I apply!), do you think that taking another transfer credit might hurt my chances?

@musher - I was planning on taking the lab at my university, I have heard good things about the physics lab offered on my campus, it's just the lecture teacher that I am unwilling to take a class with.

 

[Rainheart]

I took Online Physics through Virginia Highlands Community college- the lecture and lab (but only the second half). I took the first half at my local community college over the summer. I know one school had issues with online classes, but I didn't apply to that school for a different reason (UGA). Good luck!

 

[WillowLeaf]

I'm going to take online physics through Chemeketa Community College for the second and third terms. As long as the schools I'm applying to tell me that they accept community college physics. I haven't checked the tuition yet for that class but I know it's less than my university. Chemeketa does include labs that you do at home, but I'm not sure if you could do just the lecture section if that's all you wanted. Also, I'm not sure if Chemeketa has a good reputation or not.

Another thing to note, I am a transfer student at my school already and have lots of transfer credits from multiple universities and community colleges (going to be such a pain when I apply!), do you think that taking another transfer credit might hurt my chances?

Haha I have so many transfer transcripts as well. Seven transcripts total, including my current university. I'm not sure how schools view transfer credits or if it makes any difference, but hopefully they don't mind! When I applied, I added a note in the additional information/explanation statement section of VMCAS to explain why I made the decision to transfer schools multiple times and why I took courses from two colleges at once (or three at once, which was an interesting term...). I figured schools might like to know that each change was based on a logical decision, in case they were wondering about my crazy transcript situation.