Online Pre-Reqs pros and cons

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
D

Dovie90

New Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2024
Messages
8
Reaction score
2
I have to take prereqs online since none of the colleges/universities within 2 hours from me have them online or evenings when I get off my regular job (teaching).

I have checked with the interested colleges, and they will accept credits from online courses. UC San Diego Extension, Portage, Doane, South College, ASU, Univ, of Arizona, all have classes that are legit... So what are the pros and cons of each...Which are proctored, the amount of work; and basically how the classes were ran. I am looking for those who have experience with taking these courses online. I'm having to start with Chem 1 - O.Chem. Looking for self-paced, as I would like to be done by June with prereqs to apply net cycle.

Thanks!
Members don't see this ad.
 
Some DVM programs do not allow online labs, so be aware of that. I think UGA is among them.

I just took UCSD Extension Biochemistry, and the workload was totally doable but I did not enjoy the quiz format. It's of the "which is the MOST correct" variety which I really struggled with, but the extra credit report and doing well / being thorough on my discussion posts paid off. I'm currently in UCSD Extension Microbiology with lab, while the lab aspect is a lot of work (as you'd expect) I think the class is doable, especially if you're not taking 6 classes concurrently as I am.

I am also in Purdue's Animal Nutrition course and I'm really not enjoying the format of it. It's got very little structure and it's entirely self-paced, I do better with deadlines but I'll get through it and stay on track.

ETA: Some local two year colleges do have online chemistry and biology classes! All of my local two year programs offer entirely online general chemistry, organic chemistry, and general biology, so maybe look at some two year options near you?
 
Dovie90 said:
I have to take prereqs online since none of the colleges/universities within 2 hours from me have them online or evenings when I get off my regular job (teaching).

I have checked with the interested colleges, and they will accept credits from online courses. UC San Diego Extension, Portage, Doane, South College, ASU, Univ, of Arizona, all have classes that are legit... So what are the pros and cons of each...Which are proctored, the amount of work; and basically how the classes were ran. I am looking for those who have experience with taking these courses online. I'm having to start with Chem 1 - O.Chem. Looking for self-paced, as I would like to be done by June with prereqs to apply net cycle.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I’m finishing online with Unity environmental univ which is now hybrid. Have all the prereqs and do 5 week terms which I love cause it’s over faster and can fit in more classes.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
SV88 said:
Some DVM programs do not allow online labs, so be aware of that. I think UGA is among them.

I just took UCSD Extension Biochemistry, and the workload was totally doable but I did not enjoy the quiz format. It's of the "which is the MOST correct" variety which I really struggled with, but the extra credit report and doing well / being thorough on my discussion posts paid off. I'm currently in UCSD Extension Microbiology with lab, while the lab aspect is a lot of work (as you'd expect) I think the class is doable, especially if you're not taking 6 classes concurrently as I am.

I am also in Purdue's Animal Nutrition course and I'm really not enjoying the format of it. It's got very little structure and it's entirely self-paced, I do better with deadlines but I'll get through it and stay on track.

ETA: Some local two year colleges do have online chemistry and biology classes! All of my local two year programs offer entirely online general chemistry, organic chemistry, and general biology, so maybe look at some two year options near you?
Click to expand...
I have my masters, and looked at all options near me... very limited.. my degree was in animal science and ag ed. I found Barton Comm. college. I really need to ace these courses to bring my gpa up a little bit more to be solid for Texas Tech, or LSU. All the schools on my list accept online courses and labs and from comm. colleges.

Was UCSD Extension proctored? How is the grading? I read elsewhere that schools were not taking biochem from there due to it being accelerated.
 
Also, I just found Barton Community College, and they have all the prereqs online. Cheaper than others with labs integrated in. Has anyone used them before that can provide feedback?
 
Dovie90 said:
Also, I just found Barton Community College, and they have all the prereqs online. Cheaper than others with labs integrated in. Has anyone used them before that can provide feedback?
Click to expand...
Many schools require certain prerequisites (specifically upper level sciences like biochem, orgo, physics etc) to be from 4 year universities
 
I took many of my prereqs online (especially my science ones and most in community college) and applied to vet schools that allowed online courses, and I got into vet school! So having multiple online prereq courses is not a big issue as long as you meet the requirements. I can't speak for how the online classes are set up for those schools, but in my experience, it certainly a hit or miss, some of them were easy to handle, some were proctored, some were open note, some were basically self-teach, while other courses were great. Most of them were self-paced which I liked. I would recommend checking those courses and professors online at RateMyProfessor to get a feel on how theses courses are set up!
 
The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine has some online 500-level graduate courses that non-DVM students can take either as a standalone course, as part of a veterinary science certificate program, or as part of a master's degree. To clarify, the courses don't count toward specific prerequisites. However, they can count toward your science GPA if you are looking for a boost. I've seen students do the online program while taking some pre-reqs elsewhere to bolster their vet school application!

Feel free to message me if you have more questions about it!
vetmed.illinois.edu

Home - Pursue Your Career in Veterinary Science

Explore what the Master of Veterinary Science (MVS) degree or a Certificate of Veterinary Science from the U. of I. can do to help in your animal health career.
vetmed.illinois.edu vetmed.illinois.edu
 
leman1 said:
The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine has some online 500-level graduate courses that non-DVM students can take either as a standalone course, as part of a veterinary science certificate program, or as part of a master's degree. To clarify, the courses don't count toward specific prerequisites. However, they can count toward your science GPA if you are looking for a boost. I've seen students do the online program while taking some pre-reqs elsewhere to bolster their vet school application!

Feel free to message me if you have more questions about it!
vetmed.illinois.edu

Home - Pursue Your Career in Veterinary Science

Explore what the Master of Veterinary Science (MVS) degree or a Certificate of Veterinary Science from the U. of I. can do to help in your animal health career.
vetmed.illinois.edu vetmed.illinois.edu
Click to expand...
Ok thank you! Does anyone know if it would be an issue if a college calls their chemistry inorganic vs general or college/university chem 1, 2,etc and the same with physics? By the descriptions, it looks on paper to be the same but we know how difficult vet schools can be when they all want different things!
 
Dovie90 said:
I have my masters, and looked at all options near me... very limited.. my degree was in animal science and ag ed. I found Barton Comm. college. I really need to ace these courses to bring my gpa up a little bit more to be solid for Texas Tech, or LSU. All the schools on my list accept online courses and labs and from comm. colleges.

Was UCSD Extension proctored? How is the grading? I read elsewhere that schools were not taking biochem from there due to it being accelerated.
Click to expand...
Yes, but you can always go back as a non-degree seeking student at a local two year (or even a state funded two year) if they offer the courses you're missing.

My UCSD quizzes nor final for biochem were not proctored, but even with open book and open note I found them challenging because the answers were in a "Most correct" format. So far, microbio content is easier than the biochem content. They operate on a quarter system, so 10 to 12 week classes, but I just offset those with my regular semester classes at my local two year college so I don't have a ton of finals at once.
 
luvpup said:
I took many of my prereqs online (especially my science ones and most in community college) and applied to vet schools that allowed online courses, and I got into vet school! So having multiple online prereq courses is not a big issue as long as you meet the requirements. I can't speak for how the online classes are set up for those schools, but in my experience, it certainly a hit or miss, some of them were easy to handle, some were proctored, some were open note, some were basically self-teach, while other courses were great. Most of them were self-paced which I liked. I would recommend checking those courses and professors online at RateMyProfessor to get a feel on how theses courses are set up!
Click to expand...
Did you have an issue with community colleges referring gen/inorganic chem 1/2 as college chem 1/2 and it not being accepted? or Physics 1 vs University Physics?
 
Dovie90 said:
Did you have an issue with community colleges referring gen/inorganic chem 1/2 as college chem 1/2 and it not being accepted? or Physics 1 vs University Physics?
Click to expand...
Not in my case, I was definitely worried at first, so I ended up contacting the vet school I would apply for to ensure it was acceptable (which it was!).
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Dovie90 said:
Did you have an issue with community colleges referring gen/inorganic chem 1/2 as college chem 1/2 and it not being accepted? or Physics 1 vs University Physics?
Click to expand...
I took physics 1 at a community college and then biochem, ochem, physiology, and cell bio online through CSU and didn't have any problems 🙂
 
Dovie90 said:
Also, I just found Barton Community College, and they have all the prereqs online. Cheaper than others with labs integrated in. Has anyone used them before that can provide feedback?
Click to expand...
Third year vet student here: most of my prereqs came from Barton online! The credits were insanely cheap, but I will admit that the quality of some of the courses was low (some professors were inaccessible, inflexible, and sometimes the courses were disorganized.) But not to the point of not being able to deal or do well in the classes. Some of the classes were more organized and better laid out than some of the courses I'm taking now in vet school! I was, on the whole, satisfied with my Barton experience, paying a fraction of what my classmates did, and having the flexibility of online courses. Some vet schools may not accept online lab courses, but mine did just fine - it's as you mentioned earlier - just a case of checking with the individual vet school. There were two pre-reqs that I needed that weren't offered at Barton (upper level, I think maybe calculus or statistics or something) that I had to swap to K-State online. That was fine too, and I think the quality of the teaching was better, but it did cost over twice the tuition per credit that I paid at Barton, and was accepted just the same by my vet school. I dunno - sometimes the gist I feel from others are that they look down on online pre-reqs, particularly the sciences with labs, but I feel like this profession has so much debt wrapped up in it - why not choose a path that is flexible, cheaper, and more accessible?
 
VSquared said:
Third year vet student here: most of my prereqs came from Barton online! The credits were insanely cheap, but I will admit that the quality of some of the courses was low (some professors were inaccessible, inflexible, and sometimes the courses were disorganized.) But not to the point of not being able to deal or do well in the classes. Some of the classes were more organized and better laid out than some of the courses I'm taking now in vet school! I was, on the whole, satisfied with my Barton experience, paying a fraction of what my classmates did, and having the flexibility of online courses. Some vet schools may not accept online lab courses, but mine did just fine - it's as you mentioned earlier - just a case of checking with the individual vet school. There were two pre-reqs that I needed that weren't offered at Barton (upper level, I think maybe calculus or statistics or something) that I had to swap to K-State online. That was fine too, and I think the quality of the teaching was better, but it did cost over twice the tuition per credit that I paid at Barton, and was accepted just the same by my vet school. I dunno - sometimes the gist I feel from others are that they look down on online pre-reqs, particularly the sciences with labs, but I feel like this profession has so much debt wrapped up in it - why not choose a path that is flexible, cheaper, and more accessible?
Click to expand...
This is good to hear since basically all of my pre-reqs are also online from Arizona state and I've been lowkey tweaking about it but I'm comitted to defend them if needed! My organic chem class there was honestly one of my favorites though and I didn't think I would like it. Not sure why the online pre-reqs are looked down on when I've been in some in-person lectures where you're literally just interacting with a clicker and PowerPoint slide. The cost and flexibility of online for undergrad when you're looking at 200k+ debt for vet school seems like it would be understandable via admissions but 🤷‍♀️
 
Doane all the way! I took both of my ochems there! I applied this cycle, and I'm pretty sure everything is fine! (only time will tell of course)
 
vethopeful2002 said:
I’m finishing online with Unity environmental univ which is now hybrid. Have all the prereqs and do 5 week terms which I love cause it’s over faster and can fit in more classes.
Click to expand...
I'm in Animal Anatomy with UEU right now and the five week course is kinda kicking my ass lol. I've never written so much for a science course!
 
Took physiology at UNE online

Pros: no prereq check, selfpaced
Cons: MUCH harder than any course I've taken at other schools, and as a non-traditional student I've taken classes at 5+ universities. OChem was a cinch compared to this. Online tests are a ton of "select all that apply" that are very subjective and hard to get right. I've never heard anyone say physiology is hardest course they've ever taken (it's usually physics or ochem), so I suspect this school just doesn't teach well and/or has really hard tests.
 
ThunderMuffin said:
Took physiology at UNE online

Pros: no prereq check, selfpaced
Cons: MUCH harder than any course I've taken at other schools, and as a non-traditional student I've taken classes at 5+ universities. OChem was a cinch compared to this. Online tests are a ton of "select all that apply" that are very subjective and hard to get right. I've never heard anyone say physiology is hardest course they've ever taken (it's usually physics or ochem), so I suspect this school just doesn't teach well and/or has really hard tests.
Click to expand...

I would assume it's purposely making the tests harder since there's no way to guarantee there's no cheating unless you're taking the tests proctored
 
the test is proctored through an external camera that shows your desk and computer screen. They also do a room scan and make you show your ears. There’s no possible way to cheat
 
justachilldude said:
I had online labs from Unity and was accepted to Ross
Click to expand...
They must’ve changed it recently because this is on their website that all labs must be completed in person
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3672.png
    IMG_3672.png
    199.9 KB · Views: 57
Hi all. I need to take a microbiology lab prior to matriculation in August. I have already received permission from the school to take an online lab at Southern California U. Health Sciences. They have a 5wk self paced lab. Does anyone have experience taking online labs there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

battie
  • Sticky
List of Vet School Pros and Cons
Replies
3
Views
2K
leopardgecko
leopardgecko
Gina Lawson
Online biochem reqs?
Replies
3
Views
1K
MouseDoctor
MouseDoctor
K
Kansas State University online Pre-vet
Replies
2
Views
2K
KayJoJo
K
kelizolson
Online Biochemistry Recommendations?
Replies
4
Views
740
mn1309
M
Gina Lawson
Online Physics II recs?
Replies
1
Views
395
Really??
R
Top