Physics Course Online

[paperaeroplane]

I am in a bit of a dilemma because I am currently taking a Physics course (Physics I) that is part of a three quarter sequence. The course is not online, though, even though there is an option to take it online in a different section. I wasn't aware when I registered for the class that Physics II and II would only be offered in a hybrid format (half of the classes meeting face to face, half of them online). I've read that there is a stigma attached to taking online courses and that many med schools don't accept them, especially for a pre-req course. I also would prefer to take all of my courses face to face. Would it be a better idea to just wait and retake the full Physics course in the summer, or should I rather contact individual medical schools to see what their policy is on accepting hybrid online courses?

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[cabinbuilder]

You have to be sure that you take the physics that has the lab portion with it for a total of 8 credits. If it doesn't have lab, it doesn't count.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I am in a bit of a dilemma because I am currently taking a Physics course (Physics I) that is part of a three quarter sequence. The course is not online, though, even though there is an option to take it online in a different section. I wasn't aware when I registered for the class that Physics II and II would only be offered in a hybrid format (half of the classes meeting face to face, half of them online). I've read that there is a stigma attached to taking online courses and that many med schools don't accept them, especially for a pre-req course. I also would prefer to take all of my courses face to face. Would it be a better idea to just wait and retake the full Physics course in the summer, or should I rather contact individual medical schools to see what their policy is on accepting hybrid online courses?

I have all sorts of hybrid courses. If you couldn't tell it was hybrid when registering, then it's not obviously hybrid on your transcript. A withdrawal at this point is hurtful. Completing the class is not.

This is an easy call. Complete the course and say nothing to the medical schools.

 

[paperaeroplane]

The way they schedule courses at this university, you can take and complete Physics 1 and you don't have to take Physics 2 or 3. They are three separate courses with 3 separate grades, so I am definitely not withdrawing from the Physics 1 because it is not an online class. The labs for all 3 quarters are separate from the lecture, and are not online...you get a grade independent of the course. I am going to call and check to see whether or not the online part of Physics 2 or 3 will show up on my transcript. I guess what confuses me is that this university has a post-bac pre-med program that consists of mostly online courses, and they advertise the program as allowing you to complete the pre-med requirements, which should mean that taking classes (even if they are online) should be ok for medical school. But I guess it is better to check with individual schools just to be sure before I sign up for Physics 2.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I guess what confuses me is that this university has a post-bac pre-med program that consists of mostly online courses, and they advertise the program as allowing you to complete the pre-med requirements.

Ok, that statement bothers me. No, you cannot trust your undergraduate school to tell you that medical schools don't accept their classes. If this school is a for-profit school that is advertising "complete your pre-med requirements online" then you are at the wrong institution - it's a diploma mill, not a real university. These advertisements are noticed by the medical schools. Yes, you want to check with a few medical schools to see if they accept pre-reqs from this undergrad school.

 

[paperaeroplane]

Yeah, that's what gave me pause.....if the program itself advertises itself as being online, I'm not sure that it bodes well for the reputation of the courses. I'm not applying this year anyway, so it wouldn't hurt me if I had to finish Physics over the summer at a different university.

Ok, that statement bothers me. No, you cannot trust your undergraduate school to tell you that medical schools don't accept their classes. If this school is a for-profit school that is advertising "complete your pre-med requirements online" then you are at the wrong institution - it's a diploma mill, not a real university. These advertisements are noticed by the medical schools. Yes, you want to check with a few medical schools to see if they accept pre-reqs from this undergrad school.

 

[jl lin]

Ok, that statement bothers me. No, you cannot trust your undergraduate school to tell you that medical schools don't accept their classes. If this school is a for-profit school that is advertising "complete your pre-med requirements online" then you are at the wrong institution - it's a diploma mill, not a real university. These advertisements are noticed by the medical schools. Yes, you want to check with a few medical schools to see if they accept pre-reqs from this undergrad school.

A distinction...although I wouldn't recommend taking the science pre-reqs online, online programs and such are not necessarily diploma mills. Diploma mills generate diplomas; there are no real things like coursework, standards, supervision and evaluation, or appropriate accreditation. You just pay the money and get their diploma; hence they are referred to as diploma mills.

 

[EdLongshanks]

A distinction...although I wouldn't recommend taking the science pre-reqs online, online programs and such are not necessarily diploma mills. Diploma mills generate diplomas; there are no real things like coursework, standards, supervision and evaluation, or appropriate accreditation. You just pay the money and get their diploma; hence they are referred to as diploma mills.

I don't see much of a distinction. I once had a friend who lived in my basement for a time who got a diploma from the most popular "adult school on your time" university. I saw his "upper-level" coursework - it was a joke. It wasn't even spelled right - and he was the top of his class.

The diplomas that your are talking about aren't valid (regionally accredited). So they are frauds. The Diploma Mills are granting regionally-accredited diplomas, they are just from a joke of a school.

 

[jl lin]

I don't see much of a distinction. I once had a friend who lived in my basement for a time who got a diploma from the most popular "adult school on your time" university. I saw his "upper-level" coursework - it was a joke. It wasn't even spelled right - and he was the top of his class.

The diplomas that your are talking about aren't valid (regionally accredited). So they are frauds. The Diploma Mills are granting regionally-accredited diplomas, they are just from a joke of a school.

An anecdotal here and there does not a fair conclusion make.

There are clear distinctions, and the devil is, as usual, in the details. It is grossly inaccurate to call all schools with online work or programs "diploma mills"...or to infer the same. It's unfounded and quite defaming...and it is very different from having an opinion. Equating reputable, accredited schools and programs as "diploma mills" is lawsuit-worthy.


One definition is that a diploma mill is an unaccredited institute of higher learning that grants degrees w/o ensuring it's students/graduates are properly qualified.


CHEA gives a list of information that can help identify schools that are unaccredited or "accredited" diploma mills.



It's unwise and just wrong to paint this with too broad of a brushstroke.

 

[EdLongshanks]

Equating reputable, accredited schools and programs as "diploma mills" is lawsuit-worthy.

....

It's unwise and just wrong to paint this with too broad of a brushstroke.

So sue me. I'll make it easier for you. Unless they have made major efforts to prove that they differ from all of the others, online schools are diploma-mills.

You can disagree, but I think that you will find that medical school applications follow the previous paragraph.

If you get in after "attending" one of these diploma mills, let us know.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

So sue me. I'll make it easier for you. Unless they have made major efforts to prove that they differ from all of the others, online schools are diploma-mills.

You can disagree, but I think that you will find that medical school applications follow the previous paragraph.

If you get in after "attending" one of these diploma mills, let us know.

I've got some major ELS/jl lin deja vu here. We've had this argument before. Minds will not be changed here either. Let's move on, there's nothing to see.

 

[jl lin]

I've got some major ELS/jl lin deja vu here. We've had this argument before. Minds will not be changed here either. Let's move on, there's nothing to see.

Absolutely right.

The correct way for the previous poster to comment on that is to state that it is only his opinion--based on his own bias and not fact--and not to infer his opinion as fact.

In point of fact, plenty of schools now offer online options, as well they should. Many of these are reputable universities, and they are a FAR cry from being anything close to diploma mills.

If people want to stay sheltered in their bias, so be it; but it is an injustice to all to peddle it off as FACT when it is merely one's own bias, and bias that apparently isn't based on any real knowledge.

If I were an administrator at one of the schools to which I speak and I read those comments, I would definitely lodge a complaint here in regard to such comments, especially since it's been repeated several times, and it stands without any factual merit, merely the poster's opinion related as if it were fact. It is misleading and defaming.


BTW ed, the university I attend is a private one that is a far cry from a diploma mill, lololol. Its renown and ranking beats OSU by more than a mile. But I'm not into status. I am into excellence in education and good educational opportunities. Academic snobbery has no place in true learning, period. But since you made the slight rather than speaking on the issue, with merely more of your brand of condescension, I thought I would let you in on something factual from my end--since obviously you, AGAIN, jumped to an inaccurate conclusion.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Absolutely right.

The correct way for the previous poster to comment on that is to state that it is only his opinion--based on his own bias and not fact--and not to infer his opinion as fact.

In point of fact, plenty of schools now offer online options, as well they should. Many of these are reputable universities, and they are a FAR cry from being anything close to diploma mills.

If people want to stay sheltered in their bias, so be it; but it is an injustice to all to peddle it off as FACT when it is merely one's own bias, and bias that apparently isn't based on any real knowledge.

If I were an administrator at one of the schools to which I speak and I read those comments, I would definitely lodge a complaint here in regard to such comments, especially since it's been repeated several times, and it stands without any factual merit, merely the poster's opinion related as if it were fact. It is misleading and defaming.


BTW ed, the university I attend is a private one that is a far cry from a diploma mill, lololol. Its renown and ranking beats OSU by more than a mile. But I'm not into status. I am into excellence in education and good educational opportunities. Academic snobbery has no place in true learning, period. But since you made the slight rather than speaking on the issue, with merely more of your brand of condescension, I thought I would let you in on something factual from my end--since obviously you, AGAIN, jumped to an inaccurate conclusion.

All that's been discussed before; and nice shot across the bow at OSU, by the way.

Here is the question that needs answering every time this comes up:
A hypothetical person has a choice; they can take courses online, or they can take them in-person. Which should they do? Can anyone lay out the case that it's better, controlling for all other things, to take the courses via online learning vice in-class instruction? Until someone can make a credible case that it's patently better to take them online, why is it so bad to pretty reflexively tell the posters who put up these mind-numbingly repetitive questions (OP, not you, but how this debate normally comes up) to JUST TAKE THE DAMN THINGS IN PERSON. If always comes down to Ed saying "diploma mill" and you saying "nope, and I'm probably better educated than you." You're both adequately educated to approach the question at hand, and you're both well entrenched about your opinions on the subject. And people should never take courses online, if at all possible. Carry on.

 

[EdLongshanks]

BTW ed, the university I attend is a private one that is a far cry from a diploma mill, lololol. Its renown and ranking beats OSU by more than a mile. .

As I said before. When you get accepted with an online degree, let us know. You have no idea how competitive the application process is until you have been through. By all means, keep giving people advice to take the easy road, but make sure that they know that you haven't actually made any applications yet and that your opinion is speculation.

 

[jl lin]

As I said before. When you get accepted with an online degree, let us know. You have no idea how competitive the application process is until you have been through. By all means, keep giving people advice to take the easy road, but make sure that they know that you haven't actually made any applications yet and that your opinion is speculation.

You are amazing. You didn't "get" it. My university is ranked pretty darn well, has it's own medical college, schools of engineering, you name it...and is ranked for comprehensive research not only in North America but worldwide.

Now, application process being what it is, I have worked closely with many physicians for many years. In many ICUs, we work very closely regularly--pretty much nonstop with residents and fellows. I know up close the rigors of entering medicine--and it's amazing level of abuses at times, as well as the utter lack of glory and honor for which you seem to so lust and falsely believe is poured all over physicians. In the hard face of reality, with eyes wide open, I move forward.

You have again misconstrued my points in order to rationalize your ignorance. I am done with your foolishness. Consider yourself on ignore.

 

[EdLongshanks]

Consider yourself on ignore.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was my goal

 

[jl lin]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was my goal

Before I click that beautiful option, um...you do realize that option was available to you well before I mentioned it? So your so called "goal" means nothing, "comically" or otherwise.

Also, if you read well, you will see that I have NEVER recommended someone take a pre-med science course online...ever... Again, you missed it, but I leave you to the last word.

 

[paperaeroplane]

So I called two medical schools and they immediately said that they do not accept online courses of any sort. This makes my decision very easy.

 

[jl lin]

So I called two medical schools and they immediately said that they do not accept online courses of any sort. This makes my decision very easy.

In general I would say no for pre-medical sciences and the like. Plus you need to have interaction with your sciences profs or TAs, etc. En face labs and didactics is the way you achieve that.

 

[HK35]

i was taking physics I online through my university, got my MSAR and saw that it said only 8 accept online pre reqs, i called my registrar and they told me that online classes offered through the university will show up normal on transcript. call your registrar

 

[EdLongshanks]

i was taking physics I online through my university, got my MSAR and saw that it said only 8 accept online pre reqs, i called my registrar and they told me that online classes offered through the university will show up normal on transcript. call your registrar

If you're going to a regular brick-an-mortar university, that is true. I doubt that any med school is going to start going through old schedules to find out which sections say "online" or "blended".

Remember, however, that those pre-reqs are tested on the MCAT. You'll want to be sure that you actually learn the subject.

 

[paperaeroplane]

The university that I'm taking Physics at is actually a well-known and well-respected establishment....but even if they don't put that the class had any online component on the transcript, I still don't want to take the chance that any med school would find out that it actually did. In this case, even though it's annoying, I think it is better to be cautious.

 

[HK35]

The university that I'm taking Physics at is actually a well-known and well-respected establishment....but even if they don't put that the class had any online component on the transcript, I still don't want to take the chance that any med school would find out that it actually did. In this case, even though it's annoying, I think it is better to be cautious.

why dont you just ask your registrar? why take an unnecessary W?

 

[paperaeroplane]

Oh, I would not be taking a W. I would finish out Physics 1. I just would not register for Physics 2 or 3.

why dont you just ask your registrar? why take an unnecessary W?