disabled&proud
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Howdy folks,
I am wondering whether anyone took prereqs at Portage Learning (the online division of Geneva College, which is regionally accredited), and successfully was accepted to UC Davis, WSU, or other Western states programs. I know UC Davis lists Portage in their "confirmed prerequisites" page (Prerequisites Database - Transferable Courses), but that doesn't necessarily mean people were actually accepted.
I am a non-trad student (I actually already have a BS, masters, and PhD, lol, but all in social sciences so I have been taking science prereqs - my maths were already done) and I took the 1-year general biology sequence from Portage, and am trying to decide whether I need to emphasize my skills by taking the upper div courses from somewhere else. Portage also has genetics and biochem that I may want to take.
For anyone curious about Portage for bio 1 & 2, I can say that the courses are not any worse than the average community college natural science class (they do some things that are very good from a science of human learning perspective - which BTW is what my PhD is in so I know my stuff about human learning - and others that are kind of meh). They are nothing special (big shout out to Dr. Adrian Soldatenko at Los Angeles Pierce College for being the one and only natural science class professor I've ever had who 100% looked at the science of how humans learn his subject, which is physics, and designed his classes 100% in accordance with that science). I am assuming that genetics and biochem will also be in the same "good, but not great" realm as the 2 gen bio courses. (Note that I checked with my local community college, and the Portage bio classes will not count towards an associates there, so if that's a concern for others, that is something to know.) I haven't taken natural science classes at a 4 year university before so I don't know if the quality of instruction is actually better than community colleges, but from what other people have told me, it seems like unless there is a STEM learning PhD program with cross-listed faculty at your university, probably not. The portage classes would be very difficult for someone who would struggle with self-paced, but if you can handle staying on top of things for self-paced learning, they are very doable. (I actually completed the first one while writing my dissertation for my PhD and was not particularly stressed out about the portage class at all. But, I also know what study approaches are evidence based, and what approaches - such as flash cards - are not evidence based, so my studying is very efficient and pointed. Happy to share all my expertise about human learning more generally. Really the basic concepts should be taught to kids in K-12 so everyone can optimize their studying time.) The biggest issue is the Portage bio classes grade you almost purely with exams, which is not recommended from a scientific perspective, but their exams were better written than the average college exam I've encountered (regardless of subject matter) so not the worst thing ever. Also the prof was extremely responsive and nice, remembered who I was even though we never met, and etc. So overall if people are definitely getting into the programs they want through Portage, I can recommend it, especially since it's significantly cheaper than a lot of the options for non-trad folks. (My IS tuition for taking classes through University of CA or California State U extension programs is at least double what Portage charges for equivalent classes.) It is three times as expensive as community colleges (by CA IS communtiy college tuition, which is ~$42/credit), but I could find zero community colleges that fit my schedule for bio. (It is kind of enraging that there are 3 community colleges within a reasonable drive and they all schedule their bio and chem classes at the same times on the same days????)
But I digress. I would love to know if anyone has been accepted to any DVM/equivalent programs, especially UC Davis or WSU, after taking Portage classes, or if I should definitely look to take my upper div bio requirements elsewhere to "prove" I learnt the same material. (If I do well in the upper div classes, they can't exactly tell me my lower div classes weren't good enough, lol.)
I am wondering whether anyone took prereqs at Portage Learning (the online division of Geneva College, which is regionally accredited), and successfully was accepted to UC Davis, WSU, or other Western states programs. I know UC Davis lists Portage in their "confirmed prerequisites" page (Prerequisites Database - Transferable Courses), but that doesn't necessarily mean people were actually accepted.
I am a non-trad student (I actually already have a BS, masters, and PhD, lol, but all in social sciences so I have been taking science prereqs - my maths were already done) and I took the 1-year general biology sequence from Portage, and am trying to decide whether I need to emphasize my skills by taking the upper div courses from somewhere else. Portage also has genetics and biochem that I may want to take.
For anyone curious about Portage for bio 1 & 2, I can say that the courses are not any worse than the average community college natural science class (they do some things that are very good from a science of human learning perspective - which BTW is what my PhD is in so I know my stuff about human learning - and others that are kind of meh). They are nothing special (big shout out to Dr. Adrian Soldatenko at Los Angeles Pierce College for being the one and only natural science class professor I've ever had who 100% looked at the science of how humans learn his subject, which is physics, and designed his classes 100% in accordance with that science). I am assuming that genetics and biochem will also be in the same "good, but not great" realm as the 2 gen bio courses. (Note that I checked with my local community college, and the Portage bio classes will not count towards an associates there, so if that's a concern for others, that is something to know.) I haven't taken natural science classes at a 4 year university before so I don't know if the quality of instruction is actually better than community colleges, but from what other people have told me, it seems like unless there is a STEM learning PhD program with cross-listed faculty at your university, probably not. The portage classes would be very difficult for someone who would struggle with self-paced, but if you can handle staying on top of things for self-paced learning, they are very doable. (I actually completed the first one while writing my dissertation for my PhD and was not particularly stressed out about the portage class at all. But, I also know what study approaches are evidence based, and what approaches - such as flash cards - are not evidence based, so my studying is very efficient and pointed. Happy to share all my expertise about human learning more generally. Really the basic concepts should be taught to kids in K-12 so everyone can optimize their studying time.) The biggest issue is the Portage bio classes grade you almost purely with exams, which is not recommended from a scientific perspective, but their exams were better written than the average college exam I've encountered (regardless of subject matter) so not the worst thing ever. Also the prof was extremely responsive and nice, remembered who I was even though we never met, and etc. So overall if people are definitely getting into the programs they want through Portage, I can recommend it, especially since it's significantly cheaper than a lot of the options for non-trad folks. (My IS tuition for taking classes through University of CA or California State U extension programs is at least double what Portage charges for equivalent classes.) It is three times as expensive as community colleges (by CA IS communtiy college tuition, which is ~$42/credit), but I could find zero community colleges that fit my schedule for bio. (It is kind of enraging that there are 3 community colleges within a reasonable drive and they all schedule their bio and chem classes at the same times on the same days????)
But I digress. I would love to know if anyone has been accepted to any DVM/equivalent programs, especially UC Davis or WSU, after taking Portage classes, or if I should definitely look to take my upper div bio requirements elsewhere to "prove" I learnt the same material. (If I do well in the upper div classes, they can't exactly tell me my lower div classes weren't good enough, lol.)
