Postbacc timeline and CC concerns

[cheesepizza]

Hey guys, have some minor concerns about my plan and would love a second opinion.

Going back for med school and need to finish prereqs (have only Bio I/Chem I with A's from undergrad). Spouse and myself are in process of relocating to a new state where we will hopefully settle for a bit (and ideally do postbacc and med school in). I'd love to start school this Jan 2018, but won't meet residency requirements for in-state tuition until Jan 2019. Blergh but fine, not in a huge rush anyways and it'll give me more years to work and pay back other debts. However, I'm a bit antsy to get back in the classroom, and I'm considering taking Physics I + II during the Spring/Fall 2018 and paying OOS at the local CC where I could swallow the bill. At first I was not open to the CC route, but the ADCOM at my school seems to have zero problems with it. My other schools of interest have also let me know they will accept prereqs from CC.

Does anyone think it's a terrible idea to go the CC route? Seems like I've heard of a few successful matriculants on SDN who have done this... Lastly, does taking Physics this far out from MCAT seem reasonable as far as retention purposes? I figure undergrads take many of their courses a couple of years before MCAT, so why not. My timeline is below, which includes me working as many hours as stress levels will allow. Also I'm wondering if it seems a bit too breezy, and if that would be frowned upon.

Spring 2018 - Phys I (all courses with lab except Biochem)
Fall 2018 - Phys II
Spring 2019 - Bio II / Chem II
Summer 2019 - Organic I + II (with a good professor...)
Fall 2019 - Biochem
Spring 2020 - Get organized, study MCAT for May exam date, and apply in June for 2021 start (...long ways away )

*if no Physics/classes during 2018 while I wait for residency, I'd plan on taking Physics in Fall 2019/Spr 2020 and still applying in 2020.

Thanks for any input.

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[DocJanItor]

Personally, I think the concern about CC is overblown. I took all of my pre-reqs at a local CC and I don't feel that I missed anything. I scored very well on my MCAT, so I suppose they're doing something right. I looked back at your other posts and based upon your previous GPAs, you're fine.

I think your schedule is good except for OChem. For most people Ochem is the most difficult class they take, and compressing both of them into a single summer is very risky. I did both gen chems in a single summer because those are relatively easy. However, the difficulty and volume of information are significantly increased in OChem. You could probably take OChem I in the summer and Ochem II in the fall with Biochem (there's nothing you learn in OChem II that's crucial for biochem).

As for physics, you'll probably "lose" a lot of what you learned since you won't be using it. But you've gotta get it out of the way regardless so just take the time after fall 2019 and restudy for the MCAT. I assume you'd be taking it in April or May, so that should give you plenty of time to refresh.

Also, not sure if you've ever had a psych or soc course before, but you may want to consider it for the MCAT.

 

[cheesepizza]

Personally, I think the concern about CC is overblown. I took all of my pre-reqs at a local CC and I don't feel that I missed anything. I scored very well on my MCAT, so I suppose they're doing something right. I looked back at your other posts and based upon your previous GPAs, you're fine.

I think your schedule is good except for OChem. For most people Ochem is the most difficult class they take, and compressing both of them into a single summer is very risky. I did both gen chems in a single summer because those are relatively easy. However, the difficulty and volume of information are significantly increased in OChem. You could probably take OChem I in the summer and Ochem II in the fall with Biochem (there's nothing you learn in OChem II that's crucial for biochem).

As for physics, you'll probably "lose" a lot of what you learned since you won't be using it. But you've gotta get it out of the way regardless so just take the time after fall 2019 and restudy for the MCAT. I assume you'd be taking it in April or May, so that should give you plenty of time to refresh.

Also, not sure if you've ever had a psych or soc course before, but you may want to consider it for the MCAT.

Thanks for the response and I appreciate you reading my story in the previous post. Previous BS degrees in both psychology and nursing, so good with my social sciences.

I did finally order all transcripts for my own serious review and forgot I had a 2.5 GPA one bad semester where I took a WF (dying parent, dropped out of school a semester after that, will briefly address in PS). That and my nursing school GPA makes my cGPA 3.5 (not a point higher that I originally thought) which makes me a little nervous for MD which is my preference, but I'm open to DO. sGPA 3.7 with a total of 27 hours of primarily biology courses. I'm an RN for over 5 years now, I'm pretty much going back specifically for Family Medicine for what I feel are compelling reasons, have a strong/interesting resume and will have strong LOR. I'm aware my MCAT score is going to be a strong factor for me as far as which direction ADCOM will judge me overall (great candidate vs on the fence). I think I'll make a "fine" medical student with more challenges than some, but an exceptional future FM physician. Hell, I'll at least have age and experience on my side starting at 34. That's where I'm standing now.

Thanks again for the Ochem advice - that's the kind of advice I'm needing so I appreciate it and will be following it.

 

[workaholic181]

Hey guys, have some minor concerns about my plan and would love a second opinion.

Going back for med school and need to finish prereqs (have only Bio I/Chem I with A's from undergrad). Spouse and myself are in process of relocating to a new state where we will hopefully settle for a bit (and ideally do postbacc and med school in). I'd love to start school this Jan 2018, but won't meet residency requirements for in-state tuition until Jan 2019. Blergh but fine, not in a huge rush anyways and it'll give me more years to work and pay back other debts. However, I'm a bit antsy to get back in the classroom, and I'm considering taking Physics I + II during the Spring/Fall 2018 and paying OOS at the local CC where I could swallow the bill. At first I was not open to the CC route, but the ADCOM at my school seems to have zero problems with it. My other schools of interest have also let me know they will accept prereqs from CC.

Does anyone think it's a terrible idea to go the CC route? Seems like I've heard of a few successful matriculants on SDN who have done this... Lastly, does taking Physics this far out from MCAT seem reasonable as far as retention purposes? I figure undergrads take many of their courses a couple of years before MCAT, so why not. My timeline is below, which includes me working as many hours as stress levels will allow. Also I'm wondering if it seems a bit too breezy, and if that would be frowned upon.

Spring 2018 - Phys I (all courses with lab except Biochem)
Fall 2018 - Phys II
Spring 2019 - Bio II / Chem II
Summer 2019 - Organic I + II (with a good professor...)
Fall 2019 - Biochem
Spring 2020 - Get organized, study MCAT for May exam date, and apply in June for 2021 start (...long ways away )

*if no Physics/classes during 2018 while I wait for residency, I'd plan on taking Physics in Fall 2019/Spr 2020 and still applying in 2020.

Thanks for any input.

Having most pre reqs at CCs won't hurt you as long as you do well in them!

I personally felt like physics was the easiest topic to study for for the MCAT, so personally speaking I think taking it that far before your test date is fine.

 

[workaholic181]

Having most pre reqs at CCs won't hurt you as long as you do well in them!

I personally felt like physics was the easiest topic to study for for the MCAT, so personally speaking I think taking it that far before your test date is fine.

To be more specific concerning physics; a lot of it is memorizing basic formulas. You will need to review basic concepts too but this wasnt too bad for me and I wasn't a strong physics student.