"Pre" post bacc studying (sciences) - a waste of time?

[tigers2007]

Bio: Mid-30's, law enforcement officer (administrative), works midnights with a TON of "free time" to study, Lib Arts, and one year left for Bach of Biz from UMich-Flint

I opted to defer my post-bacc science work so I could quickly grab a Bachelors of Business Admin from UM-Flint to add to my collection of higher learning degrees . With that considered, I still have a lot of free time to dabble around with books. As I've only taken a couple science classes in my college career (all >10 years ago regardless), would it be a good idea to start reading up on biology & chemistry even though I'm not slated to begin my post-bacc science track until the Spring of 2016? Would I cause myself more confusion or do the opposite - create a foundation?

Any good recommendations for books? Just plain old textbooks or Khan's or ???

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[hawkbit]

Spring of 2016? Wow... I guess if you're really bored...
I watched some of the Khan videos before I started taking Chem. I had zero chemistry background before Chem 1. I would say that they are a great addition while in the chemistry class, but not so much before it. They can help explain a lot of the details, but I think it's harder to get a good picture for chem from just the videos, for me anyways. That being said, General Chemistry 1 as a second language by David Klein has been very helpful to me in explaining some concepts clearly that my prof didn't say well.

 

[hawkbit]

Also, algebra comes in handy. If you're rusty at algebraic manipulations, spend some time getting back up to speed and you'll be able to handle the chemical equations with ease.

 

[tigers2007]

Good call. I think I'm going to do math refreshers then. I suppose I could take advantage of the AACOMAS grade replacement and bump up my pre-calc & calc grades too.

 

[edgerock24]

Sounds like you're wasting a lot of time in between now and 2016. Why not take some of the prereqs along the way?

 

[tigers2007]

I have a full plate right now with my BBA. I work 12 hour midnight shifts so that makes it a little more challenging to take brick & mortar classes before work but it is doable. Probably next fall I'll switch to 8 hour afternoon shift so I can fill my entire day with school. In fact, reviewing my academic planning spreadsheet and I'm wondering if I could take your advice and squeeze in one chem class Fall '14 while finishing off my online BBA. If its workable then maybe I'll trickle the BBA stuff down and take chem 2 and bio 1 Winter '15, etc. etc. etc. I enjoy the business classes as they have interesting topics (economics, marketing, etc.) and the books are easy reads. After this Winter, Spring, and Summer I'll at the tail end of graduating with the BBA. So I suppose I could easily transition into the science classes as I exit the business ones.

Lots to do. I suppose in the interim I should create my exit plan from my current career and also do some unnecessary asset liquidation.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Don't squeeze a class in with everything else unless you're sure you can put in the time it will take to get a good grade. I agree that brushing up on the math is going to be a good use of your time. You don't need anything too fancy, but you will need to know how to work basic algebraic equations, how to do unit conversions, how to use logarithms and natural logs, how to use the quadratic equation, and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers in scientific notation. I remember that logarithms came as a rude surprise halfway into general chemistry I. I'd forgotten all about them, but a little time on Wikipedia was enough review to get me in shape again.

If you're already fairly good at math and you're looking for something more challenging than a little review, but you don't want to commit to the demands of a prereq class, you could try taking a 1 or 2 credit community college class in art or something else that would be fun, easy and interesting to you. That would give you a very small GPA boost, probably a hundredth of a point or so, but still better than nothing. Once you're in your postbac, med school and residency you won't really be able to take classes just because you're interested in them, so you might as well take the opportunity while you still have it.

 

[deleted367183]

Just curious--why the BBA?

 

[occams_razor]

Just curious--why the BBA?

I was wondering the same thing. OP you will most likely be asked this at med school interviews

 

[tigers2007]

I felt that if there was some sort of catastrophic mental disconnect or major life event that would prevent me from reaching my ultimate goal that I would have a good backup plan. I come from a family of entrepreneurs that have done well; I can get more mileage with a BBA than a BS in Biology IMHO.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I felt that if there was some sort of catastrophic mental disconnect or major life event that would prevent me from reaching my ultimate goal that I would have a good backup plan. I come from a family of entrepreneurs that have done well; I can get more mileage with a BBA than a BS in Biology IMHO.

Smart, a biology degree is worthless in the real world.

 

[deleted367183]

Hmm. Take this with a grain of salt, of course, but going through this at 36 has made me feel a little long in the tooth. Looking back over my postbac process, I could have shaved off a year or two if I had really wanted. I chose the financially conservative path over speed every time.

My point...if you are starting in your "mid" 30s, go for expediency. Though it is mostly subjective, as I've looked at school literature and talked to med school friends, I have come to believe that I was competing not for any given slot, nor for a nontrad slot, nor for a social justice slot, but rather foe the

 

[deleted367183]

...but rather for the ONE late 30s slot per class. Just a feeling? But there may be something to it.

In other words, when we speak of getting in "just under the wire," I now in retrospect see exactly how close to the wire I was.

 

[occams_razor]

...but rather for the ONE late 30s slot per class. Just a feeling? But there may be something to it.

In other words, when we speak of getting in "just under the wire," I now in retrospect see exactly how close to the wire I was.

Is there usually only one late 30s spot per class? Isn't that illegal (age discrimination)?

 

[tigers2007]

As a matter of law, age discrimination begins at 40. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't file suit.

 

[squat]

I think the age issue totally depends on the school. Out of 150 first year med students at my school, 7 of us are 30-40 years old. There are at least twice as many in the 26-29 year old range. (It's kind of cute to see the guys say, "Yeah, I'm older. I'm 27!")

Most schools look at the whole person. If you've spent the past 15 years selling flowers and now you want to be a doctor, you've got to have one hell of a compelling personal statement!

 

[deleted367183]

Let me add some (more) caveats about this being my subjective experience...