Prereqs through Athabasca?

[kittensmeow]

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I plan to begin taking my prereqs this Spring/Summer (intro Bio and Chem) but I need some advice on how/where to go about this. I’m a non-trad and I work full-time – my schedule is flexible but studying full-time is out of the question, and even part-time at a university would get in the way a bit, I think.

I have been considering Athabasca, since studying at home would permit me to keep working full-time and do volunteer work, but I would like to know if anyone here has had success doing Athabasca science courses as prereqs.

1. Are they acceptable to all AVMA accredited schools? (i.e. regarded as equal to any other university)
2. Do they have adequate tutoring resources in case one doesn’t understand something?
3. Are the courses & marking easy or hard compared to regular university sciences? (Intro Chem & Bio)
Any info would be great!
If I don’t do them through Athabasca then I’m looking at UOttawa or Carleton, so if anyone has completed prereqs at either of those universities please feel free to post your opinion.

Finally, are there any other options I'm not thinking of for Canadians doing prereqs, such as another online option?
Thanks everyone!

 

[Squeaksmom]

I haven't taken any courses through Athabasca, but I just wanted to caution you about one thing. I don't know about Guelph (I assume that's where you're looking at applying since you mention Ottawa and Carleton) but UCVM and WCVM won't look at you unless you're in full-time study, so at least 4 3-credit courses per 4-month semester. You might want to check with the school(s) you're looking at to see if they have a similar policy.

 

[Cracker.Jack.]

Ditto on what Squeaksmom said. You need to be a full time student. Actually, for Guelph I believe they require five classes per semester, not just four (if I remember correctly).

 

[kittensmeow]

Thanks for the head's up. I know that Guelph does require full-time study for the prereqs, although they do make exceptions to that under certain circumstances. At any rate, I'm really looking at schools outside of Canada, which are more open to non-trads. From my research it seems most of them accept the prereqs being done part-time, provided one's actual degree was completed full-time....but I still have no idea where each school stands re: Athabasca. I guess I'll be making a lot of phone calls!

 

[that redhead]

Doing pre-reqs part time shouldn't be a big problem for US schools. With any online program it's wise to check with the schools you're interested in as many of them want you to take the classes in a brick and mortar school (or at least the majority of them - people squeeze in biochem and nutrition online pretty commonly).

 

[smitty12]

I took orgo from Athabasca. I asked to use it for RVC, Edinburgh and St George's and they had no problem with it (but I would definitely check again for your courses). In terms of outcome I did not do nearly as well as I would have had I taken it in class, but that was partly because I was taking it in the summer while taking another distance ed course from Guelph, working full time and studying for the GRE! To do well in the course you have to be really proactive. You are assigned a personal tutor. You can email anytime and call them for help during specific tutor hours, but what I found was my tutor hours didn't work with my work schedule or they were ridiculously late at night because of the time zone difference. It takes a lot of planning because you schedule all your midterms and finals yourself and they have to be scheduled a month (I think?) in advance of the date you want to write it. That being said it is super flexible and makes it so much easier to fit around a busy schedule. Marking was ok, a little more difficult than I expected.

 

[kittensmeow]

I took orgo from Athabasca. I asked to use it for RVC, Edinburgh and St George's and they had no problem with it (but I would definitely check again for your courses). In terms of outcome I did not do nearly as well as I would have had I taken it in class, but that was partly because I was taking it in the summer while taking another distance ed course from Guelph, working full time and studying for the GRE! To do well in the course you have to be really proactive. You are assigned a personal tutor. You can email anytime and call them for help during specific tutor hours, but what I found was my tutor hours didn't work with my work schedule or they were ridiculously late at night because of the time zone difference. It takes a lot of planning because you schedule all your midterms and finals yourself and they have to be scheduled a month (I think?) in advance of the date you want to write it. That being said it is super flexible and makes it so much easier to fit around a busy schedule. Marking was ok, a little more difficult than I expected.

Thanks for the info, it is very helpful. You mentioned doing some distance ed courses from Guelph and I didn't realize that other universities offer them (science courses that is). How were they compared to Athabasca? I live in Ontario so the onsite lab for some of Athabasca's courses is a big downside for me since I'd have to go stay in Alberta for a week to complete it. I imagine orgo would be quite hard to do alone, so well done tackling it.

I am mostly looking at applying to US schools, St. George and UCD, so hopefully that are all accepting of online courses. I'll have to do my research on that.

 

[SocialStigma]

I don't have any experience with Athabasca but I took a distance ed course at Waterloo to fulfill my genetics prereq for OVC. I believe most Ontario universities (Guelph, Waterloo, U of T, and McMaster are the ones I know of for sure) offer distance ed courses, so that might be worth checking out.

 

[smitty12]

Thanks for the info, it is very helpful. You mentioned doing some distance ed courses from Guelph and I didn't realize that other universities offer them (science courses that is). How were they compared to Athabasca? I live in Ontario so the onsite lab for some of Athabasca's courses is a big downside for me since I'd have to go stay in Alberta for a week to complete it. I imagine orgo would be quite hard to do alone, so well done tackling it.

I am mostly looking at applying to US schools, St. George and UCD, so hopefully that are all accepting of online courses. I'll have to do my research on that.

The course I took from Guelph wasn't a science one. I can only think of a couple science courses that are offered distance ed from Guelph (I know there is a Genetics one offered in the winter semester). But of the distance ed courses I have taken at Guelph I really liked them. They are more like an in class course than Athabasca in the sense that you have specific due dates. One thing I do find with the online courses is that there are way more assignments than normal. I'm taking two DE courses right now because I wanted to reduce in class hours because I was going to be away a fair amount this semester and the two courses are just piling on the work. Also the courses always tend to be weighted very heavy to the final. For orgo I was fortunate that they offered a lab at McMaster so I didn't have to go to Alberta for it.

 

[Ponygirl]

I took orgo and biochem through Athabaska last semester while working full time and found the courses and support quite good! There's a lab portion for orgo you need to go up to Edmonton for an intensive weekend, but it was really well run!
UCVM didn't have any problems with counting those classes for me ... I didn't apply anywhere else though.
I'd check with Jerry Bailey for confirmation though!
Good luck 🙂