Medical Should I take UNE classes online while in undergrad?

[TheBoneDoctah]

I'm a second-semester junior in undergrad majoring in something very far off from science and haven't taken many science prereqs. I'm wondering if it would look weird if I took some science classes through UNE online while in undergrad... I would take them at my college but am finishing up major requirements/starting to research for my undergrad thesis and my school will not allow me to take extra credits on top of that. I'd be looking to take 1 semester of intro bio and maybe physics.

Whatever you do, make sure you do well. These courses would be counted in your BCPM GPA.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

It's honestly a weird situation where it's considered "credit overload" for me this semester and for the next couple of semesters to take any more than 2-3 courses at the same time due to covid course restructuring and some other stuff. It's kind of hard to explain, but the point is I'm not super concerned about it being too overwhelming, especially since the UNE courses are self-paced. I feel like I have a good explanation as to why I'd be taking them through UNE instead of at my undergrad college, but I still don't know if it would be viewed as taking the easy way out.

I don’t think so but don’t take all your courses online.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If you're talking just about admissions committees screening your application, I don't think the screeners will pay much attention to it. I would be careful to keep your own schedule in balance; you don't want to mismanage these classes, especially if your regular classes go online/hybrid.

Do not underestimate the amount of work required to do well in science classes. There is a reason postbac programs geared towards those who haven't taken science prerequisites were created, and I would more suggest you remain patient and take your classes then when you can focus on a science-rigorous schedule. I don't know if UNE notes how long it took you to take/complete the course, but you have a lot of prereqs and upper-level biomedical science courses in your future. Do it right once.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

This makes complete sense and a postbac is 100% in my plans, I know there's no way to balance finishing a completely humanities-based degree and all of the prereqs at the same time (and even if there was... I would not want to do it). What would your suggestion be - to just finish out my undergrad with the best performance possible and not take any of the prereqs until the postbac? Or would it be okay/preferable to take a couple of them while I'm still finishing up so it's not such a tight squeeze during that year? I have literally taken calculus 1 and bio 1 and that's it. I'm very willing to adjust my plans, I'm just not sure what the best path would be. Here's what I'm thinking right now in terms of prereqs so that I'm not rushing them and can do well in them. These would be on campus and part of my normal courseload, not online:

Spring 2021 finish intro bio sequence
2021-2022 take intro chem (both semesters, I also took AP chem and did very very well with a 5 on the exam but I think 3-4 years out of the class I should definitely take the course and not just try to use the AP credit)

So then that would leave me with 1 year of organic chem/physics and 1 semester of biochem/psych/stats plus some upper level bio courses for the postbac.

Orrrrrr I can just wait until the postbac and I would need to take 1 year of intro chem/orgo/physics and 1 semester of intro bio/biochem/psych/stats and some upper level bio courses.

Both seem doable, but the first option seems like it might make a bit more sense for me. If there would be a disadvantage in doing that let me know! Like I said I'm super willing to adjust, just want to do what makes the most sense.

If you are already stacked in your current degree, I would rather you just take your science courses in a post-bac so you can focus on them and do well the first time. Trying to balance your own courses with online science courses may be a recipe for disaster. Medical school is not going anywhere and one-year post-bac isn't going to kill you. You really want to do this correctly the FIRST TIME and apply once to medical school if you can.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Right... I would finish off the coursework for your degree. You should check to be sure you have your behavioral/social science courses taken if they are part of your degree. I would focus on my science coursework in the postbac period.