So full of questions......

[nonya]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey all,

I am a 30 yr old male in the military. I recently started my college education. Being I am currently deployed it is an online college (AIU). It is a fully accredited college. The path I am currently on is an IT based plan. I would like to finish this and then pull my pre-reqs at a satellite college of one of the State colleges. I have a rough couple of first classes because I have been out of school for the last almost almost 12 years. Is this plan doable? Would it be better to transfer to another school and do a standard pre-med biology based program. either way it would have to be online due to the craziness of my schedule. (i.e deployments, field problems, etc) Any advice, ideas?

Thanks,
Nonya

 

[Nataliemay24]

You may not take your core pre-requisite classes online. You must take the following classes with a lab component, and labs obviously cannot be done online. Phyiscs 1, Physics 2, General Chemistry 1, General Chemistry 2, Organic Chemistry 1, Organic Chemistry 2, and 2 biology courses of some kind.

As for all your other classes being online, I'm not really sure we can give you a thumbs up or down on that one, because it's pretty new so most med schools probably don't have much of a policy on it.

To answer what I think your other question is, it doesn't matter what you major in. If you love IT (in addition to medicine), go for it. (Just make sure it's an actual bachelor's degree program...) Other activities that show your interest in and committment to medicine are more important than extra biology classes.

 

[DrMidlife]

Congrats on your ambition, and welcome to the forum.

There are lab requirements that go with the premed prereqs. This makes it all but impossible to do the prereqs online.

I will initially suggest to you that you finish your IT bachelors online (with GREAT grades), and when your military obligation is done, take a postbac to get your premed prereqs done.

I don't know of an online college program that offers low-residency options for showing up on weekends to complete labs, but there is at least one formal postbac program that does this. Specifically, Penn State offers one: http://www.de.psu.edu/CE/program.htm. So after you get your bachelors, this kind of program could be a possibility, before your obligations are finished.

Lastly, be very very sure that the accreditation of your online program is recognized by medical schools. This means make some phone calls, and hopefully find some graduates of the online program who are now enrolled in traditional non-military grad schools.

Best of luck to you.

 

[nonya]

I called the a couple of different colleges in Texas ( where I am from and would like to go to med school at) and they stated that they would accept on line lab credits. There are several online classes that offer the BIO with a lab on line. I was a bit skeptical, which is what spired me to contact the college. Texas A&M said as long as I had the pre-reqs done and I had the adequate grades, my application would be good to go. 🙂 I just hope that the fact that almost all of my education will be online will not be a hindrance to me getting accepted. Also my BS program is regionally accredited.

 

[Old Grunt]

I called the a couple of different colleges in Texas ( where I am from and would like to go to med school at) and they stated that they would accept on line lab credits. There are several online classes that offer the BIO with a lab on line. I was a bit skeptical, which is what spired me to contact the college. Texas A&M said as long as I had the pre-reqs done and I had the adequate grades, my application would be good to go. 🙂 I just hope that the fact that almost all of my education will be online will not be a hindrance to me getting accepted. Also my BS program is regionally accredited.

Good luck Nonya. I am a former military person myself who left active duty to pursue Medical School. It's fairly common for military people to do so.

If you want to go to a state school in Texas, probably the most important thing to do is ensure your Texas state residency is in place. As you know, it's not hard to maintain TX residency while on active duty. Above all things, make sure that is squared away.

Also, I recommend dropping the $25 for this book:

http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/msar.htm

It will give you all of the accurate information that you could ever need. SDN is great, but sometimes conventional wisdom gets passed off as facts which aren't necessarily true. You should probably call every state school in Texas and talk to them about your situation to ensure you aren't just suiciding A&M. Establish contacts by getting the names of people so that you have deal with the same people over the next three people. That way, when you apply, if they try to tell you that online courses don't count for some reason, you won't be left twisting in the wind. Plus, they will know you and that can't hurt.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you want any other advice or have questions.

 

[medhacker]

I called the a couple of different colleges in Texas ( where I am from and would like to go to med school at) and they stated that they would accept on line lab credits. There are several online classes that offer the BIO with a lab on line. I was a bit skeptical, which is what spired me to contact the college. Texas A&M said as long as I had the pre-reqs done and I had the adequate grades, my application would be good to go. 🙂 I just hope that the fact that almost all of my education will be online will not be a hindrance to me getting accepted. Also my BS program is regionally accredited.

Nonya,

It can be done, I can personally attest to most schools I applied to accepted a good number of online prereqs. I surely can not speak for all schools in the country. BUt all the ones I applied to MD/DO had no issue with online classes and that including the prereqs. Labs I am not too sure about, but if you were able to get a confirm, do as Old grunt suggested, get names, develop a relationship with them and you should be good on your way. I am so glad this option is viable for those that are in the military and wish to pursue medicine. Best wishes, and if you have questions don't hesitate to ask/PM.

 

[nonya]

Thank you for the willingness to be helpful. All of my friends are being to sound like a broken record...you're too old. Why not just stay in and do twenty and retire. The only thing that I'm worried about is making my application stand out. What will help me do that besides good grades, etc?

Thanks again guys

 

[medhacker]

Thank you for the willingness to be helpful. All of my friends are being to sound like a broken record...you're too old. Why not just stay in and do twenty and retire. The only thing that I'm worried about is making my application stand out. What will help me do that besides good grades, etc?

Thanks again guys

Do uncommon and worthy ECs (extracurriculars)
Get strong recommendation letters
Shadow a physician and get their LOR (letter of recommendation)
your ESSAY, ESSAY, ESSAY
Apply mad early

 

[Boddhichita]

Thank you for the willingness to be helpful. All of my friends are being to sound like a broken record...you're too old. Why not just stay in and do twenty and retire. The only thing that I'm worried about is making my application stand out. What will help me do that besides good grades, etc?

Thanks again guys

I think being you already makes you stand out since you're non-traditional and in the military. I'm sure you have a lot of experiences to share on your personal statement, so just make sure you can articulate well your reasons for pursuing medicine and what your journey has been like.

 

[Old Grunt]

Thank you for the willingness to be helpful. All of my friends are being to sound like a broken record...you're too old. Why not just stay in and do twenty and retire. The only thing that I'm worried about is making my application stand out. What will help me do that besides good grades, etc?

Thanks again guys

The military is famous for leaning on people to stay in ("How could you even think about leaving all THIS behind?"). That used to really irritate me. There is a world outside of the military and there are a million and one occupations you can pursue with the experience you have gained as a serviceman (not just flipping burgers at McDonalds as certain members of the Army used to tell me).

The only relevant question is: what do you want to do? It's hard to leave behind the paycheck and relative stability of the military, but if this is what you really want to do, then give it a run. In the end, it's your decision to make. Only you can answer those deep questions.

Your application will stand out by virtue of your service and experience. That vast majority of applicants to Med School look very similar on paper because they have all generally done the same things. That is no knock on them, just an observation. I don't know what your job is and what you have done in the military, but my application is heavy on military stuff. My personal statement was about my experiences in Afghanistan that made me decide to pursue medicine, I put all of my duties and duty descriptions and my awards and badges on my AMCAS (the primary application) You definately need to incorperate your experience as a servicemember into your application. You've earned it. Whatever you do, don't hide your service information away, because you think ADCOMS have a negative impression of military service. That is not the case.

My stats are very average and I've had no trouble getting interviews and acceptances. In the end, you have to sell yourself.

 

[Old Grunt]

One other thing, this is something I screwed up (actually, I could fill a book with the things I screwed up in my application process), so I want to make sure and mention it.

As you are applying, notifiy your commander of your intent and ask him to write you a letter of recommendation that is specific to medical school. Again, not sure what you do, but generally the more rank you can get behind your letter, the better (while also balancing it with someone that knows your work and will write a strong letter for you). If they don't have the time, offer to ghost write it and let them see it for final cut. That should be easy to do, you can basically take the bullet comments out of your efficiency reports and put them in a letter.

If you've done well for your chain of command, they should support you, but make sure you get the letter before you out process/start applying.

 

[Nataliemay24]

I called the a couple of different colleges in Texas ( where I am from and would like to go to med school at) and they stated that they would accept on line lab credits. There are several online classes that offer the BIO with a lab on line.

I'm just curious: I don't understand this. How can you do a lab online?

 

[DrMidlife]

I'm just curious: I don't understand this. How can you do a lab online?

We had a big 'ol fight about this in August: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=5535174

 

[nonya]

As far as the lab online thing, I have no idea. I have seen that on certain online colleges you can get credit for a lab. As far as the stability goes, most of our senior Noncomms are at 25+ years of service. They are VERY persistent. I told my CSM that I want to be a Dr....he asked your going to stay in the Army for that right? LOL! Any way....gotta love it!

 

[anavistas]

It was great to hear that you can take courses online,I'm in the same boat,I really didn't think they would accept online courses.
I'm getting my MS and I have to take all pre_reqs till the end of the summer,my goal is to apply after the summer,but I really can't manage to take all these graduate courses with these pre_reqs all together.
I'm in texas right now,Would you please tell me how can I take some online courses?Are they expensive?How do they grade you?
I think I have to take some courses online I have no way...
I hope you get what you want Noya....It's hard to see you have to wait so many years to reach your goal...

 

[nonya]

anavistas,

Each journey starts with a single step or so some one with an MCAT score much higher than I stated way back when. I am looking forward to climbing the mountain. I just hope that with proper footing, I do not fall and bust my butt.

 

[Jubilee]

Thank you for the willingness to be helpful. All of my friends are being to sound like a broken record...you're too old. Why not just stay in and do twenty and retire. The only thing that I'm worried about is making my application stand out. What will help me do that besides good grades, etc?

Thanks again guys

do not listen to those 'friends'