Taking a year off. Getting UCLA certificate? PLEASE HELP!

[daydreamer12345]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I'm currently an Econ major taking a year off from my undergrad (a UC), and I've been back home (in LA) for about 3 months now. I've been doing some research and came across UCLA certificate programs---specifically the certificate program for introductory science. I've never taken any pre-req courses for med school so I'm starting from the very basics. I would take these courses at my undergrad UC school but given my current situation, I cannot afford housing (it's far from home) and fees, etc. And I'm trying to save, save, and save as much as possible. Anyway, I have a few questions regarding this program:


1) Can I transfer the courses I take to my undergrad UC school?
--wait a minute. first of all, can I even enroll in this program given the fact that I'm "technically" still in undergrad?
2) Would this get incorporated into my cumulative GPA?
3) What's stressed as more important: cum GPA or science GPA or major GPA? (my major is Econ)
4) Is financial aid available for this program?
5) What other ways are there for me to take pre-req courses?
6) What are the pros/cons of obtaining a certificate? How do med schools view this?

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

 

[daydreamer12345]

anybody??? =*(

 

[DarknightX]

If you are trying to get to medical school, and you have a year off, your best bet would to take some basic science classes at a local community college. There really isn't a difference in terms of how medical schools view extension classes vs. community college classes. The "certificate" they offer is pretty worthless, and classes taken through the extension are A LOT more expensive than your typical community college class.

1) Can I transfer the courses I take to my undergrad UC school?

Ya, you technically could still take the classes, even if you were still an undergrad. I don't think there is any benefit to taking this classes through the extension though. You can transfer classes from a community college to your UC as well.

2) Would this get incorporated into my cumulative GPA?
Every single class you take is incorporated into your cumulative GPA, whether it's at your UC, comm college, or somewhere else. You can't leave anything out.

3) What's stressed as more important: cum GPA or science GPA or major GPA? (my major is Econ)

Science GPA is king of all; most schools don't care very much about your non science GPA. (after all, you're going to be taking SCIENCE classes for 4 years...it's nice to be well rounded, but at the end of the day, you have to understand science).

4) Is financial aid available for this program?
Not very much....you'd be much better off taking classes at a JC

5) What other ways are there for me to take pre-req courses?
Community college is your best bet....in a year you could probably finish off a couple biology classes and at least finish off general chemistry, then when you get back to your UC, you can take the rest of the pre-req's you need.

6) What are the pros/cons of obtaining a certificate? How do med schools view this?

They don't care about the certificate, it doesn't mean anything. It's probably the equivalent of getting an AA from a community college.

Med schools care about:

1. GPA...most important, it's ok if you take some of your classes at a community college, but you want to take at least a few upper division science classes at your UC (to show that you can hang with the competition).
2. MCAT - extremely important, some schools value this almost as much as GPA
3. Clinical exposure - volunteering, shadowing, all that good stuff. Basically med schools want to know that you know what you're getting yourself into.


Hope this answers your questions, if you have any more, feel free to PM me.