University of Florida Microbiology program

[jrcable]

I am interested in taking the Microbiology degree that is offered by the University of Florida online. I understand that the majority of schools do not accept the prerequistes to be done online, so I am currently taking them at a campus. However, I work as a Firefighter/Paramedic and am on a shift schedule so it makes it difficult to take a full course load due to the changing days of shift. This program is very appealing to me. All of the lectures are video material taken straight from the actual lecture on the campus. The labs are done at a school in your area so that you are able to get the hands on experience of Microbiology and ask questions to your professor if need be. I have done some research and it seems that there is zero indication that this is an "online" bachelors degree. The way the department talks about it is that it is a regular Bachelors in Microbiology degree that you would receive just as if you went to the school. My question is, has anyone taken this and applied to medical school? or has anyone had any succes speaking to medical schools about this program? Your opinon and any knowledge you hold will be greatly appreciated. http://microbiology.ifas.ufl.edu/ <----- you can check out the program at that link if you would like.

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[pv515]

I'm at UF, and I think it's fine if you get your actual degree classes online, as they are not really online so much as they are web lectures (some classes have no lecture at all, steer clear of those for prereq purposes).

I think if you talk to Chris Holyoak, the MCB adviser at UF, you will get a clear answer, but my gut says that you're fine with this as long as your prereqs like gen chem, orgo, physics, and bio are taken in actual lectures (I doubt you will find any online versions of those anyway)

 

[mystifire]

I graduated from UF, have a BS from there, have taken multiple classes in their microbio dept and have applied to med school and been accepted. Let me first verify for you that there is no way Amcas or medical schools know that these classes are online. Your uf transcript will not say it and unless you write about taking online classes somewhere in your secondaries the medical schools will never know. The only medical schools which may know will be md schools in florida, especially UF.... But who are they to think anything but highly of a degree from their own institution? And, as you said, its only the microbio specific courses which are online and your prereqs will be in class.

Let me say that i enjoy taking online classes for the convenience and can learn a lot from them. But some universities do online schooling better than others and its the university of pheonix type places that give online schools a bad rap. That being said, UF is no university of pheonix and has its act together as far as online courses go. Granted, you wont get tons of personalized attention and you might spend more time talking to a teaching assistant than a real faculty member. But thats part of the price you pay for convenience and it wouldnt necessarily be much better if you were taking the same class on campus

In conclusion, i would recommend the program to someone like you who needs the convenience. If you can stick with it you will learn a lot and be prepared for medical school. That being said, i anticipate you will face two challenges: the first will be getting LORs. you may have to end up getting these from your pre req instructors since you will have little to no facetime with your upper division course instructors (since those are the online courses). A second challenge will be composing a good answer to the question : "i see you have a degree from UF. How was that school like for you?" during your interviews without giving away that you were in an online program. In addition, the premed advising may be harder for you to access but the ppts they present at the seminars and workshops are posted online anyway and sdn is a great advising website.

 

[jrcable]

I graduated from UF, have a BS from there, have taken multiple classes in their microbio dept and have applied to med school and been accepted. Let me first verify for you that there is no way Amcas or medical schools know that these classes are online. Your uf transcript will not say it and unless you write about taking online classes somewhere in your secondaries the medical schools will never know. The only medical schools which may know will be md schools in florida, especially UF.... But who are they to think anything but highly of a degree from their own institution? And, as you said, its only the microbio specific courses which are online and your prereqs will be in class.

Let me say that i enjoy taking online classes for the convenience and can learn a lot from them. But some universities do online schooling better than others and its the university of pheonix type places that give online schools a bad rap. That being said, UF is no university of pheonix and has its act together as far as online courses go. Granted, you wont get tons of personalized attention and you might spend more time talking to a teaching assistant than a real faculty member. But thats part of the price you pay for convenience and it wouldnt necessarily be much better if you were taking the same class on campus

In conclusion, i would recommend the program to someone like you who needs the convenience. If you can stick with it you will learn a lot and be prepared for medical school. That being said, i anticipate you will face two challenges: the first will be getting LORs. you may have to end up getting these from your pre req instructors since you will have little to no facetime with your upper division course instructors (since those are the online courses). A second challenge will be composing a good answer to the question : "i see you have a degree from UF. How was that school like for you?" during your interviews without giving away that you were in an online program. In addition, the premed advising may be harder for you to access but the ppts they present at the seminars and workshops are posted online anyway and sdn is a great advising website.

Thanks that is extremely helpful! I appreciate it a lot! Best of luck with your med school endeavor!

 

[GoSpursGo]

This question was previously asked in pre-osteo, so this thread is being closed; anyone wishing to answer this question may do so there: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13633823