Weekend Classes Prerequisites while working full time?

[joshuabalbuena.rpt]

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Hello!

I was planning on doing weekend classes or night classes for the following Medical School Prerequisites:

• One year of biology with lab
• One year of general chemistry with lab
• One year of organic chemistry with lab
• One year of physics with lab
• At least one semester of biochemistry
• A math requirement (some schools require calculus, some require statistics, some require both
• One year of English

I wanted to divide this load in a span of 2 to 3 years. I don't know if medical schools frown upon this method but any insight will help. I will also be working full time as a PT 8-4, 5 days a week. Does anyone have any tips on managing this type of workload AND does anyone have experience with working while taking the subjects?
Any insights would help a lot.

 

[82Scout]

Working full time while attending school really depends on you. Each persons capabilities are different and it is not easy.
I personally worked full time while also going to school full time for almost 2 years. It was rough on the body and the mind and I don't recommend it but I'ts doable you just have to know your limit.

No doubt your performance in either your job or grades will suffer to some extent. I had a healthcare job and worked graveyards for those 2 years so my job afforded me a lot of down time so I would essentially be studying and doing homework at work overnight. My hospital also had per diem employees which I became and basically would fill in for other full time employees in various departments as they were short. I ended up making $3 more an hour and could create my own schedule and pick up last minute shifts as I needed for extra cash.

Finding a specific weekend classes or classes at a certain time is harder than you think, especially when many have prerequisites or have to be taken in sequence. Not to mention getting the priority to get into these classes before others. If your timeline is 2 years you may be better off just taking out loans and doing a post bacc program (that is if you already have a degree). I honestly do not think you can get all those done in 2-3 years by just taking weekend classes and not being over a half-time student. At most schools Gen chem and Ochem are a 2 year sequence alone, with some schools requiring them completed before biochem. Remember a full-time premed usually takes a full 2 years to complete all those classes.

My suggestions...

• Get a job with flexible hours/shifts and not a 9-5. (your school schedule will change constantly with class availability)
• Look into Per Diem employment as a way to make more and work less or more flexible shifts.
• jobs with down time where you can study/do homework on the job (overlapping this time was key for me)
• Make school the priority (I see all to often people who prioritize work first and end up doing the work/school balance for 5+ years)
• look into taking "challenge tests" at your school (these are test that will allow you to bypass required prerequisites for needed classes)
• look into accelerated classes (sometimes schools offer 5 week courses at times like winter/summer break or 2 classes in 1 over a semester)
• look into accelerated SMP or postbaccs first and evaluate your financial situation (can you afford them and how much do you really need to work)

 

[joshuabalbuena.rpt]

Working full time while attending school really depends on you. Each persons capabilities are different and it is not easy.
I personally worked full time while also going to school full time for almost 2 years. It was rough on the body and the mind and I don't recommend it but I'ts doable you just have to know your limit.

No doubt your performance in either your job or grades will suffer to some extent. I had a healthcare job and worked graveyards for those 2 years so my job afforded me a lot of down time so I would essentially be studying and doing homework at work overnight. My hospital also had per diem employees which I became and basically would fill in for other full time employees in various departments as they were short. I ended up making $3 more an hour and could create my own schedule and pick up last minute shifts as I needed for extra cash.

Finding a specific weekend classes or classes at a certain time is harder than you think, especially when many have prerequisites or have to be taken in sequence. Not to mention getting the priority to get into these classes before others. If your timeline is 2 years you may be better off just taking out loans and doing a post bacc program (that is if you already have a degree). I honestly do not think you can get all those done in 2-3 years by just taking weekend classes and not being over a half-time student. At most schools Gen chem and Ochem are a 2 year sequence alone, with some schools requiring them completed before biochem. Remember a full-time premed usually takes a full 2 years to complete all those classes.

My suggestions...

• Get a job with flexible hours/shifts and not a 9-5. (your school schedule will change constantly with class availability)
• Look into Per Diem employment as a way to make more and work less or more flexible shifts.
• jobs with down time where you can study/do homework on the job (overlapping this time was key for me)
• Make school the priority (I see all to often people who prioritize work first and end up doing the work/school balance for 5+ years)
• look into taking "challenge tests" at your school (these are test that will allow you to bypass required prerequisites for needed classes)
• look into accelerated classes (sometimes schools offer 5 week courses at times like winter/summer break or 2 classes in 1 over a semester)
• look into accelerated SMP or postbaccs first and evaluate your financial situation (can you afford them and how much do you really need to work)

Perfect suggestion. You answered all of my questions.

I will consider PRN PT jobs and or Home health PT jobs since it is one of the more flexible full time positions and as you said more down time.

Yes school will be the priority I still have a lot of time to figure out scheduling since I'm planning to do this on 2022. I'm just doing my research ahead so I won't have to wing things.

That's the first time I've heard of "challenge test" could you explain it a bit more?

I will look into the accelerated classes. Question will it still be considered a full semester even though it's a summer or winter term? Considering it's only 5 weeks. Will it affect my chances for medical school approval? Compared to taking it a Full semester and not summer or winter term.

As of the moment I'm also looking into the post baccalaureate but I'm having a hard time finding one in Central and North Florida.

 

[82Scout]

That's the first time I've heard of "challenge test" could you explain it a bit more?

I will look into the accelerated classes. Question will it still be considered a full semester even though it's a summer or winter term? Considering it's only 5 weeks. Will it affect my chances for medical school approval? Compared to taking it a Full semester and not summer or winter term.

think of challenge test as a way to test out of a requirement for a class.

Each school is different and may call it something different, but most allow you to petition a prerequisite by showing you took a similar class or taking a test to show you posses the knowledge of the course. This saved me some time by petitioning and testing out of some chemistry and math requirements for classes.


you will get credits for a full semester the class is just condensed to short period and is usually intensive 4-5 days a week

 

[82Scout]

There is a big risk here. Some colleges with let you test out of a requirement, but may not give you credit AND grade. This would make them ineligible for use as a prereq for medical school and would require taking a higher level class in the same area. I would not advise a nontrad applicant to do this

Great point. In my case I was ultra non-trad, I never planned on going to college let alone med school lol. I didn’t take the ACT/SAT’s or AP classes (which would be used to test placement). So when I got to CC I would’ve had to take classes like algebra and geometry to eventually get to calc. Instead I studied and took a challenge test to skip those (saving over a year of classes). Again once I transferred to a university I took a non science chem class and used that plus a test to test out of a chem pre req. like @gonnif said make sure these aren’t actual classes you need credit for and classes you need differ by school.

 

[JAK2-STAT3]

I completed most of my prereqs in undergrad even though I wasn't premed at the time. I have 4 more classes left to take (I started last semester) and and work 9-5 Monday-Friday. I took a single class with a lab last semester and it was doable, albeit harder than I had anticipated. In undergrad I was used to studying for 4-5 hours at a time and it wasn't easy to adjust to studying in much shorter blocks. I ended up doing well but I do not think I could take more than a single class per semester and excel. It sounds nice in theory but in practice one is my limit, especially since I was/am volunteering 6-10 hours per week and ended up with very little time to decompress.

I recommend starting slow and seeing what it's like to work full time and be a student on evenings/weekends. I also found it helpful to religiously attend review sessions with TAs, but I'm the type of person that does better with a strict schedule that has built-in accountability (i.e. needing to show up somewhere).

 

[joshuabalbuena.rpt]

I completed most of my prereqs in undergrad even though I wasn't premed at the time. I have 4 more classes left to take (I started last semester) and and work 9-5 Monday-Friday. I took a single class with a lab last semester and it was doable, albeit harder than I had anticipated. In undergrad I was used to studying for 4-5 hours at a time and it wasn't easy to adjust to studying in much shorter blocks. I ended up doing well but I do not think I could take more than a single class per semester and excel. It sounds nice in theory but in practice one is my limit, especially since I was/am volunteering 6-10 hours per week and ended up with very little time to decompress.

I recommend starting slow and seeing what it's like to work full time and be a student on evenings/weekends. I also found it helpful to religiously attend review sessions with TAs, but I'm the type of person that does better with a strict schedule that has built-in accountability (i.e. needing to show up somewhere).

I was actually planning to do 1 class a semester so it won't be that heavy on my workload. Thank you for the advice.