What does it mean when they say they don't accept online prerequisites?

[OnlineOrCommCollege]

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I'm in kind of a sticky spot financially being a non-trad. I've done extensive grade repair over the last 3 years. 40 undergrad hours around 3.5 sGPA and SMP of 3.6 GPA. I've applied twice with no luck and I'm convinced the detriment to my app is my 3.05 cumulative sGPA (really bad sGPA pre-postbacc with 2 Es 10 years ago). I have solid research and volunteering. Tons and tons of shadowing. 5 years employment in various HC settings.

Almost every school I am looking at for the 2018-19 cycle says they don't take online pre-reqs. What does that mean? Like if I take a few online classes to boost my sGPA to 3.4 will the schools just disregard them and calculate my sGPA as a 3.05?

Or does it mean they won't count them as pre-reqs (I already have pre-reqs with As/Bs from 4 year institutions).

I know schools look holistically but I'm not naive enough to think that they don't instant filter out low GPA, avg MCAT (513) applications. I need to get my GPA closer to median to give myself a real shot. Can I use online classes to do this?

 

[Atom612]

I'm in kind of a sticky spot financially being a non-trad. I've done extensive grade repair over the last 3 years. 40 undergrad hours around 3.5 sGPA and SMP of 3.6 GPA. I've applied twice with no luck and I'm convinced the detriment to my app is my 3.05 cumulative sGPA (really bad sGPA pre-postbacc with 2 Es 10 years ago). I have solid research and volunteering. Tons and tons of shadowing. 5 years employment in various HC settings.

Almost every school I am looking at for the 2018-19 cycle says they don't take online pre-reqs. What does that mean? Like if I take a few online classes to boost my sGPA to 3.4 will the schools just disregard them and calculate my sGPA as a 3.05?

Or does it mean they won't count them as pre-reqs (I already have pre-reqs with As/Bs from 4 year institutions).

I know schools look holistically but I'm not naive enough to think that they don't instant filter out low GPA, avg MCAT (513) applications. I need to get my GPA closer to median to give myself a real shot. Can I use online classes to do this?

Every school generally has a list of required courses that must be taken during undergrad before they will allow you to matriculate into medical school (hence, pre-requisite courses). There's some variation between schools but most require 1 year of biology, 1 year gen. chem, 1 year physics, 1 year ochem - all with labs, more and more and now requiring a semester of biochem/psychology/sociology. When they list "no online pre-reqs accepted" it means that if any of the courses that particular school requires before matriculation were taken online, they won't count. Other classes taken online to further your education or to complete your degree will still be factored into your GPAs, but aren't required to matriculate into medical school.

 

[mw18]

Or does it mean they won't count them as pre-reqs (I already have pre-reqs with As/Bs from 4 year institutions).

The quoted is the interpretation. You're fine. Schools may not subjectively give online courses as much credence, but that only means you can't satisfy prereqs with online courses. The gpa is calculated by amcas and looks only at the course subjects. Schools that don't accept online courses look specifically at the prereqs to make sure they are taken in person and then look at the amcas gpa.Some secondaries have you enter classes and grades, but that's not the norm.

 

[psu228]

I'm in kind of a sticky spot financially being a non-trad. I've done extensive grade repair over the last 3 years. 40 undergrad hours around 3.5 sGPA and SMP of 3.6 GPA. I've applied twice with no luck and I'm convinced the detriment to my app is my 3.05 cumulative sGPA (really bad sGPA pre-postbacc with 2 Es 10 years ago). I have solid research and volunteering. Tons and tons of shadowing. 5 years employment in various HC settings.

Almost every school I am looking at for the 2018-19 cycle says they don't take online pre-reqs. What does that mean? Like if I take a few online classes to boost my sGPA to 3.4 will the schools just disregard them and calculate my sGPA as a 3.05?

Or does it mean they won't count them as pre-reqs (I already have pre-reqs with As/Bs from 4 year institutions).

I know schools look holistically but I'm not naive enough to think that they don't instant filter out low GPA, avg MCAT (513) applications. I need to get my GPA closer to median to give myself a real shot. Can I use online classes to do this?

You can do online courses to boost your sGPA. It might look better to some schools if you took these booster classes in a traditional classroom/lab setting, but either way they will definitely be included in your sGPA, and they will understand as a non trad that it was hard for you to find courses you could take with your schedule.

Have you ever applied to DO schools?

 

[Goro]

I worry about OPs reading skills.

I am more concerned with the OP overall as he/she has now twice applied and been rejected. Your overall application needs to be critically reviewed and looking at DO schools, if you havent already, is called for

What does it mean when they say they don't accept online prerequisites?

I'm in kind of a sticky spot financially being a non-trad. I've done extensive grade repair over the last 3 years. 40 undergrad hours around 3.5 sGPA and SMP of 3.6 GPA. I've applied twice with no luck and I'm convinced the detriment to my app is my 3.05 cumulative sGPA (really bad sGPA pre-postbacc with 2 Es 10 years ago). I have solid research and volunteering. Tons and tons of shadowing. 5 years employment in various HC settings.

Almost every school I am looking at for the 2018-19 cycle says they don't take online pre-reqs. What does that mean? Like if I take a few online classes to boost my sGPA to 3.4 will the schools just disregard them and calculate my sGPA as a 3.05?

Or does it mean they won't count them as pre-reqs (I already have pre-reqs with As/Bs from 4 year institutions).

I know schools look holistically but I'm not naive enough to think that they don't instant filter out low GPA, avg MCAT (513) applications. I need to get my GPA closer to median to give myself a real shot. Can I use online classes to do this?

 

[OnlineOrCommCollege]

I worry about OPs reading skills.




What does it mean when they say they don't accept online prerequisites?

So edgy. I'm pretty sure my reading skills are significantly above average for MD/DO (131 CARS, 174 LSAT).

That said, the MSAR only says "Online Accepted" and uses a series of check marks to designate each school's position. It doesn't indicate what a red X actually means in terms of GPA calculation. Obviously, they don't count the course as a pre-req but I wasn't certain if they had discretion to remove the course from your AMCAS GPA as well.

@gonnif I applied very narrowly the last two cycles because of a family illness. That won't be an issue going forward as the family member died recently. I'm going to apply more broadly to both MD and DO in ~17 months but am going to sit out a cycle to make myself a bit more competitive overall.

 

[Goro]

Not accepted means...this is not accepted. The GPA part is irrelevant.

So edgy. I'm pretty sure my reading skills are significantly above average for MD/DO (131 CARS, 174 LSAT).

That said, the MSAR only says "Online Accepted" and uses a series of check marks to designate each school's position. It doesn't indicate what a red X actually means in terms of GPA calculation. Obviously, they don't count the course as a pre-req but I wasn't certain if they had discretion to remove the course from your AMCAS GPA as well.

@gonnif I applied very narrowly the last two cycles because of a family illness. That won't be an issue going forward as the family member died recently. I'm going to apply more broadly to both MD and DO in ~17 months but am going to sit out a cycle to make myself a bit more competitive overall.