What path should I take?

[Negative]

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Sorry if this gets long, I'm just trying to figure out the best path for me to take for medical school. Thanks in advance.

So right now I'm in the military and I work 48 hour shifts 2 days on 2 days off with sliding 72 hour weekends. That makes it impossible for me to take traditional college classes. This left me with one option, taking online classes (I know..not the best idea for medical school but I had no other choice). So far I have 45 credits completed through AMU towards a BA in History as well as 25ish credits from a community college in NY. Took history classes because I thought they'd have the best transfer potential compared to other more specialized degrees...plus I enjoy history. My overall GPA is a 3.9

I'll be out of the military in about a year and a half but in 2-3 months ill be switching to a normal 630 am - 3 pm Monday to Friday schedule.

My plan is to transfer to a state school in NY to finish my degree but im wondering if I should take a few of my med school req's at University of San Diego once my schedule switches to M-F. The main reason im hesitating is because I'll only have enough time to take 1 class at a time MAYBE 2 (Only reason I could take more AMU classes was because I did them while I was at work).

So pretty much right now I'm trying to decide if I should continue taking classes through AMU then finish at a SUNY school or stop at AMU and take a class or two max at a time at UCSD. Will taking some pre-reqs one at a time look bad?

Also, will medical schools look down upon my AMU credits? I really wanted to get some education in while I was stationed here and didn't really have any other options but I'm not sure how it will effect my chances in the long run

Thanks for the help.

 

[elbowss]

Been there. Taking a few pre-reqs one at a time won't hurt you, but if you're going to take them make sure you'll have time. If you might not have time to finish them (or you might decide you want to live it up/sleep in your free time), not taking any would be better than having an F, you know that already though. What might be better is to spend the time making sure you're fully prepared by the time you start school up for real.

I spent my time in the military collecting CLEPS and DANTES, which don't mean a whole lot when you're trying to get into medical school, sadly. I wasn't aware I was going this route at the time though. If I had, I would have preferred to have rebuilt my math, chem, and bio foundations. Since it'd been 5 years since high school and I'd done no reviewing when I took my placement test, I had to start all the way back at algebra. Not to mention the fact that the basic bio/chem classes are filled with people who still remember this stuff because they just finished learning it 3 months ago. Another fact you might want to consider is how nice it is to have just recently taken physics/chem/bio when you start studying for the mcat. So, if you do take pre-reqs one at a time starting now, might want to take ones that aren't reflected in the mcat.

That's my two cents. Good luck.

 

[Negative]

Been there. Taking a few pre-reqs one at a time won't hurt you, but if you're going to take them make sure you'll have time. If you might not have time to finish them (or you might decide you want to live it up/sleep in your free time), not taking any would be better than having an F, you know that already though. What might be better is to spend the time making sure you're fully prepared by the time you start school up for real.

I spent my time in the military collecting CLEPS and DANTES, which don't mean a whole lot when you're trying to get into medical school, sadly. I wasn't aware I was going this route at the time though. If I had, I would have preferred to have rebuilt my math, chem, and bio foundations. Since it'd been 5 years since high school and I'd done no reviewing when I took my placement test, I had to start all the way back at algebra. Not to mention the fact that the basic bio/chem classes are filled with people who still remember this stuff because they just finished learning it 3 months ago. Another fact you might want to consider is how nice it is to have just recently taken physics/chem/bio when you start studying for the mcat. So, if you do take pre-reqs one at a time starting now, might want to take ones that aren't reflected in the mcat.

That's my two cents. Good luck.

Gotcha, thanks for the advice. Your probably right about having physics / chem / bio fresh in your mind when taking the MCAT. Would definitely help a ton. Might just take a class or two that arent pre-reqs then wait to take the pre-reqs till i'm out of the military

-Andrew