Where to get pre-reqs

[MonaMiAmor]

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Hello everyone,

here is my situation. I graduated from a good, liberal arts school with a BA, strong GPA and now need all my science pre-reqs to apply.

I have just been accepted to the Tufts post-bac program,

and need advice between deciding to go there, or do my pre-reqs at UC Berkeley extension.

I am living in the Bay Area, and currently have a fantastic job here with a vet.

So, should I go to Tufts post-bac, have difficulty finding a job with the daytime classes, but be associated with a program that is part of a university that also has a vet program (no linkage program tho)

or stay in CA, take the gen'l reqs I need at UC Berk extension nigth classes, continue to work in vet clinic, and then once Im done with intro bio, chem, phys, and orgo take upper levels at UC Davis.

So, will working full-time/taking classes look better than being at a 'top name school' associated with a vet school?

i know it sounds snotty, and that the education at either place is the same, but being so competitive, i dont know how much 'name' matters for post-bac classes, esp. when i already have a BA from a competitive school.


thanks!

 

[NSilverwolf]

It's important to consider that establishing residency in MA takes two years
so if you plan to do the post bac in one year you will not have that advantage. (though I'm pretty sure that if you have no pre-reqs you will need two years to get yourself through them all for the Tufts program). I was an undergrad at Tufts, and took some of my pre-reqs there. They are tough and while not designed to "weed out" people, they were significantly tougher in my opinion than the extension school classes I have taken at Harvard's night extension school. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but the pre-health classes are rigorous.

Finding a job may be difficult, all the pre-health post-bacs I knew (including pre-vets) were only volunteering not working. Many were borrowing parents money to live off of or living with established partners who could provide living income. Not sure if that would factor into your decision.

Angell Memorial (the city's biggest animal hospital) has night shifts for work, but is located on the other side of the city from Tufts undergrad campus (Jamaica Plain versus Medford). If you have a car and don't mind the commute, it could work for you. But if you are looking to pay for school using the salary from there...I know it is relatively low (even for the vet field). With experience and applying to a specialty tech position I was offered less than at the shelter I currently work at as a tech. Turnover there is notoriously high too for what it's worth. There are also several clinics/hospitals outside the city that have night shifts etc which could work for you. So finding work might be difficult, but can be done.

My experience has taught me that I do better with work during the day/classes at night (forces me to study much more efficiently). You might be better suited to the straight studying in a school environment thing.

Anyways...the moral of this long post is that you should definitely consider all the factors. From what many posters have written here, it seems the more important thing is that you do well wherever you end up for post-bac. Crappy grades in the sciences are still crappy grades whether they're from Tufts or the local community college.

Good luck.

 

[ShelterGirl]

Probably depends on where you want to go, too. UC Davis doesn't bat an eye at extension courses ... other schools might. FWIW I picked up my remaining prereqs through UC Berkeley extension and got an interview this year (rejected due to lack of clinical experience, though). Boston is great, though. G'luck!