Which alternative is better? (geographic isolation)

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I am in an incredibly rural and isolated area and relocation is not possible for 3-5 years.

I am starting out my BS in Engineering. For a BS degree in Engineering plus all pre-med coursework, which of the following alternatives would be best? (I am seriously considering only alternatives 4 and 5 below).

Alternative 1: all coursework from a lame community college in Montana - which is still a daily 2-hour commute for me

Alt 2: all coursework from a good distance education program (like Georgia Tech or some other good university)

Alt 3: CLEP out of as many classes as possible, take some classes at the community college in Montana, take summer classes at the University of Montana, and get a BS degree from the community college with many classes from the University of Montana.

Alt 4: Spend summers at Yale where I have an uncle and take pre-med classes at Yale for each of the 4 summers but get the BS degree from the community college in Montana

Alt 5: Get a BS in engineering from a good school like Georgia Tech over distance education but take summer pre-med classes at Yale for 4 summers.

Thanx for any advice or suggestions!!! I would especially like to know if alt 4 is better or alt 5 is better. Thanx!!

 

[SFO-IST]

I am in an incredibly rural and isolated area and relocation is not possible for 3-5 years.

I am starting out my BS in Engineering. For a BS degree in Engineering plus all pre-med coursework, which of the following alternatives would be best? (I am seriously considering only alternatives 4 and 5 below).

Alternative 1: all coursework from a lame community college in Montana - which is still a daily 2-hour commute for me

Alt 2: all coursework from a good distance education program (like Georgia Tech or some other good university)

Alt 3: CLEP out of as many classes as possible, take some classes at the community college in Montana, take summer classes at the University of Montana, and get a BS degree from the community college with many classes from the University of Montana.

Alt 4: Spend summers at Yale where I have an uncle and take pre-med classes at Yale for each of the 4 summers but get the BS degree from the community college in Montana

Alt 5: Get a BS in engineering from a good school like Georgia Tech over distance education but take summer pre-med classes at Yale for 4 summers.

Thanx for any advice or suggestions!!! I would especially like to know if alt 4 is better or alt 5 is better. Thanx!!

Alternative 4 is the best one, all the others are not so good. I would add another option: take enough classes at the CC (+Yale?) so that you can transfer out in 2 years. Perhaps by that time, you'll have the option to do so. if not, wait until your circumstances change and transfer into an established 4 year institution.

Good luck.

PS, a strong GPA from any school (Except distance education degrees - those are highly looked down upon) along with solid extracurriculars is a big plus. Also, don't look at your rural location as a negative. There are many schools like UC Davis who recruit people from rural areas because they are more likely to go into rural medicine. You could play this aspect of your application as a strength.

 

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In many cases the transcripts don't say they are distance education classes and the degrees don't specify distance education. Many classes have both on-campus and online options, so there is no way for the medical school to know that it is an online degree. Will that help me?

 

[NickNaylor]

I would say option 5, but I don't really understand what you're saying. You're saying you would get your degree from GT, right?

Also, I'm not really sure what the obsession is with taking summer classes at Yale is about. It doesn't matter where you take summer classes. It's not like you're going to prove anything. You can't relocate for school, but you can travel across the country to take summer classes in CT? 😕

 

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Yes I am free to move over the summers since there are family members who could come and take care of the farm and animals over the summer.

Yes, the two most attractive options seem to be

- Get a degree from a good distance education program like Georgia Tech (or some good program where they won't be able to tell the degree is via distance education) and spend 4 summers at Yale taking classes

- Get a degree from the local community college and take classes at Yale over 4 summers

The summer classes are only to show adcoms I can handle coursework from excellent universities and to take all the required pre-med classes from a good school.

 

[jvesco22]

since when do community colleges grant a bachelor's degree?

 

[verify]

since when do community colleges grant a bachelor's degree?

There are quite a few that do. Google it.

 

[boko]

umm wow..i wouldnt get a BS from a CC and you seem smart enough to go to a University..so why not?? you should go to a university...and go some where that has opportunities to shadow and volunteer...i dont think you will find much of that in a rural area. shadowing and volunteering are essential to you med school app.

 

[st2205]

This is all very confusing and I think perhaps youmay be over-thinking this. I'd really try to simplify these plans. Also, while I'm a huge proponent of taking a couple online prerequisites if they don't show up on a transcript (which everyone on these boards frowns on) I think getting an entire degreee from a school you never (physically) attended and trying to slide it under the radar is going to look very fishy, especially if you get asked about GT or living in Georgia. Try to simplify your problems, not complicate them.

 

[samuraiR]

definitely alt 5 man. thats an easy call

 

[rhesuspieces]

Why not do the distance thing at Georgia Tech then go there for summer classes? That way you won't have multiple transcripts to deal with, and you can take any classes that might be required for your BS (e.g. labs) alongside your pre-med classes. I doubt schools will care that you did a few pre-med classes at Yale.

Your geographical isolation also poses a problem as far as EC's go. Running a farm will definitely garner interest from adcoms, but it won't make up for a lack of shadowing and volunteering.

 

[Musclemass]

There's another alternative that hasn't been described. Complete classes for your first two years at the community college and then wait until you can finish the last two years at a decent university.

You're doing like a Peace Corps or Americorps thing in reverse order, before you go to college. That should be no problem and it gives you an interesting story to tell. However, completing a third rate undergrad degree, or a program that med schools may not recognize or be happy about (ie, distance learning) may prove to be a tactical mistake. I wouldn't take the chance.

Don't get too excited about taking summer classes at Yale. That doesn't make you a Yale undergrad and doing so isn't impressive to anyone. Your time might be better spent taking summer classes at whatever university you plan to transfer to.

 

[IlDestriero]

Musclemass is on the money. Do 2 years at your regional CC, than transfer to UM. Your family is going to have to run the farm w/o you no matter what. A cc degree, or some long distance learning degree, is going to hurt you. You also need the exposure to a bigger city to shadow, etc. Summers at Yale are probably a good idea for some prereqs from a respected university.
The Medical School I attended had some program for applicants that attended small, unknown, noncompetitive schools. It was 9 months long, essentially to prove they could handle the work. A couple of my classmates did it, but I don't know anything about it. Perhaps other schools have something similar. It was not a SMP, but some kind of a conditional acceptance, and the student didn't get a masters degree after the year.
I would be very wary of an online undergrad degree. You'd probably be better off with CC, if you had a strong MCAT score.
Good luck.
On the upside, if you make it, you can make serious bank living in a part of the country most are not interested in. I could double my income if I moved away from the beach to a small city in middle America.

There's another alternative that hasn't been described. Complete classes for your first two years at the community college and then wait until you can finish the last two years at a decent university.

You're doing like a Peace Corps or Americorps thing in reverse order, before you go to college. That should be no problem and it gives you an interesting story to tell. However, completing a third rate undergrad degree, or a program that med schools may not recognize or be happy about (ie, distance learning) may prove to be a tactical mistake. I wouldn't take the chance.

Don't get too excited about taking summer classes at Yale. That doesn't make you a Yale undergrad and doing so isn't impressive to anyone. Your time might be better spent taking summer classes at whatever university you plan to transfer to.

 

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Some people are suggesting CC and some are suggesting the online Georgia Tech. Those are the only two feasible options. I don't know what to do. I wonder what Lizzy M would say.