Which is the better option to choose? "No education"

[KK1517]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi, I am 22 years old and I have dropped out of high school in 2010-2011 if I remember correctly. My questions for this thread is about what should I do and what classes to choose? I am going to go back to school and get my GED so that I can enroll into college. I have gained interested in becoming a Dr. and I done some research about needing 4 years of college and then MCAT & med school etc. so I am very aware of those already. Also I am new to college so I don't know much about it.

Question 1 - Are my classes pre-selected based on my major or do I choose what classes I want to take? I have found that I will need these classes.

• One year of general chemistry with lab
• One year of organic chemistry with lab
• One year of biology
• One year of physics
• One year of English
• College level math

Question 2 - For the first 2 years of College I need to get my Associates I honestly don't know where to start mostly everything that I would take to get further into medical field is basically its own career like EMS or Nurse and I do not want to take someones seat if they want to become one of those. I did research and found that taking EMS or Nursing won't really do much but I can still choose to go that route but then again it is sorta bad. Because by the time I finished a year as an EMT or Nurse. I already wasted 1 year to becoming a Dr. is what I found I think on this forum.

I would like any information possible to help me in deciding which major will help me out the most

The only one that I see that follows through with the skills needed to become a Dr. is this one because it will lead me to get my Bachelors in Biology.

• Biotechnology Laboratory Technology A.S. Degree

I also do know that any Bachelors is acceptable for Med School but I am stuck on choosing which Associates degree to go for in order to further my education in the skills needed to become a Dr.

Thank you for the help!

 

[Gilakend]

Pre-med as well but I can try to help you out.

I guess my first question is why do you need the associates? Unless it just happens on the way to your bachelors I do not see a point in getting it as you will need a bachelors.

Question 1: I would add "with lab" to physics, add 1 semester of biochem, add 1 semester intro to psych, add 1 semester intro to sociology. Now, not all of these are necessarily for med school (some do require them, and I think more will in the future) but you will need them to take the MCAT. Also, I'm not sure on your situation but you should take your BCPM pre-reqs at a university. You will pick your classes but each major will have required classes you have to take, so you can major in art history but take all the science pre-reqs for pre-med, but you'll also have to take the required classes for your major.

Question 2: Again, I'm not really sure I understand the question, but I will agree you don't really need to be a nurse/EMT/MA. I personally am an EMT but I do that because it's something I enjoy and it gets me more clinical experience beyond my volunteering and shadowing that I will do before applying. I took an accelerated course over the summer not through my university so it didn't set me back at all in my degree. This is by no means necessary.

I would also make sure this is truly what you want to do, it is a long and expensive road. It's at least 8 years till your a resident and then you have 3-7 years of residency before you're an attending and can start to pay back the loans. However, it is definitely possible and many people in your position have done it. Volunteer at a hospital, shadow a doctor, volunteer in under-served areas. Not only will you "need" these for medical school, it will help show you if this is what you want to spend a large chunk of your life doing/pursuing.

Best of luck! Hope it all works out.

 

[KK1517]

Thanks for the reply back. I just re-looked at the college I want to attend it turns out I don't need an associates to go for my bachelor's. See at first since I'm basically new to the college life since I haven't started yet. I don't know how the classes that I need are selected. I thought say for example that I want to become a nurse I was thinking that I tell the staffs and they automatically choose those required classes for me.

But I happened to find this for admission to get into my Bachelor's in Biology. They have 2 requirements which is a little confusing.

Most of our bachelor's degrees require you have an associate degree or at least 60 credits from a regionally-accredited institution to be admitted.

Then I found this

Admission requires completion of sixty (60) college-level credits in a related discipline, including 15 credits of transferable general education courses, and completion of the state-mandated prerequisites listed below with a grade of "C" or better.

Could you check this link and let me know what I have to do?

Is it saying I need to take all those classes?

https://www.spcollege.edu/biology/#tab=3

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to PreAllo


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks for the link to the school you are interested in. From what I gather from it, you aren't permitted to declare as a biology major unless you have successfully completed a list of courses showing that you have an aptitude and the study skills to do well in the major. It would appear that students start there as undifferentiated students, take the weed-out pre-reqs and then declare a major. As you pointed out, you don't need an associate's degree but the school offers guidance for people who start out in a school that offers an AA so that the student has met the requirements to transfer into the bachelor's degree program.

Start with the GED. Get into the best 4-year school you can afford (some will offer scholarships so don't be put off by the list price) and major in anything. Do well and get the courses you need from your list (plus the additional courses mentioned above).

 

[KK1517]

Thanks for the response back. So let me get this cleared I choose my major once I got that chosen. I go do my pre req classes and then once I finish those. I then go to school everyday and just focus on my major?

I might decide to go for my EMT basic certificate instead and I was wondering is this how college works.

For the admission to EMT here at SPC college program is linked below.

What I want to know is once I get approve since there is no pre req besides 18 and over and health transcript everyday that I go to school I just go straight to EMT class or is it like high school like do reading/math etc. before I study EMT courses?

 

[sunshinefl]

Okay, so I think I can be somewhat helpful, although I am not familiar with St Petersburg College specifically. However, I am a Florida resident, who dropped out of high school, got my GED, got my associate degree at a state college, and then transferred to a state university.

Here are some thoughts:

Step 1=get your GED!

Step 2=go to a state college (like St Petersburg) for 2 years and earn the AA. This is the degree that allows you to transfer within the Florida public university system to finish and get your bachelor's degree at a university. Do NOT do an AS because they are usually terminal, technical, or career specific degrees. This is a link to the website you need to look at: https://www.spcollege.edu/aadegree/#tab=1 At the college, you will have to complete whatever their requirements are for the AA, include the core general education classes and electives. At the same time, you need think about what you would like to major in at the university for your bachelor degree. Because each university will have pre-reqs for each specific major that must have been completed at the state college in order to apply to that major. You cannot transfer as "undeclared"; when you apply to the 4 year university you will be applying to a specific major. Think about what interests you. There is no required major for medical school as long as you fit in the pre-requisites. Biology is most common, but many pre-meds have other majors. I did psychology.

Step 3=transfer to a state university for your junior and senior years. Undoubtedly you will have done some of the med school pre-reqs at the state college even just to fulfill gen ed requirements without deliberately doing so. Make a plan that completes all the requirements for you major, college-wide, and university-wide, while fitting in the remaining medical school pre-requisites. Also include some upper level science courses, and other electives to enhance your preparation for medical school.

Disclaimer----I did not address extracurriculars, research, MCAT, shadowing, healthcare experience, or volunteering since those weren't really being asked in your questions. I simply tried to address the academic path for you from a high school dropout in Florida to medical school. And I know because I lived it.