Working Full Time, Advice on Prereq Format

[JToney]

Hi everyone, I’m sure this has been discussed already but I couldn’t find anything that really answered my question. If has been discussed please send a link. But my question is, now that we’re coming out of covid and med schools are returning to their normal standards for prerequisite, is taking online or hybrid courses pointless now?

My situation is that I work full time and have a family to support like a lot of people on here. I already have a bachelors but I’ve been taking classes at my CC for classes I need. All of the science classes are hybrid, we meet twice a week for lecture, lab, tests but there is still online work for reading to do. Also, for some of the higher classes like organic chem and biochemistry aren’t offered. I was able to find organic chem at a university that’s about 30 minutes away but they meet MWF for class in the morning and 3 hours usually 2-5pm for lab on either M-T-Th. Which doesn’t sound feasible with work but I’m willing to ask. There is also another community college about an hour away that offers the same class on MW from 6pm-8ish but it’s also a hybrid course. I’ve seen others have success with taking classes online or taking them online with UNE.

Given how things seem to be going back to normal does it make more sense to stress about trying to take these classes in person even if they are hybrid? Or are people still having good experiences with schools accepting online courses for organic chem and such?

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[Mr.Smile12]

I think higher ed has adjusted so that what we had previously thought of "online courses" (predominantly from for-profits like University of Phoenix) doesn't hold anymore. Many undergraduate programs including community colleges know how to run an online or hybrid course. It's not too obvious about labs, though some programs have been able to run "online labs". We have seen success with some online courses run by more traditional universities like UNE work well. You should still ask around regardless, but I think there is more willingness to understand access to courses has been a barrier to many under-resourced or underrepresented in healthcare.

 

[JToney]

I think higher ed has adjusted so that what we had previously thought of "online courses" (predominantly from for-profits like University of Phoenix) doesn't hold anymore. Many undergraduate programs including community colleges know how to run an online or hybrid course. It's not too obvious about labs, though some programs have been able to run "online labs". We have seen success with some online courses run by more traditional universities like UNE work well. You should still ask around regardless, but I think there is more willingness to understand access to courses has been a barrier to many under-resourced or underrepresented in healthcare.

Thank you for the response. I'll definitely ask around at the colleges I want to apply to. I've checked the AAMC MSAR and a lot of colleges state they will accept online courses during the 2020-2022 years, but not too much about afterwards. I live in NC and out of the 5 schools. 3 accept online course work, possibly Duke (I don't have high hopes of getting in there lol). But I understand that it's a numbers game getting into med school and I just want to increase my chances of getting into places. While at the same time not stretching myself to thin where I'm bad at my job and not spending enough time with my family. Something I'm sure many older non-traditional applicants have dealt with. My concern was based off of a comment made by @Goro in another discussion about med schools going back to pre-covid requirements and to be careful with online classes.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for the response. I'll definitely ask around at the colleges I want to apply to. I've checked the AAMC MSAR and a lot of colleges state they will accept online courses during the 2020-2022 years, but not too much about afterwards. I live in NC and out of the 5 schools. 3 accept online course work, possibly Duke (I don't have high hopes of getting in there lol). But I understand that it's a numbers game getting into med school and I just want to increase my chances of getting into places. While at the same time not stretching myself to thin where I'm bad at my job and not spending enough time with my family. Something I'm sure many older non-traditional applicants have dealt with. My concern was based off of a comment made by @Goro in another discussion about med schools going back to pre-covid requirements and to be careful with online classes.

I understand. This is why you reach out to admissions officers at recruiting events.

 

[JToney]

Thank you for that idea. I haven’t thought about recruiting events. To be honest I didn’t know that was a thing.