Your online pre-health science courses experience

[sbstiane46]

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Hi guys,
I'm new here and glad to have found this forum!
I'm currently stuck in a situation where I've been seeking for an alternative method to complete the remaining science courses for dental school. I'm currently a Psychology major at UNCC and am also taking the science courses on the side. My problem is that due to working almost full-time, I lack time to accomplish the required study time in order to do well in all my classes. I've managed to arrange my schedule every semester to be most suitable and effective in order to perform well in class. But now that I have organic chem 1, 2 and physics 1, 2 left over, I've notice that I can't manage work and school very effectively anymore. I plan on finishing psychology (to have a back up and proceed with a masters if necessary) but my preference is going to dental school! I've noticed from experience that the chemistry and physics department in my school are not the most organized or friendly ones. I've had to drop an organic chem and a physics class before for being overwhelmed by lack of order in the course's schedule and having poor guidance in the lectures.
I recently came across University of New England's online courses for health professions and as intriguing as they sound, it makes me wonder how promising it could be to take some online self paced online course that are NOT CHEAP and how reliable can they be when applying to dental school. Will they be accepted??
If this is an effective method to accomplishing the pre-dental requirements while completing my psychology degree and continuing working I'd be very happy.

Have any of you guys managed to complete your prehealth profession requirements through online courses with positive results?? Any experience doing these type of online programs?? Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[Kittenz]

Hi guys,
I'm new here and glad to have found this forum!
I'm currently stuck in a situation where I've been seeking for an alternative method to complete the remaining science courses for dental school. I'm currently a Psychology major at UNCC and am also taking the science courses on the side. My problem is that due to working almost full-time, I lack time to accomplish the required study time in order to do well in all my classes. I've managed to arrange my schedule every semester to be most suitable and effective in order to perform well in class. But now that I have organic chem 1, 2 and physics 1, 2 left over, I've notice that I can't manage work and school very effectively anymore. I plan on finishing psychology (to have a back up and proceed with a masters if necessary) but my preference is going to dental school! I've noticed from experience that the chemistry and physics department in my school are not the most organized or friendly ones. I've had to drop an organic chem and a physics class before for being overwhelmed by lack of order in the course's schedule and having poor guidance in the lectures.
I recently came across University of New England's online courses for health professions and as intriguing as they sound, it makes me wonder how promising it could be to take some online self paced online course that are NOT CHEAP and how reliable can they be when applying to dental school. Will they be accepted??
If this is an effective method to accomplishing the pre-dental requirements while completing my psychology degree and continuing working I'd be very happy.

Have any of you guys managed to complete your prehealth profession requirements through online courses with positive results?? Any experience doing these type of online programs?? Any advice?

Thanks!

You're working almost full time (preventing yourself from taking pre-reqs and doing well), just to use that money to pay for an expensive online course because you don't have enough time to devote to doing well.... Do you see the paradox there? Your problem is right in front of you. You've spread yourself too far for reasons of not committing entirely that will prevent you from ever attending dental school. I would understand if you're working full time to support family, but you haven't indicated that. You need to stop working, or at least cut your hours in half, and rake in those student loans instead so that you can focus on your primary goal - dentistry. Getting into dental school is not a "preference" it's a passion and it should be your only goal. Psychology major as a backup? It should be your major because you find it interesting and applicable to your goals or just a very interesting topic that you love to learn about and use to further develop your mind and self. Choosing psychology courses over pre-reqs is what I call half-a**ing your pursuit to dental school/dentistry. Don't blame your undergrad school for doing poorly in physics and orgo because of a lack of organization or poor guidance either, blame yourself. Other students are passing and some doing amazing, but you're not.

If you're still an undergraduate student, then take a full time course load at UNCC with 1 or 2 psycology courses on the side while taking 1-2 science pre-req courses a semester. Go all in with that pursuit while taking out enough of those sweet subsidized student loans to support yourself so you can dedicate all of yourself to your goal. Being a college student, dental student, or dentist is not a part time job. Now, if dentistry isn't your all-in goal, then back out now because it gets a million times harder the further you proceed. As far as the specifics of online courses to allow you to have an easier time while taking pre-reqs. There's no easy way around this whole process. If you do as you intend to, it looks terrible on transcripts from dental adcom because it shows that you can't handle a tough undergrad courseload, which is a cake walk compared to dental school. Most people do those online courses because they already graduated or have unusual circumstances where they need to take it online to knock it out as soon as possible. Most dental schools won't accept online pre-reqs, and almost all won't accept labs online.

I'm glad you reached out online for help. I hope you will take these words from someone who genuinely wants you to follow the path that you decide is best for you.

 

[sbstiane46]

You're working almost full time (preventing yourself from taking pre-reqs and doing well), just to use that money to pay for an expensive online course because you don't have enough time to devote to doing well.... Do you see the paradox there? Your problem is right in front of you. You've spread yourself too far for reasons of not committing entirely that will prevent you from ever attending dental school. I would understand if you're working full time to support family, but you haven't indicated that. You need to stop working, or at least cut your hours in half, and rake in those student loans instead so that you can focus on your primary goal - dentistry. Getting into dental school is not a "preference" it's a passion and it should be your only goal. Psychology major as a backup? It should be your major because you find it interesting and applicable to your goals or just a very interesting topic that you love to learn about and use to further develop your mind and self. Choosing psychology courses over pre-reqs is what I call half-a**ing your pursuit to dental school/dentistry. Don't blame your undergrad school for doing poorly in physics and orgo because of a lack of organization or poor guidance either, blame yourself. Other students are passing and some doing amazing, but you're not.

If you're still an undergraduate student, then take a full time course load at UNCC with 1 or 2 psycology courses on the side while taking 1-2 science pre-req courses a semester. Go all in with that pursuit while taking out enough of those sweet subsidized student loans to support yourself so you can dedicate all of yourself to your goal. Being a college student, dental student, or dentist is not a part time job. Now, if dentistry isn't your all-in goal, then back out now because it gets a million times harder the further you proceed. As far as the specifics of online courses to allow you to have an easier time while taking pre-reqs. There's no easy way around this whole process. If you do as you intend to, it looks terrible on transcripts from dental adcom because it shows that you can't handle a tough undergrad courseload, which is a cake walk compared to dental school. Most people do those online courses because they already graduated or have unusual circumstances where they need to take it online to knock it out as soon as possible. Most dental schools won't accept online pre-reqs, and almost all won't accept labs online.

I'm glad you reached out online for help. I hope you will take these words from someone who genuinely wants you to follow the path that you decide is best for you.

Kittenz thank you for your sincere input. My reason for working as much as I do is to pay for all my bills and to sustain myself during my studies. I've manages to stay away from student loans though my undergrad in order to be able to attain them while doing Dental School since I'll be investing all my time there. As for my psychology major, I do have a passion and interest for it. Although as we all know the outcome of that career with no further education is not very promising. For that reason I would continue to do a masters in psychology if I proceed with it. I have a lot of courses in the orientation of psychology completed. I don't intend on leaving that behind without getting my degree if I'm so close. Let me make it clear that my most intriguing direction is Dental School. I've been influenced by my family growing up (MD and DDS) and have always been very interested in the health field. I initiated college with medicine in mind, then ended undecided, chose psychology and now I concluded that I want to do both dentistry and psychology. My goal is to accomplish both and my focus is to do it as methodically as possible without extending too much time doing so.
For that reason I'm exploring online courses as a better way to manage my time efficiently. I can't quit work nor can I reduce my time working. If I can make it manageable though, more flexible courses would suit me very well. that's why I'm exploring the option of online courses. I understand there is no easy way to get though these remaining courses, but I'm pretty sure there are more efficient ways to prepare yourself.

 

[C_BryantDDS]

It sounds like @Kittenz gave you some good advice. I would NOT take any pre-requisites online. Most dental schools would frown upon those and it would be a waste of your time and money. I graduated last May with my Master of Science in Public Health from UNCC and while taking grad classes, defending my thesis, working two jobs, volunteering 8 hours a week, and holding an executive position in the pre-dental club I took organic chemistry so it is doable but you have got to manage your time effectively. I had every single day scheduled from dawn til dusk so I could squeeze in everything that I needed to including time for myself. As far as the chemistry faculty at UNCC I found Dr. Walter to be EXTREMELY helpful - he ended up writing one of my recommendation letters. But like the @Kittenz said, you have got to decide 100% what you want to do because dental school and getting into dental school is a full time commitment.

 

[workofshart]

General consensus is online prereqs are frowned upon but schools differ in how courses are recorded on your transcript. E.g. my school doesn't note whether a class was online or not. It sounds like with the program you're talking about though it may be obvious the courses were online. In that case I would email the schools you're interested in explaining your situation and see what they say.

Sent from my SM-G935T using SDN mobile

 

[Ollivander]

I'm just going to put it out there because I have taken a science course online.

You need to be taking the majority of your science courses at a university in lecture, not online. You're doing yourself a disservice and you will not retain what you learn in science based courses by taking them online. Online science courses should only be utilized if you need to fit in a prereq or two that DO NOT have a lab associated with the course (genetics, biochem, etc are acceptable). However, courses like Gen Bio, Gen Chem, Organic Chem, A&P, Physics, etc (basically anything with a lab) need to be taken at the university level in a lecture and lab. If you don't want to do this then you might need to look for alternative careers. Admissions committees will not take your application seriously if you don't take the majority of your science courses in a lecture and lab.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-official-une-online-course-thread.1120035/