Help With Premed Courses

[ROYISAGIRL]

Have you tried taking a class before?

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[christian30]

Have you tried taking a class before?

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I'm not sure how to interpret your question. As I mentioned in my original post that I have a Bachelor's and Master's. Indeed, I owe much of the course work to CBEs/self-pace courses, but not everything. Therefore, I may have given you the wrong impression with my original post.

[ROYISAGIRL]

Sorry I was replying to sanatone about the school that was posted.

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[christian30]

Getting them from a single school would be
Of course! Back when I took my courses, UNE didn't offer nearly the selection they have now - I think they only had a couple of biology / A&P courses - maybe stats- but they were always more expensive, so it wasn't an option for me.
One thing about Ocean labs, is you'll do home labs- so once you get yourself set up with a space, a microscope, etc. you're ready to go. I enjoyed the home labs a lot. UNE, otoh, was a mix of *some* home labs and *some* virtual labs. I've never taken a virtual lab, but I would have tried it. A few things that are stumbling blocks with home labs DIY style, is when you're wrong, it's hard to know why- and when you make a mistake, you don't have anyone to ask. With the virtual labs, I think (assuming excellent software) you may realize your errors and corrections on the spot- that would be great. FWIW, doing it over again, I'd skip dissecting the cat. My kids are still traumatized.

For costs, you'll want to investigate if you can get your GI Bill to cover your lab kits and supplies- that's where the money is. I'd estimate 2-3 hundred per class for lab and another 200 for online access code and book. You'll need a microscope. When I bought my first microscope, it was per the class specs. Oil immersion lens, and other requirements. After about my 5th lab, I ordered one with a digital camera lens. That allowed me to upload my slides into my lab reports directly - much nicer, but the quality was crap. At the time, cameras on phones weren't half of what they are today, so if I were doing it from scratch, I'd buy the best microscope I could afford and that had an iphone mount. All my classes at Ocean required purchasing a box of specific slides as well. So, some of that stuff is "outside" of the fee, you may want to get advice about how to get that covered.

You make a good point, the cost of equipment vs virtual labs may make the difference negligible. I will have to investigate that further. For my GI Bill, I wish to save it for medical school. As that should maximize the return that I can get on that benefit, and I failed to mention that I am an Officer in the Army. As an Officer we do not have real contracts, we have what is called "Active Duty Service Obligation". There are things that can extend that time, one of them being the use of tuition assistance. As I wish to not extend that time, I will most likely pay for the classes out of pocket.

[sanantone]

Getting them from a single school would be
Of course!  Back when I took my courses, UNE didn't offer nearly the selection they have now - I think they only had a couple of biology / A&P courses - maybe stats- but they were always more expensive, so it wasn't an option for me.  
One thing about Ocean labs, is you'll do home labs- so once you get yourself set up with a space, a microscope, etc. you're ready to go. I enjoyed the home labs a lot.  UNE, otoh, was a mix of *some* home labs and *some* virtual labs. I've never taken a virtual lab, but I would have tried it. A few things that are stumbling blocks with home labs DIY style, is when you're wrong, it's hard to know why- and when you make a mistake, you don't have anyone to ask.  With the virtual labs, I think (assuming excellent software) you may realize your errors and corrections on the spot- that would be great.  FWIW, doing it over again, I'd skip dissecting the cat. My kids are still traumatized.

For costs, you'll want to investigate if you can get your GI Bill to cover your lab kits and supplies- that's where the money is. I'd estimate 2-3 hundred per class for lab and another 200 for online access code and book.  You'll need a microscope.  When I bought my first microscope, it was per the class specs.  Oil immersion lens, and other requirements.  After about my 5th lab, I ordered one with a digital camera lens. That allowed me to upload my slides into my lab reports directly - much nicer, but the quality was crap. At the time, cameras on phones weren't half of what they are today, so if I were doing it from scratch, I'd buy the best microscope I could afford and that had an iphone mount.    All my classes at Ocean required purchasing a box of specific slides as well.  So, some of that stuff is "outside" of the fee, you may want to get advice about how to get that covered.

You make a good point, the cost of equipment vs virtual labs may make the difference negligible. I will have to investigate that further. For my GI Bill, I wish to save it for medical school. As that should maximize the return that I can get on that benefit, and I failed to mention that I am an Officer in the Army. As an Officer we do not have real contracts, we have what is called "Active Duty Service Obligation". There are things that can extend that time, one of them being the use of tuition assistance. As I wish to not extend that time, I will most likely pay for the classes out of pocket.

Did you look into USUHS?

[christian30]

Did you look into USUHS?

I got two years left of my "Active Duty Service Obligation" and than I wish to be done with the military. Incidentally, their prerequisites are pretty much identical to most other schools.

[sanantone]

Did you look into USUHS?

I got two years left of my "Active Duty Service Obligation" and than I wish to be done with the military. Incidentally, their prerequisites are pretty much identical to most other schools.

Yeah, you still have to worry about prerequisites; I was just thinking about how much the GI Bill will cover. You can also attend USUHS as a member of USPHS unless you're done done with all the uniform services.

[christian30]

Did you look into USUHS?

I got two years left of my "Active Duty Service Obligation" and than I wish to be done with the military. Incidentally, their prerequisites are pretty much identical to most other schools.

Yeah, you still have to worry about prerequisites; I was just thinking about how much the GI Bill will cover. You can also attend USUHS as a member of USPHS unless you're done done with all the uniform services.

I'm not trying to get too personal, but yes. Physically and mentally I am done with the military/uniform services in general.

[christian30]

I have been looking at several different colleges that have low tuition rates. If you can, please provide feedback on them. They are:


Brigham Young University
Clovis Community College
New Mexico Junior College (looks most promising)


My current idea is to get as many of the prerequisites that I can from one of them and then use UNE for one or two courses. Any critique of my plan is welcomed.

[quigongene]

All 3 of those schools have been mentioned positively in these forums numerous times.