Homemade Pre-Med program

[New User]

So this is a company that sells cram materials for credit testing? Interesting. I came across this forum by chance. Nice to meet you guys. As for my history, I was granted a degree from Excelsior in 2007, did some community college prereqs, then went to med school. I applied to I think 6 med schools and got 6 invites. I would be glad to answer any questions and help in any way I can.

[cookderosa]

So this is a company that sells cram materials for credit testing? Interesting. I came across this forum by chance. Nice to meet you guys. As for my history, I was granted a degree from Excelsior in 2007, did some community college prereqs, then went to med school. I applied to I think 6 med schools and got 6 invites. I would be glad to answer any questions and help in any way I can.

I have a few questions. Can you tell me where you took your sciences, and were they part of your Excelsior degree? Were they distance or in seat?

[New User]

I have a few questions. Can you tell me where you took your sciences, and were they part of your Excelsior degree? Were they distance or in seat?

Labs are required, so I took the bio, chem, and physics classes at a community college during Fall + Spring and then ochem 1 & 2 in the summer at a local university. I had already finished my degree before starting these prereqs so none were used for EC.

[Daithi]

So did you basically earn a degree from Excelsior and then do your own Post-Baccalaureate program at a community college and local university?

Was the university a big name university?

Did you have any problems taking classes at the B&M college/university since you already had a degree?
(What I'm wondering is -- did you have problems as a non-matriculated student at the B&M registering/finding a slot for classes?)

How did you do on the MCAT?

What was your degree in at Excelsior?

What kind of grades did you get in your science courses?

Did you take any science courses at Excelsior that were repeated at the B&M college/university?

Were you a traditional high school graduate that went to college right away or were you a non-traditional student?

If non-traditional, did you have experience in the medical field?
[COLOR="#FFFFFF"]
_[/COLOR]

[New User]

So did you basically earn a degree from Excelsior and then do your own Post-Baccalaureate program at a community college and local university?

Yes

Was the university a big name university?

No, just a regular public state university.

Did you have any problems taking classes at the B&M college/university since you already had a degree?
(What I'm wondering is -- did you have problems as a non-matriculated student at the B&M registering/finding a slot for classes?)

I seem to remember maybe I was at a different priority level for class registration at the university as a post-baccalaureate student taking organic chemistry, but the classes weren't full, so there were no issues. And I never had problems at the community college.

How did you do on the MCAT?

About the same as the average matriculant. Nothing crazy.

What was your degree in at Excelsior?

BSLS

What kind of grades did you get in your science courses?

All A's.

Did you take any science courses at Excelsior that were repeated at the B&M college/university?

No. I only took 3 courses from Excelsior + that library class.

Were you a traditional high school graduate that went to college right away or were you a non-traditional student?

non-trad

If non-traditional, did you have experience in the medical field?

None. I did some volunteer work in a dr office and did some shadowing the year before I applied, but that was it.

[Daithi]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. You've really provided a wealth of information on how it is possible to take a non-traditional path into medical school.

Two more questions if you don't mind.

First, were the 6 schools you received invites from M.D. schools, D.O. schools, or both? [Not that it matters much, getting into either one is pretty impressive.]

Second, you mentioned that you received a degree from Excelsior but you only took 3 courses through them. Did you test out of courses like we do here or go about some other path. If it was a different path, would you mind explaining how you went about earning your undergrad degree?

[New User]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. You've really provided a wealth of information on how it is possible to take a non-traditional path into medical school.

I'm not the only person. I know a couple others from EC who made it. If you have a high GPA, decent MCAT, and good extracurricular stuff, I think you would have a good chance.

Two more questions if you don't mind.

First, were the 6 schools you received invites from M.D. schools, D.O. schools, or both? [Not that it matters much, getting into either one is pretty impressive.]

My state had two MD schools, and I applied to 4 out-of-state DO schools. The first acceptance I got was from a DO school, and it was where my family and I wanted to live, so I went with that. No regrets.

Second, you mentioned that you received a degree from Excelsior but you only took 3 courses through them. Did you test out of courses like we do here or go about some other path. If it was a different path, would you mind explaining how you went about earning your undergrad degree?

I had some random credits from the military. I also was awarded a ton of credits for high scores on a foreign language proficiency test. I had maybe 2 semesters worth of credits from a community college I attended like 15 years ago. And then I did some quick self-paced courses and tested out of a couple things.

[cookderosa]

Okay, don't hate me, will you share your age? Can you also share who you used for your letters of rec?

[New User]

Okay, don't hate me, will you share your age? Can you also share who you used for your letters of rec?

Mid 30s.

1 letter from community college biology professor
1 letter from community college gen chem professor
1 letter from anesthesiologist dude

[clep3705]

For those thinking about Texas' Acedemic FreshStart | Student Doctor Network

The link has two stories of people getting accepted to Texas medical schools after invoking Texas Academic Fresh Start. TMDSAS, the central application service for Texas public professional schools, does not forward any grades and credits more than 10 years old to the schools being applied to when Texas Academic Fresh Start is in effect. It is a fact.

Credit by exam on a transcript from a Texas public school transfers to other Texas public schools without using any transcripts from the CBE company. Some may call this credit laundering. It is a fact in Texas. A passing score of 50 in U.S. History on a Texas transcript transfers as full credit to Texas universities that require a score of 65 to get CLEP credit for U.S. History. When it transfers, it isn't considered CLEP credit.

A student who has 3 hours of math and the designation Texas Academic Core Curriculum Complete on a community college transcript who transfers to a Texas university that requires 6 hours of math for general degree requirements (as opposed to specific major requirements) gets to graduate from the university with only the 3 hours of transferred math credit. Another Texas fact.

Things are different in Texas, as those of us who live in, have graduated from, and attend school in Texas know.