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Homemade Pre-Med program
#31
It is not as lenient as Texas Academic Fresh Start: Academic Fresh Start - Tennessee Technological University - Acalog ACMS

Tennessee Graduate Academic Fresh Start: Graduate Academic Fresh Start | Tennessee Tech University
63 CLEP Sociology
75 CLEP U.S. History II
63 CLEP College Algebra
70 CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
68 DSST Technical Writing
72 CLEP U.S. History I
77 CLEP College Mathematics
470 DSST Statistics
53 CLEP College Composition
73 CLEP Biology
54 CLEP Chemistry
77 CLEP Information Systems and Computer Applications
#32
Some are school specific, some are statewide.

Colorado Academic Fresh Start - Admissions - Colorado State University

Florida Fresh Start | Academic Advising Center | University of Florida

Georgia KSU Office of the Registrar - Guides

Kansas Academic Fresh Start

Mississippi Academic Fresh Start Policy

Missouri 5.31 - Academic Fresh Start

North Carolina Academic Fresh Start

Ohio Academic Fresh Start, University of Cincinnati

Oklahoma Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education | Students | Current College Students | Academic Information | Academic Forgiveness
63 CLEP Sociology
75 CLEP U.S. History II
63 CLEP College Algebra
70 CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
68 DSST Technical Writing
72 CLEP U.S. History I
77 CLEP College Mathematics
470 DSST Statistics
53 CLEP College Composition
73 CLEP Biology
54 CLEP Chemistry
77 CLEP Information Systems and Computer Applications
#33
I am not trying to beat a dead horse, but I did find these courses listed with Colorado State University. They would definitely help someone trying to get into a medical program (DO, OD, DPM, DVM, DC, PA, etc.). However, proceed with caution, as many schools will not accept many online courses for prerequisites.

Courses - Online Post-Bac Pre-Health Courses - CSU Online Plus
[COLOR="#0000FF"] B.S. - COSC (December, 2013) :hurray:
20-Community College Courses (2004-2006)
80-Semester Hours at Western Governors University (2010-2012)
15-Charter Oak State College (2013)
12-CLEP
3-DSST
6-FEMA
If I can do it, ANYONE can do it![/COLOR]
#34
Hello All! I just thought I would share my timeline/plan with you all as I am a non-trad pre-med student as well and have done a lot of research regarding this, as well as had numerous discussions with different medical schools, and then developed a plan from there.

-24 years old, "Underrepresented Minority"
Feb 2014 *Move to China to work for two years teaching English and saving up money*
-Obtain a Bachelor's from COSC mainly through testing, and other self paced classes. *CLEP and DSST Exams will be taken in Japan at Temple University*
-Volunteer at clinics, and with DWOB and GapMedics during my vacation time from China
Feb 2016*Move back to Los Angeles*
-Attend SCHS to complete all prerequisite science courses (ISP - Accelerated Weekend College Science Courses - Class Schedule & Calendar). This will take about 6-7 months. (At the time of this writing, online science courses, even if they do come with labs are not going to make the application more competitive, unless GPA and MCAT are through the roof. I'd rather not taken the chance, or waste the money. Courses completed from this program however, are accepted at the medical schools I have interest in attending)
*During this time I will not be working, as I will be living off of my savings from China, so I will spend time during the week getting in my shadowing and volunteering hours between studying*
-June-Aug 2016 - Take the MCAT after completing O.Chem and Biochem.
-Obtain Letters of Recommendations from my science course professors, volunteer program directors, as well as from Doctor's that I had been shadowing.
-Sept-Nov 2016 - Apply, Apply, Apply!
*Take a much needed vacation after spending about 10 months busting my behind!
-Spring 2017 - Interview
-Late Spring/Summer - Move, and take another mini vacation.
-Fall 2017 - Matriculate (Hopefully!)
-Spring 2021 - Graduate
-Summer 2021 - Begin Residency
-Summer 2025 - Finish Residency

This of course is the ideal plan contingent upon factors inside and outside of my control. But I am hoping for the best. I'll be 35 when I am "done". The reason I am putting off applying for two years is so I may save up money, not work while having to complete my prereqs and shadowing, and also so I may travel, volunteer, and see the world while I can. We all know once you jump on this medical school/Doctor train, it makes very few stops lol. I hope this was helpful Smile
#35
publius2k4 Wrote:I did find these courses listed with Colorado State University. They would definitely help someone trying to get into a medical program (DO, OD, DPM, DVM, DC, PA, etc.). However, proceed with caution, as many schools will not accept many online courses for prerequisites.

Courses - Online Post-Bac Pre-Health Courses - CSU Online Plus

These are very helpful! The general rule about health professions schools often not accepting online courses for prerequisites applies most strongly to science courses with labs, and to the 'big four' core prerequisites for medical school (one-year sequences in each of gen chem, o chem, biology, and physics). For other courses, the requirement is less likely to apply, even when applying to schools with hard requirements of B&M for those core courses with labs. All of these CSU Online Plus courses are in subjects outside those 'big four.'
#36
WanderingTeacher Wrote:Feb 2016*Move back to Los Angeles*
-Attend SCHS to complete all prerequisite science courses (ISP - Accelerated Weekend College Science Courses - Class Schedule & Calendar). This will take about 6-7 months. (At the time of this writing, online science courses, even if they do come with labs are not going to make the application more competitive, unless GPA and MCAT are through the roof. I'd rather not taken the chance, or waste the money. Courses completed from this program however, are accepted at the medical schools I have interest in attending)

Have you checked with those schools directly?

I'm concerned about the accreditation status of the ISP program.

I get that the Integrated Science Program [ISP] is offered by a joint venture of Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCUHS), primarily a chiropractic school, and Lifelong Education Institute, a private company.

A successful ISP student apparently earns undergraduate-level credit on a transcript from SCUHS, which does hold regional accreditation.

However, SCUHS doesn't as of this writing hold accreditation to offer undergraduate programs at all, and appears to report to their accreditor that they have a full-time-equivalent undergraduate student count of zero. (They are currently developing a bachelor's completion program, "Pending WASC Approval.")

Aside from this, how is your background in chemistry, physics, and biology? I think a plan to complete over 30 semester hours in qualifying pre-medical courses, with a competitive GPA, in "about 6-7 months" could only work if you're very well-prepared from previous study in more than one of them, if the courses are very easy, or if the courses are very intense. In the latter case you probably shouldn't expect much time during the week for other commitments like volunteering.
#37
Jonathan Whatley Wrote:I'm concerned about the accreditation status of the ISP program.

Yup. Don't even think about some wonky non-accredited place. It's easy enough to find the classes at a community college for cheap and knock it all out in a year.
#38
I checked with the medical schools I wanted to attend and they advised that these courses are acceptable as long the school itself maintains regional accreditation at the time I plan to attend. This, of course is one option. I have a contingency plan if this school does lose accreditation, or if the medical schools decide to no longer accept them, or I decide I want to save money. JFK University also has the same Accelerated weekend pre-med science courses set up as ISP, but is in fact cheaper by $500 per course. JFK University does hold WASC accreditation ( John F. Kennedy University | WASC) and it is doubtful that they will lose it. The only reason I was leaning more towards ISP is because it's in Los Angeles where I live now, and I'll be able to see some friends and family occasionally while completing this portion of my plan.

As far as my background in Science, I took AP: Psychology, Anatomy/Physiology, Biology, and Chemistry in high school because I found science fascinating and I did well in these classes. I did not take the exams however because I was a "rebel who moved to the beat of my own drum" and decided I didn't want to go to college, because college was a waste of time so getting college credit through my AP exam would also be a waste of time. Ha! So young... So stupid. Granted even if I did take and pass those tests, I would still have to take the classes anyway due to the fact that med school does not accept AP credit as substitution for the prereqs. But I digress.

With my previous knowledge of these subjects, I believe my chances of succeeding in either Accelerated science program is fairly good. I anticipate that the weekend courses will require 3-5 hours of studying each day mon-fri to be successful. With me not working at all during this time, that leaves a good 4-5 hours a day to do some volunteering and shadowing. I plan on completing that during the first two months of entering the program, as I will be taking the easier science classes like Bio and general chemistry at that time. Once I progress into O Chem, Physics, and Biochem starting in month 3 or 4, I will stop the shadowing and volunteering and replace that time with studying for the MCAT. These will be the harder subjects on the Mac as well, and with me learning the subject and also applying that learning my studying for the MCAT, I believe I'll be able to better retain and apply the material, thus taking taking the MCAT right after finishing these courses, and hopefully scoring high.

At least that is the plan anyway, a lot can change between now and then but this is what I am working towards. Oh and as far as knocking out the prereqs at a community college in a year I just don't see how that would be possible, it would take a year and a half at the very least. At least it's not possible at any of the 3 colleges I have attended in the past. You can't take O Chem until you complete General Chem, that will take two semesters. So that's Fall and Spring semester right there. Even if you are fortunate to have a school that offers O Chem 1 during a quick summer session, you will then need to take of O Chem 2 in the fall. So that would be a year and a half. The only way to do it in a year is to be fortunate enough to go to a school that offers the first and second half of these classes in the full semesters and winter and summer sessions, and take the other required classes during the same time. Is it doable? Possibly, if you can find a school that has this sender up AND you are actually able to get a seat in the class. I'd rather not leave it up to chance and make it more difficult on myself. If there is a faster way to knock them out AND the schools of my choice accepts those courses, then I'd rather go that route. But like I said, this is just based on what I have personally seen and researched. There may be other ways to accomplish this.
#39
WanderingTeacher Wrote:This, of course is one option. I have a contingency plan if this school does lose accreditation, or if the medical schools decide to no longer accept them, or I decide I want to save money. JFK University also has the same Accelerated weekend pre-med science courses set up as ISP, but is in fact cheaper by $500 per course. JFK University does hold WASC accreditation ( John F. Kennedy University | WASC) and it is doubtful that they will lose it. The only reason I was leaning more towards ISP is because it's in Los Angeles where I live now, and I'll be able to see some friends and family occasionally while completing this portion of my plan.

I think this – or anything at a school with regionally accredited undergraduate programs with which the courses you'd be taking are housed – is far superior to the ISP.

WanderingTeacher Wrote:As far as my background in Science, I took AP: Psychology, Anatomy/Physiology, Biology, and Chemistry in high school because I found science fascinating and I did well in these classes. I did not take the exams however because I was a "rebel who moved to the beat of my own drum" and decided I didn't want to go to college, because college was a waste of time so getting college credit through my AP exam would also be a waste of time. Ha! So young... So stupid.

I hear you.

WanderingTeacher Wrote:I plan on completing that during the first two months of entering the program, as I will be taking the easier science classes like Bio and general chemistry at that time. Once I progress into O Chem, Physics, and Biochem starting in month 3 or 4, I will stop the shadowing and volunteering and replace that time with studying for the MCAT.

I wouldn't categorically say that bio and gen chem are the easiest of these, but broadly, you've thought this through reasonably. Try to be ready to put shadowing/volunteering to the side around exam times etc.

WanderingTeacher Wrote:These will be the harder subjects on the MCAT as well, and with me learning the subject and also applying that learning my studying for the MCAT, I believe I'll be able to better retain and apply the material, thus taking taking the MCAT right after finishing these courses, and hopefully scoring high.

I think there's a stronger case for doing Bio later for MCAT retention than Physics, but everyone's mileage will vary.

WanderingTeacher Wrote:Oh and as far as knocking out the prereqs at a community college in a year I just don't see how that would be possible, it would take a year and a half at the very least. At least it's not possible at any of the 3 colleges I have attended in the past. You can't take O Chem until you complete General Chem, that will take two semesters. So that's Fall and Spring semester right there. Even if you are fortunate to have a school that offers O Chem 1 during a quick summer session, you will then need to take of O Chem 2 in the fall. […]

But like I said, this is just based on what I have personally seen and researched. There may be other ways to accomplish this.

You could use more than one school. You could take a full-year-equivalent O Chem at a school that offers this during summer, maybe not a community college, and you might make a summer away out of it. Harvard, Stanford, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins come to mind off the top of my head for full-year orgo sequences in the summer. Hopkins summer orgo is taught by David Klein who writes the Organic Chemistry as a Second Language guides orgo students everywhere swear by rather than at. I have friends who've survived Harvard Summer School orgo (somehow. For seven weeks your life is nothing else.)
#40
New User Wrote:Yup. Don't even think about some wonky non-accredited place. It's easy enough to find the classes at a community college for cheap and knock it all out in a year.

I think even a year is pushing it. It's 8 classes, 4 are sequential. Traditional schools only offer 3 terms per year, so you're looking at accelerated terms AND double labs to finish in a year. The thing about going FAST, is that it's not as important as earning and learning. First, you need all A's. (earning A's isn't all that hard for everyone, but the MCAT is the great leveler....) Next, you'll need to <cough> LEARN this stuff. It's going to be on the MCAT. In fact, it IS the MCAT. Gaps in your learning and retention will be blasted into front and center. If you spend any amount of time on the premed forums (not suggested...but anyway....) you'll find TONS of people who "should" be scoring highly. High school AP biology teachers, master's degrees in biochem, PhDs in physiology, engineers. The list goes on. The test eats science people and spits them out.

I say this respectfully, but "everyone" has the same goal - to score highly. Most people also share the same second goal- to score higher on their second attempt.

It is FASTER to take the classes SLOWER because time to learn on the front end means your "study for the MCAT" is only study/review/refresh. An accelerated school schedule means potential for gaps, which WILL require learning and filling later. Also, if you have to wait until next cycle, what was gained? There is a saying that I think of for pre-health sciences: No time to do it right but plenty of time to do it twice.


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