I want to utilize online courses in whatever possible in order to get my pre requirements faster, any tips and suggestions would be helpful. I currently just have a bunch of liberal arts credits with no science credits, what's the best way to do this?
University of New England - COM - Online Education - COM Online Education FAQ "Will these credits be accepted by my college, university or professional school? While most colleges, universities and professional schools, such as medical school, PA schools,Veterinary schools, Dental schools, etc., will accept distance credits, some still do not. Therefore, you are strongly advised to check with someone of authority at the school of your choice to be sure distance credits are accepted."
The opposite of what you did. You should use online and test out options for your liberal arts classes and take the best on-the-ground sciences with professors who will write you kick-a** letters of rec.
I have no choice but to echo Cookderosa's response. I would attempt a year of Biology with labs and two semesters of Calculus (for engineering and science majors) first. You may also want to lookup the MCAT exam.
Actually, after I wrote that, I thought of another option for you. You "could" finish your degree in liberal arts (especially easy using one of the big 3 schools, which would likely allow you to test out of a number of remaining credits) and then physically attend Harvard's extension medical careers diploma program. It's all 8 premeds in the sequence (you need a bachelor's degree AND can't have taken any of the premed sequence before) and you can complete this in 1 year. They even write you a letter to help with your application process. It's strongly worth considering. If I were in your shoes, I'd jump at it. Health Careers Program
Well, you need to complete a bachelor's degree for admission to the Health Careers Program. But you can start taking courses from Harvard Extension School and/or Harvard Summer School outside the program – including if you're still completing a bachelor's elsewhere. By the way, although the Diploma in Premedical Studies is still listed on the HCP website, that Diploma – NOT the HCP, just the Diploma which is only taken by a subset of students in the HCP – is currently being discontinued. There's apparently some administrative reason for HES not to offer a postbaccalaureate diploma based entirely entirely lower-level undergraduate courses. Again, the Health Careers Program and its committee sponsorship for med school applications, and the individual prerequisite courses offered through the Extension and Summer Schools, continue. I have a high opinion of all of these.
I have 88 credits as of right now including DSST\CLEP and BM credits, I'm thinking It might be possible to just do a some sort of completion liberal arts hybrid degree here in the states that includes all the science courses that way I can utilize financial aid? I want to attend medical school in Poland so I don't think school name actually matters as long as I have the pre-requirements in science?
The cost of this program is not too bad at $1,175 per course. this is a very good suggestion, I wonder if I can just enroll as an undergraduate for financial aid purposes complete the courses needed and then graduate quickly through one of the big 3 by transferring everything in one shot.
Just by total, bringing in 88 sh in transfer and adding 32 sh in core premedical courses may seem to equal a 120 sh bachelor's degree. But degree completion programs, and provisions for transfer students generally, generally expect (a) that the last ~30 sh will be completed from the degree-granting school ("in residence;" the Big Three are the main exceptions to this), (b) this will largely be upper-level credit, and (c) this will largely be in the major subject of your degree (or equivalent, e.g. concentration). But the common core premedical science requirements – General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, all one-year sequences with lab – to the best of my knowledge, are just about always lower-level. And of course they're distributed across chemistry, biology, and physics. If your target school offered a major in interdisciplinary natural science, the premedical courses would be an especially good fit toward that, but you'd still need a stack of upper-level credit in natural science. How are you for upper-level credit, and prospective major or equivalent? On financial aid, it's a bit of a long story. I'll send you a private message.
If you already know where you want to medical school, why not ask their admissions people what you should take as an undergraduate to be a competitive applicant? Their opinion is the one that matters.
I have just about 10 upper level credits, but I might have more depending on which big 3 school I enroll into since they all have different standards when it comes to credits. As of now I would qualify as a Business Administration major but i'm open to just a Liberal arts Degree if it gets me there quicker.
