back to school-please help!

Hi, I was thinking of enrolling at a local university to take my pre-med classes. In order to get financial aid, I decided to apply as a second-degree student (I already have a degree). I intend to declare a major in Biology, and take all the pre-meds I need only-not actually get a second degree.Will Medical Schools frown upon this? Will they even know? I dont want them to think I am a drop out-after all, I already have my degree.

From what I understand it won't be a problem. Many, many people do an individualized post-bacc where they sign up as a 2nd-degree seeker and then just do the prereqs. I'm sure others will come in with their own examples, but I wouldn't worry about it.
–Jessica, UCCS

I’m with Sk…babe74. In fact, that’s exactly what I did except I chose chemistry as my second degree. When I finished my prereqs I stopped going. No one was the wiser and no one frowned upon it…as far as I know. biggrin.gif

I did the same for the same reason. It also allows you to get the support of your dept.–e.g., I got a biology student prize. Medical schools won't object; I never had anyone question me about it. I suppose if it made you feel better you could come up with a rationale–e.g., that the second bachelor's is part of your Plan B for the possibility that you might have to do something other than med school at the end of the process. But, I've never heard of anyone running into trouble because of this strategy.
–joe

I agree with all of these guys. Only caveate I want to toss in is that be aware that most med schools impose a limit on the age of pre-requisite classes. They tend not to care about the age of a degree or non-pre-req classes, but the pre-requisites will tend to have a strict age-limit. Of course, this will vary by school - I seem to recall a range from 5 to 10 years, with 7 being the most common.
Oh yeah, in my experience, the also do not care about the age of you English classes, just that you have 1 full year of it. My Eng classes were 16 years old at the time I applied & it was never an issue.

I’m also in the process of applying to schools as a second bachelor’s student to do my prereqs (but I think I might go ahead and get that second degree…). My reasoning is the same as the OP - I need financial aid (loans, loans, loans) to be able to go to school full-time.
My App was sent to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (in CA) on the day they started taking apps for winter quarter 2004…please keep your fingers crossed for me that I get in! I also have my Plan B post-bac schools that I apply to in August.
It’s now becoming reality! Yippee! I conducted research as well about the validity of old prereqs and per my research…Dave hit the mark - 7 years was 99% of what I heard from the adcoms. smile.gif
So, it’s back to general chem, general bio, and general physics again for me. Hope it’s easier this time around wink.gif
Rosey

Well, my pre-reqs are much much much older than 7 years and I'm not going to retake anything. It's not realistic for me since I live overseas. I am going to hope/assume that having more recent upper level courses and working in the medical/scientific field since then will be sufficient. The worst thing is trying to prepare for the MCAT when it has been so long since taking these courses.
LM (feeling ancient today)

Are you guys serious about it not being a problem that you were enrolled in 2nd bachelor's degree programs? Wow! That's great news. I've been trying to find out the answer to that out for a couple months…and even posted awhile ago about it both here and on SDN, but got some mixed responses, I seem to recall.
I turned down an acceptance to my local university as a chemistry major last month I was so worried about this problem. (I really wanted to go too! I need the student loans, and the program sounded cool.) I've heard that med schools crack down on people who havn't yet finished their graduate degrees, and I wanted to know if this applied to 2nd undergrad degrees too.
I'm also wondering if it makes a difference what major you declare for a 2nd bachelor's. Do med schools care if you declare chem vs. bio, or even something as far out there as physics? Going to school the 2nd time is different from the first–I imagine they'd like to see more focus on a medically relevant science. Bio programs can be heavy on the botany and stuff though.
I called the university in my state and they didn't really have an answer about whether I'd need to finish the BS before starting med school. When they couldn't definitively say it WASN'T a requirement, that's when I decided not to enroll in the degree program. I might see if I can reapply though.

The post-bacc program I attended required us to apply as 2nd degree students for administrative and financial aid reasons. But nowhere on my transcript did it say I was 2nd degree. It only had “Biology” in the spot listing the major.
Hope this helps,
Tara

QUOTE (Laramisa @ Jun 17 2003, 02:14 AM)
Well, my pre-reqs are much much much older than 7 years and I'm not going to retake anything. It's not realistic for me since I live overseas. I am going to hope/assume that having more recent upper level courses and working in the medical/scientific field since then will be sufficient. The worst thing is trying to prepare for the MCAT when it has been so long since taking these courses.
LM (feeling ancient today)

My prereqs are also older than 7 years and like you I ahve a recent advanced degree. It would certainily be a problem if I didn't get accepted this year because my prereqs were too old. mad.gif

Call the schools you are applying to and ask. I am not obtaining an advanced degree (just retaking my prereqs and completing a second bachelor’s in Micro) so my situation is different. I’m sure any recent coursework (especially at the graduate level) would probably suffice, but don’t take any of our words for it smile.gif! Call! smile.gif
Have a great day all! biggrin.gif
Rosey

Along these same lines, I have been out of school for 8 years. I am looking at doing all the prereq's in the context of a masters degree, my current employer will pay. I intend to complete what I start but I am trying to make the decision on the best degree, Zoology, Biology, Chemistry, Biomedical Sciences, and possibly Bioengineering. I intend to apply to MD and DO programs until someone accepts me. I am looking for any advice and/or opinion.