Hi, I wanted to pick the brains of people who have been in a similar situation as I have. Non-traditional student looking to do a DIY post-bacc. I will have a BS in Healthcare Administration completed in a couple of months, 3.93 GPA. It is online through Colorado State Univ. I fear that this will be looked down on because it was online.
All my science, and other pre-reqs. will be taken in person at either a 4 year univ. in town or a community college. Obviously the 4 year would be ideal but as a non-matriculated student, my chances of getting into bio, chem, org chemistry are very difficult. I wanted to see how others were successful in getting a spot in these classes? Just email the professor, explain your situation and hope they’re understanding? I also work 50 hours a week, so the CC has class times that I can actually attend. Has anyone here quit or greatly reduce their hours at a nice/well paying job to pursue post-bacc classes? Worth it? Were your employers understanding? I appreciate any insight.
Here’s the deal with getting into classes. Register as a degree-seeking student (you don’t need to finish a 2nd degree). If you already have a bachelor’s degree, this usually means you’ll get scheduling priority for classes.
So far as work goes, I quit my full-time job to go back for prereqs in order to get it done in as short a time as possible. I was fortunate that I was able to find a good paying part-time job that allowed me to help support my family during that year.
I am the same spot you are… I will be spreading out my 4 core classes (1 year gen bio, 1 year gen chem, 1 year ochem, 1 year physics) between CC and university. The important thing that I am considering is the REGISTRATION priority. Of course as students who will have a degree, our registration priority is held back at CCs, which is unfortunate.
Also the university I am looking into, takes into account my full time work schedule. There is only one university in Hawaii with a post bacc program for evening classes (Hawaii Pacific University). The other post bacc is affiliated with the medical school but I cannot afford to not have any income. I do not have someone who can take care of my bills let alone let me live for free (sure I live with my mom but she takes care of the mortgage and I take care of the utilities and also pay my share for groceries and she is even under MY cell phone bill so it’s not like I’m just living with my parents for free).
I was reading a podcast from Dr.Ryan Gray (I will try to find it in a bit) that says some medical schools look at your last 32 credits (or was it 30 credits?) as a determination for whether this potential med student can handle med school.
Thank you both for your responses.
Frosty88, how are you deciding which classes you’re taking at CC vs Uni?
Hi there,
Sorry for late response, I’ve been sick. I’m deciding which classes for CC or Uni based on the schedule of those classes. Ideally I want the chemistry classes to go towards university as opposed to Biology and Physics… BUT ALSO the registration priority, even if I wanted to take it at CC or university, the classes fill up FAST!!! Hawaii only has so many community colleges and universities…
Have you already planned out your classes by looking at class availability???
I took the long road and kept working full time while taking the remainder of my prereqs online. That’s an option, but having a multi-modality educational history would probably be more beneficial to you (ie attending actual classes). As far as worrying about whether your online degree is good enough: won’t know if you don’t try. Some schools absolutely require the traditional educational background (ie standard classroom), but there are definitely schools out there that don’t care how you got the credits as long as you got the credits. You’ll have to do some research either via the MSAR (or DO equivalent) or by direct info from school sites. You may be limited in your school options, but all it takes is one school to want you… Take that with a grain of salt, because it’s been 3-4 years since I applied and I know the landscape has changed, probably somewhat in your favor.
Frosty88, I’ve found the same issue with CC. Because I got my AA from this CC almost 10 years ago, I’m obviously a returning student. So my priority is almost last, same as the state university. I think I’ve made a decision. I’m going to take the classes I need to be an appealing transfer student to the bio undergrad program at state university. Looks like it’s calculus, stats, general bio, general chem. and general physics. I’ll need to do awesome in those classes. Since I can’t apply as a post-bacc, I’m going to put my current schooling on hold. This sort of kills me because I have only a few months left, but I’ve confirmed I can go back and finish once I’m enrolled at the state school (if I get accepted).
If I do all this and don’t get accepted, I will most likely pursue an official post-bacc program. And have wasted over a year. Sometimes this drives me a little crazy, haha! As I’m sure it does all of you.