Hi All,
I’m looking for some advice…do any of you know if grad students can take undergrad courses in addition to their graduate studies? I’m starting to entertain the idea of going to grad school, but still also need most prereqs.
I am a Health Science student at a small, non-competitive college. I have a 3.9 GPA, but I still need more pre-reqs. I don’t have access to a committee and my school only offers certain science courses on a rotating basis. My initial plan was to finish up my Health Science degree and take my prereqs elsewhere (probably UCONN).
Recently, I’ve been looking into formal post-bacc programs and I’ve decided that this just isn’t an option for me 1) because I simply can’t afford the tuition without federal loans and 2) I can’t justify paying that much for miscellaneous classes that can’t be plugged into another degree. The gamble of the med school process makes me feel that I should further my education, while fulfilling the requirements. From the prereqs that I have taken, I’ve found a real interest in bio, and I’ve found a Master’s program in my state that will accept me with my major and a few more basic science classes. As a side note, I started with an AS and transferred to the school that I’m at now. I really think that I will need to take a bunch of upper level courses in order to prove that I can handle the hard sciences. I’m thinking that getting a master’s will give me a little bit of security if I need to live with a plan b, and it will also allow me to knock out some uppers while being able to use student loans to pay for it. In addition, I will have access to the school’s pre-med committee (something I’ve regrettably managed to do without).
Would it be feasible to take my basic med school prereqs while getting my master’s in bio? This, to me, is my safest plan, and I’m not really worried about spending some extra time on it (I’m 24…what’s another year?).
As I understand it, all they care about is you taking the pre reqs at an accredited school. 2 semesters of bio doesn’t necessarily mean “bio 1/2” but any 2 bio classes that cover the recommended/required material. Usually this is done with the basic undergrad classes. If your grad program lets you take the classes while earning a masters, I don’t think they can ding you for that. The remaining question is which gpa will it count for, which shouldn’t matter in your case since you have a solid undergrad gpa. I’ve read elsewhere from adcoms that they tend to have higher expectations of grad school GPAs since the classes are supposed to be in a subject that interests you professionally.
You obviously don’t need a full up masters program to do this, but in your situation I guess it kind of makes financial sense (though think about the total long-term debt of grad school versus the debt of taking just what you need). I dont know if there are any “non trad premed” type scholarships out there that can offset your costs.
If you haven’t graduated yet, can you just extend your undergrad time to take the courses? I don’t know how your school/loan program works to do that.