Hello everyone!
So I’ve been lurking in the forum for a bit and have been wondering about online degrees as an older, non-trad student. I also emailed a couple of paid consultants (one of them was the former assistant director of admissions at a top 5 school).
The majority opinion seems to be that online degrees are too risky, that they will greatly limit your school selection, and everything else on your app might need to be that much better (GPA, MCAT, etc.). BTW, I’m referring to online programs from a major university like Univ of Florida . I am currently interested only in MD schools. I respect DOs and benefit from spinal adjustments, but I don’t want to have to perform manipulations myself in med school.
I recently emailed UT Southwestern - one of the 2 most competitive schools in Texas, and I received a response from the Associate Director of Admissions. I asked if it would hurt my chances to complete a BA online at Univ of FL with the final 30 hours online, as long as I completed the basic premed courses at a local campus. She said “No. Degrees from regionally accredited colleges/universities are recognized and accepted. Just be a great student!”
This really contradicts everything I’ve been hearing elsewhere. It’s really important to me because I was hoping to use this program to complete a BA in Biology online next year, then declare Texas Academic Fresh Start and do 60 hours or so at a local state univ. Obviously, I am mainly interested in Texas public schools.
It just wouldn’t be possible to start at a local campus next year for some good personal reasons, so I would have to push everything back another year. What do you make of the answer from the Adm officer above?
Oh, and one last thing. Everyone says that your transcript won’t label courses as online, but Texas uses TMDSAS, which requires you to label courses as regular or distance.
Thank you!
I’m a bit confused about your plan. If you intend to declare Fresh Start, then the 30 online credits and the BA itself will not matter (they’ll be wiped clear). This in turn means that your 60 units at local univ will fall short of the minimum 90 credit hours requirement (you don’t get to count the online 30 because they’re Fresh Start wiped). Third, I thought fresh start only applied to courses and degrees earned 10 years or more in the past. You won’t be able to complete the BA and then declare Fresh Start the next day. At least, that’s what I understand from TMDSAS.
Hi, Thanks for replying. The 30 hours wouldn’t be wiped away because they’re not ten years or older. I would be wiping away my old grades. So the Texas medical schools would see 30 hrs from Univ of Florida and roughly 60 hours from a state univ. I guess the order sounds strange, but I was just trying to get started next year hopefully. What do you think of the whole online thing?
The Univ of Fl would accept the old courses, but they would later get wiped away for the purpose of Texas public schools. Does this make sense? I’m not sure if it’s the best plan or not.
Ah, OK. I did not consider it that way. Regarding online classes, there was a thread on that other forum where someone had made a list. If I can find it, I’ll link it here. I’ve taken several non-science pre-reqs online (Eng I, II, Psych, Abnormal Psych, Anthro and Socio.) I also plan on taking Biochem online through UNECOM. But my situation is a bit different than yours because I’m mostly targeting DO. I don’t think I have much of a chance at MD (age, plus CA resident). If the Assoc. Director told you it was fine, I would take her word for it. Good luck.
Many schools require that certain classes (chemistry in particular) be taken with a lab. As far as I know you can’t take a lab online, so that would complicate things a bit, no?
Well, under this plan, I would take 60 hrs including all the basic premed courses on a Texas campus. The upper Biology classes would be online with Univ of Fl. The only classes that I’ve seen in this program with a lab are anatomy (probably software) and entomology (you collect insects and mail them in to your professor!) I wouldn’t be taking any online chemistry classes.
I thought it was a good plan, but I’m not sure. I think as nontrads, we have a lot going against us, including age and (in my case) previous grades. Conventional wisdom says that most schools, especially MD schools, want you to have a traditional transcript and jump through the same hoops as traditional students. They may also get suspicious if I start mixing courses from multiple universities. Perhaps it’s best to wait and do everything on campus?
Anyway, any comments are appreciated.
If you are overcoming prior poor grades, then I think adcoms would be looking to see that you can do well in a traditional academic setting.
@Dullhead wrote:
Ah, OK. I did not consider it that way. Regarding online classes, there was a thread on that other forum where someone had made a list. If I can find it, I’ll link it here. I’ve taken several non-science pre-reqs online (Eng I, II, Psych, Abnormal Psych, Anthro and Socio.) I also plan on taking Biochem online through UNECOM. But my situation is a bit different than yours because I’m mostly targeting DO. I don’t think I have much of a chance at MD (age, plus CA resident). If the Assoc. Director told you it was fine, I would take her word for it. Good luck.
" Hi I am also in similar boat would like to learn for pre reqs online the way you are taking as my target is DO , Please do help me"
Just for the record, not all DO schools accept online credits, just like not all MD schools reject online credits. It’s very school specific. MSAR (info directory for MD schools) has online credits yes/no for a lot of the schools. The DO equivalent, which is free/online, does not have that info. You need to take a look at the schools you’re interested in applying to, but even then some schools don’t specify without a direct question to their admissions office. Or, you can do what I did: take the classes then find out which schools you can apply to.
Keep in mind that private schools don’t have hard-and-fast state residency requirements for admission. Not saying that they won’t favor them, but there isn’t a mandate because theoretically there are no public funds from the state.