I’m certain that this topic has been covered, probably extensively, elsewhere in the forum. However if not what is the consensus, if any exists, on taking prereqs online? UNE, Oregan St. and ND State as far as I know offer courses. They are almost prohibitively costly, but clearly convenience comes at a premium. I’m not necessarily considering taking a course online, but I need to make up my mind whether or not to enroll at my alma mater this coming semester for Organic II and lab. I work full-time and thankfully my job is literally across the street, but remembering my Organic I experience passing the course was more or less a matter of practicing “self-study” and just showing up for exams. I learned practically nothing in class and seeing as I have the same instructor I do not expect different.
All things considered I will probably just suck it up and enroll at the brick-and-mortar. Just wondering what everyone else’s thoughts are regarding the legitimacy of taking a course or two online. I would love for Dr. Gray to cover this topic on a podcast, if he hasn’t done so already.
I took the Orgos and Biochem thru UNE a few years ago (syllabi have since changed), you might as well go with the cheaper, brick and mortar option. The online lectures were adequate, but a majority of my learning was done by staring at the textbook and using other outside sources to help figure stuff out. If you’re going to be doing that anyway, you might as well pay less for it.
Online labs are pretty awesome though, because there is no real setup, cleanup, and you can quickly and easily redo them if you screw it up. Lab reports were pretty much the same requirement-wise that I remember from undergrad labs.
Kennymac,
Thanks. Yesterday I strolled over and talked to my Org prof. I’m pretty set on going the brick and mortar route. Really looking forward to this coming semester.
Are there online classes with labs even available? I had somewhat considered this option for maybe a “bonus” class - and/or for my math requirements - but I didn’t think it would even be an option for some of the core classes that require lab work. How would one even do some of the lab work one usually does in a college lab if they had no access to such a lab?
At least from UNE, some labs are purely done via software, and some of them are done by renting the equipment from the school. I only did the software labs (organic I and II). The courses were accepted by some/many med schools, but definitely do your research as to whether the schools you want to apply will accept online credits/labs.
When I took the labs, the software basically had a layout of equipment which I had to choose and “set up” for the experiment. There was a bank of chemicals that I chose for the experiment, and the reactions occurred over time, as they would in real life. Best part was the fast-forward function so I didn’t have to sit there for hours waiting for stuff to happen. I believe I still had to submit writeups (can’t remember exactly), and there were lab quizzes that basically reflected what would have been included on any standard lab report.
I agree with Kennymac the best thing to do is check with the schools you’re interested in and make sure the accept online classes. If you’re not sure yet which schools you’ll be applying to, or just want to maximize your options, go the brick and motar route as those classes will be accepted everywhere. Good luck to you on your journey!