Greetings:
I am as non-trad as they come-34 but still wanting to go back. I had a couple of questions that have been tangentially touched upon, so I was hoping for a answer from someone who knows for sure…
I am planning to apply to AMCAS starting June 1. I have made arrangements so that this summer is relatively free (given over to volunteering, part time work, etc.) I think that I could find a way to take some classes part time if I could wheel and deal-which leads to my question.
Since all of my pre-reqs are more than 7 years old, are the “strictly by the book” schools (7 years or more recent) usually willing to accept some upperlevel (if not exactly post-bac) classes in lieu? My BCPM is solid but all above the pre-reqs upper level. I don’t think I can swing labs this summer-can a retake of just the class portion count?. I could certainly get a class during the spring-summer “intersemester.” One month internsive class, but should becover and dine by June 1r That said-my biology was AP’ed out from undergrad (this was from the day when AP’s were still relatively rare). Does this look to be a major problem in addition to the age (i.e. no grade record)?
Given that the primary application would be due before I could get a lot of balls rolling, -would one think that secondaries will be tendered given a reasonably solid application, thus allowing me to bolster the secondary claims on the fly? By the end of summer I could get something to work that could be an addenda to a application. Any of you foresee problems in trying to get more competitive during the app. cycle?
Also-if I could arrange independent study classes-can they be seen as OK (again, I am thinking to approach professors and try to fulfill requirements for their prior semester by self study) I would have to imagine the class would say indep. study but also the name of the class.
In short-I know that every school has aspects of being non-trad friendly or unfriendly, but a up to date list of the really strict schools would be welcome.
Thanks!
I would call the schools that you are planning to apply to, explain your situation, and ask them. I did the same thing before I applied, because I don’t have any grades from undergrad, and my pre-reqs are also over ten years old besides being graded P/F. Most schools did not care since I have recent, graded graduate coursework in the sciences and scored well on the MCAT. A few told me not to bother applying, and I didn’t. All in all I called about two dozen schools and ended up applying to 22 of them. It took some time to call them all, but I think it was time well spent. Hope this helps, and best of luck to you. 