I just finished O chem and physics. The only course prerequisite for medical school left is biochem. My school or anyone close doesn’t off it over the summer. Has anyone done the online route and how’d you like it? Also, I’ve heard that schools don’t prefer it. Is this really true? The reason for taking it is so that I can finish my desired secondary degree in Spanish over the fall while prepping for the MCAT. What’s your overall thoughts?
Let me preface with I didn’t take Biochemistry I online, but I just finished taking it in lecture at my local uni and I found the first semester remarkably like a meta-review course. If you have a strong background in biology, depending on what/how many upper division biology courses you took, and if your extracurriculars support a strong biological sciences background (e.g. bench lab work) I believe you’ll find it to be the same way. I don’t see taking it online as a hinderance as long as your comfortable with the set-up of online courses, personally I don’t learn as well, but there’s nothing too tricky with Biochem I except possibly Michaelis-Menten Enzyme kinetics, which you’ll have to learn for the MCAT anyway. As for online/not online preference, I don’t think it’s going to matter as long as you take it from an accredited university. If I understand correctly, most schools simply have a preference for taking laboratory courses in person, as some universities offer ‘online labs’, which is still sort of puzzling to me. I hope this helps, If you have any other questions I’d be happy to try and help you answer them!
Best.
I took Biochem online through University of New England Coll of Medicine back before the MCAT changed. I felt like I got what I needed to from the program, was familiar enough with pathways and stuff to not be completely clueless when I got to medical school. Like all courses, you get out what you put into it. Medical school biochem is a different beast, so don’t go into the undergrad course thinking you’re going to breeze through the medical school course.
Same argument for/against online courses that you’ll get on any thread. Seems like schools are opening up more to the idea of accepting online credits. Only a handful of schools that I was considering 5-6 years ago wouldn’t look at my application with online prereqs.
The MSAR has information about which allopathic schools accept online courses–check there to see what’s allowed.
Liza