Former Biology Major working adult- finish online or change majors?

[daboywonder2002]

what are the course numbers for the bio electives? Any 300s or 400s?

yes genetics, morphogenesis, microbiology.

[Goblue34]

biology major. 101 credits. didnt finish senior year.my situation is tougher because it sounds difficult to complete a biology degree online. i went to school in virginia (94-97) but now i live in minnesota for work. how should i handle this. i want to go to a school that will accept most of my credits. i know some have a time frame. but if i have a chance to get them accepted, i have to take it. My ultimate goal is to either be a PA, NP, OR go to pharmacy school. right now i do tech support and i want to get out this field so bad. i just dont have a passion for it. Even if i went to school online, im willing to major in something science or healthcare related if need be. what should be my plan of action? i mainly wanna change careers from IT TO healthcare.

I would look into one of the big 3. If it were me I would look at COSC general studies degree and add a bio concentration with other type of science. Took some straighter lines or tests and bust out a degree. I wouldn't start all over or do a program that would take two years. How Many UL credits do you have ? I

[daboywonder2002]

I would look into one of the big 3. If it were me I would look at COSC general studies degree and add a bio concentration with other type of science. Took some straighter lines or tests and bust out a degree. I wouldn't start all over or do a program that would take two years. How Many UL credits do you have ? I

considering it. how is COSC as far as accepting past credits? Will jobs look down on someone with a gen studies degree with bio concentration?

[cookderosa]

here is a list of classes i took already.

freshman- reading 101 (i didnt need the class but those placement tests said otherwise)

english- 101 and 102, spanish 101 and 102, speech 103

history(world civ and african american history)

health, physical education( i took archery and advanced bowling)

university 101, math 117- pre calculus, intro to biology

sophmore year

humanities 201 and 202, intermediate spanish 201 and 202

intro to psychology, intro to sociology

biology classes- botany and zoology(got a d in zoology)

general chemistry 201 and 202

junior year

biology classes- mircobiology, genetics, vertebrate morphogenesis

american history

edu 200 foundations of education. edu 208- educational psychology

statistics

physics 201 and 202

If your chem and gen bio had labs, you are especially close to TESC's BA in Biology. Just a quick glance looks to me like you're short electives and possibly a few gen eds, not biology, which is THE big issue. The reason most people don't complete the bio degree (and opt for the natural science instead) is because of the UL bios and the damn physics (oh wait, that's just me).

To be clear, you can finish this degree quickly - my math shows probably by the end of summer, but you should be sure it gets you into your next goal program. This degree wouldn't ADD any science to what you already have. Thomas Edison State College: Biology

[daboywonder2002]

If your chem and gen bio had labs, you are especially close to TESC's BA in Biology. Just a quick glance looks to me like you're short electives and possibly a few gen eds, not biology, which is THE big issue. The reason most people don't complete the bio degree (and opt for the natural science instead) is because of the UL bios and the damn physics (oh wait, that's just me).

To be clear, you can finish this degree quickly - my math shows probably by the end of summer, but you should be sure it gets you into your next goal program. This degree wouldn't ADD any science to what you already have. Thomas Edison State College: Biology

yes they had labs. but i will be upset if all my credits are expired. i still need to take organic chemistry. i failed calculus and got d's in physics. so that i would need to retake.

[cookderosa]

yes they had labs. but i will be upset if all my credits are expired. i still need to take organic chemistry. i failed calculus and got d's in physics. so that i would need to retake.

They are NOT expired at TESC. Each school decides for themselves, and TESC will allow your credits no matter their age. You'll have to check with TESC on the physics grade- I believe there are lots of examples of when people were able to transfer in a D grade, however, I think that is not extended to a class when it's a required part of a degree. BUT, you can't use that for PA school as a D, so it's still back to deciding what you'd like to do. Orgo is an issue- it's expensive and sequential- meaning that creates a 2-semester timeline for you under that degree plan. I'm going to change my suggestion to Natural Sciences. If you don't mind paying an application fee, you could apply to TESC and have them do an eval for you. Select Natural Sciences for your initial eval- you can change it 100 more times, but they'll run your courses through their computer and see where they fall. Natural sciences could be completed this summer, you could skip orgo, you could skip calculus, you could (99% sure) use physics as an elective, and your biggest problem would be finding non-bio exams/classes for the appropriate distribution. Most people use computers. Thomas Edison State College: Natural Sciences/Mathematics

[plaidwandering]

PA schools generally do not require physics, though the Ds would hurt your caspa gpa certainly

most do require organic chem 1, many of them also org 2, sometimes org 1 and bio chem 1, sometimes all 3

a lot of them do have preferences about how old the classes are, some are hard set, some are more a soft requirement, but you better shine elsewhere kind of thing

[daboywonder2002]

so it sounds like i have 3 options.

1. ba biology- thomas edison
2. gen studies with biology concentration- charter oak
3. ba natural sciences- thomas edison.

[Lindagerr]

TESC has changed many requirements in the last couple of years, but when I applied they gave me 300 credit for my Organic chem and they gave me credit for a D in A & P II ( which was from 1973). I don't know what they would give for your credits but they may do upper credit for some of your bio credits. It is old and out of date but if you want to see how they distributed my credits go to the degree forum wiki.

It only cost $75 to apply to TESC and then you would have a better idea how they use your credits. If I were you I would send them all credits no matter how old and ask for an evaluation for the Biol degree, you should be able to extrapolate from there what it would take if you changed to the natural science path.

TESC also reports your GPA only based on the credits you earn from them so unless others do the math themselves they will use that GPA.

I don't really know anything about Charter Oak but there others here who can give you a better idea about them.

[txnicole]

I think the idea of getting the biology degree from TESC or the natural sciences / math degree would be great. If you're desperate to get out of what you're doing for work right now, you might consider doing a post-bacc teacher certification to be a science or math teacher (most states have a high demand for teachers in those areas). WGU has an NCATE certified program that you can do online to get teacher certified in science. Science Teacher Certification | Teacher Certification Online | WGU Teachers College Online From what I understand, you can get financial aid for those teacher cert programs through wgu.

Now I know you didn't mention teaching anywhere, but it might be a fast way to get out of tech support and closer to something having to do with science. That way you can have a job doing something else while you figure out what you want to do exactly and start the schooling those other things will take.

Just a side note, when I was on the WGU site I noticed they have a degree in Health Informatics... Health Informatics Degree | Online Bachelor ... sounds like an IT healthcare hybrid, thought you might want to take a look.