Medical School?

[medic911]

I'll start straight into it. I am a paramedic presently but I am wanting to pursue a degree, finish pre-med requirements, score high on the MCAT, get into medical school, finish medical school, and become a full-fledged M.D. I am 21 years old, want to finish my undergrad fast, and don't want to spend four years on a traditional campus, but I don't want to waste time and money if it's not going to help me obtain my goals.

The first question I have is: Does anyone know of someone that has completed their bachelors through testing out and been accepted into medical school? I have heard of one person getting accepted to med school with a degree from TESC but don't know if that was a random chance or if many more people have done it.

In its most basic form, my plan is to obtain my bachelors from TESC or EC, then do my pre-med at a physical university (probably University of Texas). In theory that should be perfectly acceptable, correct? A bachelors from a Regionally accredited school, and pre-med from a large university.

One thing I know is that medical schools are picky about grades/GPA's. If I wanted to have a chance at med school should I be really focused on scoring extremely high on all my CLEPs/DANTES? If I understand correctly, TESC awards a GPA (and a letter grade?) for courses taken from their school only. EC will give you a grade/GPA from courses you take with them, and a separate GPA for transferred credits (CLEPS/DANTES). Am I correct in this thinking?

If all of my tests are going to be graded and an overall GPA awarded for them, I need to score very high.

Anyway, I have thoughts all running around my head but I must say it's really hard to put them down in writing!

Thanks to anyone who tries to answer this discombobulated question!

[bawhitsett]

Not doing med school here but it seems like, as long as you get your science / lab pre-reqs done on campus at a 4 year school, you could test out of a chunk of the reset and earn a BS through TESC or another big 3 school. There are other things taken into consideration (like the MCAT, interviews, etc.) and all told I'm not sure if a big 3 degree would put you at a disadvantage or not. Good luck with it though.

[marianne202]

EC does give letter grades for some DSST exams, CLEP exams are just pass/fail. You do get letter grades for any ECE's or courses with them. Your transcript will have two GPA's, one from all your credits and one obtained just though them. EC also has a bachelor's in health sciences that you can specialize in management which some medical schools are looking at implementing in their programs of study, some are also offering dual degrees. They want doctors to learn the business side of medicine as well as just the medicine. If you plan to get into private practice you may want to consider this so you can have a better head for the business workings of the practice. As someone who has worked with doctors for many, many years when they get in trouble on the business side, they never thought much about it because they were too focused on just passing the medical part. This would also set you up with some skills for management positions with hospitals such a medical director etc. Just a thought. If you are going to bet a BS anyway, why not get in something that will benefit you and look good on your resume and medical school application. I would go with EC over TESC just for the GPA issue and because EC has more health science programs and reputation for such. Just a thought! Good luck!

[ShotoJuku]

Sent you a PM...

[cookderosa]

I'll start straight into it. I am a paramedic presently but I am wanting to pursue a degree, finish pre-med requirements, score high on the MCAT, get into medical school, finish medical school, and become a full-fledged M.D. I am 21 years old, want to finish my undergrad fast, and don't want to spend four years on a traditional campus, but I don't want to waste time and money if it's not going to help me obtain my goals.

Are you a member at SND forums? That's a place to start. Secondly, you're too young to do a non-trad approach. I'd bet my house that if you test out of your TESC/EC degree and apply MD only- that you won't get in, even with a >30+ mcat. People get denied MD for having a single online course. If you are going alternative, you should also consider DO instead of only MD. Lastly, you can cut SIGNIFICANT time off of a traditional 4 year degree at a university by using testing at your home college. Also, you'll need letters of rec from your science lab professors, so if I were 21 and starting the process, I'd enroll locally and exploit the testing option at my community college- then transfer inside of an articulation agreement to a 4 year university that has a pre medical advisory committee.

The first question I have is: Does anyone know of someone that has completed their bachelors through testing out and been accepted into medical school?

Yes and no. You can search MD Stats and you'll find 3 admissions from EC and TESC. "How" they earned their degree isn't revealed.

I have heard of one person getting accepted to med school with a degree from TESC but don't know if that was a random chance or if many more people have done it.

She wasn't typical. In addition to earning her degree at TESC, she was a lab assistant at Johns Hopkins which helped her gain admission to their post-bac program. She completed her entire post bac from JH with committee letters and science professors- she also hired a portfolio company to ramp up her application. You can google her, you might even find the press release where she was "success story of the month" for the portfolio company.

In its most basic form, my plan is to obtain my bachelors from TESC or EC, then do my pre-med at a physical university (probably University of Texas). In theory that should be perfectly acceptable, correct? A bachelors from a Regionally accredited school, and pre-med from a large university.

No. This is not wise. Obtain your associates from TESC/EC and then go to a physical university IN STATE and do your premeds as a junior and senior. By testing out at the associate level, you can complete that degree in under 6 months- making your whole bachelor's degree process about 2.5 years.

One thing I know is that medical schools are picky about grades/GPA's. If I wanted to have a chance at med school should I be really focused on scoring extremely high on all my CLEPs/DANTES?

No, they don't see those scores.


If I understand correctly, TESC awards a GPA (and a letter grade?) for courses taken from their school only. EC will give you a grade/GPA from courses you take with them, and a separate GPA for transferred credits (CLEPS/DANTES). Am I correct in this thinking?

If all of my tests are going to be graded and an overall GPA awarded for them, I need to score very high.

Anyway, I have thoughts all running around my head but I must say it's really hard to put them down in writing!

Thanks to anyone who tries to answer this discombobulated question!

I'm planning on applying to med school as well, however, I'm 40 years old and have followed a very different path. NO MATTER WHAT I DO at this junction, I'm still a nontrad, there's no way around it. You, on the other hand, have an opportunity to be a traditional student- and it will be expected. ADCOMS value tradition, non trads are the exception and have to be exceptional. If you insist on your plan as outlined, I'd suggest you also consider applying DO and Caribbean....but you don't have to. There are plenty of ways to cut time and cost off of the process and still make yourself a highly competitive applicant.

[clep3705]

Many schools give 8 semester hours credit for good scores (i.e., possibly above the minimums) on either AP or CLEP biology and chemistry tests. The 8 semester hours number comes from the fact that at a brick and mortar school, those courses are taken over two semesters. Here is what is required by medical schools:

first semester inorganic chemistry for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester inorganic chemistry for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
first semester organic chemistry (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester organic chemistry (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
first semester general biology for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester general biology for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
additional biology (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
additional biology (3 hours lecture, may or may not have a 1 hour laboratory)
first semester physics for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester physics for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
maybe biochemistry
other things possibly, such as microbiology for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory) - not the microbiology for nursing students

Medical schools do not want to see credit for labs as 8 hours of CLEP credit may provide you. Medical schools want to see that you actually took the labs. Without the labs, you're not going. Period. That's reality. Some people win the powerball lottery. That's also reality. Which reality is more relevant to you? People actually learn valuable things from taking the lab courses and doing the experiments. No CLEP, no online - show up and hold your nose when it smells (there are bad smells at times in microbiology, inorganic, and organic chemistry labs). If you haven't taken microbiology lab for science majors, I seriously question your readiness for medical school. If you haven't actually identified unknown biological samples in a lab, you don't really get microbiology. If you don't get microbiology, how are you going to treat diseases?

A medical school will probably not get upset for an AP test placing you out of statistics or other math course. But don't expect success beyond that. Contact medical schools. See what they tell you.

[cookderosa]

Many schools give 8 semester hours credit for good scores (i.e., possibly above the minimums) on either AP or CLEP biology and chemistry tests. The 8 semester hours number comes from the fact that at a brick and mortar school, those courses are taken over two semesters. Here is what is required by medical schools:

first semester inorganic chemistry (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester inorganic chemistry (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
first semester organic chemistry (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester organic chemistry (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
first semester intro biology (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory) *
second semester intro biology (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory) *
additional biology (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory) **
additional biology (3 hours lecture, may or may not have a 1 hour laboratory) **
first semester physics for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
second semester physics for science majors (3 hours lecture, 1 hour laboratory)
maybe biochemistry
other things possibly ***
Medical schools do not want to see credit for labs as 8 hours of CLEP credit may provide you. Medical schools want to see that you actually took the labs. Without the labs, you're not going. Period. That's reality. Some people win the powerball lottery. That's also reality. Which reality is more relevant to you?

A medical school will probably not get upset for an AP test placing you out of statistics or other math course. But don't expect success beyond that. Contact medical schools. See what they tell you.

I agree. Even if you are lucky enough to score highly on your AP premed prereq, they want to see something else (higher) in place of those credits. So, if you get an exemption from general chemistry 1 & 2, you can bet that they want to see the biochem AND orgo 2. Consider AP credit to "free you up" for harder courses, not eliminate the requirement the way we use CLEP here.

* this should say General Biology w/lab, just so no one gets confused.
**I've seen genetics, microbiology, anatomy (not A&P), physiology (not A&P), and cellular bio listed as required here and there- and only a handful of times; anything beyond the 8 sciences is usually just recommended- if you can get A's then go for it, if it's going to drop your GPA then avoid like the plague.
***English composition 6 credits is required >half the MD/DO schools, so I'd say not to CLEP this.

And to the OP, this info is pretty straight forward and easy to find, but when in doubt, contact the COM directly.