Thinking about a BA in Biology from TESC.

[hazleforpresident]

Hi,
I'm new to all of this, I always wanted to got to college but the cost kept my from even looking. I saw an ad for College Plus and after talking to them on the phone realized they are just a middle man for something anyone could do for themselves. After years of my own study at home and wishing I had gone to school I want to get a BA in Biology and apply to med school. Before I get in too deep I'ed like to ask a few questions and hear what folks that have already done this "frankenstein" degree thing.

Firstly can a BA in Biology from TESC be done purely at home?

Can I get financial aid like Pell grants while I'm doing this?

Could I get a Federal Perkins Loan, to help pay out of pocket cost?

Can I still write it off at the end of the year?

Will a Pell grant pay for testing?

And most of all will any medical school consider me? (I would like to go to MCW)

Do any of you know of someone that got a BA like this and went to medical school?

[Lindagerr]

Going back to college is never a bad idea, but having a group like this forum to help you over the hurdles for free makes it easier.

No a Biology degree can not usually be done at home and even if it could Med schools would not accept it. The problem is for something like Biology you need labs. While Straighter line and some other places do offer science classes with labs they are at home labs which are only with lower level courses. You could take science courses with labs at CC's but TESC only gives Lower level credit for CC courses. You would probably need to find a 4 year college and pay big bucks to take the upper level sciences.

I was hoping to do a Chemistry degree when I started at TESC but I would have needed more new science courses than I wanted. I thought of doing PLA's because of my 30+ years of laboratory experience, but using the courses I already had from CC and taking a couple of classes at TESC I was able to get the Natural Sciences/Mathematics BA at TESC so that worked for me.

You can get financial aid but that will depend on your financial situation and the number of credits you are taking at a time.

Don't know anything about Perkins loans. Or your next 2 questions.

You need to look at all of the medical schools you are looking at and see what their requirements are. They may require certain courses that you can not get at TESC, they require a minimum number of lab credits or a minimum GPA. Always make sure you know what you will need before you spend money getting something that will not work. If I remember correctly we have one or two former members who got into Medical or Law school with a TESC degree.

All of these questions/hurdles can be answered if you are willing to put in the time, money and effort. Just remember you shouldn't put your hopes on medical school inless you are willing to put at least some of that in now. Nothing is impossible if you are flexible and do your research.

[sanantone]

The type of degree you have doesn't matter. As a matter of fact, having a biology degree means that you will face more competition as medical schools try to diversify, and you have to compete with the majority of applicants with biology degrees. Most medical school prerequisites are lower level. The problem wouldn't be the online degree; the problem would be the science prerequisites being completed online. Some medical schools won't accept online science courses if they can even tell they were completed online.

A biology degree can be completed by distance, but the biology major is not one where TESC offers all of the required courses. You will have to take the courses online or in-person somewhere else. University of New England and UC Berkeley Extension offer many online science courses. Clovis CC, New Mexico JC, and Ocean County College offer many of the basic science courses such as human anatomy and physiology and chemistry I and II.

[hazleforpresident]

Ok new question, for example if I got a BA I'm psychology then took my med school requirements afterwards do they still count or would I have to enroll again to add it onto my transcripts?

[Gaz]

Once you finish your undergraduate degree you could apply for a post-baccalaureate premed program such as this one, Johns Hopkins University | Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program

Medical schools are looking for candidates that have completed rigorous course work; not all 4.0s are created equal. This is one of the reasons the MCAT exists. It provides a measurement independent of what is printed on the transcript. There are several posts in this forum regarding medical school.

I recall one forum member that went to an island medical school. If I remember correctly he dropped out at some point. There are several people that have gone to medical school with undergraduate degrees from TESC and Excelsior. Though, there is always more to the story other than they tested out of all their courses.

[mpie18]

Just echoing what was said in this thread.. getting a BA in bio through the testing out methods would not be good if you intend to apply to med school. You can, however, test out of another major (such as psych), and take and enroll in a post-bacc program for pre-med at a brick-and-mortar college.

[UptonSinclair]

I would like to just add a little general advice. Start your planning with your end goal and work backward to where you are now. For medical school, this means learning as much as you can about the entrance requirements for your medical school and then planning how you will meet those requirements. As long as you keep your end goal in mind while planning, you should be in good shape. If there is anything you are not sure about, be sure to seek out the answer from someone in a good position to answer before committing to a plan based on the information.

Good luck with your new adventure.

[cptdilbert]

I would like to just add a little general advice. Start your planning with your end goal and work backward to where you are now. For medical school, this means learning as much as you can about the entrance requirements for your medical school and then planning how you will meet those requirements. As long as you keep your end goal in mind while planning, you should be in good shape. If there is anything you are not sure about, be sure to seek out the answer from someone in a good position to answer before committing to a plan based on the information.

Good luck with your new adventure.

This was what I did. I figured out my end goals, looked at what it would take for me to get there.

This is the same reason I've avoided a lot of ACE options and focused on more regionally accredited based options like UExcel and BYU IS for my end goal.

[hazleforpresident]

So my main goal should be to get the highest possible GPA and cover all the med school prerequisites for the least amount of money.

Can I achieve a better then average GPA with the testing out options? Or does it hurt it?

I know I need to take the 8 classes with labs at a 4year, I looked at my options, it'll to be just over $8,000.

Another question that occurred to me,
If I test out of something and get a low score do I have to add it to my transcripts? or can I just act like I never took it and find a different rout with a more desirable grade?

You folks are so nice and helpful, when I talked to the people a college plus they where so rude it made me feel like this was hopeless.
Thanks for being kind.

[sanantone]

This was what I did. I figured out my end goals, looked at what it would take for me to get there.

This is the same reason I've avoided a lot of ACE options and focused on more regionally accredited based options like UExcel and BYU IS for my end goal.

Uexcel is ACE. They aren't treated as residency credits at Excelsior; therefore, they don't fall under their accreditation. Some schools might not know this, but some do. TESC, COSC, and Central Texas College definitely know and will check for current ACE evaluation.