What to do with my post-bacc sciences and a word about them (med school)..

[Lewis.Yim]

For someone looking into medical school, what would be their best option? A Math/Stats degree with a MCAT above 514? How about a computer science degree? I am just curious, I may want to look into medical school or a physician assistant school in the future.

[davewill]

For someone looking into medical school, what would be their best option? A Math/Stats degree with a MCAT above 514?  How about a computer science degree?  I am just curious, I may want to look into medical school or a physician assistant school in the future.

I would assume that getting a solid GPA, doing well in your premed courses and getting a good MCAT score would be the best way to both get in and do well once you're there. I'd pick the degree according to your aptitude. Better a good GPA and a Liberal Studies degree than struggling with poor grades doing a Math degree because you don't enjoy it.

[Jonathan Whatley]

^ What davewill said, plus shadowing and clinical exposure, and extracurriculars including substantive volunteering.

If a basketweaving major existed, it's realistically possible basketweaving majors would have a high med school admission rate, not because anything about basketweaving was uniquely good preparation or uniquely favored by med schools, but because the small and unusual population of basketweaving majors who then went on to qualify for and apply to med school tended to rock their science courses and MCATs.

Do what will help you rock your science courses and MCATs, and the sort of extras named above.

[MSK9]

There was, most definitely, a time when online pre-reqs were stigmatized but there seems to be a collective shift away from this in this age of social and academic inclusivity. >>

I am curious, do you know if the AMCAS / AACOMAS applications have a self-disclosure requirement that would indicate whether or not a science course was taken in full or in part online? I ask because it is almost impossible to find out otherwise.  This isn't to suggest lying, it's to say that without self-disclosure, it's an impossible stipulation to require.  With narrow exception, it's simply not knowable on most transcripts.

---

This is completely random, but are you considering vet school as well?  I know it doesn't pay as well, but with your background I'm curious.

As for the self-disclosure, not explicitly. In being forthright on my application, I've noted "Online" only in the listing of the school itself, but then several of the schools I'm applying to also state on their admissions pages that online classes are completely acceptable. Within AMCAS and AACOMAS, there aren't separate entries for "Online" versus "In Person," though they do have more specific categorization for classes, ala AP, Pass / Fail, Audit, etc. 

I considered vet school about fifteen years ago, but my girlfriend is a veterinarian and there's only enough room in the house for one of those.   The running joke in my social circle is med school students are vet school dropouts.  

For someone looking into medical school, what would be their best option? A Math/Stats degree with a MCAT above 514?  How about a computer science degree?  I am just curious, I may want to look into medical school or a physician assistant school in the future.

I don't think the major really matters anymore. Schools seem to be looking for people who are well-rounded, regardless of major. MCAT score is important, but so is personality. 

For someone looking into medical school, what would be their best option? A Math/Stats degree with a MCAT above 514?  How about a computer science degree?  I am just curious, I may want to look into medical school or a physician assistant school in the future.

I would assume that getting a solid GPA, doing well in your premed courses and getting a good MCAT score would be the best way to both get in and do well once you're there. I'd pick the degree according to your aptitude. Better a good GPA and a Liberal Studies degree than struggling with poor grades doing a Math degree because you don't enjoy it.

Absolutely. I agree with this totally. A neurologist friend of mine was an art history major and baseball player. One of his advisors gave him this exact advice. While his classmates took hits on their GPA because of the difficult classes they took, he came out with nearly a 4.0 just taking the minimum pre-reqs.

[Ideas]

I'd be tempted to just move forward with medical school applications, and studying for a solid MCAT score rather than putting in more time on another undergraduate degree.

Definitely (even though I suggested the Biology degree above).

[MSK9]

^ What davewill said, plus shadowing and clinical exposure, and extracurriculars including substantive volunteering.

If a basketweaving major existed, it's realistically possible basketweaving majors would have a high med school admission rate, not because anything about basketweaving was uniquely good preparation or uniquely favored by med schools, but because the small and unusual population of basketweaving majors who then went on to qualify for and apply to med school tended to rock their science courses and MCATs.

Do what will help you rock your science courses and MCATs, and the sort of extras named above.

True story. Med schools want the applicant to have exposure to the clinical setting prior to starting. While shadowing is clinical in nature, it's not considered clinical interaction, so they also like when students volunteer at free clinics or other routes of patient care in addition to shadowing. 

While a good MCAT score doesn't guarantee a good doctor, it shows the school that the student is capable of handling the material to come.

[cookderosa]

^ What davewill said, plus shadowing and clinical exposure, and extracurriculars including substantive volunteering.

If a basketweaving major existed, it's realistically possible basketweaving majors would have a high med school admission rate, not because anything about basketweaving was uniquely good preparation or uniquely favored by med schools, but because the small and unusual population of basketweaving majors who then went on to qualify for and apply to med school tended to rock their science courses and MCATs.

Do what will help you rock your science courses and MCATs, and the sort of extras named above.

True story. Med schools want the applicant to have exposure to the clinical setting prior to starting. While shadowing is clinical in nature, it's not considered clinical interaction, so they also like when students volunteer at free clinics or other routes of patient care in addition to shadowing. 

While a good MCAT score doesn't guarantee a good doctor, it shows the school that the student is capable of handling the material to come.

I spent 2 years volunteering 2 nights a week at a free clinic. It was part of the reason I decided NOT to pursue nursing/med, however, it was a WONDERFUL job and a WONDERFUL experience and the only reason I left is that we moved from IL to NC. If I were still in IL, I'm sure I'd still be there. It is really important, in my opinion, that you do this to see if it's inside of YOU as opposed to it looking good on your application.
Once you're touching and smelling and helping and interacting with people who are at their worst, you'll find out a lot about yourself. I found that I didn't like hurrying, I didn't like the risk of error, and I didn't like the necessity of being above the patient. I've worked as a teacher most of my adult life, and that's a better fit for me. Had I pushed forward, I realized that the career change wouldn't use my strengths and it tapped into a lot of my weaknesses. I might not have had that same insight in my 20's.
The flip, is that if it WAS a good fit for me, I the experience would have also been golden on my application - I made a lot of inroads / network, spent quality time with doctors and nurses who would have written letters for me, and for sure would have had opportunities for employment after. None of that would happen in a simple job shadow. (I did one of those too - I did 40 hours with a NP - not the same)

[MSK9]

I spent 2 years volunteering 2 nights a week at a free clinic. It was part of the reason I decided NOT to pursue nursing/med, however, it was a WONDERFUL job and a WONDERFUL experience and the only reason I left is that we moved from IL to NC. If I were still in IL, I'm sure I'd still be there. It is really important, in my opinion, that you do this to see if it's inside of YOU as opposed to it looking good on your application.
Once you're touching and smelling and helping and interacting with people who are at their worst, you'll find out a lot about yourself. I found that I didn't like hurrying, I didn't like the risk of error, and I didn't like the necessity of being above the patient. I've worked as a teacher most of my adult life, and that's a better fit for me. Had I pushed forward, I realized that the career change wouldn't use my strengths and it tapped into a lot of my weaknesses. I might not have had that same insight in my 20's.
The flip, is that if it WAS a good fit for me, I the experience would have also been golden on my application - I made a lot of inroads / network, spent quality time with doctors and nurses who would have written letters for me, and for sure would have had opportunities for employment after. None of that would happen in a simple job shadow. (I did one of those too - I did 40 hours with a NP - not the same)

I agree with you. I think it's the perfect litmus test for people thinking about going into medicine. I was fortunate to have been around quite a bit of medicine during my time in law enforcement, both as an official and as a patient, which helped prepare me for the clinical experience. I've worked in a free clinic, myself, over a year now and have found the only thing I don't like is micromanagement, but then that happens just about everywhere. It's a great way to network and is how I found my physician mentor, who also wrote me an awesome recommendation letter. Like law enforcement, medicine isn't as romantic as people might expect!

[wow]

To answer your question about a bachelor's in biology...

The courses you've taken meet most/all of the LL BA in biology requirements for Thomas Edison and the BS in General Studies biology concentration. Look at study.com to see if any of their other LL biology courses could apply toward your genetics requirement @ TESU and LL electives. For UL electives, here are possibilities (I've had none approved by TESU or COSC, but there seems a reasonable chance many of these would transfer since TESU offers only one UL biology itself and COSC offers none):

*UExcel Pathophysiology exam
*possibly the UExcel Bioethics exam (it's coded as a philosophy course by Excelsior)
*possibly Psychobiology on study.com (it's coded as a psychology course but looks like it's mostly about neuroscience)
*Bio300 Human Evolution at Fort Hays, 3 credit course at $220/credit
*UC San Diego extension upper level bio courses (about $635 for 3 credits, $825 for four)
*Logan University human biology ULs ($275/credit, 3 and 4 credits)
*American Public University, $270/credit and no textbook fees
*COSC allows you to take the GRE biology subject exam for 15 LL credits and 9 ULs. Then you need two UL labs and a capstone. The GRE would cancel out your intro bio classes (maybe not the lab part?), but I think they would still count the chem and org chem for credits.

You could also look into PLAs for upper levels. TESU has granted UL credits in bio for PLAs in the past.

If you already have a bachelor's, TESU will waive the cornerstone requirement. I haven't gotten a clear answer about that from COSC.

[mysonx3]

*possibly Psychobiology on study.com (it's coded as a psychology course but looks like it's mostly about neuroscience)

I think you could probably talk them into counting this as biology, but it's lower level through ACE, so it won't help with the UL electives at TESU. Not sure about COSC.