Pre-Req Options?

[DonChaKnow]

Hi all,

New here. Was lurking for a bit but decided to join.

So I've been thinking about making the career change for awhile now and finally want to take the plunge but it turns out getting my pre-reqs looks near impossible.

I'm in the rural Midwest. I have 2 state universities and 3 CCs within an hour from me. The problem is only 1 offers even some evening classes and, looking at their entire class schedule for 2017, seem to offer only Bio and Chem during that.

I'd love to go back full time but I need to keep working. I already have a bachelor's and a grad degree, so financial aid is pretty much a no-go.

I thought about doing some online but it seems doing that would throw out most MD schools (which I don't really want to do so early on).

I looked at SMPs since it's grad level and I could try to get financial aid for them but the ones I saw assumed undergrad science courses, of which I only have 1 semester of biology (and that shouldn't even be counted - it was no more rigorous than HS, taught creationism, and I got an A even with only going to 2 labs and using Monty Python for my presentation).

So I'm kind of running out of ideas. If anyone has any, I'd love to hear them but I'm not expecting much since this is kind of my last resort.

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[timephone]

Well you've gotta get the pre-reqs done, end of story. But before you go quitting your job and making any monumental shifts in your life, perhaps try doing some clinical volunteering (assuming you don't have clinical experience yet) or better yet do some shadowing to gauge your real interest in medicine.

Having two state unis and 3 CCs close by is an asset! If one offers night classes for Chem and Bio, then that's about half the pre-reqs right there. After those are done, you just need Physics, Orgo, and possibly Genetics/Biochem depending on admissions requirements. Then the MCAT obviously.

Try thinking outside the box. Are there any relatives you could move in with while studying to save money? A part-time night job or something with varying shifts that could work around daytime classes? Any way to save up the cash? You may still be eligible for federal student loans, so it's worth investigating lifetime caps.

Keep in mind that CC classes will not be accepted by many med schools, and the ones that do accept them may look closely at your performance in them. Online classes are a whole different problem. If you can identify some schools that will accept them (and make sure to investigate DO schools) then you could try it.

The nighttime Bio and Chem classes seem like winning options for you. Just keep in mind that patience is what will see you to your goal of becoming a doctor. If you need to wait a year to save up cash for the prereqs then that's what you have to do. You will have to make many many sacrifices, so it's important to understand what you're getting yourself into.

 

[DonChaKnow]

The evening classes are at one of the CCs. They don't include it in their name but a cursory investigation will show they only offer associate degrees.

If I went to a 4-year, I'd have to do days. That might be possible if I was private and not in government, but I just started this job and going private would mean a significant increase in expenses (starting with healthcare costing 10x as much).

I suppose I could just work on clinical and shadowing hours over the next year and see what my life is like after that. I'm just not getting any younger! Lol

Thanks for the reply!