Placing into upper div courses through self study?

[dantezribaldi]

I am 7 years out of an arts undergrad in which I took no hard science and had a fairly low gpa. As I require aid for any program that goes beyond 1 or 2 cheap courses, originally I was planning on starting pre-reqs at a local CC and then at some point either applying to the one or two Postbaccs that allow Grad PLUS or an SMP once I get some courses established and some EC experience.

However, because I love self-studying so much and would prefer to accelerate the process of getting to the point of actually applying basic science to medicine, I was wondering if it might be conceivable to place into upper division courses and then take a good amount of those to form the basis for med school admission?

Obviously this is assuming I could find a program that would allow this... Shoreline in Seattle has a handful and I could try that to start maybe. But also I'm just wondering if this sounds feasible / how med school adcoms would view it? I know there is a trend towards "competency based admissions" - I wish that there were more flexible, cheap or aided paths for non-trads that helped with the red tape.

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[AJS59]

For many med schools you are going to need to meet some basic number of courses:
-2 terms (with labs) of general chemistry
-2 terms (with labs) of organic chemistry
-1 term of biochemistry
-2 terms of biology, covering topics in cell bio, genetics, and/or physiology (also with labs)
-2 terms of physics (with labs)
-2 terms of Math (typically in the form of 1 term of calculus+1 term of stats)
-1 term each of psychology and sociology (not necessarily required, but very helpful for the MCAT)

I don't know a lot about post-baccs but if you truly did not do any hard science I think a. you can't skip these courses and b. even if you could, it's not advisable. Hard science courses test you in many ways that other courses do not, and you'll need that to succeed and mount a competitive medical school application.

 

[Med Ed]

Competency based admissions just means tossing all the pre-req requirements and relying solely on the MCAT. Most applicants take the usual pre-reqs regardless, because they're still a common requirement at many schools. Think of it as herd immunity.

To do well on the MCAT most people need to take the pre-reqs and build a foundation of relevant knowledge. You're 7 years out with no hard science background and "a fairly low GPA." Not to sound harsh, but I don't see much evidence that you will breeze into upper level science courses based on self-study.

You need to just follow the typical and well-worn path of a non-traditional applicant, and in your case that means starting from the beginning at a community college. A high GPA and solid MCAT score will reassure adcoms that you are not an academic risk.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Talk to the prehealth advisors at Shoreline CC about your plans.

 

[dantezribaldi]

The only question I have isn't whether it's possible for me to get into upper level and pass the MCAT after self-study, it's whether I can find a school that won't care I haven't taken the pre-reqs. It seems like the answer to that is 'probably' given good grades in the small number of courses taken and high MCAT.

 

[AJS59]

The only question I have isn't whether it's possible for me to get into upper level and pass the MCAT after self-study, it's whether I can find a school that won't care I haven't taken the pre-reqs. It seems like the answer to that is 'probably' given good grades in the small number of courses taken and high MCAT

Out of curiosity, what sorts of courses are you looking at taking?

 

[Med Ed]

The only question I have isn't whether it's possible for me to get into upper level and pass the MCAT after self-study, it's whether I can find a school that won't care I haven't taken the pre-reqs. It seems like the answer to that is 'probably' given good grades in the small number of courses taken and high MCAT.

Please keep us updated with your progress.

 

[operaman]

So I did my own version of this, though mine was designed to minimize my time before starting med school and work within the limitations of the course catalog I was working with. To this day, never taken biology! I went to the pre med advisor and then dept chair at the small 4 year college where I started a DIY post bacc. They rightfully thought I was insane, but I can be pretty convincing and manage to prove myself rather quickly.

I think the big question is what are you gaining by rolling the dice? For me, it compressed by entire post-bacc time to less than year. Cutting 1-2 years of time off the process was worth it to non-trad me, and I knew I could do it. I'd already taken the MCAT so I didn't have to worry about studying for that either.

I'm not seeing where doing this helps you in any way. If you're planning for a structured PB/SMP anyhow, just do the basics and get accepted and ace everything and call it a day. If you self-teach, just take those classes for credit, ace them, and use the extra time to prep for MCAT and maximize your score. As it is, you're risking your GPA and possibly your MCAT without any discernible payoff that I can see.

The truth is you won't really get to start applying the foundational sciences to medicine until medical school, and even then not really until the clinical years. Med school basic science courses will often use clinical examples to solidify concepts and make them relevant, but actually applying them typically comes a bit later. Even in med school, there's a lot of dues paying and rote memorization before the fun begins.

It's very much like the performing arts which was my undergrad degree and first career. You spend many years playing scales and learning increasingly complex exercises and etudes before you can really start making music at a high enough level where people will pay you for it.