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Any recommendations for easy online prereq courses?


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Hi everyone,

I graduated a few years ago and am missing some prereqs for OMSAS schools, namely the Life Science requirements for UofT and the Chem/Biochem requirements for UOttawa. I am working full time and don't have much spare time, so I would like these courses to be as painless as possible. I've looked at Athabasca's offerings, but are there any other recommendations?

Thank you!

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I took CHEM 301 (biochem, 3 credits) and BIOL 230 (physiology, 6 credits) through Athabasca.

I thought the biochem course was absolute garbage and got extremely frustrated with the study guide (full of errors, poorly structured and formatted) and the FREE textbook they provided (ugh still can’t believe they went and got a free textbook for a course that ended up costing me hundreds of dollars). But, it is a fairly easy course and you can still do well if you use other resources. I had looked into taking the UofT biochem online course, but it was way more expensive and I ended up sticking to Athabasca.

 I loved the physiology course. It was very well thought out, structured, resources were good, etc. Would highly recommend it. I don’t think you need 12 months at all to complete this course, which is a bonus.

I used both courses to fulfill prerequisites for UofT and UOttawa, and did not have any problems so from that perspective, I guess I would recommend them?

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15 minutes ago, PhysicsToMed said:

Great, thank you! I am actually thinking of taking BIOL 204 and 205 since I have no biology courses at all on my transcript, and uOttawa requires 6 units of biology. Any chance you looked at those?

I did, and decided to take physiology instead. UOttawa accepts 6 credits in biology or physiology. It came out to be less work to take physiology (dealing with only 1 home lab kit, less midterms/finals, etc.)

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46 minutes ago, petitmonstre111 said:

I did, and decided to take physiology instead. UOttawa accepts 6 credits in biology or physiology. It came out to be less work to take physiology (dealing with only 1 home lab kit, less midterms/finals, etc.)

Appreciate the insight! Do you think the physiology course is doable with no background in biology whatsoever? How would you rate the difficulty of the course? Realistically, I'll only be able to study on weekends.

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28 minutes ago, MissingPrereqs said:

Appreciate the insight! Do you think the physiology course is doable with no background in biology whatsoever? How would you rate the difficulty of the course? Realistically, I'll only be able to study on weekends.

Hmmm I think I’m not the best judge, as I had some background (having previously studied for the MCAT). Overall, my opinion is that the course is fairly easy. Quizzes are fair (and help to prep for exams), assignments are very easy (if you spend the time, you can easily get above 90 on all), labs are also on the easier side. Exams are overall fair if you study enough. 

The course covers a lot of material but it’s not “hard” per se. It’s just a lot of terms/concepts to memorize. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to study for this course only on weekends and still be able to finish within 6 months. If you have more specific questions, PM me.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello! My apologies for jumping in to the conversation but I could really use some guidance. I am preparing for MCAT and coming from an Engineering background I don't have prereq courses in my transcript. 

Question: If I take online courses from Athabasca or similar university, will schools like UofT and UofOttawa consider CGPA from these universities? Or would taking these courses just make me eligible to apply to schools that require prereq courses and I still get to use my Engineering CGPA? 

Please advise.

Thanks.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/8/2020 at 6:56 PM, Engg2Med said:

Hello! My apologies for jumping in to the conversation but I could really use some guidance. I am preparing for MCAT and coming from an Engineering background I don't have prereq courses in my transcript. 

Question: If I take online courses from Athabasca or similar university, will schools like UofT and UofOttawa consider CGPA from these universities? Or would taking these courses just make me eligible to apply to schools that require prereq courses and I still get to use my Engineering CGPA? 

Please advise.

Thanks.

Usually all grades from any uni are considered. Email those programs for clarification. 

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  • 6 months later...
On 7/5/2020 at 7:44 PM, petitmonstre111 said:

I took CHEM 301 (biochem, 3 credits) and BIOL 230 (physiology, 6 credits) through Athabasca.

I thought the biochem course was absolute garbage and got extremely frustrated with the study guide (full of errors, poorly structured and formatted) and the FREE textbook they provided (ugh still can’t believe they went and got a free textbook for a course that ended up costing me hundreds of dollars). But, it is a fairly easy course and you can still do well if you use other resources. I had looked into taking the UofT biochem online course, but it was way more expensive and I ended up sticking to Athabasca.

 I loved the physiology course. It was very well thought out, structured, resources were good, etc. Would highly recommend it. I don’t think you need 12 months at all to complete this course, which is a bonus.

I used both courses to fulfill prerequisites for UofT and UOttawa, and did not have any problems so from that perspective, I guess I would recommend them?

Hi,

 

i know it's been awhile but im taking CHEM301 and i really don't know what would be the best way to study for the midterms ? Would you mind telling me ? Like there's the commentary section, the textbook ... the study guide . Will they ask specific question like the Krebs cycle ? 

 

 

I'm a bit lost.

 

 

Thank you

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