Doing second undergraduate degree online?

[Phantom55]

Hi All

I am a non-traditional candidate. I have two master degrees, and now working full time as a physiotherapist.

I am hoping to apply for medical school. But my main problem is my undergraduate GPA. It is quite low, around 3.3-3.4.

I believe my best option to improve my chance is doing a second undergraduate degree. But I really cannot attend school physically as I work full time . I was thinking to do an online degree, with an online university.

what are your thoughts on it?I am afraid maybe doing an online degree affect my chance, not look so good on my application?

thank you everyone

[canada747]

@HoopDreams

[HoopDreams]

3 hours ago, Phantom55 said:

Hi All

I am a non-traditional candidate. I have two master degrees, and now working full time as a physiotherapist.

I am hoping to apply for medical school. But my main problem is my undergraduate GPA. It is quite low, around 3.3-3.4.

I believe my best option to improve my chance is doing a second undergraduate degree. But I really cannot attend school physically as I work full time . I was thinking to do an online degree, with an online university.

what are your thoughts on it?I am afraid maybe doing an online degree affect my chance, not look so good on my application?

thank you everyone

Hey there ! 

I am a former physiotherapist that completed a second undergraduate degree to be able to attend medical school. I don't think that an online degree will affect your chances since most degrees migrated to online learning during COVID. I did a few online classes during my second undergrad and there is no mention on the transcript that they were completed remotely.

I strongly encourage you to pursue this if it is your dream and if it makes sense for you. This is very personal.

What I would recommend looking into :

• Why did you get a 3.4 during undergrad and how are you looking to do better?
• Can you really maintain a 3.8+ GPA with a full course load while working full-time as a physio?
• Did you factor in the pre-requisite classes that you would need to take for certain schools?
• Is this detour 'worth it' for your personal and professional happiness?
  • Physio conditions are improving and it is a very high demand job at the moment with excellent work conditions.
  • Second undergrad (2 yrs), medical school (4 yrs) , residency (2-5 yrs), fellowship (1-2 yrs), you are looking at a minimum of 8 years of training (Family Med) up to 12-13 years (Specialist/Fellow)
• What if you complete this second degree and don't get into medical school, can you use it to advance your physio career?

I would recommend :

• Pick a degree that 'makes sense' with your physio background, meaning that it will still be useful if medical school does not work out. In my case, I picked a degree in kinesiology. That also contributes to the hours you need to complete as part of the CME hours for your provincial licensing board for PT.
• Try to accelerate your second degree. I completed mine in 2 years and did night classes for the pre-reqs at the same time.

In the end, it's a gamble, luck is the biggest factor but I truly believe that anyone that puts in the effort can attain their dreams. It could take longer but it will happen. And it's fine if you change your mind, you can find happiness in different avenues.

Let me know if I can help in any way.

Best of luck !

 

[Phantom55]

41 minutes ago, HoopDreams said:

Hey there ! 

I am a former physiotherapist that completed a second undergraduate degree to be able to attend medical school. I don't think that an online degree will affect your chances since most degrees migrated to online learning during COVID. I did a few online classes during my second undergrad and there is no mention on the transcript that they were completed remotely.

I strongly encourage you to pursue this if it is your dream and if it makes sense for you. This is very personal.

What I would recommend looking into :

• Why did you get a 3.4 during undergrad and how are you looking to do better?
• Can you really maintain a 3.8+ GPA with a full course load while working full-time as a physio?
• Did you factor in the pre-requisite classes that you would need to take for certain schools?
• Is this detour 'worth it' for your personal and professional happiness?
  • Physio conditions are improving and it is a very high demand job at the moment with excellent work conditions.
  • Second undergrad (2 yrs), medical school (4 yrs) , residency (2-5 yrs), fellowship (1-2 yrs), you are looking at a minimum of 8 years of training (Family Med) up to 12-13 years (Specialist/Fellow)
• What if you complete this second degree and don't get into medical school, can you use it to advance your physio career?

I would recommend :

• Pick a degree that 'makes sense' with your physio background, meaning that it will still be useful if medical school does not work out. In my case, I picked a degree in kinesiology. That also contributes to the hours you need to complete as part of the CME hours for your provincial licensing board for PT.
• Try to accelerate your second degree. I completed mine in 2 years and did night classes for the pre-reqs at the same time.

In the end, it's a gamble, luck is the biggest factor but I truly believe that anyone that puts in the effort can attain their dreams. It could take longer but it will happen. And it's fine if you change your mind, you can find happiness in different avenues.

Let me know if I can help in any way.

Best of luck !

 

Thanks very much for replying 

All those points you mentioned make a lot of sense. 
During my first undergraduate I was dealing with a lot of family issues, so I could not really study much. It was a miracle to even graduate!

I love being a physio, but at the same time, there are so many limitations when working as physio both clinically and financially that I feel I need to make some changes

I will definitely try to do an accelerated degree.

thanks again for your inputs 

[McMasterMD]

Double check all of the program pre-requisites. Some of the medical schools explicitly state that they don't accept purely online undergraduate degrees for obvious reasons. 

[nat_premed]

Hi @Phantom55, Here are my thoughts:

Working full-time and pursuing an online degree at the same time might be challenging. I just completed the first year of my second undergrad and I had to leave a full-time job to maintain a high GPA. In my experience, a full-course load is extremely demanding especially if you are aiming to score A+ in all courses. You can obviously take 2 or 3 courses per term but keep in mind that would make you ineligible for some schools like Western that have a 3/5 rule and a few others. I am not saying that you won't be able to handle the stress and demands of a full-time job + degree at the same time, I am sure some folks have pulled that off in the past and you probably fall in that league. 

As @McMasterMD mentioned above, some of the schools do not accept an online degree even if you take a full course load so you might want to check that. 

 

Also, if you already have an undergraduate degree and you apply for a second one, they give you a lot of transfer credits. What this means is you don't have to choose from a very few accelerated 2-year degree programs like the one Ryerson offers in health science. Even if you apply for a 3 or 4-year degree, you will most likely get transfer credits and would be able to finish your second degree within 2 years. That's what I am doing as well. My suggestion - choose the easiest degree possible where you think you can get good grades. 

Hope this helps!

 

[DoctorCodes]

Hi, I have a similar question about 2nd online UG degrees.

Here are some details about myself:

• Late 20's software engineer
• B.Sc in Combined Biology & Psychology at University of Victoria, 2011-2016
  • 1st year: 3.80/10 or 2.6/4 (5 courses each semester)
  • 2nd year: 3.22/10 or 2.38/4 (5 courses 1st semester, 4 courses 2nd)
  • 3rd year: 3.56/10 or 2.52/4 (5 courses 1st semester, 4 courses 2nd)
    • 3rd year summer: 2.0/10 or 2.0/4 (1 course)
  • 4th year: 3.88/10 or 2.65/4 (5 courses 1st semester, 4 courses 2nd)
    • 4th year summer: 3.0/10 or 2.3/4 (1 course)
  • 5th year: 1.86/10 or 1.86/4 (3 courses 1st semester, 4 courses 2nd)
  • cGPA 3.29/10 or 2.4/4
• I was suffering through some major personal and family problems that are now resolved
• Turned my life around after university, started software engineering in 2017, was awarded a Canadian 30 Under 30 Software Engineer this year, and am now feeling ready to pursue medicine which I have thought long and hard about (I have a group of 8+ doctor friends that I regularly hangout with)
• Looking to pursue a reinvention path that satisfies the following:
  • Online courses that can be taken while working full-time or close to FT (aiming for a course load of 3 classes per semester although I realize this disqualifies me from schools requiring a full 5 course load)
  • Canadian universities preferred for financial reasons
• Questions:
  • What is the best 2-3 year path to medicine in my case?
  • Any recommendations for good online programs that accommodate people working full-time during daytime hours?
  • Would it be advisable to take the MCAT before a second degree?

 

 @McMasterMD @HoopDreams Might you be able to provide some advice here?

 @nat_premed What degree are you doing?

 

Thanks in advance!

[nat_premed]

Hi @DoctorCodes, 

 

What is the best 2-3 year path to medicine in my case?

Ryerson offers a 2-year degree but there have been questions about its acceptability (there are a few posts on it on this forum). Since you have a second degree, if you apply to any BA ,BSc, or BCom program you will most likely get at least 1.5 years' worth of transfer credits that you can use towards the completion of your 2nd degree. My previous degree gave me 10 transfer (equivalent to 20 courses), which means I could complete my current 4 year BA honors degree in 2 years. I applied to York University's Health Science program and the BA program at Guelph, both offered me transfer credits. This saves you a lot of time!! Please note that there is no way of knowing how many transfers credits you will get until you apply and are offered admission which is when they tell you about transfer credits. Please note that some universities require a 4-year degree or equivalent so some of the 3 years or 2-year degrees may not qualify right away unless you do an extra year to make it equivalent. Also, many universities do not accept online degrees, DE courses which is the reason why I did not go with Athabasca or other similar universities. Less than <4 courses make you part-time student and ineligible for some schools like Ottawa, Western (3-5 rule).

Any recommendations for good online programs that accommodate people working full-time during daytime hours?

I know that Guelph offers a fully online BA general degree that you can check on their website. If you take less than 4 courses they will automatically consider you a part-time student. The workload in their online, DE, and in-person courses is the same and it is a lot!!! From my experience, it can be a bit challenging to study with a full-time job especially when you want to get a 90+ in every course. I have been lucky to be able to maintain 3.97 CGPA so far but I know that I have been studying 50-60 hours per week with 5 courses/term and it has been a stressful time. It can be difficult to even think of leaving a full-time job and pursuing a second degree so consider all your options. I left my full-time consulting job because I knew I couldn't be distracted while I am studying, preparing for the MCAT, CASPER, Applications, and what not. I think everyone on this forum can agree that admission to med schools in Canada is extremely competitive, even worse if you like in Ontario so choosing an option that makes you ineligible for certain schools may not be the best approach. However, everyone has different circumstances so choose what works best for you.

 
Would it be advisable to take the MCAT before a second degree?

Why not!! I am taking it in the next 3-4 months while pursuing my second degree. If I don't do well, it will give me chance to retake it and improve my score. 

Good Luck!!