humanitiespremed Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Hi all, I have been investigating online courses to finish up some prereqs and recommended courses and was wondering about so far have investigated TRU, Athabasca and Waterloo. I have to admit that Waterloo appeals to me. It is by far the easiest for me since I live in Ontario and have no desire whatsoever to fly to BC or Alberta to do a lab. But how serious would not taking labs for courses like chemistry or physics be? Is a theoretical knowledge of these subjects enough? Are schools that don't specify the need for lab courses really that flexible? On another note, how bad does it look to mix and match? (i.e. take some courses from waterloo, some from athabasca, etc.) Thanks for any information that you can give me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Hi all, I have been investigating online courses to finish up some prereqs and recommended courses and was wondering about so far have investigated TRU, Athabasca and Waterloo. I have to admit that Waterloo appeals to me. It is by far the easiest for me since I live in Ontario and have no desire whatsoever to fly to BC or Alberta to do a lab. But how serious would not taking labs for courses like chemistry or physics be? Is a theoretical knowledge of these subjects enough? Are schools that don't specify the need for lab courses really that flexible? Each school as specific prereq requirements you need to match. For those schools that require the lab, then of course you need it but the majority of them for the majority of courses actually do not specify the course must have a lab. If they don't mention you need it then you don't need it. No one will even care or notice you don't have a lab if they don't require it. Its just not done. I do know that Ottawa requires the labs for sure for all the prereqs but biochem which I believe is the only ontario school with such limitations. THat is why it asked you to provide separately a list of how you met their requirements on the application. NOSM requires you to take some courses at least in science and arts but laboratories are not specifically required, toronto has prereqs but they are pretty broad and have no mention of labs. I am less clear outside of ontario, but calgary I believe only has recommended courses, u of S doesn't specify labs are required etc.. The other reason to take courses is the that they can help on the MCAT. Doing the labs would help I suppose but not as much as the courses, and extra study would make up for any improvement there. That's my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Oh I forgot to mention - you are just doing prereqs so I assume you already have the gpa/fulltime course load elsewhere to qualify. If so they most schools are not going to really care if you take a few courses at a couple of different schools to met the prereqs in my opinion. One thing I should mention to be complete - one school McGill doesn't accept online courses, in the really off chance you were looking at that school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Hi all, I have been investigating online courses to finish up some prereqs and recommended courses and was wondering about so far have investigated TRU, Athabasca and Waterloo. I have to admit that Waterloo appeals to me. It is by far the easiest for me since I live in Ontario and have no desire whatsoever to fly to BC or Alberta to do a lab. But how serious would not taking labs for courses like chemistry or physics be? Is a theoretical knowledge of these subjects enough? Are schools that don't specify the need for lab courses really that flexible? On another note, how bad does it look to mix and match? (i.e. take some courses from waterloo, some from athabasca, etc.) Thanks for any information that you can give me. Which pre-reqs do you need yet? And, for what schools? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanitiespremed Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thank you both for your quick responses. I am set for U of T with the biology courses that I have, I need chem (or something "physical") specifically for Queen's but was looking at taking a broader array of courses to make the MCAT a bit easier and to add to my tally of recommended courses for U of C. I have the benefit of being IP for alberta and Ontario and so want to make sure I apply as broadly as I can. I also want to make sure that I have a broad enough background, since my background has been pretty focused in the humanities and social sciences. And for a bit about me, I am actually about to finish a PhD in the medical humanities (history and geography) and so have more years of full time study than I care to admit to (but more than 4). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Perfect. Between UW and Athabasca you'll be set in terms of pre-reqs. Good luck with finishing the PhD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Someday Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 There is also the option of doing some of the Athabasca labs at McMaster in the summer if you don't want to travel out west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWOsw Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 NOSM requires you to take some courses at least in science and arts but laboratories are not specifically required, toronto has prereqs but they are pretty broad and have no mention of labs. I am less clear outside of ontario, but calgary I believe only has recommended courses, u of S doesn't specify labs are required etc.. I dont believe that NOSM "requires" any courses. They just "recommend" having 2 science credits for arts/humanities students and/or 2 arts credits for science students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 I dont believe that NOSM "requires" any courses. They just "recommend" having 2 science credits for arts/humanities students and/or 2 arts credits for science students. Yeah I am probably reading too much into it. The manual says: Applicants with majors in science will be expected to have completed at least two full-course equivalents in arts, social sciences and/or humanities within their degree programs, while applicants pursuing majors in arts, social sciences and/or humanities will be expected to have completed at least two full-course equivalents in science within their degree program. Whenever I see a school say "will be expected" I internally convert it into "its required". For myself I am still considering them effectively required, as I just don't want to test them if I do something they don't expect Anyone know what happens if you don't have them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Everyone I met at the NOSM interview had a mix of both arts and sci courses, so I'm not sure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWOsw Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 In the OMSAS chart - under prerequisites NOSM is listed as none. Im certain that having at least two would be optimal - but since they list as having no prereqs, I wouldnt think they would refuse admission based on that alone. Its always good to demonstrate well-roundedness ... and I think having 2 would show this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 In the OMSAS chart - under prerequisites NOSM is listed as none. Im certain that having at least two would be optimal - but since they list as having no prereqs, I wouldnt think they would refuse admission based on that alone. Its always good to demonstrate well-roundedness ... and I think having 2 would show this. Sure! and it isn't like the 2 course they want is some impossible requirement either. Its not required but it is a pretty strong hint as to what they are looking for I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnao2 Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I took an online course from athabasca but I decided to drop it because in the very end I decided I did not want to fly over to do the labs. (two courses organic chemistry and inorganic). $$ was down the drain. I ended up enrolling full time in Ryerson and took fulfilled the courses that year. I dropped the Athabasca courses before the deadline to dropped past. Does anybody know if you still have to list these courses from athabasca on med school applications if you dropped it without completing it (but before the deadline)? As a side note, the athabasca course was fairly good. It was the first time I attempted an online course. The exam centers were close by too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I took an online course from athabasca but I decided to drop it because in the very end I decided I did not want to fly over to do the labs. (two courses organic chemistry and inorganic). $$ was down the drain. I ended up enrolling full time in Ryerson and took fulfilled the courses that year. I dropped the Athabasca courses before the deadline to dropped past. Does anybody know if you still have to list these courses from athabasca on med school applications if you dropped it without completing it (but before the deadline)? As a side note, the athabasca course was fairly good. It was the first time I attempted an online course. The exam centers were close by too. If Athabasca didn't assign you a grade then you don't have to report it, so it sounds like you are good! Dropping before the deadline is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I took an online course from athabasca but I decided to drop it because in the very end I decided I did not want to fly over to do the labs. (two courses organic chemistry and inorganic). $$ was down the drain. I ended up enrolling full time in Ryerson and took fulfilled the courses that year. I dropped the Athabasca courses before the deadline to dropped past. Does anybody know if you still have to list these courses from athabasca on med school applications if you dropped it without completing it (but before the deadline)? As a side note, the athabasca course was fairly good. It was the first time I attempted an online course. The exam centers were close by too. If you got a W on your transcript, you have to report it. If you didn't get anything on your transcript for taking those courses, you don't have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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