Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Initial Planning Hurdles

Much of my time in the last few weeks has been involved in planning out my next year. The two biggest things to tackle are my retakes of classes and my MCAT prep for the new 2015 MCAT.

I've talked to adcom members at the local schools I'm targeting, and though I have a B.S. in biology, they suggested a do an informal post-bacc to replace a few courses, and maybe take a few extra courses for MCAT prep and overall GPA increase. Thus, I'm definitely retaking my orgo course, and possibly physics II and biochem as well. Supplemental courses I'm considering are sociology and psychology to help with the new MCAT (I took one psych course in undergrad, and although I aced the exams, I retained nothing), and possibly pharmacology or anatomy and physiology to give myself a leg up (no pun intended) on the first year courses.

I work full-time, and despite my blog name, I'm no longer in pharmacy. My pharmacy job in the past was very flexible; as long as I provided my hours ahead of time, I could set the schedule I wanted. My current job, however, isn't medically related (though it is involved in science/engineering), and is an inflexible 8:30-5 (or 8-6, if you count summer hours). This presents a problem: I have to work full-time in order to keep my health insurance and benefits (and those extras, like food and shelter), so I can't quit my job to take courses or complete an SMP.

My solution is to take these courses at my local CC. My local CC, Borough of Manhattan Community College, offers several evening courses, including the ones I need to take, with the possible exception of biochemistry (none of the CCs in my area offer it). As a bonus, the CC courses are a fraction of the price that the same courses would be in the nearby 4 year institution (the financial aspect is very important to me as I have existing school and medical loans). I'm starting this summer with a single class, organic chemistry I. And while the science department has been supportive and helpful, I find that the other administration completely unhelpful.

Since I will be taking a single course during the summer, the admissions department told me I'd have to submit paperwork to be a non-degree visitor student. The admissions department wants all paperwork submitted in person at their office in Chambers Street. This main campus is a 10-20 minute subway ride from my office--not to shabby, though tough to manage if I want to make it in and out during my 45-minute lunch period. I called ahead and asked about the paperwork I needed to bring, printed it out (plus some residency forms that I found on the website that they didn't mention), and went to the Admissions Office.

There, they only looked at my transcript and the information form listing my name and previous education. I asked about the immunization forms, but the admin told me that those weren't required until after I received an email from the school to set up my online school account. I asked about the residency forms, but the admin brushed me aside and I waited for the email. The day I received my email, I set up my account and went to the Health Office to submit my immunization records, and I returned to the Admissions Office with my residency paperwork, plus my most recent paystub listing city taxes as my proof of residency. The admin at the Admissions Office told me that the stub was not acceptable, and that I needed a stub from either December of last year or January, or a copy of my taxes, despite me asking them before I got there if my documents were acceptable.

I also was told on another phone call that I would need an evaluation of my past credits to see if I fulfilled the requirements of general chemistry before I took organic chemistry. This is really common and not a big deal; I just went to the science office and had a very confused professor sign off on a paper. The professor told me that it wasn't necessary, though I had the actual professor for the night course tell me that I would have problems registering without this paperwork.

I went to the Registrar's Office, where they told me that not only was this pre-requisite evaluation unnecessary, but that I might not get a chance to register as my registration date was not April 26th as they told me originally, but May 26th, two days before the class actually begins. It took me four tries to get them to input the paper I had signed, and I am not entirely sure that they weren't just pretending to type on the computer while I was there. I made photocopies of the signed forms, so in the (highly likely, imo) chance that they lose the form just as I am about to register, I can go in with my other copies.

The professor told me he would try and work me in if they over-register. Right now, that doesn't seem to be an issue (fingers crossed). For now, I'm just focusing on getting prepared for the course by purchasing the textbooks and finding other classes that would fit my schedule.

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