It would be nice if my S could take some summer classes to lighten his credit load.
But it costs $3,000 for 6 credits for tuition and fees and we don’t have that extra money.
So he is taking 18 credits a semester.
His sister also didn’t take summer classes. She didn’t need to because she had AP credits.
They both work in the summer.
Dont think she can pay all of it but she will pay whatever she can pay.
If no med school for her MD or DO, she will go Grad for 1 year or just find a Professional job and pay her loans. Yes she used to work in summer during HS.
Have you gotten an answer about whether you can get that Plus Loan for the summer yet? Have you looked into private college loans?
Here is a thought…this summer, could she get certified as a CNA? That would be a good job for her to have on her medical school applications, in my opinion. She could do this job during her gap year(s). Around here, there are also always openings for these jobs. They pay reasonably well, and give hands on patient experience which is a good thing on Med school applications.
If she spends this summer doing that instead of retaking OChem…that could be a good plan.
But I would have her discuss all of this with the person who advises medical school applicants at her undergrad school. That person should be able to tell her which track to follow.
Without knowing her actual first OChem grade, it’s really impossible to give you decent info. A F probably needs a retake, but she would need to get an A on that retake really!
I’m not a medical school expert…but I will say, there are TONS of other health care related fields…PA, APRN (would require nursing first), occupational therapist, speech pathologist, physical therapist, respiratory therapist. And many many more.
Oh…another option might be radiology tech. I’m not sure how long it takes to get this certification, but getting certified to do things like mammograms could yield her a very well paying job.
What sort of work are you hoping she will find for that gap year? If she wants to earn a lot…waiting tables at a high end restaurant is the way to go. One can easily get $200 per night just in tips.
And sorry to give you answers to questions you didn’t explicitly ask…but I hope you can see that the info is related.
@thumper1 is right MD programs do not permit grade replacement. Both OChem grades will be include in all GPA calculations.
All DO progams now have the same policy. No grade replacements.
The usual advice is that pre-meds should not re-take any pre-reqs if they earned a C+ or better. Instead she concentrate on earning a high grade in the next level up class–in the case of OChem, earning an A in biochem.
And just because your D is doing volunteering in the summer, that doesn’t mean she couldn’t find a summer job and fit in her volunteer hours around hr work hours.
Applying to med school is expensive. She’ll need around $8-10K for a single application cycle.
I would say CMA vs CNA. The work will be much nicer, NAs will be a lot of heavy nursing care, nursing homes, elderly etc. Ops kid doesn’t need that IMO.
@Sybylla as long as it gives patient contact it will be good.
And getting that training this summer might be a better use if time than retaking a course. Might…because we don’t know the details.
But yes…these would give this student the potential to get a job.
Another answer to a question you didn’t ask is if she graduates with a bachelors degree and didn’t get into medical school she can apply for an accelerated BSN nursing program. They’re usually around 15 months long and requires a bachelors degree with the prerequisites which a premed course sequence would cover. She would make more money in less time than either respiratory therapy or rad tech which are usually two year programs. Plus a cheaper path than PT, OT, ST which are 2-3+ years as well.