Real reviews of online science prerequisites for pre-AA students — difficulty, workload, cost, professor quality, and whether it's worth it. All courses completed while working full-time.
I wanted to begin my science prerequisites with a rigorous, accredited institution. UNE is well known in the pre-AA community for quality coursework.
The material was VERY detailed and the course is extremely time consuming. Every quiz and test is closely video proctored with browser locking. You are required to purchase a special external webcam for this course. Additional assignments included creating an infographic, writing a paper, and describing phases of movement from anatomical position. Grading was fair but strict — follow the rubrics and you will be fine.
Yes. It was very rigorous. I spent probably 20+ hours per week on this class (or more depending on the module). Labs are involved and do take quite a bit of time.
Advice for future students: Do not do any other courses at the same time as this class. It's like having another whole part-time job on top of your current full-time job and family responsibilities. It's tough, but if you're determined and have the money for it, go for it. I liked that I could work as fast as I wanted to and could finish any time before 16 weeks were up.
Similar rigor to A&P 1. The material is VERY detailed and time consuming. I loved the quality of the course. All tests were timed and proctored. A particularly challenging assignment involved creating your own Endocrine cheat sheet alongside a written Endocrine axis paper — the cheat sheet took hours, but I now have it as a permanent reference. Grading includes tests, quizzes, labs, and written assignments.
I wanted to stay consistent with the format I used in A&P 1. Knowing the course structure made it easier to dive straight into the material.
Advice for future students: Do not do any other courses at the same time. It's tough and time consuming, but if you're determined to really learn the material and have the money for it, do it. I spent about 20+ hours per week on this course.
Consistent with other UNE courses — good quality, well organized, proctored tests. Not as difficult as A&P since I had taken Biology ~15 years prior, though the material was rusty. I like biology which made it more manageable. Professor Chiocoine was kind, quick to respond, and fair about adjusting points on tests if you sent a message and reviewed the exam. I spent about 15 hours per week and finished in approximately 10 weeks.
Advice for future students: If you need to complete this course quickly and have the money for it, do it. Labs are involved and do take quite a bit of time.
I wanted to try a different university that cost significantly less than UNE. This class was much more affordable and completing it in 12 weeks was appealing.
Pre-recorded lectures were informative. The home lab kit involved hands-on work including earthworm and frog dissections with photo documentation. The genetics portion was particularly informative and helped me better understand probability concepts when I later took statistics. I spent about 10 hours per week. The hardest part was that the final exam is worth a large portion of the overall grade — you MUST know the material to do well.
Some questions on the midterm and final didn't align perfectly with lecture material. Responses were multiple choice. Also note: UCSD uses quarter credits — verify that your quarter credits meet semester credit requirements at your target programs.
Advice for future students: Classes fill up VERY quickly — register early. They're affordable, accredited, and have good structure. The genetics module alone is worth it.
I had AP credit from about 20 years ago and wanted to refresh before taking calculus-based physics. Barton was the most cost-effective option.
The material was clear, thorough, and well organized. The accelerated format meant all I did before and after work every single day for 6 weeks was calculus. There are a TON of problems to complete. Do the work and you will get a decent grade. Professor Stark is a fair grader — occasionally slow to grade, but the pace of the course makes batch grading understandable.
Advice for future students: I would not recommend the accelerated version to anyone who at their core does not like math. The traditional 16-week semester version would be very manageable. An A is only possible in the accelerated format if: 1) you like math AND 2) you've done calculus before.
Dr. Marshall is highly organized and extremely responsive. She wants her students to both learn and succeed. All lecture material is very thorough with video examples of how to work through every type of problem. She is a rigorous grader but provides all the information needed to be successful. The Rate My Professors rating is not accurate — she was awarded a Distinguished Instructor award in 2022. Follow the rubric and put in the effort and you'll be fine. She has her own course website — use it to preview upcoming material.
Material is clear and thorough. Labs are at-home with a purchased kit and do take a long time to complete, but they align well with course material. There are opportunities for some extra credit on labs. All quizzes and tests are browser locked and proctored. You cannot cheat in this course.
Advice for future students: Plan out your due dates for the entire semester before diving into the material. If you want to actually learn chemistry and need a cost-effective option, this is an excellent choice.
Same professor and same quality as Chemistry 1. Material is clear and thorough. A LOT of work — if you are short on time, this may not be the correct class for you. Labs coincide well with course material and you can earn extra credit by submitting early. Dr. Marshall responds to direct messages within 24 hours. You cannot cheat in this course. See her course website to preview how Chem 2 is structured.
Advice for future students: Take it one assignment at a time. Plan out your due dates for the whole semester before diving in. The fundamentals you learn here are essential for Organic Chemistry.
I had never taken anything like microbiology before and found the material fun and interesting to learn. The course was well organized, with clear learning objectives for each module. I particularly liked that we had to do a video recorded lecture presentation — it helped me learn the material more deeply. Labs were involved but didn't take too long. The professor does not go easy on you, so you must do the work in each module to succeed.
Advice for future students: I highly recommend this course. The at-home labs were genuinely fun. Cost effective and covers the microbiology concepts you need for AA programs.
Fairly straightforward. All online textbook and digital worksheets with older lecture videos covering roots, prefixes, and suffixes of medical words. Grading is straightforward. I was able to overlap this course with other courses throughout the semester. The professor allowed students to work ahead and I was able to finish well before the due dates. Quite a bit of busywork overall.
Not many MSA programs require this course as a prerequisite, but it's a relatively easy A and can help your GPA. It would be particularly helpful for someone who has not worked in a hospital or clinical setting before. Given my SLP background, I already knew most of the material.
Advice for future students: Inexpensive, easy, and worth taking if you need a GPA boost or haven't had significant healthcare exposure. The professor was a fair grader.
Statistics is not my favorite subject — I prefer to use and read statistics in actual research contexts. That said, Professor Harrington has great educational videos and well-organized lecture content. He clearly wants students to succeed and was open to questions about content, and flexible when text formatting issues affected a couple of exam questions. The course is fully online.
This is an entry-level statistics course. It may not cover an advanced statistics requirement if your target program specifies a higher-level course. Check your program's specific requirements before registering.
Advice for future students: If you need a quick statistics course, this is a good option. Cost effective and manageable.
Straightforward course, though it involves a TON of problems. If you like puzzles and math, it's essentially that but constant. Not as intense as the accelerated Calculus course. The midterm format was interesting — you record yourself working through specific problems and essentially "teach" them, which means you have to fully understand the concepts and steps, not just pattern-match. Professor Scott graded responsively and the course was essentially run through digital coursework. I supplemented with external video examples for more difficult concepts.
Advice for future students: If you want to boost your GPA, improve your math skills, or better prepare for Calculus and/or math-based physics courses, this is highly recommended. It's a solid foundation for both.
It continued the sequence of Chemistry courses I had previously taken at Barton Community College.
Dr. Marshall's Rate My Professor rating of 3.4 did not reflect my experience. She is a phenomenal teacher who genuinely wants to see you succeed — but you have to put in the time and effort. She is fair, and the grading reflects that.
The lab is at-home using a kit from Quality Science Labs, with an additional $50 lab fee paid at registration and a separate kit purchase required. The kit cost including shipping was $264 — your cost may vary. The online textbook was not my preferred format, but the course material was solid and the content was manageable with consistent effort.
I feel I learned the material well. It is an affordable course within the Barton sequence and covers Organic Chemistry content adequately for pre-AA requirements.
Advice for future students: Stay consistent — a little bit every day helps significantly. Dr. Marshall allows a small amount of extra credit on labs if you turn them in early. Take advantage of that. It can meaningfully affect your overall grade when the final comes around.
Timing and affordability. UCSD Extension fits within a manageable cost range and the quarter-credit schedule worked with my other commitments at the time.
Each section can have a different guiding professor. Dr. Moyzis was highly responsive to questions. Note that who teaches your section may vary.
The course was simple and straightforward. The workload was manageable — a discussion board post, student reply responses, and quizzes due each week. Read the textbook, study key concepts from the lectures, and you will do fine. There was an opportunity to complete an extra credit report that had the potential to earn quite a few points. Do your due diligence — it can offset mistakes or errors on quizzes.
The information inside the course was adequate. You get out of it what you put into it.
Advice for future students: Straightforward course. Stay on top of the weekly requirements and use the extra credit report opportunity. Be aware that UCSD Extension uses quarter credits — verify conversion requirements with the programs you are applying to before enrolling.
Reviewed from personal experience — cost, accreditation, rigor, schedule flexibility, and who each institution is best suited for.
Low cost, accredited, flexible sessions, and a wide breadth of prerequisite offerings. The go-to institution for working pre-AAs balancing a full-time job with coursework. Updated May 18, 2025.
Semester information is divided into different "Sessions" (Session 1, Session 2, etc.) ranging from as short as 4 weeks up to 16 weeks. Different course sections may have different session lengths — a 16-week course may cram all the information into as little as 4–6 weeks. Find the pace that works for you. Provides the full Microsoft Office suite annually.
Important note: As with all online classes, if you take courses from Barton Community College Online you cannot attend an Anesthesiologist Assistant graduate program that requires in-person prerequisites. Refer to individual program websites for detailed information on acceptance of online courses for admission.
Accredited, affordable, and completed in 12 weeks. UC San Diego's continuing education division with university-level name recognition. Caution: uses quarter credits — verify conversion requirements. Updated May 20, 2025.
Courses are 12 weeks long and you CANNOT work ahead. Classes fill up quickly. UCSD uses quarter credits — be careful to verify that your quarter credits meet or exceed semester credit requirements at your target AA programs. Use this quarter-to-semester conversion tool if needed.
Unique course offerings: Human Physiology (with or without lab), Cell & Molecular Biology — courses not commonly available at community colleges.
Quarter credit warning: Some AA programs specify semester credit requirements (e.g. NSU specifies semester credits per subject). Make sure your quarter-system credits satisfy those requirements. When in doubt, contact programs directly before enrolling.
High cost but exceptional quality. Self-paced within 16 weeks with rolling starts every 2 weeks. Outstanding student support. Choose UNE if you want to truly master the material — not just complete a checkbox. Updated May 19, 2025.
Courses start on a rolling basis every 2 weeks. You have 16 weeks to complete the material but can work as quickly as you'd like — if you're highly motivated, you can finish significantly faster. Unique offerings include Medical Physiology with lab, Cell Biology, and Molecular Biology courses rarely found elsewhere online.
Who is UNE best for? Students who want to truly learn the material and build a foundation that will carry them through AA school, not just check a prerequisite box. If cost is a significant barrier, Barton Community College covers most of the same courses at a fraction of the price — but if you can afford UNE and have the drive to work through rigorous coursework, the quality is worth it.