I am a 26 yr old career (paid) Firefighter/EMT-B with just about 2 years of HCE hours due to my EMT portion of the job.
I have a bachelor of science (non science) from back in to 2007-2011 with an overall gpa of just over a 3.0)... I did however minor in Psychology so I have all of the Psych classes and the Statistic classes taken care of. While in college I took human biology and environmental biology *Both with labs* and did not do so great (freshman year was a mess) received a 'C' in both of those classes.
It looks like I would have to take 5 or so pre-req classes in order to apply to most schools. (chemistry/a&p/etc)
The department i work for now has offered to send me through ALS school in order to obtain my EMT-I and P starting summer 2016. All in all this should roughly take about 2 years to complete all the coursework and training required thru my department.
HERES MY QUESTION: Should I hold off on taking pre-reqs and accept the offer to Medic school? spend 2 more years getting HCE and boosting my rep from a EMT-B to a Paramedic and THEN take the pre-reqs and apply? (By this time ill be 29 or so years old - so by the time i finish the 5 prereqs ill be looking at 31-32 yrs old at time of application)...
OR
Should I hold off on Medic school and start taking the prereqs immediately and bank on using my EMT-B HCE hours to meet school requirements? Does EMT-B vs Medic hours really make a difference? (If i did it this way i would be able to finish pre-reqs by 28-29 years of age and apply)
Is my overall GPA of a 3.0 too low anyways? > Will my pre-req classes add into my overall GPA (raising it hopefully - even if i Aced all pre-req classes it still would only bring my GPA to around a 3.4 or so)?
Will schools count my two biology classes (that i got "C"s in) as "science GPA classes" and disqualify me because it isnt above a 3.0? or will they only focus on my recent pre-req science classes?
Lots of questions, I appreciate all and any reasonable responses.
M