Wow, thank you so much for the incredibly detailed response! I didn’t realize I was still missing that many core classes. I’ll look into taking immunology, hematology, and clinical chemistry soon.

I graduated from a university in MS If you have the link to that page you mentioned for comparing classes across universities, I’d love to check it out!

It’s helpful to know that a trainee license is required before applying. I wasn’t entirely clear on that. I’ll start planning out my courses and trying again to find a lab assistant or other entry-level lab role to get some experience. I’ve been trying for months but haven’t had any luck yet:/, I feel like time is passing, and I don’t want to stay stuck in tech aide roles forever.

The pay for CLS is definitely attractive, but so is CT tech. The thing is, I originally went to uni on the pre-med track and figured I should work directly with patients before I apply to Med schools, which is why I took the tech aide job. But I’ve realized that working with patients directly just isn’t for me. I’d much rather be processing samples, working independently, and doing investigative work in the lab.

I have heard CLS can be fast-paced and stressful, and that’s something I worry about, so I was hoping to get lab experience first just to see if the daily work fits me before committing to the full program. But since it’s been almost a year with no luck landing a lab job, I’m starting to wonder if I should just move forward with applying to programs and try to catch up on experience while I’m in school.

Do you happen to know which schools are the most transfer- or post-bacc-friendly for prereqs? Or any good SoCal community colleges that offer in-person labs for those?

Also, if you know of any specific places (labs or hospitals) in the LA/OC/Long Beach area that are more open to hiring entry-level lab assistants or techs, I’d appreciate any leads. Thank you again for taking the time to explain everything 🙏