Are official post bacc programs a money grab?

[LittleBitNeuro]

I’ve been meeting with advisors at a couple local schools as I try to get my plan together.

School #1 is close to my house. They are a community college but do offer a couple 4 year degrees. No sort of post bacc support. I spent half the advising appointment straightening out that no, I’m not trying to get into the nursing program, I’m already a nurse. No I don’t want my BSN, I’m trying to be a doctor. She ended up giving me the email to the chemistry department head and said talk to them they will probably let me do whatever I want

School #2 is an hour away. 2 year community college but has a pretty new pre med post bacc program with dedicated advisors. The advisor seemed really excited for me and was able to give me a typed up plan of exactly what I need to do. Every class has a bunch of extra fees tacked on though

Both will be 1/10th the cost of the private university post bacc downtown (not affiliated with a med school)

My #1 is university of Washington (I know I know, it’s a reeeeeach) which says they don’t differentiate between CC and 4 year classes but they do take into account rigor of study, so who knows how much they actually care

In case it matters- cGPA 3.2 sGPA 3.5 15 years ago. Actually do want to go into rural primary care (I’m a hobby farmer) NP was the plan until I realized there’s no way that’s enough education to be independent with low resources around and I’d never be happy with it

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[AJS59]

How many classes are you looking to redo? If nothing else, the extra advising at school #2 is really helpful (especially if you can't get anything out of undergrad).

 

[LittleBitNeuro]

How many classes are you looking to redo? If nothing else, the extra advising at school #2 is really helpful (especially if you can't get anything out of undergrad).

Because the science pre reqs for nursing are a joke, all of them

 

[AJS59]

In that case I'd really recommend school #2 — talk to both to see but the extra advising is worth the cost

 

[Ohjennabow]

The program that's going to get you the pre-med pre requisites with the least amount of hassle is going to be your best bet. Where I live, a formal program is really the only way someone who already has a bachelor's degree can get the pre-med courses completed (all of the SoCal universities have restrictions on the bio/chem departments and courses due to demand/supply).

I am also a nurse and am in a formal post bac program and have been researching this process extensively. Yes, many schools will say they accept CC credits but "prefer" those taken at a 4-year university. There is a bias and it's not necessarily fair. If UW is your intended school, I'd do everything I could to make myself as competitive as possible since they're so insanely picky. (I'm assuming your a WA resident).

That being said...you need to do what is best for you in your specific circumstances. I know people that have done some of their pre-reqs at a CC and been admitted so it's possible! Good luck!