career change?

[thoughtsmeander]

hi everyone,

thanks for all your help regarding my last post.

Again, i am in my 6th semester of college, and will graduate with a BA degree in may 2004. I decided to change to premed halfway through college and will have completed the biology sequence by the end of this semester.

My initial plan was to complete gen chem over the course of next year, and then take physics and organic next year post-bacc---not necessarily part of a structured postbacc program, but at a local state school near my house. Then i would take the Mcats in spring 2006, and apply to med school.

My dilemma is this: Is it worth it to take the chemistry sequence next year? Should i just apply to astructured post-bacc for career changers, and concentrate on taking GPA booter classes my senior year? I realize this would probably take an extra year, but which do you suppose adcoms would look upon more favorably?

thank you

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[LoneCoyote]

What's your GPA like now? You don't have to answer that but it is something to think about. If you think you could use a boost, then maybe putting off chem wouldn't be a bad idea. Another thing to think about is how rigorous you want your post-bac experience to be. If you would rather be able to work, have more free time for volunteering, MCATs, while doing the science classes you might be better off getting the chem out of the way now. Also, I would advise you to look into extra requirements that med schools you think you are interested in may have. You may need to take more the minimum, ie biochem, genetic, statistics, calculus, etc. depending on the school. This could add more time to your post bac. I would pick the option that you think will make you a stronger applicant and remember that includes a lot of factors, including GPA, ECs, MCAT, experiences you've had. I personally do not feel the structured post-bac v. state school makes a difference in your application, unless you are applying into a post-bac program with links to med schools.