Okay, answers to your questions are below.
1 What schools did you apply to and why Goucher?
I applied to all of the well-regarded postbac programs and was accepted at all of them. I chose Goucher because of the small class size, the postbac-only classes, the quality of instruction I perceived during my visit, and because of how impressed I was by the students I spoke to on my interview day. They seemed less stressed out and more confident about the whole process than postbacs I'd spoken to at other institutions.
2 I keep hearing and reading that post-bac is intense. What was your typical week as far as studying goes...did you study 3 hours a day, 5, 7? (I went to a liberal arts school and am used to studying a lot so I'm trying to compare).
The postbac year is intense. No getting around that. Goucher's program begins in the summertime with General Chemistry, and I'd say I spent around 4-5 hours per day studying from Monday-Thursday during that period. Exams are on Fridays at noon during the summer, and you're encouraged to take the whole weekend off -- which I did.
In the fall and the spring, I was studying whenever I wasn't in class, as a general rule, though I certainly took time out to socialize with my classmates, exercise, sleep, and do various other things that were important to me. I didn't think of it in terms of #s of hours, really... it's simply that studying became my "default" activity.
There's a lot of group study and collaboration that happens in such a small, intense program, so it was nice to be able to work with other people... I never felt I was going it alone, so to speak.
3 Where did you do your Tuesday volunteering?
I volunteered with an orthopedic surgeon at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, and also worked as a counselor at an STD clinic in Baltimore City. People choose all sorts of different things to do for their Tuesday volunteerism, and the program directors are really good about steering each student towards good volunteer activities in light of their particular interests and circumstances. The program has ties with lots of community organizations and research institutions, and postbacs get a thick booklet over the summer with names, descriptions, and contact details for all of the most highly-recommended volunteer opportunities. This makes it easy to "jump right in" and start volunteering in the fall.
4 What was your classes attrition rate and why did these people drop out?
No one dropped out of my class. This isn't unusual, although sometimes there will be one or two. I can't speak to why people drop out, but I can speculate that it's because they realize they're not as committed to medicine as they thought they were, or because they're having overwhelming difficulty with academics. I think the reason people drop out so infrequently is that the program only accepts those who have demonstrated that they're committed, and that they can do the work at a very high level.
5 Where you prepared for MCAT and med school. IF you aren't in med school, what are you doing now? Does Goucher help with finding jobs for the glide year?
The program includes intensive MCAT preparation that begins in the fall (once weekly) and accelerates in the spring (4 meetings weekly, and practice exams on Saturdays). At the end of all of that, you're more than prepared. As to preparation for med school, the study skills you develop as a postbac are, by all accounts, readily applicable to the first two years of med school. My classmates who linked and are now 1st-year med students tell me that while the volume of material is larger, the complexity is comparable. I look at my postbac year as having been "boot camp" for medical school, from an academic standpoint. It's very good preparation.
Goucher does help you find glide year jobs, if you choose not to link and go directly to med school. The program directors keep in touch with a large network of former postbacs, and also with researchers and clinicians who have positions available from year to year, and use this network to identify lots of great positions around the U.S.. These get sent out to students in the spring of the postbac year.
6. Were your teachers good and were they supportive?
Yes, teachers were uniformly supportive and enthusiastic, and generally speaking, the quality of instruction ranged from good to excellent. The professors at Goucher like teaching, and they like teaching postbacs in particular, and it shows.
Somebody else asked about GPAs of accepted students. I am not sure, but I believe that the floor for accepted students is around a 3.5, but probably averages somewhat higher than that.
Hope this all is helpful.
