how to excel in post bac

[febreezeknees]

hi! this is already my second post here but i just wanted insight on how to excel in a diy post bac + how to set up my own curriculum. im going to have to take all my pre reqs (i only got a C and a D in the two I’ve taken), and maybe a few upper level courses. i read Goro’s guide which really made me feel inspired and nervous, but mostly inspired to just grind for the next few years to get into med school.

is it better to take 2 courses at the same time or 3? i feel like 2 might make me look weak as an applicant but I am probably working as i do this post bac. can i take some in the summer so i can start right after graduation? my plan was to take chem 1 & 2 in the summer and maybe calc as well. i ideally want to finish the post bac in 12-18 months, so what would the best pacing be?

also am just wondering how best to excel in a post bac. i want to make sure i do the best i can, and i want to ensure i have good study habits this last senior year before heading to the post bac. im a public health major so classes are not nearly as hard, but i want good study habits to maintain my gpa. any advice is really helpful and appreciated :’)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MissRibeye]

My experience: I started my DIY postbacc taking 2 classes; intro to chem and the first biology class. I cleared out my life of every nonessential obligation, annoyance, relationship, etc. I learned everything I could about the best study strategies (see Ali Abdaal’s YouTube channel for those!), made a realistic study schedule, asked questions in class whenever I had them, made flash cards, and went to office hours.

I went to bed early and woke up early every day, and only when I succeeded at all of that, I added another class. I never did more than 3 at a time plus 2 volunteer gigs. I worked very part time. I ate very healthy.

Don’t rush it. Ensure your success at the most foundational level first and get all of your foundational habits and skills down before adding more. This will serve you long term as you add even more difficult things in medical school, then residency and beyond.

knowing what is essential (your health is most essential) and prioritizing those things is what makes you successful at what matters to you most. Saying no to the rest keeps you sane and focused. Keep working on getting good at that.

 

[febreezeknees]

My experience: I started my DIY postbacc taking 2 classes; intro to chem and the first biology class. I cleared out my life of every nonessential obligation, annoyance, relationship, etc. I learned everything I could about the best study strategies (see Ali Abdaal’s YouTube channel for those!), made a realistic study schedule, asked questions in class whenever I had them, made flash cards, and went to office hours.

I went to bed early and woke up early every day, and only when I succeeded at all of that, I added another class. I never did more than 3 at a time plus 2 volunteer gigs. I worked very part time. I ate very healthy.

Don’t rush it. Ensure your success at the most foundational level first and get all of your foundational habits and skills down before adding more. This will serve you long term as you add even more difficult things in medical school, then residency and beyond.

knowing what is essential (your health is most essential) and prioritizing those things is what makes you successful at what matters to you most. Saying no to the rest keeps you sane and focused. Keep working on getting good at that.

thank you so much for your response - im going to start with two, too. this was incredibly insightful. i have always had trouble with saying no to other obligations but i know that i need to get better with prioritizing parts of my life. i also will not rush it! it seems tempting to but id rather have a strong foundation like you are saying.

how many semesters did it end up taking you? and did you have trouble with getting spots in classes? thank you so much again.

 

[MissRibeye]

thank you so much for your response - im going to start with two, too. this was incredibly insightful. i have always had trouble with saying no to other obligations but i know that i need to get better with prioritizing parts of my life. i also will not rush it! it seems tempting to but id rather have a strong foundation like you are saying.

how many semesters did it end up taking you? and did you have trouble with getting spots in classes? thank you so much again.

I was on a trimester schedule. It took 2 full school years including the summer term between them. I marked on my calendar the date and time I would be able to register for classes and set my alarms and did it ASAP. Never had a problem. This all gave me plenty of breathing room to slowly add volunteering, study for the MCAT after taking ALL pre-req classes, and spending good quality time on my application.

It looked like this:

Year 1:
-intro chem
-bio 1

-chem 1
-bio 2
-pre-calc math

-chem 2
-bio 3
-statistics

Summer term
-chem 3
-physics 1
-meditation 101

Year 2:
-ochem 1
-physics 2
-psych 101

-ochem 2
-physics 3
-dev psych

-ochem 3
-biochem

 

[Gaborik10]

I agree with the advice above.

During my post-bacc I took two courses at a time (not counting the associated labs). Initially I had no extra-curricular other than my part-time job to pay the bills, then slowly added volunteering, research, etc. I studied 3 months for my MCAT and since my scores weren't where I wanted them to be I delayed it it another 4 months. I ended up applying a year later than the people in my cohort and in total my post-bacc took 3 years but I got the score I wanted and I got in.

Prioritize getting A's and developing the foundational academic skills to obtain the A's above all else. No one will care that you took 3 classes per semester instead of 2 if you aren't getting A's. Start slow with two courses at a time, especially since you are working. No extracurriculars. Once you are getting A's with that workload, you should add one thing at a time. The bottom line is, sure 3 courses at once looks better than 2... but if you are getting B's instead of A's thats a major problem and no one will be impressed with the increased workload you took on.

I think success in a post-bacc is about having a very focused stepwise plan and not biting off more than you can chew. You don't want to rush this process. If it takes you an extra year because you need to go a little slower to get everything accomplished properly so be it. If you become a doctor, depending on what your age is you can have a 20,30,40 year career. One or two years now is nothing in the long run. Thats how you need to look at it.

Out of the people I did my post-bacc with, the #1 thing that held people back or prevented them from getting into med school was they would try to do too much at once or tried to rush the process to beat some arbitrary time goal they set for themselves.