Some clarification on post bac classes please!

[fedfan100]

Hello sdn!

I have decided to pursue an informal style postbac program. I have spoken to two different pre-health advisors, one from the university I graduated from and the other at the university I plan to attend for classes. One advisor strongly recommends that I take higher level science courses that I have never taken before, claiming that medical schools prefer to see a post bac student who can succeed in these higher level classes over "freshman" level med school pre reqs, while the other strongly recommends that I repeat the medical school pre req classes (gen bio, gen chem, etc...), especially the ones I earned C's in. From doing research online, I have found several sources that recommend retaking the med school pre reqs and not too much on taking new, upper division bio classes.

Anyone on the forum can give feedback and clarify the situation?
Thanks in advance!!

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[fedfan100]

anyone?

 

[Buzzlightyear33]

They are both correct. I dont know your cGPA or sGPA but its always smart to retake prereqs that you got C's in. The other adviser is steering you toward a formal postbacc curriculum (programs that are SMPs, give certificates or 1 year Masters degrees). Its better to retake the lower level classes because doing poorly in upper level science courses shows you cant handle the difficult classes you will take during medical school.

 

[fedfan100]

Anyone else can offer any feedback on my situation?

With a low sGPA & cGPA, and pursuing an unstructured post-bac program as a non-matriculated student, what would be more beneficial; retaking med school pre-reqs or taking new science upper divs??

Would greatly appreciate any information!!!

 

[Person1345]

I have to say I was in a very similar situation. Rocky start to post-bacc. I took the latter (your Cal State advisor's advice) route and took multiple upper division classes (earned all A's). I did much better in these classes than in the intro classes. Namely, intro classes are a crap-shoot. I was competing against hundreds of freshman, I hadn't seen science material in several years. After that first year, I stuck with it, plowed through, and got better in every class I took.

Intro bio just skims biology on the surface. I found that the more detail I learned (such as in Cell Biology), the better I understood the mechanisms, the material—and the better I did in the class. Also, Intro Bio covers topics irrelevant to med school, such as learning/memorizing the tree of life etc. So, in some ways advanced classes allow you to focus more on what you want to learn and are just so much better.

Unless you got lower than a C in a class, I would continue taking upper level classes with the understanding that you will have to do well in them (A's, maybe an occasional other grade). I did this because, well, science is challenging and the school I did my coursework at was rigorous. I refused to apologize for a lower grade. I just improved in the next class I took.

But if your understanding in intro classes was so limited that you don't think you'll be able to handle upper level courses, perhaps consider retaking. If you got Cs in everything, consider why that was the case and readjust. If you're considering MD route (as opposed to DO), grade replacement is not an option, so keep that in mind. You will have to list both grades on the transcript and keep all GPAs.

Best of luck to you—you can make this work out. I anticipate matriculating MD in the fall—so I know it's possible, even with some Cs on the transcript.

 

[fedfan100]

I have to say I was in a very similar situation. Rocky start to post-bacc. I took the latter (your Cal State advisor's advice) route and took multiple upper division classes (earned all A's). I did much better in these classes than in the intro classes. Namely, intro classes are a crap-shoot. I was competing against hundreds of freshman, I hadn't seen science material in several years. After that first year, I stuck with it, plowed through, and got better in every class I took.

Intro bio just skims biology on the surface. I found that the more detail I learned (such as in Cell Biology), the better I understood the mechanisms, the material—and the better I did in the class. Also, Intro Bio covers topics irrelevant to med school, such as learning/memorizing the tree of life etc. So, in some ways advanced classes allow you to focus more on what you want to learn and are just so much better.

Unless you got lower than a C in a class, I would continue taking upper level classes with the understanding that you will have to do well in them (A's, maybe an occasional other grade). I did this because, well, science is challenging and the school I did my coursework at was rigorous. I refused to apologize for a lower grade. I just improved in the next class I took.

But if your understanding in intro classes was so limited that you don't think you'll be able to handle upper level courses, perhaps consider retaking. If you got Cs in everything, consider why that was the case and readjust. If you're considering MD route (as opposed to DO), grade replacement is not an option, so keep that in mind. You will have to list both grades on the transcript and keep all GPAs.

Best of luck to you—you can make this work out. I anticipate matriculating MD in the fall—so I know it's possible, even with some Cs on the transcript.

I appreciate the reply!
Sounds like good information. I have a strong desire to go MD but will apply to both MD and DO. I am leaning towards taking new upper level classes as I have done research on a lot of formal post bacc programs and their curricula are all based on upper level science courses. I am hesitant only to the fact that DO route will replace older grades with newer ones, which can potentially greatly boost my GPA, leading me to think that my chances of taking new upper level science courses to get into an MD are much lower than retaking pre-reqs and getting into a DO.