Pros and cons (Mills vs. SFSU)

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I would like to know the pros and cons of attending either of these post-bacs.
I was dead set on attending Mills until this past week when several people told me they dropped out of the program and to not attend there. We didn't have time to go into detail about why it would be a bad idea to attend, but now I am torn between Mills or SFSU (formal post-bac). Are SFSU's programs all during the day? Weekdays only? Which provides better clinical and research opportunities. I have no prerequisites completed, and I want to boost my GPA, and I would be considered an URM. I live in San Jose so both would be about the same distance. Do people from the SFSU program ever make it into a school like Stanford? How is parking at SFSU? Is there financial aid for the formal post bac program at SFSU, if so how much?
 
Lizzi said:
I would like to know the pros and cons of attending either of these post-bacs.
I was dead set on attending Mills until this past week when several people told me they dropped out of the program and to not attend there. We didn't have time to go into detail about why it would be a bad idea to attend, but now I am torn between Mills or SFSU (formal post-bac). Are SFSU's programs all during the day? Weekdays only? Which provides better clinical and research opportunities. I have no prerequisites completed, and I want to boost my GPA, and I would be considered an URM. I live in San Jose so both would be about the same distance. Do people from the SFSU program ever make it into a school like Stanford? How is parking at SFSU? Is there financial aid for the formal post bac program at SFSU, if so how much?
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Stanford is an extremely research oriented school, so you would need a lot of basic science research in addition to stellar stats to be considered for admission. I kind of doubt you'll be able to get that type of experience from SFSU but anything is possible.
 
Go to Mills if you want personalized attention and can afford it. Opportunities for research EC's are to be had by the resourceful throughout the Bay Area.
 
Nasrudin said:
Go to Mills if you want personalized attention and can afford it. Opportunities for research EC's are to be had by the resourceful throughout the Bay Area.
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While this is true, if you want to be a competitive candidate for Stanford, you should have extensive research experience and ideally publications where you are significant contributor, unless your stats are amazing, and even then you'll want significant research (meaning involved in experimental design and data analysis). Stanford asks right on the application what your citations are.
 
drizzt3117 said:
While this is true, if you want to be a competitive candidate for Stanford, you should have extensive research experience and ideally publications where you are significant contributor, unless your stats are amazing, and even then you'll want significant research (meaning involved in experimental design and data analysis). Stanford asks right on the application what your citations are.
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That was just my read on the nature of the questions. Not the plan I would recommend to someone I am familiar with. That would have been: Go to SJSU. Who the **** wants to drive up and down the highway for an hour or more to take some courses and to pay out the nose for them as well. The best research opportunities are the industries and labs that surround the China Basin or the UCSF, and Stanford University hospital affiliates for more clinical research. To a lesser extent at state. Mills is private postbac. Those with the quid pro quo for these programs need to do their own research. Not all of us are their employees.
 
Nasrudin said:
That was just my read on the nature of the questions. Not the plan I would recommend to someone I am familiar with. That would have been: Go to SJSU. Who the **** wants to drive up and down the highway for an hour or more to take some courses and to pay out the nose for them as well. The best research opportunities are the industries and labs that surround the China Basin or the UCSF, and Stanford University hospital affiliates for more clinical research. To a lesser extent at state. Mills is private postbac. Those with the quid pro quo for these programs need to do their own research. Not all of us are their employees.
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I just wanted some feedback from indivduals who had attended either program. Was it worth the cost? I would feel more comfortable in a formal program. SJSU doesn't have one. What would I sign up for at SJSU; a second bachelor's? Has anyone here attended SJSU, in particular, and liked the program? What kind of assistance did you receive when you inquired about research opportunities? How easy was it to sign up for classes there? Did you ever not get a chance to register for a class because there was no room. How are the professors? Class size? Financial aid? Where are you applying for med school? How well did the courses prepare you for the MCAT?
 
Lizzi said:
I just wanted some feedback from indivduals who had attended either program. Was it worth the cost? I would feel more comfortable in a formal program. SJSU doesn't have one. What would I sign up for at SJSU; a second bachelor's? Has anyone here attended SJSU, in particular, and liked the program? What kind of assistance did you receive when you inquired about research opportunities? How easy was it to sign up for classes there? Did you ever not get a chance to register for a class because there was no room. How are the professors? Class size? Financial aid? Where are you applying for med school? How well did the courses prepare you for the MCAT?
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I applied to SJSU for Spring08 post-bac. It’s a little weird how they seem to do it. Admissions told me there is no formal post-bac and that I need to apply either for a grad program or second bachelors, they don’t seem to know really. I applied as a 2nd bachelor’s undergrad in Bio and the status page shows up a post-bac status pending, everything else about the biology department seems to say that I would be in a post-bac program and they have a list of classes I need to take.
Here’s some info off the bio department.
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Biology/programs/postmed.html
Hope it helps.
 
Btw I missed that the OP was URM... why not UCSF?
 
drizzt3117 said:
Btw I missed that the OP was URM... why not UCSF?
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It doesn't sound as if she's taken any of the pre-reqs yet, and you need to have completed quite a bit of them in order to be eligible for the UCSF post-bacc program.
 
medskl09 said:
I applied to SJSU for Spring08 post-bac. It’s a little weird how they seem to do it. Admissions told me there is no formal post-bac and that I need to apply either for a grad program or second bachelors, they don’t seem to know really. I applied as a 2nd bachelor’s undergrad in Bio and the status page shows up a post-bac status pending, everything else about the biology department seems to say that I would be in a post-bac program and they have a list of classes I need to take.
Here’s some info off the bio department.
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Biology/programs/postmed.html
Hope it helps.
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Hey, I'm applying for SJSU for Spring 08 for my pre-med requirements. Hope to see you around.
 
Tizoc said:
Hey, I'm applying for SJSU for Spring 08 for my pre-med requirements. Hope to see you around.
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CSU's rock. Bump these weak-@ss rip off programs. F'up the MCAT for $250 and call it a day.

No offense to my man Dr. Rizz who doubtless has game, but you just can't buy guts or game so get taken by these programs if you are sucker or are just ballin and don't mind it.

I'm at one of these places now that loves the smell of its own **** and sells it in institutional supremacy propaganda. Don't believe the hype. If adcomm's believe it its because their rich boys that went to these places and bump them too because it doesn't make the doc.
 
I went to Mills and liked it a lot. Manageable class sizes for intro classes (30-40) where you get lots of individual faculty interaction (good for learning, good for LORs). Guaranteed schedule and classes (a big problem with SFSU when I looked at them). Good overall atmosphere. Great match list. Of my graduating postbac class of 50 students, 6 or 7 ended up at UCSF.

I'll give you more details why you should go there if you give more details why you heard you shouldn't. The only big negative I can think of is cost. It ain't cheap. But just think of it as a 5th year of medical school.
 
Hello,

I have also applied for spring 2008 at SJSU to complete my premed courses.

Hope to see you both around!

-Tom
 
notdeadyet said:
I went to Mills and liked it a lot. Manageable class sizes for intro classes (30-40) where you get lots of individual faculty interaction (good for learning, good for LORs). Guaranteed schedule and classes (a big problem with SFSU when I looked at them). Good overall atmosphere. Great match list. Of my graduating postbac class of 50 students, 6 or 7 ended up at UCSF.

I'll give you more details why you should go there if you give more details why you heard you shouldn't. The only big negative I can think of is cost. It ain't cheap. But just think of it as a 5th year of medical school.
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Hey notdeadyet,

How competitive is Mills? What were your stats before you entered the program. I am considering doing a post bac and Mills would be ideal, but I am not sure I would get in. Is it too late to apply?
 
Almost Famous said:
What were your stats before you entered the program.
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I was funny, because most of my UG was gradeless (I went to UCSC). I had some recent night school classes, though.
Almost Famous said:
How competitive is Mills? <snip> I am considering doing a post bac and Mills would be ideal, but I am not sure I would get in. Is it too late to apply? [/
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Do a quick Internet search and you'll find all you need to know. Here's their FAQ page that answers all of your questions:

"How competitive is Mills?"
We look for strong academic performance or strong potential for it. Strength may be demonstrated by good grades, a B+ (3.2 GPA) average or better at the college level, and high standardized (SAT, ACT, GRE) test scores.

"Is it too late to apply?"
Priority applications are due February 1 for the fall semester.

Call and ask them if you're unsure about qualifications. It's a great program and has a great track record for acceptances to med school, especially in the UCs.
 
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