Any recent reviews of the UC Berkeley Extension Post-Bacc?

I was very interested in applying to the UC Berkeley Extension Post-Bacc program, but after reading mixed reviews on this forum, I was a bit hesitant about going through with it.

I spoke with Patrick Brown (Program Director) via e-mail a few times about the program, and he was always very helpful in answering my questions. He told me that this admissions cycle, they have had students accepted to "Harvard, Yale, UCSF and the other UC schools, Washington U at St. Louis, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio State, UVA, Cincinnati, Tulane, Northwestern, etc."

Is there anyone currently on this forum that can tell me more about this program? Does it still have a fairly negative reputation like it did a few years ago when it was first starting out, or have things changed?

Thanks for any info!

CJT1983 said:

I was very interested in applying to the UC Berkeley Extension Post-Bacc program, but after reading mixed reviews on this forum, I was a bit hesitant about going through with it.

I spoke with Patrick Brown (Program Director) via e-mail a few times about the program, and he was always very helpful in answering my questions. He told me that this admissions cycle, they have had students accepted to "Harvard, Yale, UCSF and the other UC schools, Washington U at St. Louis, Minnesota, Colorado, OhioState, UVA, Cincinnati, Tulane, Northwestern, etc."

Is there anyone currently on this forum that can tell me more about this program? Does it still have a fairly negative reputation like it did a few years ago when it was first starting out, or have things changed?

Thanks for any info!

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Pro's:
1) The program directors are very nice and helpful.
2) You have the option to do the program *OR* take classes a la carte.
3) Did I mention all their courses are $810? Try taking a summer course at UCB - you're looking at $1100+. At my home institution? $3000.
4) You can still have a full time job; almost all the courses are from 630-930PM on either MW or TTh, with the exception of the scary-sounding (at least to me) 5-hour Saturday Only courses.
5) You get access to advising.
6) Classes are held all over the Bay: SF, Redwood, on UC Berkeley, Oakland.

Con's
Who are you? Are you a) the "major repair" dude, b) the "wants to retake a class, floating an application cycle" girl, or the c) working adult career-changer man? Keep this in mind when you read the following:

1) The program is really designed for working adults. All of the classes are from 6:30-9:30pm weekdays so you can only reasonably take 2 courses a semester.
2) If you need to retake one or two courses, this could be ideal for you. Their certificate is 24ish credits. If you take 2 classes per semester (6 credits), it'll only take you a year and a half to do. That's not bad at all. But what if you need all the pre-requisites? What if you need major GPA therapy? That's a bit more daunting of a time commitment, and perhaps you might want to look at doing a really intensive, formal post-bac. But that's a personal choice. Like I said, you could be a career-changing working adult have a completely different set of constraints than the rest of us (family, financial [loans are scary]).
3) This isn't so much a negative as much as it is annoying - Occasionally you have to go to different areas of the Bay to get the courses you want. I wanted to take Cell Biology and Biochemistry. I also wanted to take BART. Biochemistry was offered in SF (Market Street) but Cell Biology was only offered in Redwood. The stars didn't align for me.

Admittedly, I dropped my courses after getting into Drexel IMS - I went to the first day of classes and enjoyed it. I was really serious about taking some classes there. I didn't see any negatives for my situation, but everyone is different. Good luck.

aidama said:

Con's
Who are you? Are you a) the "major repair" dude, b) the "wants to retake a class, floating an application cycle" girl, or the c) working adult career-changer man? Keep this in mind when you read the following:

I would put myself in the career-changer category. I'm 26 years old, and I got my degree in a non-science field three years ago.

1) The program is really designed for working adults. All of the classes are from 6:30-9:30pm weekdays so you can only reasonably take 2 courses a semester.

That's fine with me, I'd most likely need to work at least part-time, since I'd have to move to the area to attend, which would mean new expenses.

2) If you need to retake one or two courses, this could be ideal for you. Their certificate is 24ish credits. If you take 2 classes per semester (6 credits), it'll only take you a year and a half to do. That's not bad at all. But what if you need all the pre-requisites? What if you need major GPA therapy? That's a bit more daunting of a time commitment, and perhaps you might want to look at doing a really intensive, formal post-bac. But that's a personal choice. Like I said, you could be a career-changing working adult have a completely different set of constraints than the rest of us (family, financial [loans are scary]).

I need all of the pre-req's, and Patrick Brown, the program director, told me it would take me about 4 semesters plus 1-2 summer sessions, which would basically be two years.

3) This isn't so much a negative as much as it is annoying - Occasionally you have to go to different areas of the Bay to get the courses you want. I wanted to take Cell Biology and Biochemistry. I also wanted to take BART. Biochemistry was offered in SF (Market Street) but Cell Biology was only offered in Redwood. The stars didn't align for me.

I'm of the "you gotta do what you gotta do" mindset, so I'll do what it takes.

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I addressed the cons above. I looked into a few of the programs in California, but haven't had much luck. The UC programs are for disadvantaged people, so I didn't qualify for those. USC said that my GPA was too low for their program (I have 2.97 cumulative, their minimum is 3.0, and their average this past term was 3.45) so I'd have to take classes at a community college to get my GPA up high enough to apply, and even then it's not a guarantee. Loyola Marymount basically said the same thing as USC.

I really want to stay in California, so if there are better programs in the state that I'm not aware of, please let me know. UC Berkeley Extension has been the most helpful and encouraging so far, which is why I have focused on them, but I haven't applied to anything yet, so I'm open to hearing about other programs and seeing what it would take.

CJT1983 said:

I addressed the cons above. I looked into a few of the programs in California, but haven't had much luck. The UC programs are for disadvantaged people, so I didn't qualify for those. USC said that my GPA was too low for their program (I have 2.97 cumulative, their minimum is 3.0, and their average this past term was 3.45) so I'd have to take classes at a community college to get my GPA up high enough to apply, and even then it's not a guarantee. Loyola Marymount basically said the same thing as USC.

I really want to stay in California, so if there are better programs in the state that I'm not aware of, please let me know. UC Berkeley Extension has been the most helpful and encouraging so far, which is why I have focused on them, but I haven't applied to anything yet, so I'm open to hearing about other programs and seeing what it would take.

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4+2 sounds about right. I don't know how they coordinate with scheduling labs. I know most of the labs are held in Oakland community college campuses.

What is stopping you from taking your pre-requisites at, say, your local university (open-enrollment) or a community college? I know SDN has a bias against pre-requisites at a CC, but as a career changer, your situation is different. I think UCB Extension's biggest advantage are the upper-division classes they offer.

aidama said:

4+2 sounds about right. I don't know how they coordinate with scheduling labs. I know most of the labs are held in Oakland community college campuses.

What is stopping you from taking your pre-requisites at, say, your local university (open-enrollment) or a community college? I know SDN has a bias against pre-requisites at a CC, but as a career changer, your situation is different. I think UCB Extension's biggest advantage are the upper-division classes they offer.

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My local university will not let me return since I have already completed a degree there. Just another problem associated with California's budget.

I haven't looked into taking anything at a community college, because I have been told by most people that Medical School's don't like to see many of the science courses taken at a community college.

I have mainly focused on Post-Bacc programs, because it would allow me to take everything I need in a relatively quick amount of time, and they are designed to help people in my situation. Also, Post-Bacc programs like the UC Berkeley Extension have people to help you with your med school applications, which isn't a guarantee at a local university or community college.

How about the Post-Bacc program at the Cal State - EB? Have you considered that?

I am also a career changer as well and am debating which on to take - CSUEB or -UCB - extension.

Hi, I know is this a relatively old thread but I'm very curious to what you guys have decided in the end? Did you choose UCB extension? Can you please rate/comment on how the classes are? The difficulty level? I recently graduated and need major gpa repair. Please, any feedback on this program is appreciated. Thank you.

I am also interested in anyone's experience with UCB's extension program. How was the application process? What about classes and finishing the pos-bacc (applying to med schools)? Thanks!