1 year post bacc, starting around January?? need help

[LupaCupcake]

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I am currently living in Germany taking classes on post (military post) to finish up my bachelor degree. Unfortunately they can only offer certain classes face to face here. Consequently, I cannot take my chemistry and physics here unless I did them online and I know that is a no-go for med school.

I will be moving back to the U.S around the end of November 2012. I want to knock out my chemistry and physics ASAP, I would prefer to do it in a year if possible. The problem I am finding with most of the one year programs is that they start when I would still be in Germany thus even if I went with one of them I can't actually do it in one year. I am trying to find a one year program that will let me start around January. I will have my bachelor degree done at that point with a 3.8 and way more biology than is required so I only need physics/chem. Any suggestions?

 

[DrMidlife]

Howdy. I suggest that a "program" is overkill for finishing prereqs, particularly with a high GPA and presumed resourcefulness from being in the military.

I suggest you just need to find a school that offers the prereqs off-cycle. Bigger public schools are a good bet. For example, UT Dallas (which has a really good health professions advising department) offers all the sequences starting every term. (I'm picking on UTD as an example here because they're really nicely organized.)

Generally you can figure out whether a school can meet your needs or not by:
1. Figuring out which courses are the prereqs (such as http://provost.utdallas.edu/wp/hpac/files/2011/09/Courses-of-Interest-to-PreHealth.pdf)
2. Finding the course schedule (or catalog) and seeing when the prereqs are offered (such as http://coursebook.utdallas.edu/). They won't likely show what will be offered in January, so look for previous year winter/spring term offerings.

I think you're saying you need to double up chem/ochem...if so, think ahead about getting permission to do this - usually genchem is a prereq for ochem, but if you have your act together you can get it done in parallel.

I would argue that it's preferable to complete prereqs at the end of a calendar year, so that you have time to do MCAT prep and get a good app together by May.

Best of luck to you.

 

[LupaCupcake]

Ultimately I just don't want to waste any time and I want to these prereqs knocked out fast. I am going to be 28 in a couple weeks...that is not really old, but it is old enough that if I can knock off a year I want to do it. I was looking at the post bacc formal programs because a couple of them seem to offer the one year programs although they all start before I would be back in the states. I really don't mind if it is a formal program or not, I just want to get them knocked out ASAP. I do have my act together as you mentioned hehe, I work well under pressure and it tends to push me to be more disciplined and pull out that ole military work ethic in me.

 

[DrMidlife]

Two potential schedules to consider:

Schedule #1 (non-formal program):
Jan 2013: start prereqs
Dec 2013: finish prereqs
Spring 2014: take MCAT
May/June 2014: apply to med school
August 2015: start med school

Schedule #2 (formal program with linkage):
June 2013: start program
Spring 2014: take MCAT
June 2014: finish program
August 2014: start med school

Non-formal program benefits: cheaper, flexible, more control over location
Non-formal program concerns: competitive registration for classes is common, federal financial aid isn't necessarily available, matriculated vs. non-matriculated status is a pain

Formal program benefits: fast, organized, reputable, linkage
Formal program concerns: expensive, locations are limited, very competitive admissions, may not be eligible with some prereqs already completed, limited list of linkage schools (and I believe they're all private/expensive)

Bryn Mawr, Goucher & Scripps are the classic linkage postbacs. I think Temple has one as well. Take a look in the stickies at the top of the forum for more info (from grads & current students).

Best of luck to you.