Acceptance Statistics

[AggieMed05]

Hey everybody. I know that this topic comes up again and again but it seems like it never really gets completely dealt with (at least not to my satisfaction). Maybe it never will, but I'm not one to give up easily. With your help, I know we can all get to the bottom of this...

By now, I think that we all have a pretty good idea of which post-bacs (for applicants with little/no sciences) are considered the best. Thus far, my list consists of (in no particular order):
Tufts, Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Scripps, Mills, UPenn, Brandeis, Northwestern and Duquesne. While there are many other great programs out there and some of you might not agree with my list, that is not the issue at hand. I just mention those programs because it seems like they get the most attention on these forums.

I also think that by now we all have a pretty good idea of what we need to do to receive acceptances from the "top" programs...get "good" grades, obtain lots of clinical/volunteer/work experience, have some stellar LORs and write awesome personal statements.

The only problem that I see now is that nobody really knows how competitive they are at gaining admission to a given program. Since there are no stats on acceptance rates to post-bacs (that I know of), applicants seem to be left with a lot of guesswork to do. As an example, my pre-med advisor told me to apply to my top 4 choices and stop worrying about things, while my parents (who, admittedly, don't know a lot about post-bacs) advised me to apply to as many programs as possible and plan on not getting accepted to any of them. Although I think that these are two extremes, the fact still remains that I have no idea how many programs to apply to or how competitive I am at certain ones. Hopefully, some of you can help shed some light on things. Maybe you could post a summary of your stats, include where you applied/got accepted and what you think made the difference for you. Believe me, I am not trying to start a thread where everybody is going to try to outdo everyone else. I know that stats really don't tell the whole story about a person, but at this point I just want to have something to work with. SAT scores, GPAs, sciences taken, volunteer/research/work/shadowing experiences, and anything else you could say about yourself would really help me (and all the other curious SDN folk) figure out what kind of chances post-bac applicants have. If for no other reason, just do it to help this topic get some attention. I don't know of any other forums that have dealt with this issue, and if SDN doesn't do it I don't think anybody ever will. And if you won't post because you don't want your stats on a thread, at least PM me. I won't tell anybody, I promise. I just need some answers!

For those who respond, thank you SO MUCH in advance. The groundwork has been laid, hopefully for the last time. Now add your $.02, people!

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[TekkenDanser]

SAT scores, GPAs, sciences taken, volunteer/research/work/shadowing experiences, and anything else you could say about yourself would really help me (and all the other curious SDN folk) figure out what kind of chances post-bac applicants have.

SAT: 1470
MCAT: 27R
Undergrad: Duke
Overall GPA: 2.98
Science GPA: 2.72
Postbac: UWashington
Overall GPA: 4.0
Science GPA: 4.0
Miscellaneous EC's: mediocre

With those stats, I applied only to SMP programs: BU, SUNY-Buffalo, NYMC, UMDNJ, and Loyola. I was accepted at every school except Loyola. I chose BU and have found great success in continuing an upward trend of grades. The standards for getting into postbac or SMP programs are generally less stringent than the ones for medical school. Just keep that in mind and be optimistic! Good luck.

 

[Pemulis]

I don't want to get into posting my own stats, but I can tell you ballpark figures for some of the programs you mentioned:

Columbia and Penn: anybody w/ a 3.0 or greater should have no problem getting into these programs. Contrary to what you may have heard, they are not super competitive to get into. They are super competitive to STAY into. Harvard Extension school is also an excellent post-bac which has (for all intents and purposes) open admission.

Goucher and Bryn Mawr: Generally speaking, you'll need a 3.5 or greater, and probably 1200 or better on the SAT to be a viable candidate. I know that Goucher takes < 20% of applicants in a typical year. I believe that Hopkins and Scripps are also in this more competitive category.

Good luck.

 

[jamesrd]

It seems to me (and I may be wrong here) that the post-bacc's that are extremely comptitive fall into two catgories:

a) those like Bryn Mawr and Goucher that essentially guarantee that acceptance = matriculation into a linked medical school. One of their strongest assets is their matriculation rate, so they will make sure that they know those who are going in will meet the standards of the affiliated medical school.

b) the traditionally competitive schools that have a medical school (i.e. Johns Hopkins). They usually require not only great undergrad stats, but a history of accomplishment outside of school.

I'll tell you right not that I've not investigated these types of schools at length, as I simply don't have the option of going to school full-time. That said, I doubt that I would get into any even with a respectable undergrad history. I plan on going to the Harvard program next year, but the best piece of advice I can give you is to contact the programs you're interested in, as these are cash cows for the universities and they will be more than willing to respond, and I doubt they will want to waste their time with someone they know will be rejected based upon their quantative history.

 

[hokiemon]

I graduated with a 3.8 in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech (3.9 in-major) but my high school SAT was only 1160. I didn't really study for it which I guess was my own fault, but is that going to hurt me now, 6 years later...?

 

[AmyGW]

I graduated with a 3.8 in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech (3.9 in-major) but my high school SAT was only 1160. I didn't really study for it which I guess was my own fault, but is that going to hurt me now, 6 years later...?

I honestly don't know if that will hurt you, but if you are concerned about it, take the GRE. I know a lot of post-bacs accept both, so study for it, and if you get a good score, that will offset your SAT.