American VS Columbia Postbaccalaureate Premed Program

[MW1N5D4]

Hi all,

I recently got accepted to both American and Columbia Postbac program. I would like to get any suggestions that I can get from people who went through one of those program or who was in same situation as me and made decision then move on to the next level, Medical Schools. Things that I am really focus on are:

Cost
Reputation
Flexibility
Class sizes
Grading system
Advising and guiding
Committee Letter
Offer MCAT preparation program or courses
Getting (A)s vs (B)s
Chances of getting into any Med Schools, MD or DO, preferably, Texas Med Schools.

Thank you all in advance for your insightful information.

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[MW1N5D4]

Hi all,

I recently got accepted to both American and Columbia Postbac program. I would like to get any suggestions that I can get from people who went through one of those program or who was in same situation as me and made decision then move on to the next level, Medical Schools. Things that I am really focus on are:

Cost
Reputation
Flexibility
Class sizes
Grading system
Advising and guiding
Committee Letter
Offer MCAT preparation program or courses
Getting (A)s vs (B)s
Chances of getting into any Med Schools, MD or DO, preferably, Texas Med Schools.

Thank you all in advance for your insightful information.

Anyone care to share?

 

[deleted248403]

Anyone care to share?

Chill this forum isnt as active as the nutcases over in pre-allo. You should typically wait a day or two before bumping your own post.

Never seen or heard anything about American on here - so I would take that as a bad sign.
Columbia is well discussed on here - both the pros and cons; are you taking the pre-reqs or doing the nutrition program they have?

 

[MW1N5D4]

Chill this forum isnt as active as the nutcases over in pre-allo. You should typically wait a day or two before bumping your own post.

Never seen or heard anything about American on here - so I would take that as a bad sign.
Columbia is well discussed on here - both the pros and cons; are you taking the pre-reqs or doing the nutrition program they have?

Hi thanks for hopping in.
I am going to do the Pre-reqs. According to American Stat, they have approximately 90% accepted into medical schools over the last 12 years. I would like to get any useful information that will help me in my decision making process over this two programs. Thanks!

 

[deleted248403]

Hi thanks for hopping in.
I am going to do the Pre-reqs. According to American Stat, they have approximately 90% accepted into medical schools over the last 12 years. I would like to get any useful information that will help me in my decision making process over this two programs. Thanks!

In general - don't believe the numbers they quote to you. The program I went to claimed 85% and it was nowhere near that. The other reason I question it is there hasn't been much discussion here of it - if a program was so successful it would have come on the forum at some point.

 

[MW1N5D4]

In general - don't believe the numbers they quote to you. The program I went to claimed 85% and it was nowhere near that. The other reason I question it is there hasn't been much discussion here of it - if a program was so successful it would have come on the forum at some point.

Did you go to Columbia?

 

[The Helpful Aye Aye]

Did you go to Columbia?

I did. Percentages both at Columbia and the majority of other schools are based of the number of people they allow to apply. If they don't think you'll make it, they won't write you a committee later.

 

[deleted248403]

Did you go to Columbia?

Nope

I did. Percentages both at Columbia and the majority of other schools are based of the number of people they allow to apply. If they don't think you'll make it, they won't write you a committee later.

Also they are self-reported numbers so the kids that don't get in don't go out of their way to email the program telling them they didn't get in. Also, they use "professional school" very loosely - most ppl could get into a Carib or foreign (i.e. Polish) med school right now - so to say that "90% of ppl get into professional school" isn't really telling you very much given a) how the data is reported and b) what they include in the data set

 

[MW1N5D4]

Nope

Also they are self-reported numbers so the kids that don't get in don't go out of their way to email the program telling them they didn't get in. Also, they use "professional school" very loosely - most ppl could get into a Carib or foreign (i.e. Polish) med school right now - so to say that "90% of ppl get into professional school" isn't really telling you very much given a) how the data is reported and b) what they include in the data set

Could you please share your experience of Columbia postbac based on my focus lists? Thanks.

 

[The Helpful Aye Aye]

Could you please share your experience of Columbia postbac based on my focus lists? Thanks.

You do realize he said he didn't go there right

 

[MW1N5D4]

You do realize he said he didn't go there right

Opps! Sorry. Actually, I was asking you, not him. Using my phone and didn't realize I was asking to the wrong person.

 

[PreMedCadet]

I did American's post-bacc program.

Cost - pretty expensive (about 30K for ~6 classes, this does not include any living expenses)
Reputation - not entirely sure. It seemed fine for me. I went to an Ivy for undergrad where I started my premed classes but didn't finish them. I was never asked why I chose American and no one ever inferred that I went to a lower ranked school for post-bacc. Actually everyone commented on how excellent my post-bacc grades were.
Flexibility - you take classes with the undergrads so you have to be available when those classes are offered. However, the amount of classes that you take is completely up to you. They have a certificate program but I don't know anyone who actually completed the certificate because it was typically many more classes than we all needed to apply to our professional schools.
Class sizes - I considered them fairly small. I'd say around 50 or so for lecture, or at least that's what it felt like.
Grading system - fair and typical. Orgo was nice in that if we either were happy with our grades before the final or had an A in the class before the final (can't remember which one of these conditions it actually was), we didn't have to take the final if we didn't want to.
Advising and guiding - I used my undergrad for this so I have no idea.
Committee Letter - Used my undergrad.
Offer MCAT preparation program or courses - Not to my knowledge, but again, I didn't use American for this.
Getting (A)s vs (B)s - not sure what you mean by this. If it helps, I got a 4.0.
Chances of getting into any Med Schools, MD or DO, preferably, Texas Med Schools. - no clue about Texas schools (I'm an east-coaster). I got into some fantastic schools though (top 20s included), as did at least two of my fellow classmates who are now entering their second year in great MD programs.

I would also emphasize that this is completely reflective of my experience at American, and other people's may have been totally different. What I really liked was that the professors seemed to care much more about teaching and ensuring that you actually understand the material as compared to what I experienced in undergrad. Granted, the fact that I was 4 years older and taking things more seriously than undergrad could have also had an effect. The physics department had amazing tutoring hours offered every day, I believe. And the Orgo professor was phenomenal.

 

[MW1N5D4]

I did American's post-bacc program.

Cost - pretty expensive (about 30K for ~6 classes, this does not include any living expenses)
Reputation - not entirely sure. It seemed fine for me. I went to an Ivy for undergrad where I started my premed classes but didn't finish them. I was never asked why I chose American and no one ever inferred that I went to a lower ranked school for post-bacc. Actually everyone commented on how excellent my post-bacc grades were.
Flexibility - you take classes with the undergrads so you have to be available when those classes are offered. However, the amount of classes that you take is completely up to you. They have a certificate program but I don't know anyone who actually completed the certificate because it was typically many more classes than we all needed to apply to our professional schools.
Class sizes - I considered them fairly small. I'd say around 50 or so for lecture, or at least that's what it felt like.
Grading system - fair and typical. Orgo was nice in that if we either were happy with our grades before the final or had an A in the class before the final (can't remember which one of these conditions it actually was), we didn't have to take the final if we didn't want to.
Advising and guiding - I used my undergrad for this so I have no idea.
Committee Letter - Used my undergrad.
Offer MCAT preparation program or courses - Not to my knowledge, but again, I didn't use American for this.
Getting (A)s vs (B)s - not sure what you mean by this. If it helps, I got a 4.0.
Chances of getting into any Med Schools, MD or DO, preferably, Texas Med Schools. - no clue about Texas schools (I'm an east-coaster). I got into some fantastic schools though (top 20s included), as did at least two of my fellow classmates who are now entering their second year in great MD programs.

I would also emphasize that this is completely reflective of my experience at American, and other people's may have been totally different. What I really liked was that the professors seemed to care much more about teaching and ensuring that you actually understand the material as compared to what I experienced in undergrad. Granted, the fact that I was 4 years older and taking things more seriously than undergrad could have also had an effect. The physics department had amazing tutoring hours offered every day, I believe. And the Orgo professor was phenomenal.

Thank you very much for your valuable information.

 

[Kailey18]

Hi all,

I recently got accepted to both American and Columbia Postbac program. I would like to get any suggestions that I can get from people who went through one of those program or who was in same situation as me and made decision then move on to the next level, Medical Schools. Things that I am really focus on are:

Cost
Reputation
Flexibility
Class sizes
Grading system
Advising and guiding
Committee Letter
Offer MCAT preparation program or courses
Getting (A)s vs (B)s
Chances of getting into any Med Schools, MD or DO, preferably, Texas Med Schools.

Thank you all in advance for your insightful information.

Hi! It's great to hear that you got into Columbia's premed postbac program. I would just like to know how much clinical and volunteer experience you had to do to get in the program? How many hours and for how long a period (6 months, 1 year, etc.)? Do you recommend I quit my day job to dedicate all my time to clinical & volunteer experience? I'm aiming for Columbia's premed postbac program and would like to start working on the experiences required to apply for school year 2017.

Looking forward to your response! Thank you!

 

[cheese17]

Hi all,

I recently got accepted to both American and Columbia Postbac program. I would like to get any suggestions that I can get from people who went through one of those program or who was in same situation as me and made decision then move on to the next level, Medical Schools. Things that I am really focus on are:

Cost
Reputation
Flexibility
Class sizes
Grading system
Advising and guiding
Committee Letter
Offer MCAT preparation program or courses
Getting (A)s vs (B)s
Chances of getting into any Med Schools, MD or DO, preferably, Texas Med Schools.

Thank you all in advance for your insightful information.

I am interested in both of these programs as well! I don't know much about their acceptance rates though and I'm wondering if you could help. I'm very interested in Columbia's program but I have no idea what my chances are of getting in. I have a 3.6 GPA from University of Michigan College of Engineering. I've taken a few science classes required by my major, but I don't have a particularly high science GPA. I do have some clinical work experience (~8 mo. of direct patient care), and I currently work as a management engineer in the Emergency Department at UM. Since you were recently accepted, would you have any idea of my chances of getting in?

 

[MW1N5D4]

Hi! It's great to hear that you got into Columbia's premed postbac program. I would just like to know how much clinical and volunteer experience you had to do to get in the program? How many hours and for how long a period (6 months, 1 year, etc.)? Do you recommend I quit my day job to dedicate all my time to clinical & volunteer experience? I'm aiming for Columbia's premed postbac program and would like to start working on the experiences required to apply for school year 2017.

Looking forward to your response! Thank you!

Sorry. It's been awhile. I work as a Hospital Corpsman and Medical Lab Technician in the Navy for about 4 years. I don't think Columbia really care about how much clinical and volunteer experience you have. I did not go to Columbia mainly because I heard a lot about curve grading and I did not want to take that chance. I would recommend you to try getting into George Washington University's PostBac. GWU's PostBac is relatively new but it looks very promising. It won't cost much compare to Columbia. Good Luck!

 

[MW1N5D4]

I am interested in both of these programs as well! I don't know much about their acceptance rates though and I'm wondering if you could help. I'm very interested in Columbia's program but I have no idea what my chances are of getting in. I have a 3.6 GPA from University of Michigan College of Engineering. I've taken a few science classes required by my major, but I don't have a particularly high science GPA. I do have some clinical work experience (~8 mo. of direct patient care), and I currently work as a management engineer in the Emergency Department at UM. Since you were recently accepted, would you have any idea of my chances of getting in?

Sorry, It's been awhile. I am positive that you have a high chance of getting into both programs. Honestly, I do not know about their acceptance rates either. Good Luck!