An alternative approach to the post-bac process

[MrDrexler]

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There are two main roads for those looking to get their medical school prerequisite coursework completed:

1) A formal postbac, whether it be highly structured or largely independent

2) Staying at/returning to your alma mater to take these courses at your leisure.

I haven't seen much said about what I would call option 2A. Some universities allow you to take courses as a "non-degree" or "special status" student, where you independently design your course of study, and your grades go on an official transcript. Some schools have a very selective application process for this sort of thing, and some are not selective at all. The advantage of this approach is twofold, as I see it. First, it adds a few more options to the somewhat limited post-bac landscape, offering an avenue to take these science courses at places that don't offer formal postbacs, when in many cases we wish they did. Second, it (potentially) allows a graduate from a college without much of a reputation to take undergraduate courses in a much more rigorous environment, where their performance evaluation carries more weight - this is somewhat similar to one possible perk of a formal postbac, but with a bit of a twist.

Carnegie Mellon, just to name one, offers this option.

Has anyone taken this route?

 

[noy2005]

I considered it, but would not get to sign up for classes until every full time undergraduate did. My alma mater is a large state school (University of Illinois), not a viable option. I'll be doing postbacc.

 

[Sinclaire]

I took a summer course as a special visiting undergraduate in another state school to get transfer credit for my alma mater before graduating. I needed GPA improvement, so I decided to take more classes as a special visiting student since it let you take full-time as a post-bac unlike my alma mater. The downside is that special visiting undergraduates here, like any non-degree status at most schools, doesn't allow any sort of financial aid given. You pay out of pocket or get personal loans (banks generally won't give you student loans for non-degree seeking status). The status also might prevent you from participating in some internships and scholar programs.