Any info on University of Miami post-bacc?

[ragingbull]

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Hey guys, just wondering if anyone out there has gone through these two non-degree programs offered at UM? I'd be interested in Program B, which can be completed in 1yr, for those having fulfilled the pre-reqs.

The only info I could find was this .pdf:
http://www.as.miami.edu/assets/docs/Postbac.pdf

There seems to be a 3.3gpa cutoff for the past two years of academic work, which luckily is doable for me. Anyone else with info? Phil?? 😀

Thanks!

 

[morganlefay]

yea, i was looking at program B too. That's pretty much all the info I could find. the app form is really short, however, I think it's pretty expensive. I'm iffy on this one, obviously. 😛 Phil!? lol

 

[amgdoc]

anyone have info on this program? there is nothing mentioned on the website about a linkage with their med school.

 

[eurozo]

I was accepted at Program A this year. It was bizzare. Not only does their application require no recs or other info, but when they accept you, all they send is a registration form. No info on the program. No calls or emails. Nothing. I'm not going there, so unfortunately I don't have much more info than that. I don't believe they have any linkages or anything. It seems like they just throw you in with the undergrads in a completely unstructured program.

Sorry I don't have more info, and it's crazy that I don't considering they accepted me (albiet to Program A). My thought is you are better off going to state school than this program. The same level of structure, and at least state schools are cheap.

zo

 

[unfrozencaveman]

Hey guys-

I just finished my two years as a Miami postbac- and I guess they haven't improved on getting info out to their potential students. But, aside from the fact that it is pretty expensive, I have nothing but great things to say about it. The professors I had at UM were just as good, if not better than the science profs I had at UPENN as an undergrad. I had to do all of the classes (was history major in college), which was intense. Let me know your specific questions about UM, the program, advising, Miami, etc, and I'd be happy to answer them.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

About linkages- sadly there is none. But, UM will far and away be the school I have the best shot of getting into, from what I hear about Florida residency, my advisors, professors, etc...

 

[confusedmd]

I am very much interested in what you may have to share regarding UM's post bac. I have applied to program A and currently awaiting their decision for fall 2005. How was it? what is the prof/student ratio? do they prepare you well for the MCAT? what are the chances of getting accepted to their med school since you completed their post bac? provide specific details about the schedule if you can. did you get research opportunities, shadowing, the whole works. I am very curious because very little info is available on their website. How did you finance it because i know it's about $29,000./year, did you get FA? would you recommend it as opposed to doing the pre-med classes at FIU, which is State school and much cheaper. I'll appreciate any info you may have and may be willing to share. I have not yet been accepted, but hope to be and wish to attend UM med school as well. Options a bit limitted due to personal/family reasons (miami would be it!!). thanks in advance.

Hey guys-

I just finished my two years as a Miami postbac- and I guess they haven't improved on getting info out to their potential students. But, aside from the fact that it is pretty expensive, I have nothing but great things to say about it. The professors I had at UM were just as good, if not better than the science profs I had at UPENN as an undergrad. I had to do all of the classes (was history major in college), which was intense. Let me know your specific questions about UM, the program, advising, Miami, etc, and I'd be happy to answer them.

 

[youthman]

I'm very interested in some info as well. I applied to Program A, as a pre-vet med student. In addition to the above ?'s, how is the surrounding area? Is there affordable housing within driving distance? (I mean homes, not apartments or dorms...)

You say the professors were good - how accessible are they? How are the class sizes for the prereq's?

I would be moving from So. Cal if I went there.

Thanks!

 

[unfrozencaveman]

Hey-

Here are some more specifics...

I decided to go to UM kind of out of the blue after living in Philly for a few years after graduation. I applied to post-bacs at Harvard, Penn, and Columbia, and decided it would be best to move somewhere I literally knew no one so I could get my work done. Second to that, after getting to know the ivy league premeds as an undergrad, I kind of wanted to avoid that. I was pretty dissatisfied with what Harvard and Penn were offering, so at kind of the 11th hour I decided UM was it, pretty much armed with the info you guys have now- none.

I needed to take all of the courses (I can't remember which of the programs I am actually in, A or B)- so my first year I took bio, chemistry, and physics all with labs. This is a LOT of class. Lots of homework, lots of tests. First year I worked nonstop- had a job the second semester, which was a terrible idea. If you're doing that program, just worry about getting your classes done. It takes up all your time. My lectures were large- 150 in the intro sciences (postbac students always get first dibs at the classes so you wont get locked out of anything you need to take). Labs were smaller, obviously, and a fairly annoying amount of work. The lecture classes were 3 credits, the lab 1- and the second semester of bio lab required more work than the lecture, which was completely annoying, but not too awful considering the other labs are cake.

Professors were excellent- all of them extremely accessible, and even if they were difficult graders, would see determined students through. Miami students are epic complainers- so earnestness in classwork was always well received by the profs. Every lecture class had three exams and then a final (seemed like a lot compared to penn), physics also had homework and quizzes which added to the final grade.

The following summer, I took orgo I and II in 8 weeks. Seriously intense, but I learned the material and got the whole ordeal over with quickly (by the way, it's not as scary as people make it out to be). I left the lab for the fall and spring, and took biochem in the fall (FYI there are two intro biochem classes- take the easier (200 level) one. The hard one is way more work than it is worth. So, I just took the MCAT in april, while only taking one lab, so had a lot of time to study (not that I did, but I could have). The material covered on the MCAT was exactly what we did in the classes. Reviewing after while the material was relatively fresh wasn't too difficult, and there were no holes where I was trying to learn stuff I had never seen before. Who knows how I did on the real thing, but I never got less than a 30 on a practice.

hold on... to be continued...

 

[unfrozencaveman]

About the UM vs FIU dilemma... That is a tough call. UM is ridiculously expensive. You pay full tuition for a year, and then after that, you only pay a sort of a la carte, but you are definitely right in the ballpark of $25K. FIU would be substantially less, but, I would caution that FIU doesnt exactly have a national reputation, so I have no idea what their stats are for any med schools including UM. There were some pretty damned smart people though in my MCAT class who were taking classes there. But I have no idea about their stats and couldnt even guess. My goal is to go to UM too, and the way the premed office made it sound is that coming out of UM, I'd have a good shot. Many of the profs (particularly biology) are affiliated with the med school, and they take a good number of people from the school and just generally have a sense of what the postbac there entails. That may be total nonsense- unfortunately I wont find out for a couple months... But before I moved down here, I had no idea I could take this at FIU. No clue if I would do it differently now to save some $, but that wasnt a huge concern at the time I decided to go- so that is totally different for everyone.

Affordable housing though, there is plenty, and Miami now seems to be a pretty good investment. Rentals are fairly low, and south of the coral gables campus you can get pretty good deals. I lived in coconut grove when I first moved there (this was unresearched and I had to find a place in one day), and you're better off finding places (particularly entire houses) in South Miami/Kendall.
On top of that, I didnt think it would make such a difference, but Miami is just a fantastic place to live. Even weeks on end confined to a library, you're still happy to get out of bed in the morning.

Research, shadowing, etc, all a phone call away. Really easy to get work at Jackson doing whatever you want.

So, in summary, it's a tough call. I moved down here very uninformed and pretty spontaneously, but I am so glad I did it. At least I am now. Of course, I dont yet have any results in terms of admissions to show you guys, but hopefully it will work out. Good luck with postbacc, wherever you go. It's tough, but I found it extremely satisfying.

 

[confusedmd]

thanks the info is very helpful. what about finacial aid? I hope you get into UM med school. I do know that they have a good rep and see a lot in terms of med cases etc... through JMH. thanks again and enjoy.

About the UM vs FIU dilemma... That is a tough call. UM is ridiculously expensive. You pay full tuition for a year, and then after that, you only pay a sort of a la carte, but you are definitely right in the ballpark of $25K. FIU would be substantially less, but, I would caution that FIU doesnt exactly have a national reputation, so I have no idea what their stats are for any med schools including UM. There were some pretty damned smart people though in my MCAT class who were taking classes there. But I have no idea about their stats and couldnt even guess. My goal is to go to UM too, and the way the premed office made it sound is that coming out of UM, I'd have a good shot. Many of the profs (particularly biology) are affiliated with the med school, and they take a good number of people from the school and just generally have a sense of what the postbac there entails. That may be total nonsense- unfortunately I wont find out for a couple months... But before I moved down here, I had no idea I could take this at FIU. No clue if I would do it differently now to save some $, but that wasnt a huge concern at the time I decided to go- so that is totally different for everyone.

Affordable housing though, there is plenty, and Miami now seems to be a pretty good investment. Rentals are fairly low, and south of the coral gables campus you can get pretty good deals. I lived in coconut grove when I first moved there (this was unresearched and I had to find a place in one day), and you're better off finding places (particularly entire houses) in South Miami/Kendall.
On top of that, I didnt think it would make such a difference, but Miami is just a fantastic place to live. Even weeks on end confined to a library, you're still happy to get out of bed in the morning.

Research, shadowing, etc, all a phone call away. Really easy to get work at Jackson doing whatever you want.

So, in summary, it's a tough call. I moved down here very uninformed and pretty spontaneously, but I am so glad I did it. At least I am now. Of course, I dont yet have any results in terms of admissions to show you guys, but hopefully it will work out. Good luck with postbacc, wherever you go. It's tough, but I found it extremely satisfying.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

Can't help you with the FA questions, unfortunately. Good luck!

 

[jeepgirl]

thanks the info is very helpful. what about finacial aid? I hope you get into UM med school. I do know that they have a good rep and see a lot in terms of med cases etc... through JMH. thanks again and enjoy.

I'm going to hesitiate a guess that the financial aid situation is similar to other post-bac programs. Since you've already completed your degree, the only thing you're really eligible for are loans. There's a limit to the amt of gov't loans you can get, and I imagine that UM's tuition costs are considerably higher. To make up the difference, you'd probably need to look into private loans. Your best bet is to contact UM's FA dept.

If money is an issue, and you have your heart set on UM, you might look into trying to pick up a job at the university then taking advantage of their tuition remission program. It'd probably take you two years to complete all your coursework, though. Oh yeah, tuition remission/assistance isn't limited to UM, most universities offer it. Just another option to look at ...

Good luck 🙂

 

[Lakesia Harris]

Hey guys-

I just finished my two years as a Miami postbac- and I guess they haven't improved on getting info out to their potential students. But, aside from the fact that it is pretty expensive, I have nothing but great things to say about it. The professors I had at UM were just as good, if not better than the science profs I had at UPENN as an undergrad. I had to do all of the classes (was history major in college), which was intense. Let me know your specific questions about UM, the program, advising, Miami, etc, and I'd be happy to answer them.

I am currently looking for a post bacc program to attend in Florida and I think I may be interested in UM. I have one more year before I graduate and I plan on enrolling into an post bacc program so it can help me prepare for the MCAT. I would like to know more about the admission requirements and financial assistance.