I'm just curious to know if anyone here is attending Rutgers for pre-med courses.
I'm a NJ resident and thinking of applying to post-bacc @ rutgers. Would like to get some input from you guys and girls before I meet with admissions this upcoming week.
How would someone from a non science (info sys) background fare in the classes?
If you are willing to put in the time, you will do just fine in the pre-req courses. So much so, that if you are having trouble getting A's in the pre-reqs at Rutgers as a mature post-bacc student, you will likely also have major problems with the MCAT.
The pre-medical committee at Rutgers can be fantastic, depending on which campus you are planning to attend. They do not worry about success statistics and do their best to get every single student admitted, whereas some committees try to discourage applicants and/or give them less than favorable ratings. However, they can only write about what you are able to accomplish there.
In my experience, there are two ways to get A's at Rutgers -- the easy way and the proper way. The easy way involves studying for exams rather than mastering material, asking your friends for the answers to last semester's exams, or downright cheating -- which is rampant at Rutgers. The proper way involves studying for every class every day (even if you only need a few minutes for a given subject), taking good notes, reading the textbook (except in courses that specifically say the textbook is only recommended and not required), and doing your homework consistently -- whether or not it is collected! The proper way involves going to office hours to ask questions if you are having problems, and making use of the free tutoring resources on campus if necessary. The proper way involves asking a fellow post-bacc to teach/tutor you during free periods on campus, rather than just asking them for the answer.
If you get A's the proper way in Rutgers pre-med courses, and are striving for mastery rather than just getting A's on your transcript, you will absolutely destroy the MCAT. The 4.0 post-bacc GPA, the high MCAT score, and the committee that wants each and every student to succeed together make a potent combination. Even coming into the post-bacc program from engineering with a 3.1 cumulative / 2.3 science baccalaureate GPA, with 2 academic years of 4.0 at Rutgers I scored in the top 1% on the MCAT, got amazing letters of recommendation from faculty, am sitting on two acceptances at some great schools and even have a Top 10 / dream school interview next month.
As for being a non-science major, the best advice I can give is to buckle down from the very first day and try to master each lecture (test yourself by doing practice problems) before the next lecture comes along. If you nail down general biology and general chemistry from the beginning, organic chem and the upper level electives (biochem, genetics) will be way, way easier. And starting a couple of weeks before your first semester of organic chemistry, purchase and read Organic Chemistry as a Second Language (First Semester Topics) by Klein
EDIT: Oh, also-- General Physics is the course that most post-bacc students I know have a hard time mastering. For physics,
the TA should be your best friend. Go to recitation every time. Some physics TAs come in on their own time and do informal reviews. Attend every single one and take good notes.
Would like to get some input from you guys and girls before I meet with admissions this upcoming week.
What do you mean by meeting with admissions?
Are you meeting with undergraduate admissions? The Chairman of the post-bacc program (and if so, which campus are you applying to)? Or do you mean you are meeting with the Admissions Dean of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School? It is common for students to meet with the latter two individuals, but typically not the first. I would be happy to give you specific advice for any of these situations, if you can just clarify with whom you are meeting.
