as a post bacc, do i get any leniency?

[txprodigal]

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i started a post bacc in may and i anticipate applying to medical school next summer after taking the mcat in july

i have started volunteering in an ED for 6 hrs/week, shadowing doctors for about 4-10 hrs/week, doing exercise medicine research for 10 hrs/week

although the hours are there, i think what's more important is the quality of my experiences, and they have all been quite amazing (for example, i saw three bypass surgeries in 2 weeks which was incredible)

i understand that i will be competing against people who have been doing this stuff for four years straight in undergrad, so am i at a disadvantage?

or will the admissions folks understand that only one year passed between the time i decided to pursue medicine and the time i applied, so i will not have as much medically related experience?

 

[polyoma40]

I've listened to a podcast once where a lady mentioned she was a librarian who transfered to the medical section, and after reading medical books there decided she wanted to become a doctor.

She was an undergrad at NYU, and got accepted into Chicago. As far as I can tell she did not have any aspirations to enter medical school until after she graduated and as a post-bac worked as a librarian

I think if she can get into Chicago, then what is really important is:
1. Your interest is genuine
2. They think you a strong enough student with high aspirations

Backing those two points up with a lot of experience is better, but you can get to your goal through many routes, and one of those routes could be less experience because you just recently decided you wanted to enter medicine. You just have to let them know you have what it takes.

 

[UVAbme2009]

I think if she can get into Chicago, then what is really important is:
1. Your interest is genuine
2. They think you a strong enough student with high aspirations

Amen. You won't be faulted for making the choice later provided that you can show you understand what you're getting into and it is something you really want to do. I'm pretty much in the same boat as only a year passed between me deciding on medicine and applying.

 

[flip26]

i started a post bacc in may and i anticipate applying to medical school next summer after taking the mcat in july

i have started volunteering in an ED for 6 hrs/week, shadowing doctors for about 4-10 hrs/week, doing exercise medicine research for 10 hrs/week

although the hours are there, i think what's more important is the quality of my experiences, and they have all been quite amazing (for example, i saw three bypass surgeries in 2 weeks which was incredible)

i understand that i will be competing against people who have been doing this stuff for four years straight in undergrad, so am i at a disadvantage?

or will the admissions folks understand that only one year passed between the time i decided to pursue medicine and the time i applied, so i will not have as much medically related experience?

If you do these ECs for the next year, during your post bacc, you will be fine - better than fine, actually.

A caution, though: I just finished a one year post bacc, and I can tell you I had every intention of doing just as much EC stuff as you, but I found the academic load too heavy...maybe your post bacc is not as bad, but most of my peers had a similar experience (not enough time for many ECs)...the ones who applied this year had a lot of the ECs under their belt before doing the post bacc...I did not...

As a result, I am not applying until next year, devoting this year to ECs.

 

[jult24er]

If you do these ECs for the next year, during your post bacc, you will be fine - better than fine, actually.

A caution, though: I just finished a one year post bacc, and I can tell you I had every intention of doing just as much EC stuff as you, but I found the academic load too heavy...maybe your post bacc is not as bad, but most of my peers had a similar experience (not enough time for many ECs)...the ones who applied this year had a lot of the ECs under their belt before doing the post bacc...I did not...

As a result, I am not applying until next year, devoting this year to ECs.

Interesting. I also had every intention of doing ECs during my post-bacc year and also ended up having to devote more time to classes then I thought I would. So I pushed off my ECs until August 08, applied this last cycle, and didnt get in anywhere.

Were you working during your post-bacc?

 

[txprodigal]

A caution, though: I just finished a one year post bacc, and I can tell you I had every intention of doing just as much EC stuff as you, but I found the academic load too heavy...maybe your post bacc is not as bad, but most of my peers had a similar experience (not enough time for many ECs)...the ones who applied this year had a lot of the ECs under their belt before doing the post bacc...I did not...

Thanks for the advice. I also do a lot of stuff for my church. I have heard from others too that I may be taking on too much, but I'm decided that if I start struggling in the Fall, I'll definitely cut back on ECs as grades are of the utmost importance.

Some of the stuff I see on here about undergrads having like 500 hours of clinical experience, multiple summers away on medical mission trips, and tons of 1st author publications makes me feel like post baccs such as myself are at a huge disadvantage

 

[jult24er]

Thanks for the advice. I also do a lot of stuff for my church. I have heard from others too that I may be taking on too much, but I'm decided that if I start struggling in the Fall, I'll definitely cut back on ECs as grades are of the utmost importance.

Some of the stuff I see on here about undergrads having like 500 hours of clinical experience, multiple summers away on medical mission trips, and tons of 1st author publications makes me feel like post baccs such as myself are at a huge disadvantage

I think if you can follow through on the ECs you outlined, you'll be fine, you probably dont need 500 hours. But I totally agree, the earlier you decide you want to do this, the easier it is. I'm not sure adcoms give any points for the extra difficulty of taking classes and volunteering while trying to support yourself in the real world instead of while at college.

 

[Psych1985]

You definitely won't be at a disadvantage. I just finished a 1 year postbacc program in May. Honestly, you are not going to be able to work or do any of the ECs during the semester. It is really important that you shoot for a 4.0 (atleast shoot for it) and that you concentrate on beginning MCAT prep. I would definitely recommend doing shadowing and volunteering during your winter and spring breaks. Start your MCAT prep right away, do not put it off because it is a lot to study for the MCAT and keep up with classes. As much as you think they might coincide, they don't really.

Medical schools know that completing a full-time post-bacc program is very difficult and demanding. Myself and the others in my program literally would spend all day at school, leaving the library at 11pm after starting class at 9am.

You can definitely do the program, and do it successfully, but you really won't be able to do anything else. Of the two people in my program who continued to work after starting, one had to drop out because of poor grades and the other remained but got poor grades.

Good luck!

 

[flip26]

Interesting. I also had every intention of doing ECs during my post-bacc year and also ended up having to devote more time to classes then I thought I would. So I pushed off my ECs until August 08, applied this last cycle, and didnt get in anywhere.

Were you working during your post-bacc?

NO, I was full time student (finished this month). I did do some hospital volunteering during the post bacc, but not really enough to amount to anything. I entered the post bacc with basically zero volunteering / shadowing / medical ECs...seems like everyone else in my class had already done a bunch of that stuff...

Part of the problem was that my post bacc frankly did not "deliver" on shadowing very well - that was very spotty - and I was competing with all the pre-meds at the university for limited volunteer slots - I applied in August, and did not get a gig until November...I stuck with it (2 -3 hours a week) through June, but I was nowhere near the kind of hours I thought I needed. I only ended up with about 20 hours of shadowing through the post bacc - I have since remedied that and have found shadowing opps on my own, as well as some volunteer opps outside the university.

I saw the handwriting on the wall in the Spring, and decided to push off applying until 2009...I also pushed back taking the MCAT...this was another factor - lots of my post bacc classmates were killing themselves with the course work in the spring semester and prepping for the MCAT - most of them took it in June or earlier this month - I just decided I wasn't going to get caught in that trap - so I am taking the MCAT next January...and over the course of the coming year, I am taking one or two additional science classes, an MCAT review class this Fall, and I am looking for research or medically related work experiences...

So I would caution anyone who thinks they are going to be able to do 15 to 20 hours a week of ECs during a one year post bacc - your grades must come first - better to push the app off a year than to get all twisted up in knots over it.

And at my post bacc at least, NOBODY had a job outside of class - just not even feasible - if you need to work during a post bacc, look for one of those 2 year deals...

 

[jult24er]

NO, I was full time student (finished this month). I did do some hospital volunteering during the post bacc, but not really enough to amount to anything. I entered the post bacc with basically zero volunteering / shadowing / medical ECs...seems like everyone else in my class had already done a bunch of that stuff...

Part of the problem was that my post bacc frankly did not "deliver" on shadowing very well - that was very spotty - and I was competing with all the pre-meds at the university for limited volunteer slots - I applied in August, and did not get a gig until November...I stuck with it (2 -3 hours a week) through June, but I was nowhere near the kind of hours I thought I needed. I only ended up with about 20 hours of shadowing through the post bacc - I have since remedied that and have found shadowing opps on my own, as well as some volunteer opps outside the university.



I saw the handwriting on the wall in the Spring, and decided to push off applying until 2009...I also pushed back taking the MCAT...this was another factor - lots of my post bacc classmates were killing themselves with the course work in the spring semester and prepping for the MCAT - most of them took it in June or earlier this month - I just decided I wasn't going to get caught in that trap - so I am taking the MCAT next January...and over the course of the coming year, I am taking one or two additional science classes, an MCAT review class this Fall, and I am looking for research or medically related work experiences...

So I would caution anyone who thinks they are going to be able to do 15 to 20 hours a week of ECs during a one year post bacc - your grades must come first - better to push the app off a year than to get all twisted up in knots over it.

And at my post bacc at least, NOBODY had a job outside of class - just not even feasible - if you need to work during a post bacc, look for one of those 2 year deals...

I worked 20 hours a week, with November, June and July off for studying and MCATS. Grades were fine, but didnt start ECs till August and 0 acceptances ...

 

[hoya09]

Please don't take this as a personal attack, but from what I've seen, postbacs are already at a significant advantage over undergrads.

I work at the Science Library, the epicenter of premed activity for both postbacs and ugs. Everyday I see a smattering of ugs, some I've seen come in before and some I haven't, along with the same postbacs. The postbacs are there from opening to close studying for a single course (our postbacs take one or two BCPM per semester). Meanwhile, as an ug, I'm working, researching, volunteering, and maintaining 20 credits per semester. It's ridiculously frustrating to watch these people devote all day everyday to a class for which I can give a couple hours a day. I'm in the same curved classes with these postbacs (50+ postbacs in a 200 person class), meaning that my performance is being compared with people who are literally studying all day for a single class.

Maybe I'm jealous that they'll have 4.0 BCPMs and I won't- that's not out of the question. I also may be generalizing over a large population based on a small sample. Nonetheless, I believe that postbacs should have to answer for how they've spent their time when they meet adcoms. I also think that they should be held to similar standards for service and clinical experience.

 

[Lacheln]

Please don't take this as a personal attack, but from what I've seen, postbacs are already at a significant advantage over undergrads.

I work at the Science Library, the epicenter of premed activity for both postbacs and ugs. Everyday I see a smattering of ugs, some I've seen come in before and some I haven't, along with the same postbacs. The postbacs are there from opening to close studying for a single course (our postbacs take one or two BCPM per semester). Meanwhile, as an ug, I'm working, researching, volunteering, and maintaining 20 credits per semester. It's ridiculously frustrating to watch these people devote all day everyday to a class for which I can give a couple hours a day. I'm in the same curved classes with these postbacs (50+ postbacs in a 200 person class), meaning that my performance is being compared with people who are literally studying all day for a single class.

Maybe I'm jealous that they'll have 4.0 BCPMs and I won't- that's not out of the question. I also may be generalizing over a large population based on a small sample. Nonetheless, I believe that postbacs should have to answer for how they've spent their time when they meet adcoms. I also think that they should be held to similar standards for service and clinical experience.

Trust me, postbaccs do have to account for their time, just like everyone else. As for the studying all day every day for one class thing, I've never run across anyone like that in my postbacc classes. I did know a few people who were only taking 2 and not working full-time, but unless they have a heavy EC schedule that sort of thing will be viewed unfavorably by adcoms. I worked full-time at a high-pressure job, volunteered, took 2 classes at a time, and studied every day. You can be sure I earned my A's. 🙂

 

[flip26]

Please don't take this as a personal attack, but from what I've seen, postbacs are already at a significant advantage over undergrads.

I work at the Science Library, the epicenter of premed activity for both postbacs and ugs. Everyday I see a smattering of ugs, some I've seen come in before and some I haven't, along with the same postbacs. The postbacs are there from opening to close studying for a single course (our postbacs take one or two BCPM per semester). Meanwhile, as an ug, I'm working, researching, volunteering, and maintaining 20 credits per semester. It's ridiculously frustrating to watch these people devote all day everyday to a class for which I can give a couple hours a day. I'm in the same curved classes with these postbacs (50+ postbacs in a 200 person class), meaning that my performance is being compared with people who are literally studying all day for a single class.

Maybe I'm jealous that they'll have 4.0 BCPMs and I won't- that's not out of the question. I also may be generalizing over a large population based on a small sample. Nonetheless, I believe that postbacs should have to answer for how they've spent their time when they meet adcoms. I also think that they should be held to similar standards for service and clinical experience.

You are failing to acknowledge that one year post bacc students are taking a full load of science classes plus labs...not the "typical" UG schedule at all.

At my post bacc, taking a full load of approx 18 - 20 credits, including labs, involved closer to 25 - 30 hours of class time per week when you account for the fact that the 3 hour organic lab = 6 hours lab time per week, etc...

Adcoms will hold us post bacc students just as accountable for ECs as they will you, but you have to decide for yourself if your heavy academic load PLUS all the other stuff you are doing is worth any damage you may do to your GPA, because adcoms are not going to cut you any slack for poor grades any more than they will for postbaccs, either...

 

[jult24er]

Please don't take this as a personal attack, but from what I've seen, postbacs are already at a significant advantage over undergrads.

I work at the Science Library, the epicenter of premed activity for both postbacs and ugs. Everyday I see a smattering of ugs, some I've seen come in before and some I haven't, along with the same postbacs. The postbacs are there from opening to close studying for a single course (our postbacs take one or two BCPM per semester). Meanwhile, as an ug, I'm working, researching, volunteering, and maintaining 20 credits per semester. It's ridiculously frustrating to watch these people devote all day everyday to a class for which I can give a couple hours a day. I'm in the same curved classes with these postbacs (50+ postbacs in a 200 person class), meaning that my performance is being compared with people who are literally studying all day for a single class.

Maybe I'm jealous that they'll have 4.0 BCPMs and I won't- that's not out of the question. I also may be generalizing over a large population based on a small sample. Nonetheless, I believe that postbacs should have to answer for how they've spent their time when they meet adcoms. I also think that they should be held to similar standards for service and clinical experience.

I agree, in the post-bacc programs where you pay $30,000 and devote the entire year to taking the pre-med requirements and the mcat. But working while taking classes, trying to get ECs and study mcat isn't easy.

I think the key is when you decide to be premed. Taking 8 classes, the mcat and getting ECs over four years of college can not be too difficult. But doing it all in your last two years probably is ... I think this process inherently favours people who've known they want to be a doctor for a long time.

 

[jult24er]

Trust me, postbaccs do have to account for their time, just like everyone else. As for the studying all day every day for one class thing, I've never run across anyone like that in my postbacc classes. I did know a few people who were only taking 2 and not working full-time, but unless they have a heavy EC schedule that sort of thing will be viewed unfavorably by adcoms. I worked full-time at a high-pressure job, volunteered, took 2 classes at a time, and studied every day. You can be sure I earned my A's. 🙂

Wow, i definitly didnt have it in me to take two classes, work full-time and volunteer all together ...

 

[Lacheln]

Wow, i definitly didnt have it in me to take two classes, work full-time and volunteer all together ...

It was really stressful, I got sick constantly from the lack of sleep and poor diet. It was destructive to my long-term relationship (but I think that would have ended anyway, just later rather than sooner, so it's probably a good thing.) I viewed it like internship/residency: crappy but limited in duration. And now I'm quite positive I'll be able to handle med school, which is a bonus. I'm actually looking forward to being in med school and not having to juggle so many priorities for once.

 

[jult24er]

It was really stressful, I got sick constantly from the lack of sleep and poor diet. It was destructive to my long-term relationship (but I think that would have ended anyway, just later rather than sooner, so it's probably a good thing.) I viewed it like internship/residency: crappy but limited in duration. And now I'm quite positive I'll be able to handle med school, which is a bonus. I'm actually looking forward to being in med school and not having to juggle so many priorities for once.

Well, good luck getting in now!

 

[Lacheln]

Well, good luck getting in now!

You too. 🙂 You're reapplying right?

 

[jult24er]

You too. 🙂 You're reapplying right?

Yup, thanks. 🙂 Looks like you've gotten off to a good start!