Attend Expensive Post-Bacc or DIY

[deleted92121]

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I was accepted to a post-bacc in Chicago. The total cost for one year is 40k. It has no guaranteed interviews or affiliations. I would have to move from Pittsburgh and take out a bunch of loans.

It seems to me that the price is greater than the potential benefits. I figured it out that I stand a better chance of retaking a few courses in my area and trying to get into another post-bacc or apply directly to med school once I hit the 3.0 mark in GPA. I figure this process will cost me maybe 10k.

Any thoughts?

 

[Goro]

Really? Jeeze, ours is 1/2 that and if you do well you're guaranteed an interview.

Suggest that an SMP is better is given by a medical school, and there are tons of them out there. So, shop around, and if you're truly committed to being a doctor, ask yourself is it worth the relocation?

It's the "back door" into medical school because the faculty will get to know you, and you're taking medical school courses.

I was accepted to a post-bacc in Chicago. The total cost for one year is 40k. It has no guaranteed interviews or affiliations. I would have to move from Pittsburgh and take out a bunch of loans.

It seems to me that the price is greater than the potential benefits. I figured it out that I stand a better chance of retaking a few courses in my area and trying to get into another post-bacc or apply directly to med school once I hit the 3.0 mark in GPA. I figure this process will cost me maybe 10k.

Any thoughts?

 

[sstespri]

I'm pulling a DIY at Pitt since I have already spent ~$60k on a masters (speech pathology) out of state. ~$40k is a lot of money without a guarantee of even a look. There's better programs out there if you look. As was stated above: is being a doctor worth it? Obviously you're this far.

 

[deleted92121]

I think being a doctor is worth the work and cost of medical school. I don't think a post-bacc costing 40k with no affiliations is worth it though. There are other options out there.

 

[ErrantWhatever]

D.I.Y.

I found a tiny program in the city I was living in at the time and had (by most standards) a successful application cycle. There's no need to move and spend exorbitant sums on post-baccs in my book.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

DIY. Spend some of the savings on MCAT prep. Upward GPA trend + strong MCAT is what you need. Not a 40k half-assed formal post bacc.

 

[deleted92121]

DIY. Spend some of the savings on MCAT prep. Upward GPA trend + strong MCAT is what you need. Not a 40k half-assed formal post bacc.

Def have the upward trend. Just need a solid MCAT. I will get this.

 

[twocats]

DIY. It's more about your grades and clinical experience than about what program you went to, and then you won't be entering med school with tons of extra loans.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

To offer something to think about:

I did a DIY post-bacc, and if I had to do it over with the knowledge I have now, I'd still go with DIY. HOWEVER, make sure you are taking the "right" classes that will prepare you for the MCAT. otherwise you will learn (the hard way as I did when I first sat down to prep), that your intro classes may not prepare you as well as you would hope. The unfortunate part of it is, the "right" classes differ from school to school based on their curriculum, so find this information out. It turns out that at my school, the topics were taught over 2 years worth of bio instead of the usual one year.

The nice thing about a fancy post-bacc program (and I am heavily assuming) is they make it easier for you to find volunteering and shadowing opportunities.

The nice thing about a DIY is that you can tailor it exactly to your needs, which is great IF you know what you need. Turns out for me, I needed genetics, physiology, biochem, and microbio in addition to our intro/general bio classes. This is not because they are needed at every school, but because my general bio did not cover them adequately, if at all.

 

[deleted92121]

To offer something to think about:

I did a DIY post-bacc, and if I had to do it over with the knowledge I have now, I'd still go with DIY. HOWEVER, make sure you are taking the "right" classes that will prepare you for the MCAT. otherwise you will learn (the hard way as I did when I first sat down to prep), that your intro classes may not prepare you as well as you would hope. The unfortunate part of it is, the "right" classes differ from school to school based on their curriculum, so find this information out. It turns out that at my school, the topics were taught over 2 years worth of bio instead of the usual one year.

The nice thing about a fancy post-bacc program (and I am heavily assuming) is they make it easier for you to find volunteering and shadowing opportunities.

The nice thing about a DIY is that you can tailor it exactly to your needs, which is great IF you know what you need. Turns out for me, I needed genetics, physiology, biochem, and microbio in addition to our intro/general bio classes. This is not because they are needed at every school, but because my general bio did not cover them adequately, if at all.

My general bio classes did a great job off covering genetics and physiology. I also have biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy under my belt. All my prereqs are done. I just need more upper science courses.

 

[twocats]

My general bio classes did a great job off covering genetics and physiology. I also have biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy under my belt. All my prereqs are done. I just need more upper science courses.

If that's the case, then I would even more strongly suggest DIY. I did a post-bac program after having already taken ochem and bio, and I found that the program I took was not very flexible when it came to helping me "fill in the gaps." In fact, I wasn't even eligible for a committee letter because I didn't follow their prescribed course path (which would have involved retaking both ochem and bio). This may not be the case for all post-bacc programs, but definitely be on the look out for it before you enroll! In either case, best of luck!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

If that's the case, then I would even more strongly suggest DIY. I did a post-bac program after having already taken ochem and bio, and I found that the program I took was not very flexible when it came to helping me "fill in the gaps." In fact, I wasn't even eligible for a committee letter because I didn't follow their prescribed course path (which would have involved retaking both ochem and bio). This may not be the case for all post-bacc programs, but definitely be on the look out for it before you enroll! In either case, best of luck!

Yeah, +1 to the DIY

 

[Sabate]

+1 on DIY. I never got a bachelor's before starting down the path, but many of my peers in classes were doing the DIY track and did just fine in the interview process. Hell, several of them are in my cohort. If you're motivated and stay on the ball (things you need for med school anyway) DIY should be no problem. It'll save you a lot of headache, grief and expense as you'll have more flexibility to work if you need to while in school.