bad idea?

[Dr Yiot]

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I am kind of in a sticky situation here. My wife and I both don't like our jobs and we wish we could live in south jersey(or somewhere else, we just love south jersey). The fact of the matter is, we desperately need a change of scenary but we know the economy is very unstable and add on to it that my applications are out to medical school, its not practical for us to move right now. I am waiting to here back from another 8 or 9 schools as ive been rejected from 3 and have not recieved a secondary from another. I am on hold at so many schools right now and I just want to get out of the work and housing situation we are in. BTW these schools are just waiting for my fall grades which will be straight A's. Yesterday was just a terrible day and I told my wife that we need to just move and she strongly agreed. My mcat is average for DO schools however my gpa is slightly lower(hence why I am retaking classes). There are a few schools that I am on hold with currently but I am even willing to apply to a post bach program, get accepted, move as soon as my wife finds a job so we can get out of the area and situation we are both in. I had a few questions, out of the schools that have placed me on hold there are a select few that I LOVE and would love to attend. I am considering applying to their post bach programs but I am wondering whether that would hurt my chances of actually being accepted. For example, I am on hold at VCOM from my fall grades. A friend of mine was actually accepted there after they recieved his fall grades. My question is, for example lets say I apply to their post bach program, does it show more interest that I have in their program? or will the school look at it like well we can accept him to the postbach program, grab a little cheese and then possibly interview him next year? I am a little nervous cause I don't want to hurt my chances but also really love these schools and the area's there in. If I get an acceptance to post bach program at a school I would like to attend I would go in a second (I think), but if that schools already interested in me as a potential medical student for this year then I wouldnt bother applying as I don't want to waste a whole year of my life doing a post bach program. Also, what are the chances, at DO postbachs that you actually get accepted to THEIR school. This kind of makes things difficult for me because I have a wife and would like a tad bit more stability in knowing where I am going etc because she needs to find a job, we have bills and student loans out the butt. for example, I don't wanna do UMDNJ GSBS and then get accepted to touro NV. meaning we would have to move and find jobs...........Twice. Ok sorry for the long post I just don't know what to do or where to head from here. The only post bach I applied too was gsbs because sadly, I think my chances for umd are shot this year because I have been complete 6 weeks and havent heard a peep.

 

[Isoprop]

My question is, for example lets say I apply to their post bach program, does it show more interest that I have in their program? or will the school look at it like well we can accept him to the postbach program, grab a little cheese and then possibly interview him next year?

I don't think a school would reject you because you are applying to their post-bacc. It may (speculating) show that you are interested in THAT particular school and give them a little more incentive to acecpt you. So it would give you a better chance at getting into THEIR school next year if you do get rejected.

Also, what are the chances, at DO postbachs that you actually get accepted to THEIR school.

Again, I'm speculating, but I believe you are overthinking this. Doing a successful post-bacc at XYZ DO school will improve your chances at that school because they are more likely to be familiar with the program. It is likely that it may improve your chances at other schools too.

for example, I don't wanna do UMDNJ GSBS and then get accepted to touro NV. meaning we would have to move and find jobs.

It would suck to have to move twice in a year, I agree. But it would suck even more to not be accepted into medical school period, even if you only had to move once.

Also, If you are unwilling to move to another geographic area, then don't apply there. I completely understand; I would be unhappy going to school far away, so I didn't apply. However, if it's just an annoyance but you are WILLING to move, then my advice is to suck it up and be glad that you got in SOMEWHERE that you are willing to go.

 

[Dr Yiot]

I don't think a school would reject you because you are applying to their post-bacc. It may (speculating) show that you are interested in THAT particular school and give them a little more incentive to acecpt you. So it would give you a better chance at getting into THEIR school next year if you do get rejected.
interesting.Ok, then I will fork over the cash and apply to post bacchs who's schools I am actually interested in going too.


Again, I'm speculating, but I believe you are overthinking this. Doing a successful post-bacc at XYZ DO school will improve your chances at that school because they are more likely to be familiar with the program. It is likely that it may improve your chances at other schools too.

I am just worried. lets say I choose to attend a post bacc at VCOM and I do well in it, however they don't feel I am a good fit for thier particular program and end up somewhere else, that would kind of suck. for instance if I did my postbacc at vcom and ended up only recieving an acceptance to western.



It would suck to have to move twice in a year, I agree. But it would suck even more to not be accepted into medical school period, even if you only had to move once.


Also, If you are unwilling to move to another geographic area, then don't apply there. I completely understand; I would be unhappy going to school far away, so I didn't apply. However, if it's just an annoyance but you are WILLING to move, then my advice is to suck it up and be glad that you got in SOMEWHERE that you are willing to go.

I am more than willing to move anywhere in the country and so is my wife. from california all the way up to maine or florida. However I just don't want to have to move twice. It wouldnt be that bad, if for example, I did umdnj's post bacc program and was rejected by umd but was accepted to pcom. i guess I am overthinking this a tad. I just want to get out of here. thanx for your post btw. informative and helpfull

 

[Isoprop]

I'm glad I could be even a tad helpful. Good luck.

 

[Dr Yiot]

i think im just gonna apply to the post bacc's and if i recieve an interview for this season great if not then i cann aways reapply with new postbacc grades pending.

 

[jinobi]

I am more than willing to move anywhere in the country and so is my wife. from california all the way up to maine or florida. However I just don't want to have to move twice. It wouldnt be that bad, if for example, I did umdnj's post bacc program and was rejected by umd but was accepted to pcom. i guess I am overthinking this a tad. I just want to get out of here. thanx for your post btw. informative and helpfull

Keep in mind some post-bac programs have linkage agreements with their DO school (i.e. Western has 10 spots for linkage)

 

[Dr Yiot]

I have heard that before however, I know that western's linkage program is very competetive to get into. do you or anyone else know of any programs that have linkages? I know lmu's offers interview invite for succesfull completion of their program (I believe thats at least a B average)

 

[mmikey]

I have heard that before however, I know that western's linkage program is very competetive to get into. do you or anyone else know of any programs that have linkages? I know lmu's offers interview invite for succesfull completion of their program (I believe thats at least a B average)

I believe the Touros post-baccs feed nicely into their med schools.

 

[noshie]

From what I know about post bac, aren't they though the grad school? The school I went to accepted post bac through the grad school and it was never given to the med school to decide on accepted students... But not sure if all schools are like this...

Either way, you shouldn't not apply because you speculate it will hinder your chances at med school. Everyone needs a back up plan, and they can't hate you for that. It sounds like either way you really want to do this. Just do what makes you happy. You can't go wrong with that.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I have heard that before however, I know that western's linkage program is very competetive to get into. do you or anyone else know of any programs that have linkages? I know lmu's offers interview invite for succesfull completion of their program (I believe thats at least a B average)

I believe UMDNJ's GSBS basically acts like a linkage program. There are tons of people in the Class of 2013 who were former GSBSers; I'd say it could be as much as 1/4 to 1/3 of the class. Believe me, if you do well in the GSBS program you will have no trouble whatsoever getting into UMDNJ-SOM.

PCOM also has a linkage program; in fact, I know a guy who succeeded with it and is now a PCOM med student. PM me if you want to talk to him or anything.

 

[Dr Yiot]

Really gsbs matches that well with som? That's awsome cause that's one of my top choices. I hope I get accepted to that program. A quarter of the class is just flat out nuts. I have a huge fear of completing the program and then getting rejected from som lol. Although I'm still complete there for this year. Thanx for those figures man its very comforting.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

LECOM -E is a direct linkage program as well, actually from what I've been told by a current student its an conditional acceptance as long as you maintain a 3.0 in the program and have at least a 22MCAT.

 

[GraceEuphoria]

So I feel like I might be able to help out a little, since we've been in contact some before...

DCOM's post bacc program ensures you an interview if you have maintained a certain GPA (and from I understand, you take two undergrad but medically relevant courses and gross anatomy with us first years), so I don't think it would be hard to do honestly, if you're a strong student. I have heard some interesting, well what I'll call rumors, about the program as far as how many students get accepted from the class. If DCOM is one of the programs you're interested in that seriously, I would talk to admissions to clear up any confusion- the program technically runs through the main undergrad campus, but let's be honest- the adcom makes the decisions, so talk to them.

As for applying to the post bacc while your app is still pending up at the med school- absolutely apply! Like I said, the two programs are somewhat disconnected (for better or worse I suppose) and I don't think it would reflect poorly on you at all. Again, what I ALWAYS say is, "when in doubt, contact admissions." Email janette- ask her if students typically wait to apply to the post bacc program until after they hear final word on their app or if it's before. Tell her you are very optimistic about your fall grades and you think your application will increase in competitiveness, but you are just trying to prepare a plan B just in case.

On a side note- definitely think hard about your wife's job needs. I've been seeing a lot of negative effects on student's spouses here as far as that goes. I don't know your situation, but if she doesn't have a specific skillset and just needs whatever job she can find, she should be fine here ifyou come here. But if she's got a specific skillset outside of health care of some sort, or teaching possibly, you might have a hard time. Just a heads up- you don't want to end up in some of the situations I'm hearing about from classmates.

Good luck!