I was accepted to both Bennington and Rochester's post bacc programs and need to make a decision quickly.
Has anyone done either of these programs and have a strong opinion one way or the other?
Was accepted into Bennington's program and visited the program, but was unfortunately unable to attend for reasons not related to the college. I thought it seemed like a great program. All of the faculty I talked to were very focused on educating as opposed to research and, when I sat in on a class, there were only 10 people in the class. My main takeaway from that was that the students get the attention they need. I also know that the staff involved in the program will write you a letter (I believe as a group) on behalf of the program and, since the program is small, they get a pretty good idea of who you are and this allows them to provide an adequate amount of detail that will show med schools what you're capable of and what your goals are.
The program has a 95% placement rate into med schools, which was the main grab for me. However, there are no linkages. You will need to take a gap year. I was planning on returning to my home state (ideally) for med school, so this was not a big deal for me.
For a structured 1-year program at a private school, the price isn't terrible either. I'm sure you can find the price pretty easily online and they do what they can for you in terms of scholarships.
The undergrad student body there is, well, unique compared to most universities. It wasn't exactly the crowd I hung out with in college, but everyone I talked to was incredibly nice and welcoming. It's a small liberal arts college in a fairly rural area, so if you're expecting to spend whatever free time you have in the program going to bars downtown in a metro area, then you might be disappointed. In my opinion, these 1-year programs are supposed to be when you really buckle down and build a strong science foundation (which everything you learn in med school will be based on), and Bennington provides a nice, secluded area for you to really focus for a year. You can spend your free time exploring some of the hiking trails in the area. I checked a couple out and they were gorgeous.
I was between Bennington and UVM and ultimately decided that Bennington was the better choice, although I can see why many would choose UVM. Best of luck to you and please reach out with any other questions you have!
