Best Post Bac Programs: GPA Boosters?

[patriots12]

Hey guys,

I am wondering what the best post bac GPA boosting programs are.

I attend a top 15 university and have a 3.43 GPA through 3 years (neuroscience major) so I am thinking a post bac is necessary

I am from the New England area but I am open to all options!

Thanks!

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[precisiongraphic]

Hey guys,

I am wondering what the best post bac GPA boosting programs are.

I attend a top 15 university and have a 3.43 GPA through 3 years (neuroscience major) so I am thinking a post bac is necessary

I am from the New England area but I am open to all options!

Thanks!

No one has answered so I'll offer my opinion:

You are not yet a non-traditional .

If you haven't graduated yet, stay an additional year and get straight As. Also, get As for the rest of this year. Sustained As for your last 2-3 semesters can be persuasive.

Take known easy classes from professors that have high ratings on ratemyprofessor. These classes can be things like English or History classes - whatever you are good at and you can get As in - and can be found at most schools by talking to other students. Sometimes people take geology for example - counts as a science and is reasonably easy for some people at some schools.

If school is too expensive or for some reason, you can't stay another year, then you have a choice as to do-it-yourself post-bacs or established programs. Established programs are good but can be very expensive, like $15,000 or $30,000 per year so think about that. Sometimes, federal student loans aren't available for post-bacs so think about that too. Do-it-yourself programs can be done at your local state university. There is a Post-bacc forum here and there are lots of programs discussed. Some (like UVa and ULouisville and WashU) are meant for students who have not yet taken prereqs and not for grade repair. So do some research there.

If you want MD, you'll have to do the grade repair and ace the MCAT so an MCAT prep class or two may be needed. I've seen people get in with 3.4 but they have good MCATs or fantastic research, Peace Corps or something else that acts as a "hook".

 

[patriots12]

No one has answered so I'll offer my opinion:

You are not yet a non-traditional .

If you haven't graduated yet, stay an additional year and get straight As. Also, get As for the rest of this year. Sustained As for your last 2-3 semesters can be persuasive.

Take known easy classes from professors that have high ratings on ratemyprofessor. These classes can be things like English or History classes - whatever you are good at and you can get As in - and can be found at most schools by talking to other students. Sometimes people take geology for example - counts as a science and is reasonably easy for some people at some schools.

If school is too expensive or for some reason, you can't stay another year, then you have a choice as to do-it-yourself post-bacs or established programs. Established programs are good but can be very expensive, like $15,000 or $30,000 per year so think about that. Sometimes, federal student loans aren't available for post-bacs so think about that too. Do-it-yourself programs can be done at your local state university. There is a Post-bacc forum here and there are lots of programs discussed. Some (like UVa and ULouisville and WashU) are meant for students who have not yet taken prereqs and not for grade repair. So do some research there.

If you want MD, you'll have to do the grade repair and ace the MCAT so an MCAT prep class or two may be needed. I've seen people get in with 3.4 but they have good MCATs or fantastic research, Peace Corps or something else that acts as a "hook".

Thank you for your response. I am familiar with the "career changer" post bac programs (i.e. Goucher) and realize that those do not apply to me because I have already taken the pre-med requirements. However, the post bac master programs stand out to me including BU MAMS and Tufts MS in biomedical sciences. Is anyone familiar with these programs that can speak to their usefulness? Also are there any good programs that I am neglecting to mention?

 

[etp123]

There's a forum on this site dedicated specifically to discussing postbac programs

You seem to be confusing the distinction between the levels of postbacs. BU MAMS and Tufts MS are masters programs that are at the graduate level. That is not factored into your uGPA. If you are concerned about pulling up your undergraduate GPA, you must find ones that offer classes at the undergraduate level. I don't think you have to do a formal program since it seems your GPA is not that bad. Seems like just another semester/year of strong performance may help assuage doubts, so long as your recent performance has been good, as the poster above said. Take more upper divs.

But honestly if you do well in your last year and can get that GPA 3.5 or above, get a good score on the MCAT, have good extracurriculars, LORs, I don't see why you shouldn't just try to apply to med schools anyways. 3.5 is hardly damning and despite how competitive things have gotten, adcoms are still relatively holistic and you could perhaps construct a compelling argument as to why you would be favored over someone with a higher GPA. You can also apply to SMPs which are the masters programs you mentioned so in case you don't matriculate anywhere hopefully you will get into one of those programs to further strengthen your application for the next cycle.