Bit confused

[JSainte]

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Hello all,

Okay, I'm a current undergrad student at DePaul University. I'm majoring in Public Communication. I realized a bit late in the game that medicine was my passion. I decided that I would continue on and get my BA, then worry about med school. Also, I haven't had the greatest GPA recently, as I was working full time and having other issues as well. It's no excuse, and it is definately not going to help me. 😳

I recently started looking into post-bacc programs to raise my GPA, but I feel I may need two years instead of just 1 to raise it to a level I'd be comfortable applying to med school with.

Am I correct having read that post-bacc's raise your undergrad GPA (assuming you do well, of course) but SMP's do not?

Essentially I'm looking for something that will raise my GPA, take care of my pre-reqs, but not be geared towards just people with a science background.

Is there possibly anyone who could offer some advice, or suggest some programs that may suit me? So far I'm looking at Dominican University's pre-med post-bacc program and also Uni of Chicago's Graduate Student-at-Large program.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[ssquared]

I have not heard of either of the programs that you cite, but it would be much more helpful if you could tell us if you've taken the pre-reqs for med school and whether or not you've taken the MCAT. What programs are available to you are majorly dependent upon those two factors.

 

[JSainte]

Sorry, I realize that wasn't entirely clear. I did say I needed to take care of my pre-reqs, as I only have done one semester of Bio, and one semeseter of General Chm.

I have not taken the MCAT yet, as I've been overseas for the last year. I'm hoping to refresh on my sciences and take it within the year.

Thanks.

 

[ssquared]

Ah, ok, my mistake, I missed that part.

Well, I'm not entirely sure if you're eligible for post-bacs that cater to people who haven't taken the pre-reqs because you have taken part of them. That would be something you would need to call and ask about.

Most of the programs that would satisfy your pre-reqs would actually be catering to people without a science background. SMPs would not be for you, since they are very heavy on the sciences and require the MCAT for admission. You might want to look in Goucher, Bryn Mawr (did I spell that right?), Penn, Duquesne, Hopkins, Drexel, and any of the others mentioned in the stickies on the top of this forum. They will help you take the pre-reqs as UG classes (which will help your GPA), coach you through the MCAT, and many have linkages with medical schools. One caveat: some of them are very exclusive in the sense that they only take applicants with very high UG GPAs. They do that as an insurance policy.

So if I were you, I would do some research on what programs are available, which have deadlines that haven't passed, and get in your applications ASAP.

 

[JSainte]

Thanks so much for your reply. I don't really think of myself as having a 'science background' as the Bio and Chm were just required for the Associate's part of the BA. Plus, I they were about 3 years ago now, and more or less a distant memory. 🙄

I did see the sticky, and have read about Bryn Mawr (I have no idea if that is spelt right either 😕) On a side note, I just realized I use 'spelt' which is actually British, and it should be 'spelled' coming from an American... thought I'd share that.

Anyways there program looks interesting, I'll definately have to do some more research. I found the one at Dominican University on the AAMC website by searching all pre-med post-bacc's in Illinois. I got Loyola (seemingly very difficult to get into, and expensive), Northwestern, Dominican, or Southern Illinois, who only let in students who meet one of the following:

"* comes from an environment that has inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school.

* comes from a family with an annual income below a level based on low-income thresholds, according to family size, published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census."

I found that a bit odd, and disheartening. I mean, I'm definitely lacking money, but not so much that I'd qualify for this program. Isn't it always the case? 🙄

Anyways, sorry to ramble, but thank you again for your response. I'll definately start some serious research.

Wow, I have to do that ASAP, don't I? I will graduate with my BA in June of '08. Yikes.

Thanks!