Competitiveness for top Post Baccs & Questions

[Emh_omega-323]

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Hello all! I'm pretty early in the process of applying for post baccs and am trying to get an idea of what program I might get into. The current plan is to apply for mostly programs on the west coast (Scripps, Mills, maybe Berkley extension or USC) where I'm from and a few top notch east coast programs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, or Johns Hopkins). I do want a formal program, though I know it will be more expensive. My academic record is excellent but my career history is a bit scattered.

GPA: 3.9 undergrad at UCLA in Anthropology and Public Policy
3.9 School of International Service at American University, Environmental Health Specialization (higher tier for IR than for other programs)

GRE: 170 Verbal 159 Quant (a little worried about my good but not great quant score, though I don't know how much this will matter)

Work Experience: I spent the first four years of my career in outdoor and travel guiding. However interspersed were humanitarian aid volunteering experiences somewhat connected to medicine. These experiences are part of my motivation--I saw the psychiatric needs of traumatized immigrants and refugees and want to serve them more directly. As mentioned, I'm also inspired by my studies in global health, and a little bit of human rights advocacy work (and research assistant work during my masters). I do have a few work gaps for health reasons and many of my work experiences were short term. I plan to spend at least 6 months before the actual program (but possibly not before I apply) working in the mental health field, specifically at least partially in a hospital setting.

Any thoughts? Also how important is it to go to a top program as opposed to a west coast program nearer to my support system? It is pretty important to me to eventually go to a west coast med school (I'm in my 30s and being near family is important to me at this time in my life). Thanks!

 

[Emh_omega-323]

One quick thing to add-- I am undecided about applying in this application cycle or next, so getting more experience in medicine before I apply is a possibility.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I don’t think attending a top postbac program will confer any additional advantages in your eventual application to medical school. The benefits of the programs you’ve listed, in addition to the condensed timeline for course completion, are the linkage opportunities that they offer. If you’re not looking to take advantage of those opportunities, it would be a good idea to pick the program that will best enable you to do well both in the classes and on the mcat. For this reason I think being near your support network is important.

As for staying in the west coast, that one is hard. As you know, CA is incredibly competitive from an admissions standpoint. Oregon has a single medical school, and Washington has two (one for IS only), that accepts relatively few OOS students. The sad reality is that the vast majority of medical school seats are on the east coast. Staying in the west coast will come down to state of residence/state ties and having a very competitive application with strong grades, mcat scores, and clinical/nonclinical experiences.

 

[8YearsLate]

I concur with above. I have literally never hear "prestige of institution where prereq's obtained" mentioned as a high-import aspect. Your work with immigrants is worth 1000x more than your alma mater, as will be any further meaningful work you do. The only exception where I could see institutional prestige mattering is if you were 100% gunning for a top 10 school or an affiliated program. But unless that's the case, save the time/effort/money and put it into other areas of your app.

Check out page 20.

Good luck!

 

[mspeedwagon]

Find a post bacc with linkage programs to west school medical schools. Whether or not you'll be able to stay in the west coast will come down to how well you do in your pre-reqs/MCAT and how much you can shadow/volunteer and demonstrate an interest in medicine. As pointed out above, there are just less schools in the region. I know the importance of going where your support system is in place firsthand. Mine was primarily in the northeast but I couldn't get into school there (only states I was admitted to med school in were Florida, Nevada and Missouri). Knowing what I know now, I would have spent a year improving my application to have a better shot at the northeast. I was interviewed at Albany Med and PCOM but rejected from both.

I did my pre-reqs mostly at UC Berkeley Extension. It will get the job done but I tell everyone to go to a post bacc with a linkage program because it makes your life much easier than at DIY post-bacc. Good luck!

Hello all! I'm pretty early in the process of applying for post baccs and am trying to get an idea of what program I might get into. The current plan is to apply for mostly programs on the west coast (Scripps, Mills, maybe Berkley extension or USC) where I'm from and a few top notch east coast programs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, or Johns Hopkins). I do want a formal program, though I know it will be more expensive. My academic record is excellent but my career history is a bit scattered.

GPA: 3.9 undergrad at UCLA in Anthropology and Public Policy
3.9 School of International Service at American University, Environmental Health Specialization (higher tier for IR than for other programs)

GRE: 170 Verbal 159 Quant (a little worried about my good but not great quant score, though I don't know how much this will matter)

Work Experience: I spent the first four years of my career in outdoor and travel guiding. However interspersed were humanitarian aid volunteering experiences somewhat connected to medicine. These experiences are part of my motivation--I saw the psychiatric needs of traumatized immigrants and refugees and want to serve them more directly. As mentioned, I'm also inspired by my studies in global health, and a little bit of human rights advocacy work (and research assistant work during my masters). I do have a few work gaps for health reasons and many of my work experiences were short term. I plan to spend at least 6 months before the actual program (but possibly not before I apply) working in the mental health field, specifically at least partially in a hospital setting.

Any thoughts? Also how important is it to go to a top program as opposed to a west coast program nearer to my support system? It is pretty important to me to eventually go to a west coast med school (I'm in my 30s and being near family is important to me at this time in my life). Thanks!

 

[Damson]

Just wanted to chip in that most if not all medical schools don't give a flip about where you did your post-bacc courses

As long as it's a four-year accredited institution it will do the job

 

[emergencydancing]

Just wanted to chip in that most if not all medical schools don't give a flip about where you did your post-bacc courses

As long as it's a four-year accredited institution it will do the job

I would agree with this for the most part except for the top postbacs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, etc.). As someone who did not go to one of these, I envy the linkage. The preference for these is clearly seen in the linkage. I don't necessarily believe the education is better, but like the prestige factor for top undergrads, it's the selectivity they care about. They rely on the screen that these schools do to admit their students.

 

[Damson]

I would agree with this for the most part except for the top postbacs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, etc.). As someone who did not go to one of these, I envy the linkage. The preference for these is clearly seen in the linkage. I don't necessarily believe the education is better, but like the prestige factor for top undergrads, it's the selectivity they care about. They rely on the screen that these schools do to admit their students.

Agreed. Linkage is pretty sweet. But take a close look at linkage requirements, they are often quite hefty.

 

[GreenDuck12]

To my knowledge, none of the top postbac programs have linkages to west coast MD programs, where the OP wishes to attend medical school.

 

[Damson]

Although not exactly on the west COAST, this is pretty close

Post-Baccalaureate Pathway Program | School of Medicine | University of Nevada, Reno

Post-Baccalaureate Pathway Program | School of Medicine | University of Nevada, Reno

med.unr.edu

Guaranteed MD placement by the way, not guaranteed interview

 

[mspeedwagon]

Scripps has one to Western (albeit a D.O. school): Applying to Medical and Professional Schools - Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program. Loma Linda guarantees an interview at their med school at their post bacc. There may be a few others, especially if you include the mid-west along with the west coast. That said, I agree with GreenDuck12. The vast majority are of schools will be on the east coast in places like NY.

To my knowledge, none of the top postbac programs have linkages to west coast MD programs, where the OP wishes to attend medical school.

 

[emergencydancing]

To my knowledge, none of the top postbac programs have linkages to west coast MD programs, where the OP wishes to attend medical school.

Yes, but I assumed since the linkages exist, med schools deem those students as desirable. Columbia for example has a bunch of linkages with schools where if you're selected, you don't even have to take the MCAT.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Yes, but I assumed since the linkages exist, med schools deem those students as desirable. Columbia for example has a bunch of linkages with schools where if you're selected, you don't even have to take the MCAT.

I don’t think it’s the program that makes those students desireable but rather that the programs select students with a history of academic excellence and high standardized test scores who typically go on to excel on the mcat and have high rates of success. To be clear, I’m not arguing against attending those programs. But I do think some perspective is important. My guess is those same students that are admitted to Goucher and Bryn Mawr would perform equally well in other programs and have similar rates of admission.

 

[emergencydancing]

I don’t think it’s the program that makes those students desireable but rather that the programs select students with a history of academic excellence and high standardized test scores who typically go on to excel on the mcat and have high rates of success. To be clear, I’m not arguing against attending those programs. But I do think some perspective is important. My guess is those same students that are admitted to Goucher and Bryn Mawr would perform equally well in other programs and have similar rates of admission.

That's the same sentiment I had earlier. I don't think the programs are necessarily better (they do more hand holding, however). It's the selectivity that matters, and come admissions time I bet that plays a factor. When I thought the MCAT was not coming back and not having an MCAT, I emailed Icahn asking them if they'll still require it because they have linkage agreements with postbacs that remove the need for MCAT scores, and they told me that these are different programs held to different standards. My program (which appears to be the same as yours) has none of these agreements, and anyone can just take these extension classes. And to be honest, it's too early to tell but I'm doubting the quality of the matches given last years success rate. I sometimes wished we were more selective so schools can look on us differently. I will agree that there are only a handful of these programs that confer such a boost though, just like there are only a handful of undergrads for that.

 

[Emh_omega-323]

Thank you all, I appreciate the advice. I'm going to have to do some thinking about the value of staying west vs. having linkages and getting to med school sooner (being a little older, the timeline is definitely on my mind).
Do you all think that the clinical experience I'd be able to gain before February/March deadlines would be enough (especially during covid)? Or if what I would be able to get during a post bac would be enough for med school apps?

 

[Emh_omega-323]

Actually one more question--if I want to be a psychiatrist, is work in a private treatment center with patients clinical experience? It's obviously not a hospital or medical clinic, so I'm unsure if it will be seen as adequately related.

 

[gcgcej]

Please do not go to Columbia's postbac program.