DIY Post-Bacc?

[artista93]

I have a 2.6 GPA and am in my 5th year of undergrad. I think I will graduate with a 2.8 GPA. I know that I will have to go to a post-bacc program, but I don't think my GPA is high enough for even that.

I am interested in doing a DIY post bacc. However, I'm a bit confused about how to go about it. Once you graduate, your undergrad GPA becomes "locked in", that is, you can no longer change it. Is that correct? When I graduate next year and then choose to do a DIY post bacc, how do I reapply to schools? Do I apply as a "returning student" or into the "graduate program"? Or do I apply as a "non-degree seeking student"?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BluMist]

Your UG GPA is NOT locked in. However, if you have a 2.8 after 5 years of UG, it would take many credits (even assuming 4.0 from now on) to move that to acceptable range. Your best bet is applying to DO so you can take advantage of grade replacement. Let's say you had a 2.0 in Chemistry and took it again and got a 4.0, DO will calculate your GPA as a 4.0 while MD will average.

Do you at least have an upward trend? Are you getting a 4.0 in your final year/semester? Otherwise, it is not realistic to assume that you will start getting 4.0 all of a sudden. If you REALLY want to pursuit medicine, then you need to figure out your study issues first before doing more damage to your GPA.

Re. post-bacc, it depends on the school. If you are just taking a couple classes, the school might only allow you in as a non-degree seeking student. In your case though, a second bachelor degree might be needed since you'd need many classes for GPA repair.

 

[atomi]

So you'll have 120 credits that amount to a 2.8 GPA?
Even if you spent another 5 years and took another 120 credits and made a 4.0 in all of them, you would only have a 3.4 GPA, which is not in the ballpark for med school admissions.
Realistically, it's going to be tough to raise your cumulative GPA even above a 3.0.

What's going to suddenly change after 5 years of Bs and Cs so that you start making As?
Sorry to be harsh, but I do not think your expectations from a post-bac are realistic. Also, DIY post-bacs are for people with high GPAs who are simply missing the premed courses. For people with low GPAs such as yours, formal post-bacs that simulate the medical school experience are required to prove that you can succeed.

You might consider using your degree for full-time employment for a few years, then revisiting the idea of med school later before you spend a lot of time and money trying to make something happen right now that is not very likely. Spending 5 years in undergrad and expecting to jump right into a 'DIY post-bac' and boost your GPA enough to get accepted is just not very realistic. There have been plenty of people with GPAs in the 2s who made it into med school, but they seem to universally have been out of school for 5-10 years or more and prove that their original GPA a decade ago was truly due to youthful misdirection by working in the healthcare field extensively, acing a formal post-bacc, and absolutely destroying the MCAT.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I agree with what Atomi mentioned above. After 5 years of undergrad it is unlikely that you would be able to turn things around significantly. If you were to suddenly turn things around, it would raise some questions about why you are now suddenly doing well. You need to put some time and space between your undergraduate grades and any post-bac grades you hope to earn. This is a key point: out of school for 5-10 years or more and prove that their original GPA a decade ago was truly due to youthful misdirection. You can only do this with time + healthcare experience + post-bacc + strong MCAT + applying broadly to MD and DO schools.

 

[member000000000]

I think there are too many variables to say you have to put in 5-10 years and/or NEED do a formal PB. If the bad grades were in the beginning of your undergrad career and you have a strong upward trend I think your chances are a bit more optimistic. Especially if you have a great explanation for your poor performance... Just not enough info.

 

[GreenDuck12]

5-10 years may not be necessary but a gap and a little work experience would be useful. Put a little fire in the belly, so to speak.

 

[etp123]

I also think taking time off helps a lot. I was in a similar boat, graduated spring 2014 with a very low GPA and only had an upward trend my final semester of senior year. Got a job working and just let myself be away from that kind of environment like stepping away from a painting for a while to get a new view when you come back. After a few months I re-took just one class to test the waters and managed to get an A, so I believe you can come back and reverse that trend. But you first have to figure out if it's a new approach to studying that you need, some time away to clear your thoughts, or whatever else it is that made you not perform as well in undergrad. For me I just needed to be away and grow up a little bit before I came back with more determination and discipline.

You have to have undergrad credits to affect your undergrad GPA so do not apply through any graduate programs just yet. Different schools have different policies and programs regarding how to re-take or sign up for classes once you've graduated. Some will let you register for one or two "a la carte" through their extension programs or whatnot, some might have an actual post-bac certificate program for non-traditional pre-meds, some might not even allow it at all. You'll have to do investigating at specific schools in your area you're interested in or just raid the post-bac forum. Once you've done well with your undergrad re-takes then I would highly recommend doing a graduate-level, structured special masters program (SMP) to prove you can really handle the demand of med school.

 

[Sugarplum94]

Hey guys, when someone asks you questions on how to go about it, and general stuff like that, it's best to just tell them how things work, and what to do. There is really no need for anyone of you to tell this person he can't do it, or to take the DO route, or how long it will take. His path is not the same as yours and you really don't know how many credits he will take or how well his app will look like after postbacc and MCAT. You aren't in med school admission boards, and you don't know what this person's story is, why it happened the way it happened. Your two cent on whether he will get in or will not won't matter, I have seen people with 2.5s get in a great MD school, and I have seen straight A students get rejected constantly, it's more than GPA sometimes, its more about the initiatives you take to make your dreams come true. Statistics are not always the reality, they are broad and relatable to some people.
OP:
From my understanding doing a post bacc will help you, but you might need to take more credits in sciences and stuff pertaining to med schools and MCATs.
You apply as a non matriculated student in your college, take higher level courses in Uni, and lower level ones at a community college (if possible).
Idk if it is locked in, but I think your post bacc GPA will be calculated separately, and then averaged to your over all UG GPA.
I hope this helped and I am sorry if this was a bit late.

 

[Forever Geebs]

Nah, responding to a thread that has been inactive for 2 years is not late at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sugarplum94]

Well you never know, it takes most people more than 2 years to finally get in so...