Do adcoms look down on a tier 4 school postbac?

[Lokhtar]

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[oneandonlylo]

Just try to go to a school that has academics equal to the institution where you did your undergrad. Schools just want to see that you are at least maintaining the level of difficulty of where you previously went, if not increasing it. As much as I feel that the name of a school, its prestige etc, may be worth something, I also think you should go where you will get the best education. Obviously, the goal here is to get into medical school someday, but hopefully the goal is also to learn something along the way, and I'm not convinced that name schools are always the best way to go about this. If you will have access to higher level courses and you do well in them this may balance the "rank" of the school near you. Overall, I'd say, just set yourself up for success.

 

[drizzt3117]

It depends. I think doing an informal postbac at your state school wouldn't be looked down on by adcoms per se, especially if you did exceptionally well in the classes and took some upper division coursework.

That said, if you went to HES, did well, and gained sponsorship, that would be a better situation because of the reputation of the program, IMO.

It's not as much of a situation that doing an informal postbac at your state school would really hurt your chances as much as the fact that HES would enhance them assuming you were sponsored.

 

[drizzt3117]

Interesting. Here is the situation, and I thank you for the response.

If I take my pre-reqs (some of which I will repeat) and do well at HES, my overall will be around a 3.5, and my science will be around 3.15-3.25 (right now my science is less than 3 though with not many courses, but overall is 3.4).

If I take pre-reqs + upper division courses at UNCG and do well, my overall will likely improve to a 3.6, and my science will improve to a 3.5. Now, HES will likely have harder classes (going by students) but I will be able to take a lot more at UNCG. UNCG also doesn't have sponsorship, so I'd have to get recommendations myself. But that's not a big deal I think.

Obviously, this is assuming I do well, which is the most important criteria. But assuming I do well at both, with the above situation, which would you recommend?

Honestly, I would still do the HES program. Couldn't you still continue to take upper division at HES? I thought some people did that. Yes the courses will likely be harder, but IMO it's not that big a deal. Anyways, I think if you had a 3.5 with sponsorship from HES and a decent MCAT (32+) you'd get significant interest from schools.

I would personally go that route rather than the second scenario but that's just my $0.02. Other people might have different things to say about the quality of different postbacs, but I think there is a difference.

I had an interviewer read me a paragraph from my committee letter and when I was discussing my postbac, he said something to the effect of "All of the Claremont colleges are excellent and we've been very impressed by the caliber of students we've taken out of there."

While he might not necessarily look down on UNCGB, it certainly wouldn't make you stand out, while HES would, at least to some degree. When you're in the 3.5-3.6 range, standing out from the rest of the crowd is a good thing.

 

[drizzt3117]

I could take upper-division courses, but it would add years. Going full time, I can take 4 courses/term at UCNG. At Harvard, due to chemistry being strongly recommended before Bio and people really advising against taking 3 courses a term, it would take me two years to finish (I don't want to take chances, I can't afford bad grades). Whereas in the same two years, I could do all pre-reqs plus about four or five upper division courses at UCNG.

So a 3.5 overall, but only around a 3.15 science wouldn't be a red flag? That is the only thing I am worried about. To me, 3.6 cum/3.5 sci looks a lot better. But you're right, HES might stand out more?

It wouldn't be a red flag if you did well at a good academic institution. Stats aren't as important as qualitative factors. Remember that many med school adcoms went to very prestigious schools as well. During my last two interviews, three of the people I interviewed with were either Harvard grads or Harvard faculty at one point. They'd obviously be familiar with the quality of HES/HCP. Do you think they'd have any basis for knowing what a 3.7 from UNCGB means? Maybe if you were interviewing at UNC or something, but even then...

 

[drizzt3117]

Good point 🙂. Thank you for the information. 👍

But would that GPA even make it to the interview phase?

A 3.5? That's essentially the average for matriculants. I think my GPA isn't much higher than that ,3.58. As far as the BCPM? Most schools are going to look at your overall GPA and your MCAT for screening purposes. Science GPA is obviously important but I think they're looking at it qualitatively, class by class rather than simply comparing BCPM (unfortunately for me, I my BCPM is 3.9+). If you have two years of solid academic performance at HES, and a good MCAT you'll be fine. Obviously if you're interested in mid/top tier programs, the MCAT score will have to be in the mid/high 30s to compensate for the average GPA.

 

[Alvarez13]

Ugh, I'm in the same situation. I'm coming out of the top school in my state and just got a great job (designing medical devices and getting a chance to attend multiple surgeries), but it's by another school that doesn't have nearly as good of a reputation. I'm wondering if I need to shoot for a better school (I applied for UPenn and am considering NWU) or do better at a lower level school and try to have a relevant job to the healthcare industry and get some good experience from.