Does it matter where you do your post-bac? SFSU vs. UC Berkeley

[carpediem012]

I was planning on doing an informal post-bacc at my local state school (SJSU,SFSU), but am now wondering if it would be a better idea to do it at a more prestigious school (UC Berkeley). It is definitely more expensive to take the courses at UCB, but I'm wondering if it will look better for when I apply to a SMP.

I saw that some recommended taking the pre-reqs at a 4-year college rather than a CC, but wasn't sure if the school's prestige affected admissions for SMP,grad school, etc.

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[jslo85]

I was planning on doing an informal post-bacc at my local state school (SJSU,SFSU), but am now wondering if it would be a better idea to do it at a more prestigious school (UC Berkeley). It is definitely more expensive to take the courses at UCB, but I'm wondering if it will look better for when I apply to a SMP.

I saw that some recommended taking the pre-reqs at a 4-year college rather than a CC, but wasn't sure if the school's prestige affected admissions for SMP,grad school, etc.

For the CC vs. 4 year college, the main worry is that the class at the CC is not as vigorous, not under the same demands, not taught by an established professor and basically not comparable to that of a standard equivalent course at a 4 year accredited university. It's not the prestige, it's the fact that CCs might not be held to the same standard as 4 year colleges.

Whether you take your classes at SFSU or as apart of the UCB extension makes no difference imho. If you go through UCB extension, you're really not considered a UCB student, you just take classes through the extension program and as such I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever. However SFSU has formal programs for post-bacc (pre-med and AET) that you can look into that have no linkages but are structured.

If you did your UG at UCB or UCD or Stanford then yes I would say that it would play a role if you got a 3.5 there as opposed to say getting a 3.5 at Ohlone College in Fremont to them but for informal post-bacc purposes, then no they don't.

 

[carpediem012]

So, I've already retaken a couple classes at my CC(de anza) this past quarter (microbio,ochem, gen bio). Should I retake those courses at a 4 year? (most likely SJSU since it's closer to home)

 

[jslo85]

Okay so you're in the SJ area but took it at the CC instead of the 4 year. Well I personally would say no because those courses I'm guessing you got As in, what I would do is enroll at the 4 year and take a few other upper division courses and continue to do well. What I was trying to say was Adcoms will consider CC classes to satisfy requirements but when they are trying to assess the academic potential of say a person who previously had a troubled academic past or if a student might be able to handle the medical course load, CC's just aren't the same as that at a 4 year as they aren't held to the same standard.

 

[drizzt3117]

I think they're talking about taking the classes at actual UCB. I'd go with SFSU instead.

 

[carpediem012]

I think they're talking about taking the classes at actual UCB. I'd go with SFSU instead.

Yea. I was talking about concurrent enrollment at UC Berkeley so I could take classes with the undergraduates (not the extension program). But either way, it costs like 3,000 dollars to take one bio class with lab at UC Berkeley alone. Much cheaper to just go to SJSU and pay like a third of that. (especially since I'm gonna have to pay for everything myself)

 

[Xcited392]

It depends on where you can get the best grades.

For me, I don't think I could get a 3.7+ at UCB, so I'd rather go to the state school.

 

[jslo85]

I do agree with Xcited. I am all for osteopathic medicine and I graduated from UC Davis paying OOS tuition and did not have a satisfactory GPA at the time and ended up having to do an informal post-bacc back home in Portland for a bit. Not only was it a fraction of the cost of my UG tuition but I recieved far better grades in retaken classes (whether you want to attribute this to easier classes or a new focus/drive/maturity).

I actually would do it at SFSU mainly becase you can enroll in their formal program while taking classes that are appropriate for you. SJ State doesn't have that and I know there are a few of my friends from Davis who are currently at SFSU who were NPB or Biochem majors who are loving the AET program there. But I am biased. Main point here is do it where you feel most comfortable (price, location, and where you can succeed).

 

[carpediem012]

Uggh... I just found out that because of all the budget cuts, SJSU and SFSU are going to have very limited availability for informal post-bacc students.

I'd love to apply for the SFSU post-bac program, but being a full time student while working a 40+ hour week just doesn't seem possible.