Does this count? Biostatistics

[tmacc]

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Does a graduate degree in biostatistics count as a "hard science"?

Does a good grad GPA in biostatistics offset a bad undergraduate degree, or is postbacc work still necessary?

 

[0919mmk]

Does a graduate degree in biostatistics count as a "hard science"?

Does a good grad GPA in biostatistics offset a bad undergraduate degree, or is postbacc work still necessary?

I would think it does count as a hard science. "Soft" science is more like anthro, sociology, environmental stuff, psych, public health, those kinds of things.

As far as offsetting your ugGPA, we just had a pretty lengthy convo on that topic that you should check out: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=796298

 

[Nevryn]

According to AAMC, and thusly AMCAS, hard sciences are classes of a college level directly from an accredited Biology, Physics, Chemistry, or Math college. Typically if the course code is MATHXXX or CHEMXXX it will most likely be a hard science.

I took courses from a Allied Health college that worked with the Medical college at my university. I took a full year of Exercise Physiology, Kinesiology and other classes like cardiology as an undergrad. But none of them were considered a hard science according to AMCAS and I assure you there were up to snuff compared to equivalents in the Bio college.

When in doubt ask your pre-pro/pre-med advisor

 

[Nevryn]

Forgive my previous post. I misread your question.

Biostatistics? Kind of a toss up as I am unaware of what classes would be taken to complete such a degree. I would lean towards hard science personally.

It does show you can handle graduate work and can maintain consistency. You get a good MCAT score into the mix and you should have no problem.

 

[tmacc]

Thanks for all the replied. The biostats program starts in the fall of this year. I am wondering if I should enroll, or if I should focus solely on postbacc work. Do I even have a shot at medical school?

what was the original undergrad GPA?
2.66
what was the major?
mathematics
how does the science vs non-science breakout?
bad all over
how were the prerequisite course grades?
A's (only half done chem and physics)
was the GPA at a consistent level throughout UG?
no. up, down and then up
if not, was there a particularly bad year or a trend up or down over time?
I have a severe and persistent mental illness. It went undiagnosed during college. I have a number of A's, and then a whole bunch of C's, D's and F's.

Where was the graduate degree from? Rather, what department?
School of Public Health
Was it under Math? Biology? Sociology? (biostats from sociology)
unknown
Was there a thesis or research project? Comprehensive exams?
research project, i believe.
What have you done with the degree? Are you in a bio, medical or life science research field?
I haven't started
Were you in a PhD program?
no

 

[hopefuldoc97239]

If you really want to go to medical school I wouldn't recommend doing a program in statistics as a way to try to get in. That's making yourself less traditional, but you should be trying to make yourself look more traditional. Traditional students get accepted at a higher rate than nontraditional students.

Taking this program will be locking yourself out of medical school for two years because many med schools refuse to accept someone who has a grad degree in progress. If you just work on normal post-bac stuff then you can apply this year, next, and the one after that.

But there's a bigger question to ask yourself:

If you have any kind of "severe" illness (mental or otherwise), do you really think you'll be up to the rigors of medical school? I hope your illness is under control now, but unless there have been major changes since undergrad I would worry that you'll also be failing your med school classes.

 

[tmacc]

Thanks hopefuldoc. With regard to my "severe" illness, I've had my share of lengthy hospitalizations, delusional thinking, and other strange episodes. I do believe it is under control now, but I want to undertake something rigorous to prove to myself and medical schools that I'm stable and consistent. I don't believe there are any SMPs in my area.

If I do well in postbacc, I'm hopeful they will overlook (even slightly) the bad undergraduate coursework due to my illness.

Additionally, several upper level bio, chem or other course will be needed to supplement that.

An aside here is that one reason many of the non-traditional, older, and URM students that I advise look at the DO/Osteopathic route is have the application grade mechanics work. With MD/Allopathic schools every class you ever took and every grade you ever got counts on a transcript. In DO/Osteopathic, in repeated classes, the higher grade only counts. So you can clean up alot of old grade baggage that way.

Thanks. Aside from the prereqs, (1) should I take upper level bio and chem type courses or (2) take courses to replace bad grades from my non-science courses or (3) both?