Evening Post-Bacc Program Question

[Matt125]

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Hello,

My name is Matt and I recently graduated from Villanova University with a BS in Management Information Systems and a dual minor in Finance and Marketing with a 3.86 GPA. I had to go this route due to family issues and such, but I have always wanted to be a doctor and planned on going pre-med until senior year of high school. I now have the opportunity to do this since we are now more financially stable; I can now pursue my dream. I have always done well in my science courses, and although the bio I took at Nova did not have a lab, I received an A (97) with virtually no work.

I will be volunteering at a local hospital as much as possible and I am probably going to take the necessary classes at the local community college to become an EMT. This way I can gain valuable experience as well as confirm my desire for this field. Please list any other EC's that will help me.

I am looking at the post-bacc programs at UPenn and Drexel since they offer night classes and I need to keep working while in school, though I may apply to Bryn Mawr and just quit if I were to get in. I was wondering what everyone thought about the evening programs, as well as what my chances of getting in to one of these three are. I greatly appreciate your feedback and wish everyone here the best of luck!

Thank You!
~Matt

 

[mshheaddoc]

Hello,

My name is Matt and I recently graduated from Villanova University with a BS in Management Information Systems and a dual minor in Finance and Marketing with a 3.86 GPA. I had to go this route due to family issues and such, but I have always wanted to be a doctor and planned on going pre-med until senior year of high school. I now have the opportunity to do this since we are now more financially stable; I can now pursue my dream. I have always done well in my science courses, and although the bio I took at Nova did not have a lab, I received an A (97) with virtually no work.

I will be volunteering at a local hospital as much as possible and I am probably going to take the necessary classes at the local community college to become an EMT. This way I can gain valuable experience as well as confirm my desire for this field. Please list any other EC's that will help me.

I am looking at the post-bacc programs at UPenn and Drexel since they offer night classes and I need to keep working while in school, though I may apply to Bryn Mawr and just quit if I were to get in. I was wondering what everyone thought about the evening programs, as well as what my chances of getting in to one of these three are. I greatly appreciate your feedback and wish everyone here the best of luck!

Thank You!
~Matt

Matt ... search this forum for program information. I was interested in Drexel as well ... we had a few threads on it.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=136700&highlight=drexel+evening

Be leary that Drexel has full-time post-bacc program as well, most people are in that so some threads aren't relevant to you. You could contact whomever it was that stated they were actually in the program to see how they liked it. I think he stated only like 7 people were in it now or something like that.

As for penn I don't know much. I will probably be doing the classes on my own at Rutgers! Best of luck!

 

[sidewalkman]

Ah, a newbie, and a local one (to me, anyway) at that. Welcome.

Unfortunately, since you figured your plan out right now, you have many options in when you want to start taking classes. You can either start in the spring, summer, or next fall. If you just wanted to take classes a la carte, you're a shoo-in at Penn and Drexel. IMHO, after meeting with people and seeing the curriculum, Penn seemed solid, and Drexel was not terrible, but not great, either.

The good news is, you have a 3.8. If I were you, I'd wait until the next application cycle and apply to programs with linkages. If you don't have to stay in Philly, that will open more doors for you. Work for a year, save up $$ (you'll need it!), and shadow and volunteer a lot so you can find a more exact direction in medicine. Don't do the PT class and FT work route; it won't be nearly as rigorous.

As far as linkage programs go, Bryn Mawr has tons of schools they link to, which is why they're incredibly competitive. With your GPA, I'd put your chances at 75-80%.

I'd start making some appointments with some advisors at the schools you want to discuss your chances. For example, Penn's advisors have open office hours from 2-4 every weekday, as well as info sessions during the evenings and weekends on a pretty regular basis.

 

[sidewalkman]

Please list any other EC's that will help me.

Search the forum.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Ah, a newbie, and a local one (to me, anyway) at that. Welcome.

Unfortunately, since you figured your plan out right now, you have many options in when you want to start taking classes. You can either start in the spring, summer, or next fall. If you just wanted to take classes a la carte, you're a shoo-in at Penn and Drexel. IMHO, after meeting with people and seeing the curriculum, Penn seemed solid, and Drexel was not terrible, but not great, either.

The good news is, you have a 3.8. If I were you, I'd wait until the next application cycle and apply to programs with linkages. If you don't have to stay in Philly, that will open more doors for you. Work for a year, save up $$ (you'll need it!), and shadow and volunteer a lot so you can find a more exact direction in medicine. Don't do the PT class and FT work route; it won't be nearly as rigorous.

As far as linkage programs go, Bryn Mawr has tons of schools they link to, which is why they're incredibly competitive. With your GPA, I'd put your chances at 75-80%.

I'd start making some appointments with some advisors at the schools you want to discuss your chances. For example, Penn's advisors have open office hours from 2-4 every weekday, as well as info sessions during the evenings and weekends on a pretty regular basis.

Do you have the #'s of the linkage for Bryn Mawr? I heard that the program wasn't really strong for linkages 😕 I know who they have linkages with but since they aren't guaranteed I heard it wasn't really worth it since it was difficult to get linkage let alone get in? Was this misinformation?
Thanks!

 

[punchberry]

I am doing the night classes at Penn and I love them. The profs are great and there is a good breadth of upper-level options. I think Drexel only have the pre-reqs at night.

The one word of caution I would offer is that even though Penn's post-bac classes are at night and claim to welcome part-time students, we are definitely a minority. There are lots of "full-time" students who only take three classes, so it is hard to be a part-time student with a full-time job in a class that requires a lot of memorization and is graded on a curve. I always feel that I start at a disadvantage. Many part-time students here eventually go full-time, or quit after they get a couple of bad grades.

Having said that, if you must work and you are looking at Philly programs, Penn is a great choice. You can apply to link to Jefferson, GW, Temple, and Drexel and our tuition is only about $1,100 / class. But if it is either part-time now or full-time next year, I would wait.

 

[mshheaddoc]

You can apply to link to Jefferson, GW, Temple, and Drexel and our tuition is only about $1,100 / class. But if it is either part-time now or full-time next year, I would wait.

Punch - what are the seats like for linkage? 🙂

 

[sidewalkman]

Do you have the #'s of the linkage for Bryn Mawr? I heard that the program wasn't really strong for linkages 😕 I know who they have linkages with but since they aren't guaranteed I heard it wasn't really worth it since it was difficult to get linkage let alone get in? Was this misinformation?
Thanks!

As for the exact % of people who get the linkage? No idea. Web site says 20 to 30 link out of a 75 seat maximum. If this can be taken at face value, then you're right - the value of the program plummets if you don't get the linkage. I was commenting more on the number of linkages, which as you know is pretty good.

 

[punchberry]

Punch - what are the seats like for linkage? 🙂

I don't know that much about the specifics, because I am not linking. The requirements vary by program- they all have GPA cutoffs, and some require that you go full-time and finish all of your requirements in one year. (I know that at least Temple requires this.)

Most people who apply to the Jefferson link seem to get in though. That is definitely the biggest linkage program.

Special Science students (those who already took their requirements elsewhere and are taking upper-level classes to enhance their record) are not eligible to link, but can apply for accelerated admission to UMDNJ, which means that their application gets reviewed as soon as they take the MCAT, eliminating the glide year.

 

[mshheaddoc]

hmmmm ... I ruled both of them out but maybe I will consider the penn program ... but that is so much money. I have a meeting with a med school admission offical next friday and that is one of my questions ... I would be interested to hear what she says ...

 

[Matt125]

I want to thank everyone for their responses so far!!

I have decided that if I were to be accepted into a program that I would quit working and focus on my courses full-time. I am now trying to decide whether I should apply for the sessions starting this summer or wait until next year. Though I want to get started as soon as possible, the benefits of waiting would be more volunteering, shadowing, and EMT time, as well as the ability to save more earnings from work. Please let me know what your experiences have been and whether you think it is better to get started right away or put it off for another year.

Again, thank you for all your insight and advice!

~Matt

 

[mshheaddoc]

I want to thank everyone for their responses so far!!

I have decided that if I were to be accepted into a program that I would quit working and focus on my courses full-time. I am now trying to decide whether I should apply for the sessions starting this summer or wait until next year. Though I want to get started as soon as possible, the benefits of waiting would be more volunteering, shadowing, and EMT time, as well as the ability to save more earnings from work. Please let me know what your experiences have been and whether you think it is better to get started right away or put it off for another year.

Again, thank you for all your insight and advice!

~Matt

I think I'm going to do the Penn classes at night and find a job part/full time in a field of my choice. If I could get a job at Penn that would ROCK b/c then my classes would be free ... *smart cookie* 🙂 I'm considering doing that maybe getting a job as a research assistant or something ... I don't know ... but I have to apply to Rutgers by Jan 1st, app is complete but have to send in the money. And I have to make a choice ...

Matt - have you applied?