Formal Post-Bacc vs. Part-time pre-reqs and working

[hiking2medicine]

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Hey everyone,
I am currently about to finish up my 3rd year in a BSN program at a large university in the midwest (not super highly ranked but well-known for medicine and a very competitive/strong nursing program) and I have decided that I 100% want to pursue medical school. I have felt the "tug" of medical school since right after my first year but until now talked myself out of it because I believed I wasn't smart enough. I just got a pre-med advisor and had a meeting with her and have decided the best option for now is to finish my current program and my psych minor and graduate next May as planned because changing my major to bio (or another Arts/sciences degree) at this point would require a lot of different gen-ed classes than the College of Nursing did; and would therefore take longer and be more $$ than finishing my degree + the pre-reqs themselves. I will take applied Calc this summer while working (I am a Patient Care Assistant at a local hospital), and graduate May 2021 but my current dilemma is whether I should take the NCLEX and get an RN job after graduation vs. going straight into a Post-bacc or taking full-time pre-med courses. I know that I want to be a doctor, and I really feel guilty for "taking a spot" in my nursing program already (though I didn't know I wanted to be a doc when I started), and I feel like I would be compounding on that if I took a nurse residency spot too when I would only be planning on keeping that job for a year or so. In my area nursing jobs are competitive for new-grads, and you basically have to do a nurse-residency (full-time, usually a year-long) especially if you want to work in the ICU or a high-acuity med-surg unit. My parents think that I'm crazy for even considering not working as an RN after graduating, but I know that during my first year working full-time, it would be tight even to take one lab science class a semester because as a new-grad I won't be able to necessarily schedule around my classes without any seniority; so it would significantly set back my potential application year.
1) If I were to go back to school full-time immediately after graduation, I could likely finish all the pre-reqs in 3 semesters and work a PRN (very light) schedule at my current job or a similar job, which would allow me to take the MCAT and apply in the 2023 cycle to matriculate 2024 vs. the 2024-25 cycle (at the very earliest).
2) From the research I've done on formal post-bacc programs, if I could get in to one of the more "prestigious" ones with rigorous MCAT prep and advising I might be able to apply in the 2022-2023 cycle

So my question is: work full-time as an RN, try to take classes part-time and make money? Do an informal post-bacc full-time while working a little and apply 2 years after I graduate? Or formal post bacc and possibly get my application done earliest (but most $$$ option)?

My main concern with doing an informal post-bacc full time is trying to find something to do for the "glide year" that would be beneficial, hopefully make some money, and get some more experience. With a formal post-bacc it seems like they have a lot of connections with research positions and things like that and some even have the linkage agreements which would bypass that issue. However, if I work full-time as an RN right after graduation and then go down to part-time after a year or so, that "glide year" I could just work as an RN.

If you read all of this thank you so much, any advice/wisdom would be appreciated. If it helps my GPA is 3.91, I have 1000+ hours of patient-care work experience in addition to clinical, I am a pharm and patho tutor for 2nd year nursing students, and I have a lot of volunteering (no research/physician shadowing though-working on that)

Thank you all!!

 

[Ole_Toe]

I don't know if anyone can advise you clearly about your financial decision. But I think you're right that even a structured post-Bacc is a min 12 month full time pursuit. If your top priority is getting to med school asap and keeping your momentum, then perhaps it's worth the cost of tuition on top of lost salary for a structured full time program. If your concerned by the finances of this decision, perhaps it's best to play it safe, take one lab class at a time for a year, and then take a full courseload to finish the program once you have saved a bit more and established your job as a RN. You already have lots of clinical exposure, which is excellent. Great GPA. It sounds like you'll be successful with either route. I was able to finish a full post bac + MCAT from scratch in 14 months, but I already had a background in research, and I basically didn't work and lived off savings and some loans for that year. Your science gpa is really important, so make sure you protect it. And if at all possible, having at least 4 weeks of dedicated, full-time, no distractions MCAT prep is extremely helpful.

Keep us posted. I'm sure a lot of ppl down the line can learn from your thought-process

 

[hiking2medicine]

I don't know if anyone can advise you clearly about your financial decision. But I think you're right that even a structured post-Bacc is a min 12 month full time pursuit. If your top priority is getting to med school asap and keeping your momentum, then perhaps it's worth the cost of tuition on top of lost salary for a structured full time program. If your concerned by the finances of this decision, perhaps it's best to play it safe, take one lab class at a time for a year, and then take a full courseload to finish the program once you have saved a bit more and established your job as a RN. You already have lots of clinical exposure, which is excellent. Great GPA. It sounds like you'll be successful with either route. I was able to finish a full post bac + MCAT from scratch in 14 months, but I already had a background in research, and I basically didn't work and lived off savings and some loans for that year. Your science gpa is really important, so make sure you protect it. And if at all possible, having at least 4 weeks of dedicated, full-time, no distractions MCAT prep is extremely helpful.

Keep us posted. I'm sure a lot of ppl down the line can learn from your thought-process

Thank you so much for your response! It will definitely be dependent on finances in the next year and whether I think I can swing it living on savings like you did. I have lots to think about, I'll make sure to update as I get closer to graduation. Thank you again, and congrats on your acceptances!