General Career Changer Program Question

[alphabetsoup13]

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Hey guys,

I was just wondering what kind of things are post-bacc programs in general looking for in career changers? GPA, which tests, etc. I have no idea if I am even competitive for some of these programs.

Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

 

[betterlate]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering what kind of things are post-bacc programs in general looking for in career changers? GPA, which tests, etc. I have no idea if I am even competitive for some of these programs.

Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

Career changer programs vary in their admissions requirements. They include the formal postbacc programs like Goucher and Bryn Mawr, which are commonly considered to among the top programs of this type. They commonly have a relatively small number of slots per class (30 at Goucher, 80 at Bryn Mawr), for which they receive hundreds of applications a year.
With a large number of applications to consider, numbers like the GPA and test scores start to become a valuable way to sift through the stack.

In addition to being competitive simply on the basis of the number of applicants per seat in the class, the formal postbacc programs also want to maintain high statistics regarding their graduates' admission to and performance in med school. Those high stats both attract new applicants and ensure adcoms have a positive view of students who graduated from said program (thus improving future students' chances of admission). For this reason, the formal postbaccs are looking for students who have demonstrated an ability to perform well in the academic arena and evidence they test well on standardized exams. That gives the postbacc program some kind of assurance that they will turn out students who are likely to reflect well on the program during the application cycle and into their medical careers.

At a complete guess, you probably want a GPA >3.5. It has honestly been so long since I took the SAT that I don't understand how they score the thing anymore, so I'm not going to venture an estimate on that. 🙂

There are less formal career changer postbaccs that are probably still looking for fairly good stats but are less stringent. That could include the Harvard Extension School, Tufts, etc. Once you start looking, you'll find a ton of programs in this category. They vary in things like support to the students, but many of them have a long track record of getting career changers into med school.

Finally there are the do-it-yourself programs that likely vary with regards what stats are required, if any.

There are a number of good resources in the FAQ section at the top of this forum. Good luck!

 

[drizzt3117]

Career changer programs vary in their admissions requirements. They include the formal postbacc programs like Goucher and Bryn Mawr, which are commonly considered to among the top programs of this type. They commonly have a relatively small number of slots per class (30 at Goucher, 80 at Bryn Mawr), for which they receive hundreds of applications a year.
With a large number of applications to consider, numbers like the GPA and test scores start to become a valuable way to sift through the stack.

In addition to being competitive simply on the basis of the number of applicants per seat in the class, the formal postbacc programs also want to maintain high statistics regarding their graduates' admission to and performance in med school. Those high stats both attract new applicants and ensure adcoms have a positive view of students who graduated from said program (thus improving future students' chances of admission). For this reason, the formal postbaccs are looking for students who have demonstrated an ability to perform well in the academic arena and evidence they test well on standardized exams. That gives the postbacc program some kind of assurance that they will turn out students who are likely to reflect well on the program during the application cycle and into their medical careers.

At a complete guess, you probably want a GPA >3.5. It has honestly been so long since I took the SAT that I don't understand how they score the thing anymore, so I'm not going to venture an estimate on that. 🙂

There are less formal career changer postbaccs that are probably still looking for fairly good stats but are less stringent. That could include the Harvard Extension School, Tufts, etc. Once you start looking, you'll find a ton of programs in this category. They vary in things like support to the students, but many of them have a long track record of getting career changers into med school.

Finally there are the do-it-yourself programs that likely vary with regards what stats are required, if any.

There are a number of good resources in the FAQ section at the top of this forum. Good luck!

I don't think Tufts is less formal, it's just less good.

 

[henge]

Hi drizzt3117,

I'm wondering why the Tufts post-bacc gets so little respect on this forum. Their website provides a lot to like: 90% acceptance rate for health science students who apply to professional school (which includes non-MD applicants and doesn't address attrition, but still); guaranteed interview at TUMS with a 3.3 GPA in the program; linkage at TUMS and BU; a cool-looking elephant. Is the MD admission rate much lower than the aggregate 90%? Do med school adcoms hold it in contempt? Is the attrition rate high? Is there inadequate support for obtaining medical experience and such? Are the students notoriously unhappy? Thoughts?

 

[drizzt3117]

Hi drizzt3117,

I'm wondering why the Tufts post-bacc gets so little respect on this forum. Their website provides a lot to like: 90% acceptance rate for health science students who apply to professional school (which includes non-MD applicants and doesn't address attrition, but still); guaranteed interview at TUMS with a 3.3 GPA in the program; linkage at TUMS and BU; a cool-looking elephant. Is the MD admission rate much lower than the aggregate 90%? Do med school adcoms hold it in contempt? Is the attrition rate high? Is there inadequate support for obtaining medical experience and such? Are the students notoriously unhappy? Thoughts?

Expensive, not very competitive applicant pool, pity interview doesn't mean much if you're not a competitive candidate, linkage is rare, 90% acceptance rate is mediocre for a career changer program, the top programs have put 100% of students into professional school in the past 10 years, etc.

 

[henge]

Thanks drizzt3117. No argument, Tufts clearly is not equal to Goucher, Bryn Mawr, Scripps or Hopkins. But if you can't get into one of those and you don't want to do HES for whatever reason--worry about the attrition rate, want more guidance re: getting medical experience--what other 1 year programs should you seriously consider? Bennington has a slightly higher 95% admit rate but mixed reviews here; UVM is very expensive for out of state, admits a similar 90%; UVa has a slightly lower 85% admit rate; Penn gets mixed reviews here, not sure about admit rate; Columbia gets a bad press here over high attrition and lack of support; State U DIY possible, but, with recent budget cuts, not as much cheaper as you might imagine.

 

[drizzt3117]

Thanks drizzt3117. No argument, Tufts clearly is not equal to Goucher, Bryn Mawr, Scripps or Hopkins. But if you can't get into one of those and you don't want to do HES for whatever reason--worry about the attrition rate, want more guidance re: getting medical experience--what other 1 year programs should you seriously consider? Bennington has a slightly higher 95% admit rate but mixed reviews here; UVM is very expensive for out of state, admits a similar 90%; UVa has a slightly lower 85% admit rate; Penn gets mixed reviews here, not sure about admit rate; Columbia gets a bad press here over high attrition and lack of support; State U DIY possible, but, with recent budget cuts, not as much cheaper as you might imagine.

I would suggest admit rate (unless it's 100%) is a really poor metric of how good a school is, as you aren't correcting for attrition rate, sponsorship, etc. I would recommend people attend many of those schools over Tufts. Those who know me know I'd definitely recommend HES over any of those choices, but certainly even though I don't have much love for Columbia or Penn, I would still pick them over Tufts. I don't know much about UVA, Bennington, and UVM.

 

[henge]

Thanks

 

[alphabetsoup13]

It seems as if many of these programs (and career changer post baccs in general) take a lot of students who have been out of school for a while and have been doing other things. What are the chances of someone getting into one of these programs straight after graduation? I am graduating this year as a History major and it doesn't sound like there are too many people as young as me. Thoughts?

 

[drizzt3117]

It seems as if many of these programs (and career changer post baccs in general) take a lot of students who have been out of school for a while and have been doing other things. What are the chances of someone getting into one of these programs straight after graduation? I am graduating this year as a History major and it doesn't sound like there are too many people as young as me. Thoughts?

It's rare, but happens occasionally. You certainly need a good story.

 

[alphabetsoup13]

Does anyone know of any programs (not just the tier 1 programs) that may be friendlier to non-science majors that have just graduated?

 

[henge]

In 2011, prolixity29, a Hopkins current student, said "There does not seem to be a strong emphasis on older non-trad applicants but we do have some."

In the 2010 "straight out of undergrad" thread, drizzt3117 "quite a few people in my scripps class that came straight out of ug".

In that same thread, Newmansown said "About 1/4 of my class at Bryn Mawr came straight from undergrad".

In 2004, dliptzin, a Goucher grad, said: "1/4 of our class just graduated, and another 1/4 who took 1 year off". The Goucher website says 9 of 30 admitees are aged 22-23.

In 2004, Febrifuge said of Bennington: "they don't take people who are just out of undergrad".

The UVa site bills the program as being for "college graduates who have made a late decision to pursue a career in medicine", and does not indicate that the program is targeted specifically at career changers.