Getting a 2nd Bachelor's Degree?

[Jumb0]

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So I graduated from a highly ranked undergraduate university with a 3.21 cGPA in Biopsychology. I completed all my premed prerequisites there. I am really boning for an MD program, and I realize my GPA is not competitive at all, so I have decided to take a two-year gap in which I will do extensive post-bacc work to raise my stats.

I have registered for a second bachelor's degree program at a low tier state-school. Nonetheless, it is an accredited 4-year institution. My second degree will be in regular ole Biology. After getting fifteen consecutive A's (which I am 99.99% sure I can do given the relative rigor of the school as compared to my alma mater), my cGPA will be a 3.45 and my sGPA will be 3.48. These numbers are not stellar, but the upward trend will obviously be meteoric...not to mention the tenacious determination I will demonstrate.

I have a couple questions:

• How are second bachelor's applicants generally regarded by adcoms ? (@Goro )
• Will the disparity in prestige between my first and second bachelor's really matter?
• In general, will it look lame that I have a Biopsych degree and then a pure Bio degree? Are the two sufficiently different? Yeah, the course-work will be totally new, but perhaps it would be *cooler* to pursue a completely different major (Chemistry comes to mind).
  
  Thanks 🙂

 

[BostonBobo]

Getting another bachelors degree is an unusual choice, and I know no one at my medical school who did that. I have seen many people do masters in medical science or similar to improve their competitiveness. Frankly, that would seem to be a more reasonable solution.

 

[Goro]

You won't be looked down upon, that's for sure. I've interviewed a number of people who did a 2nd UG degree.
My only question is: why? An SMP or post-bac will accomplish the same thing in a shorter period of time, for a lot less money.
How are second bachelor's applicants generally regarded by adcoms ?


No, because the whole point of the second is to prove that the you of now is not the you of then.
Will the disparity in prestige between my first and second bachelor's really matter?


No, and I can't imagine why you would even think this.
In general, will it look lame that I have a Biopsych degree and then a pure Bio degree?

It doesn't matter what the degree subjects are in, as long as you do well.
Are the two sufficiently different?

Coolness is irrelevant to us. It only matters to you. Do what you find interesting.
Yeah, the course-work will be totally new, but perhaps it would be *cooler* to pursue a completely different major (Chemistry comes to mind).

 

[Jumb0]

My only question is: why? An SMP or post-bac will accomplish the same thing in a shorter period of time, for a lot less money.

Well, this option is actually going to be much cheaper for me than a SMP due to in-state tuition. It's gonna be like $10K for the whole second bachelor's versus ~$50K for the SMP's around here.
As for time, I need the full two years anyway in order to engage in long-term EC commitments, as I didn't do that during undergraduate. Might as well take classes at the same time.
And as for a post-bacc program, the school that I'm getting this second bachelor's at does offer a premed post-bacc, but it is tailored towards career-changers, not academic record enhancers. They can't offer me the upper level courses I want through that program, so I'm just going for the second bachelor's. I can complete it in two years by transferring foundational requirements from my first degree. Furthermore, it's not a problem if I don't complete the degree for whatever reason. I'm only in it for the classes.