grad school?

[inhring]

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Hello,

I have been out of school for almost 6 years. I took all of the premed classes while in college (so >6 years older). Although my undergrad gpa is not bad (>3.5), I read somewhere in the forum not having taken any recent coursework could be perceived as a problem by adcoms.

Can this weakness be complemented by high MCAT scores? I haven't taken MCAT yet, but hope to do well on it.

At this point, I don't want to repeat premed classes in postbac. Do you guys think it's a good idea to do a master in biophyiscs/bioengineering before applying to med schools? Or it's not necessary?

Any inputs are welcomed. Thanks!

 

[Martin Prince]

The common wisdom around SDN seems to be that 6 year old courses are recent enough to be sufficient. If you perform well (~33+), the MCAT should settle any academic concerns. However, if you don't score well, you may send the impression that you don't remember your courses.

I remember reading several times that schools accept prereq's up to 10 years old, but this varies by institution. Check with every school to which you would apply to make sure before you get too far in your plans.

Good luck

 

[RxnMan]

The common wisdom around SDN seems to be that 6 year old courses are recent enough to be sufficient. If you perform well (~33+), the MCAT should settle any academic concerns. However, if you don't score well, you may send the impression that you don't remember your courses.

I remember reading several times that schools accept prereq's up to 10 years old, but this varies by institution. Check with every school to which you would apply to make sure before you get too far in your plans.

Good luck

This is excellent advice, especially the caveats.

Kaplan has a number of course options, that, if nothing else, will help you figure out the type of questions the exam asks. Most Kaplan places will even give you a free proctored exam.

 

[bioteach]

6 years is fine. I finished undergrad back in '00 and didn't have a problem with my old prereqs. With your solid uGPA I would just go for it and (study and then) take the MCAT and focus on some clinical experience (if you don't have any yet). With that GPA, I wouldn't worry about a postbac or master's degree.

 

[gman33]

Do you know your BCPM gpa?
This is very important as well.
If it's 3.5+, you may be okay without taking more recent classes.

If you are not applying this cycle, I'd try to take a couple of upper level classes over the next year. It can only help your app if you do well.

 

[inhring]

Do you know your BCPM gpa?
This is very important as well.
If it's 3.5+, you may be okay without taking more recent classes.

If you are not applying this cycle, I'd try to take a couple of upper level classes over the next year. It can only help your app if you do well.

Thank you all for the encouraging words!

Like gman said, I'm thinking of taking some upper level bio classes over the next year. My BCPM gpa is +3.5 as well but I'm afraid none of the professors at my school still remember me well enough to write me good recommendation letters.

Oh well.. I heard the Harvard Extension offers lots of quality classes for relatively cheap tuiton, but I live far away from Boston.

I gotta figure out where to take classes..

Thanks! 😍😍 😍

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Thank you all for the encouraging words!

Like gman said, I'm thinking of taking some upper level bio classes over the next year. My BCPM gpa is +3.5 as well but I'm afraid none of the professors at my school still remember me well enough to write me good recommendation letters.

Oh well.. I heard the Harvard Extension offers lots of quality classes for relatively cheap tuiton, but I live far away from Boston.

I gotta figure out where to take classes..

Thanks! 😍😍 😍

I think your plan to take some upper level bio courses is excellent; couldn't hurt/could help with admissions committees, given average accepted person at many schools is in early 20's (and therefore has recent science coursework) I'd bet some schools will consider the non-trad with recent science coursework a stronger applicant than the one with science coursework 6 yrs ago. Also, will likely help refresh your knowledge on MCAT subjects! You can obtain a LOR from an advanced-level bio instructor able to speak to your CURRENT science ability. Finally, it can help pull up GPA a bit (I graduated a fair bit above 3.5 GPA, & pulled both science & overall up by doing this myself).

Kind of a reality check when a school says "we didn't interview you partially because of your GPA -- we're looking for 3.8+ from out-of-state applicants", but hearing that helped me realize the importance of GPA.

 

[inhring]

I think your plan to take some upper level bio courses is excellent; couldn't hurt/could help with admissions committees, given average accepted person at many schools is in early 20's (and therefore has recent science coursework) I'd bet some schools will consider the non-trad with recent science coursework a stronger applicant than the one with science coursework 6 yrs ago. Also, will likely help refresh your knowledge on MCAT subjects! You can obtain a LOR from an advanced-level bio instructor able to speak to your CURRENT science ability. Finally, it can help pull up GPA a bit (I graduated a fair bit above 3.5 GPA, & pulled both science & overall up by doing this myself).

Kind of a reality check when a school says "we didn't interview you partially because of your GPA -- we're looking for 3.8+ from out-of-state applicants", but hearing that helped me realize the importance of GPA.

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. I've been considering taking some upper level bio classes in NY/NJ, but I can't seem to find any upper level bio eveing classes (that start around 6 pm) offered in NY/NJ. Since I work full-time, I can't take classes that start before 6 pm. I looked at Hunter & CUNY, but only evening class that starts around 6 pm is a gradudate course in genetics. 🙁

Does anyone know of any NY/NJ schools that offer evening classes?

Thanks!