Help Army man pick a Post Bacc!

[poetqb7]

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I'm currently serving a 3 year commitment to the army. I graduated from college before I got in majoring in Poli Sci with a 3.6 gpa. After making friends in the medical department here I researched the med field and now want to pursue a career in Dentistry.

Question: I need to do the pre reqs for dental school but don't want to wait till after my commitment to start them. Is there a post bacc program I can do while in the army? Should I just take classes at the local university part time? I'm kind of lost here, so all advice is appreciated 🙂

 

[jslo85]

Where are you currently located?

In general, I would say that finishing the pre-reqs in a formal program while in the army is difficult if not improbable to do. The programs are usually organized to provide all the pre-req coursework and probably a bit more in the most concise fashion.

Taking the classes at a local university as an informal post-bacc would be more probable to give you the flexibility to work your class schedule around your current commitments in the army. I would probably take advantage of any shadowing/clinical experiences you can obtain while in the service and look into HPSP in the future.

 

[poetqb7]

Hey thanks for the reply.

A couple things: will doing informal post bacc at the local U look worse than a formal bacc? Also, what if I have to take the courses at several different colleges because of moving with the military?

 

[jslo85]

I don't want to use the word worse in a comparison, i'll say instead that if two students were both coming out with say a 3.8 GPA after finishing the pre-reqs and one did theirs at a no name 4 year university whereas the other completed theirs at BM or Scripps or something equivalent in their pre-med program, I'm willing to bet substantial amounts that the student who attended the top tier formal program would be given preference every single time if all else was equivalent (which it never is).

It's compounded when you attend a top notch program such as BM, Scripps, JHU or Goucher who have a reputation of sending virtually their entire class into medical school and have multiple linkages to many schools. They only accept students with top applications or have competent credentials and display potential to excel allowing them while giving them a top level education in their curriculum and advising. Therefore many schools have linkages with said programs knowing that they produce top level students for medical school.

If you have prior commitments (you do) and need to work with a more flexible schedule and have financial concerns, then an informal post-bacc works fine as well provided you do well. The bottom line is achieving great grades.

Taking courses at several different colleges shouldn't be a problem in my eyes but it probably should be mentioned in your PS and during interviews of how you were managing your army commitment with your goal of attending medical school and impress upon the Adcoms of how you were able to multitask both and still perform at a high level.