Help with Pre-medical Program Choice - need advice badly!

[sailriddle]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking toward starting my pre-medical studies this Fall, but am having trouble really deciding what the best route is for me to take as far as program and finances. I want to program with good professors and probably good advisors. I am looking for any feedback that you all can provide.

Background: Graduated Georgetown 2006 with 3.5 in Classical Students. Worked in sail training industry for three years, sailed half way around the world as a mate/EMT, volunteered at Johns Hopkins, am a CPR Instructor - just trying to give any relevant medical experience.

I am deciding between UMiami, Georgetown, and Harvard Extension. I am hoping to really get everything done in 1 - 1.5 years to enter med school in Fall 2011. I have not been able to find a lot of feedback on the UMiami program, so if you know anything, please let me know!

Thank you in advance for any help...

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[slambizzle]

For the $$$, Harvard Extension is the cat's pajamas. However, you can't take all of your pre-reqs through HES in one year. I believe a) that Bio and Chem are scheduled at the same time, and b) their Bio class assumes that you have already taken Chem.

I'm planning on knocking out Bio and Chem next year during law school and then taking Physics, Orgo, and one additional med-science class at Harvard so I can get the committee letter (*which from what I understand is the best part of HES.)

Ultimately, it depends on how quickly and inexpensively you want to get your post-bac done. A pretty common refrain on non-trad message boards is that it's better to take your time. After all, you have the whole rest of your life to be a doctor, but if you **** up your post-bac you'll never get your foot in the door.

If you're considered a formal post-bac program like Miami (FL I assume) you might be better-served looking a more "prestigious" programs like Goucher, Columbia, and Bryn Mawr. I think you'd be a competitive applicant for those programs, and while they cost a little more, they also are successful at getting students into medical schools and offer attractive linkage options.

Just, my $.02. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

[urrugby]

I completed the Georgetown postbac last year, and would recommend it if you're a stellar science student and are ok with spending a lot of money for a formal postbac program, but can't get into a Goucher-level program.

As you may know from having attending Georgetown previously, the undergrad premeds tend to be cut-throat, and the course grades for postbacs are weighted in with the undergrads. Therefore, if you can out-perform the premeds, you'll have your prerequisites from a highly regarded premed institution. And, because it's a formal program, you'll get other perks, like committee and faculty letters of recommendation built in, which you won't necessarily at other, non-formal programs.

If you're not a steller science student, or would prefer to save money, most people who drop out of the Georgetown program move to American University, and say it's a world of difference with regard to how hard it is to score an "A".

If you have any further questions about the Georgetown program, feel free to PM me.

Regardless of where you decide to go, if you're doing the postbac full time, complete it in one year. It's a talking point in a med school interview to say that you completed all of the coursework in a condensed period of time, rather than spreading it out over 2+ years.