^But the lady I spoke with at the program specifically stated they look for high Gpa's. I don't know what I'm missing then. Is she wrong? If you try calling yourself and ask what are your requirements and see what answer she gives you with a high gpa issue then you'll see what I mean.
HES is, just that, an extension school. You're not an "official" student like you are in some of the Postbac programs where you have guidance and regular access to things. It is an individualized/unstructured program as opposed to the other postbacs that are traditional/structured (student ID, cards, etc). And I just spoke with the gentleman and he said it's an evening program, not during the day, and I then asked upon completion of your "courses" can we then apply to med school, and then he said no we supply a "letter" of some sort and then you can do something (lol whatever that means I didn't quite get him).
Why is HES real cheap in comparison to Columbia?
Columbia and HES are both fairly lenient with their acceptance criteria. From what I've gathered on perusing the forums, the general cutoff is 3.0 cGpa, which really isn't all that selective considering the average GPA of Med School acceptee's (generally above 3.5 cGPA).
The reason why Columbia gets such a bad rep here is that the opinions of those that have taken their program have been negative for the most part -- lack of support, really high attrition rate, viciously competitive attitudes between students, etc. HES has a pretty high attrition rate also, but the peer support and honesty from the department is great. It also doesn't hurt that tuition is 1/4 the cost of classes at other post-bac programs (Columbia included).
As for being an "official" student, if one of your main concern is being considered a legitimate I think you're misplacing your priorities. At HES, you don't receive all the same access as undergraduates, but you receive all the benefits that you will need as a pre-med student. You won't get an ID card unless you're a Diploma candidate, which really doesn't mean much in itself. The sponsorship letter, i'm assuming this is what you mean by "letter", is what most students at HES are striving for.
As for myself, when the time came to decide between HES and Columbia, I went with the cheaper HES. While Columbia's acceptance package was much more appealing that HES's one page letter with a paragraph explaining the skimpiness of their program, my cynical self couldn't help but think that it's in Columbia's interests lie in $$ first while HES's priority is success of students first. Part of this belief in HES was confirmed when I met with Fixsen (director of the program). He's not one to pretty things up for your ego, which I really appreciated.
This is just the first (or second) step towards med school for us though, so hopefully you end up with the program that will help you do just that. Good luck.