Hunter & Harvard Extension

[bpgil]

I've been applying to postbac programs all over the country, including Hunter & Harvard Extension. Both are much cheaper than most others I've seen and also much less selective for admission. My undergrad grades weren't great...I was an English major & finished with a 2.8. My concern is that with a weak undergrad background, even very good grades at Hunter or Harvard Ex might not be enough to get me into a med school in 2-3 years. I've been getting the impression at other programs (ie Tufts, Columbia, NYU etc) that completing the program with a good GPA will really help make up for lousy undergrad, but I don't know if the same applies to Hunter & HE. So, will lousy undergrad + great GPA at Hunter or Harvard + good MCAT do the trick (obviously there are no guarantees)? I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks.

 

[Law2Doc]

I've been applying to postbac programs all over the country, including Hunter & Harvard Extension. Both are much cheaper than most others I've seen and also much less selective for admission. My undergrad grades weren't great...I was an English major & finished with a 2.8. My concern is that with a weak undergrad background, even very good grades at Hunter or Harvard Ex might not be enough to get me into a med school in 2-3 years. I've been getting the impression at other programs (ie Tufts, Columbia, NYU etc) that completing the program with a good GPA will really help make up for lousy undergrad, but I don't know if the same applies to Hunter & HE. So, will lousy undergrad + great GPA at Hunter or Harvard + good MCAT do the trick (obviously there are no guarantees)? I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks.

Can you even get into a postbac like Tufts with a 2.8? - my impression back when I was looking at postbacs was that they were more selective and formal than the other schools you mentioned. Have you taken science courses and done badly previously or did you never take the prereqs? Have you worked or had some time period between undergrad and postbac? Truth of the matter is that if you ace a postbac, that will look good, but you will still have a pretty low GPA, and so either will need to take a ton of postbac classes or follow it up with an SMP or something else to distinguish you, unless perhaps a lot of time has passed, you have had a distinguished career or other accomplishments and you can demonstrate that the postbac is better evidence of you as a student now. This is not a race, and if you are willing to put in the time and are capable of getting A's from here on out, you can rehabilitate your GPA for med school in time (but it could be a lot of time).
Everyone I know who successfully came through HES ended up going to great places, so I wouldn't be so quick to put that school in a different category as say, Columbia, but I suspect HES, with its open enrollment, will be willing to give you a chance to take your shot while other schools might decide your GPA is just too low. I know nothing of Hunter's program. You probably should have a heart to heart with the program director of whatever postbacs you end up choosing from and see what they think your chances are.