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both their Masters and Post-Bac will help you get in for sure. I changed my mind and decided to pursue dentistry a year ago but if I could have easily gotten into their DO program should I have chosen that path.
I know that people who fulfill either the Masters or Post-bac and averages a 3.5 or higher, they are guaranteed interviews. And most of the people who received interviews got in. Keep in mind that people below a 3.5 also got in but 3.5 or above at least guaranteed you an interview.
In addition to this, you get to know many of the faculty on a personal basis in our program. I have a class with the Dean of Basic Sciences here. He knows my name and my friends and I have walked into his office and chatted. This always helps. So the political connections you make through these programs are invaluable especially if you want to get into their program.
Anyway, there are a lot of programs out there that have political connections with their medical school. They aren't easy by any means. And you shouldn't assume you will get straight A's. These programs are a lot harder than undergrad considering that nearly everyone in your class has the same aspirations as you and they can be gunners in your class. And many of your classes will be with medical students, physician assistants, grad students etc. You have to be really focused because in many cases your classes will be only slightly easier than that of your medical school counterparts.
My advice is don't waste your time doing a Masters of Public Health. If you do a Masters program, make sure it is not a thesis centered Masters or research driven. Make sure your Masters program involves lots of actual class room work with exams. These are often referred to as "Special Masters" programs. Dartmouth has one like this.
And if your GPA is below a 3.0, I would do a post-bac. In general, I think post bac programs are better because they have some political affiliation with a medical schooll. Either they are part of the school themself or the director of your program has a quota of the number of students he or she sends to a particular medical school. There is no pretense invovled with post bac. Med schools know you are in post bac to go to medical school. And in post bac, you aren't wasting your time fulfilling ambiguous research classes associated with Masters programs.
One more thing, Masters programs are gaining a reputation for high grade inflation. Due to the volume of ambiguous research classes in their programs and the flexibility involved with certain classes, many Masters programs are gaining a reputation of being easy. That's why you will see some people reapply that have high GPA's in certain Masters programs. Post-bac doesn't have this reputation yet. Also, two adcoms told me their impression of Masters programs. One of these gentleman said: "Well everyone knows you can't get a C in a Masters because they don't give C's." Of course, this adcom's impression was wrong; not all Masters programs are designed like this. Nonetheless, it makes you wonder if other adcoms have this same impression. If you do a Masters, make sure it is class room driven and has some connection to a medical school
I know that people who fulfill either the Masters or Post-bac and averages a 3.5 or higher, they are guaranteed interviews. And most of the people who received interviews got in. Keep in mind that people below a 3.5 also got in but 3.5 or above at least guaranteed you an interview.
In addition to this, you get to know many of the faculty on a personal basis in our program. I have a class with the Dean of Basic Sciences here. He knows my name and my friends and I have walked into his office and chatted. This always helps. So the political connections you make through these programs are invaluable especially if you want to get into their program.
Anyway, there are a lot of programs out there that have political connections with their medical school. They aren't easy by any means. And you shouldn't assume you will get straight A's. These programs are a lot harder than undergrad considering that nearly everyone in your class has the same aspirations as you and they can be gunners in your class. And many of your classes will be with medical students, physician assistants, grad students etc. You have to be really focused because in many cases your classes will be only slightly easier than that of your medical school counterparts.
My advice is don't waste your time doing a Masters of Public Health. If you do a Masters program, make sure it is not a thesis centered Masters or research driven. Make sure your Masters program involves lots of actual class room work with exams. These are often referred to as "Special Masters" programs. Dartmouth has one like this.
And if your GPA is below a 3.0, I would do a post-bac. In general, I think post bac programs are better because they have some political affiliation with a medical schooll. Either they are part of the school themself or the director of your program has a quota of the number of students he or she sends to a particular medical school. There is no pretense invovled with post bac. Med schools know you are in post bac to go to medical school. And in post bac, you aren't wasting your time fulfilling ambiguous research classes associated with Masters programs.
One more thing, Masters programs are gaining a reputation for high grade inflation. Due to the volume of ambiguous research classes in their programs and the flexibility involved with certain classes, many Masters programs are gaining a reputation of being easy. That's why you will see some people reapply that have high GPA's in certain Masters programs. Post-bac doesn't have this reputation yet. Also, two adcoms told me their impression of Masters programs. One of these gentleman said: "Well everyone knows you can't get a C in a Masters because they don't give C's." Of course, this adcom's impression was wrong; not all Masters programs are designed like this. Nonetheless, it makes you wonder if other adcoms have this same impression. If you do a Masters, make sure it is class room driven and has some connection to a medical school
