In your opinion...

[gatewasani]

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Which SMP/post-bacc will give me the BEST chance at attending med school (any U.S. Med school) the year following the smp (no gap year.)

I know RFU has that but it's so cutthroat that it kinda turns me off to it, probably because they accept to many students to begin with and can't possibly accept all of them into CMS for the following year.

 

[jslo85]

If you really don't mind between DO or MD, to be honest LECOM's post-bacc in the biomedical sciences is probably your "best" chance of entering LECOM's osteopathic school on completion. I can give you more details if you want, just PM me.

 

[deleted248403]

well there is a big diff between a post-bac and an smp;

PB: bm, goucher, scripps
SMP: Georgetown is pretty well regarded

 

[jslo85]

Actually I disagree with you on that Rob. Post-Bacc simply means any work that you do that won't grant a degree after getting your major. Those three programs that you mentioned are pre-med post-bacc programs for non-traditionals/career changers who have none of the basic pre-requisites. There are those post-bacc programs that go directly on your uGPA but are aimed at becoming academic enchancers.

For example. Bryn Mawr's Curriculum:
Summer session: Gen Chem
Fall/Spring: Biology, Orgo, physics.
etc.

LECOM curriculum:
Sept-Dec: Cell Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Physiology, Histology, Genetics, Medical Terminology
Janurary-April: Anatomy, Immunology, Virology, Pathology, Pharmacology/Toxicology, Intro to Medicine

The difference between the AE oriented post-bacc and SMP is that the SMP is a Masters and goes on your graduate GPA coursework and not on your uGPA. Another benefit is in certain programs, these graduate courses are actually medical school courses that the MS1s take and are taught by the MS1 faculty as well as for the SMP students to take the courses with the medical students.

Other AE programs that I've heard of would be SFSU's new AE track that offers very similar classes but personally I prefer taking it at a medical school and taking full advantage of the pipeline/linkage that it has.

 

[deleted248403]

The point is that they are different and they are.

My point was that if you havent done the pre-reqs then you do a postbac. If you have, you can do a few post bacs or an SMP but the routes are very diff depending on your situation.

Thus, the "best" is quite diff depending on what you are talking about regarding smp and pb

 

[drizzt3117]

I'm pretty sure he's referring to SMPs, as he's discussing RFU. I would say Tulane or EVMS probably.

 

[mic2377]

Without a doubt an SMP is the best bet. Post-bacc can raise your undergrad GPA but it takes ALOT of credits to do some damage.

All SMP's are going to be competitive to some degree. Do remember that you want to go to med school, and med school is VERY competitive. Also remember that the BMS program probably takes alot of students, but only x% do well enough to be considered for admission, based on their performance. So, I wouldn't say it is "cutthroat."

Also, many of the SMP's normally considered for getting into MD schools are also very well regarded by DO schools. I was accepted to both this cycle, and both schools were very impressed by the program.

I would choose based on your current stats.

 

[BuckFMP]

Without a doubt an SMP is the best bet. Post-bacc can raise your undergrad GPA but it takes ALOT of credits to do some damage.

All SMP's are going to be competitive to some degree. Do remember that you want to go to med school, and med school is VERY competitive. Also remember that the BMS program probably takes alot of students, but only x% do well enough to be considered for admission, based on their performance. So, I wouldn't say it is "cutthroat."

Also, many of the SMP's normally considered for getting into MD schools are also very well regarded by DO schools. I was accepted to both this cycle, and both schools were very impressed by the program.

I would choose based on your current stats.

Hey MIC - Are you an RFU student? Where have you been accepted?

Thanks.

- Buck

 

[DrMidlife]

Post-Bacc simply means any work that you do that won't grant a degree after getting your major.

IMHO a postbac is any undergrad work you do after you have a 1st undergrad degree. I don't think the term rules out degree-granting programs; there's nothing preventing you from taking postbac work and applying it to a 2nd bachelors.

That said, the program director at EVMS calls his SMP (which grants a masters degree) a postbac.

I'd argue that the word postbac is useless. The intention is what we should be referring to:
1. Student has (or will have) an undergrad degree, but hasn't done the prereqs. They need a prereq program (Goucher, Bryn Mawr, Scripps if GPA is good, any college if GPA isn't)
2. Student has completed some or all of the prereqs, and/or has a sub-3.0 GPA. Arguably they need more undergrad (any college, and some like UT Dallas have structure).
3. Student has completed all the prereqs, has a 3.0+ GPA, and has a great app with the single exception of GPA. They need an SMP (Gtown, Cincinnati, etc.).
4. Student posts a novel describing their "unique" situation, which matches 100 other stories in the low GPA thread (the one with a quarter million views). They need to read more.

My $.02.

As to the question of which SMP is most likely to get you in:
Temple: if you can get into this program (3.3 or 3.4 required), and you don't screw up, you get into Temple.
Tulane ACP: if you can get into this program (waitlist required), and you don't screw up, you get into Tulane (95%)
EVMS: if you can get into this program, and you don't screw up, you get into EVMS (20 out of 23)
I think Cincinnati is next.

 

[BuckFMP]

IMHO a postbac is any undergrad work you do after you have a 1st undergrad degree. I don't think the term rules out degree-granting programs; there's nothing preventing you from taking postbac work and applying it to a 2nd bachelors.

That said, the program director at EVMS calls his SMP (which grants a masters degree) a postbac.

I'd argue that the word postbac is useless. The intention is what we should be referring to:
1. Student has (or will have) an undergrad degree, but hasn't done the prereqs. They need a prereq program (Goucher, Bryn Mawr, Scripps if GPA is good, any college if GPA isn't)
2. Student has completed some or all of the prereqs, and/or has a sub-3.0 GPA. Arguably they need more undergrad (any college, and some like UT Dallas have structure).
3. Student has completed all the prereqs, has a 3.0+ GPA, and has a great app with the single exception of GPA. They need an SMP (Gtown, Cincinnati, etc.).
4. Student posts a novel describing their "unique" situation, which matches 100 other stories in the low GPA thread (the one with a quarter million views). They need to read more.

My $.02.

As to the question of which SMP is most likely to get you in:
Temple: if you can get into this program (3.3 or 3.4 required), and you don't screw up, you get into Temple.
Tulane ACP: if you can get into this program (waitlist required), and you don't screw up, you get into Tulane (95%)
EVMS: if you can get into this program, and you don't screw up, you get into EVMS (20 out of 23)
I think Cincinnati is next.

What about RFU?

Thanks!

 

[jslo85]

The point is that they are different and they are.

My point was that if you havent done the pre-reqs then you do a postbac. If you have, you can do a few post bacs or an SMP but the routes are very diff depending on your situation.

Thus, the "best" is quite diff depending on what you are talking about regarding smp and pb

What I mainly disagreed with, I apologize if i wasn't clear, was that the 3 examples you cited in "explaining" the definition of a post-bacc was 3 pre-med formal post-bac programs geared exclusively towards non-traditionals/career changers. I assumed from his post that if he was even considering SMPs/RFU then he had accomplished the pre-med req and was looking for an opportunity instead to display that he has the academic competence to handle medical school. I liken your 3 examples of post-bacc like a post-bacc adviser telling her students that with successful completion of the program you can get into good med schools and proceed to list off SGU, Ross, AUC and other Caribbean schools only. It is not that limited, there are other options. That was the only thing I was trying to get across. I only brought back up LECOM as an example to juxtapose it against that of your cited pre-med formal post-bacc program of Bryn Mawr (randomly selected it of the 3 to google) as an AET post bacc to contrast. The term SMP is loosely defined as well in my opinion. There are the true SMPs in Georgetown, Tulane etc. and there are the other "SMP" programs who allow you to take medical school classes as well (less than that of Georgetown) but require a year of research as well. It was for clarification purposes only in the second post.

For the record I agree with Dr. Midlife and I stand corrected, I was going mainly off my own definition of post-bacc in my mind which is taking additional classes after your major and then compromised that with the popularly stereotyped image of SDN.

I am not emphasizing LECOM for any alterior motive or bias. I have not went through their post-bacc program and as I am applying to SMPs this cycle, I have LECOM low on my list for personal reasons. I also suggested SFSU's AET track, but I did not elaborate because I have zero knowledge of the program outside of what it claims on its website and it's relatively new. That said, my advice came more from stories of my friends (3) that have went through/are going through this program at the minute. 1 is a MS1 at LECOM-E, 1 has already received her conditional letter of acceptance and the third has went through the guaranteed interview and is expecting hers after the committee meets. I know you have not talked to the OP and I did not either until after my initial post but I stand by what I said above in regards to his situation. He does not care what school he gets into and is looking primarily at pipeline programs such as that at Touro-NY. I will be the first to confess I am not a know all of all medical programs of this nature but what I did know was my friends had gone through the LECOM post-bacc and they followed through on their promise for guaranteed acceptance if the students were successful in meeting the requirements. He also emphasized he wants it to be "less competitive" and "smaller sized". All of which led me to shy away from Georgetown and other large and more rigorous SMPS for one that I have relative knowledge about that fit his criteria exactly.

 

[DrMidlife]

What about RFU?

Thanks!

RFU's program seems to be redesigned every few years so I'm skeptical when folks cite results from it. Beyond that, I'll defer to people who are closer to the program (search for the RFU threads).