Informal Post Bacc

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DOC G.

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I will most likely have to do the informal route to get my grades up. The questions is...I will not be able to stay at the school I am at after I graduate to take the extra upper science classes due to money issues. Will it still be okay even if I had to change colleges? Will the ADCOM not like it? Also if I do well in those upper levels that will help out my case for improving after my freshman year? Sorry for all the questions but I rather not do another 4 years of undergrad...

Have a nice day
 
If you can't stay at your current school that isn't bad. You graduated and moved on I don't see how that would look negative. You have to do what you have to do in the end. Regardless of what the ADCOM's think.

You can always retake the classes you did poorly in your post bacc to strengthen your case if its been 4 years since you've had them but yes you will need to do well in your post-bacc. Its not a cure all for a mediocre or low gpa. If you gpa is 3.2+ and already have the prereqs, have you thought of doing a SMP?
 
I will most likely have to do the informal route to get my grades up. The questions is...I will not be able to stay at the school I am at after I graduate to take the extra upper science classes due to money issues. Will it still be okay even if I had to change colleges? Will the ADCOM not like it? Also if I do well in those upper levels that will help out my case for improving after my freshman year? Sorry for all the questions but I rather not do another 4 years of undergrad...

Have a nice day

Changing schools isn't too bad aslong as they are reputable institutions (e.g., accredited). For the most part, freshman year isn't much of an issue. Some schools weigh later years (soph, jr, sr) since they know some people improve over time. One school that does this is University of Washington.

The key question is....what is your overall GPA, and what were your GPA trends. Its all relative. If you had a 2.8 as a freshman, and had 3.5-4.0's for the rest of your college career, then its not much of a problem. But if you didn't do all that better after your freshman year, then you will need to do well during post-bacc. The higher the GPA the better, and definitely want to get the GPA up to and if possible passed 3.0.

Now if you went to a community college to take "post-bacc classes" that may not be good. Adcoms may view it as "sprucing up" your application with easier classes. But since you said upper classes, I'm assuming upper division and thus those are not offered at a community college. Therefore if you're doing this at a 4-year university somewhere, then it should not be a problem, aslong as you do better than you did before. :luck:
 
Well the problem was I had a 2.2 my freshman year ( was having problems dealing with dyslexia in college) and been making ~3.0 every year after that. It has only gotten up to a ~2.68...by the time I graduate this May it will not be high enough to get into a SMP. I have a good, strong upward trend it is just that I need more time to get it up to an over all of 2.9-3.0. It takes a long time to recover from this. That is why I was wondering about the informal post bacc.
 
Well the problem was I had a 2.2 my freshman year ( was having problems dealing with dyslexia in college) and been making ~3.0 every year after that. It has only gotten up to a ~2.68...by the time I graduate this May it will not be high enough to get into a SMP. I have a good, strong upward trend it is just that I need more time to get it up to an over all of 2.9-3.0. It takes a long time to recover from this. That is why I was wondering about the informal post bacc.

Although I sympathize with your problems dealing with dyslexia, you will have to quantitatively show that you can do well in school. I'm sure people with dyslexia get into med school, but you have to prove that this will not affect your ability to do well in med school. As we all know, the med school environment is a lot more challenging than undergrad. True, you have shown an upward trend, and it has been significant (2.2 vs. ~3.0). But 3.0 work is still not adequate. Some of the post-bacc programs here in CA require you to maintain AT LEAST a 3.5 GPA when taking a full-time load of upper division science classes.

I mean no disrespect, but what has changed to allow you to perform to these higher standards? Its great that you are looking into ways to improve your GPA. However, in all honesty, you have reached the point of diminishing returns, and you are working with a very small margin of error. Therefore before starting an informal/formal post-bacc, I'd think about:

(1) Is an MD/DO degree realistic within your abilities. The academic requirements are well-published in the MSAR, and many other places.

(2) Which study skills worked? Which did not? How will you change your ways to perform better in class?

(3) Is it realistic for you to maintain at least a 3.5 GPA (if not higher) when taking a full-time courseload of upper division science classes.

(4) How does your performance in class translate into doing well on the MCAT?

I hope you put some to realistically, and honestly think about this. Myself and a few friends have had this moment of self-reflection, and resulted in us changing our methods, and reprioritized our lives. As a result, we have drastically improved our performance in school. But I have known a few friends who have also been in denial, or ignored their faults. They ended up wasting time, rather than improving their stats. I hope that you are in the former group of people...but you know yourself the best.:luck:
 
I really appreciate the comments that you have given. The reason I have gotten better is because I would organize the notes into a spider web or a chart that I can identify better. Also I was able to control the test anxiety that I had. But anyways…thank you for the response. I do feel after many times of thinking that I will be able to handle the tough information in medical school. The reason I say this is because when the classes get harder 4000 level my GPA has gotten better...I have gotten away from those professors that hate freshman and want them to not pass. But if my GPA was going downward then I would definitely know medical school was not going to work out and I would need to find something else to do. Thank you again..I appreciate you not going hard on me and telling me how much a ****** I am. haha
 
An upward trend is a real necessity when you're recovering from being an idiot (I was one too). The key, when applying, is to show the ADCOMS that you were an idiot and that you'll never be that stupid again.
 
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