Informal PostBac with Open University Plan

[shffl]

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My local university does not offer a "second-bac" of any sort so if I was to take additional classes to repair my GPA I'd have to do so through Open University. I plan on applying to post-bac in California when the application period for 2010-2011 begins but for the upcoming semester I plan on enrolling in some upper div science course to boost both GPA and allow ADCOM to see that I am academically capable of medical school. My back-up plan for if I fail to get into post-bac is to take an additional year of courses as an Open Univ then applying to medical schools beginning 2012. Hopefully, I don't have to go this route as Open University cost is costly.

My initial plan was to take a lot of upper div classes per semester; more than the average students. So if an average student takes 4 classes/semester, I plan on enrolling in 5-6 per semester and attempt to get A's in them (I have confidence in this). At the same time I will try to score a high score in MCAT as well. All this to repair my pathetic 3.1 GPA. The way I see it is if ADCOM sees that I can ace all upper div courses while taking a lot of them at the same time, they can take lightly of my undergrad GPA.

I ruled out SMP because simply speaking, I don't think I am competitive enough for it as of this moment.

What do you guys think?

 

[deleted248403]

Online learning = not going to help your application if you live in the US and don't have a good reason for not moving.

3.1 cGPA is competitive for SMPs, just not necessarily the top rung ones. A good MCAT will help you in the SMP game too

 

[shffl]

Online learning = not going to help your application if you live in the US and don't have a good reason for not moving.

3.1 cGPA is competitive for SMPs, just not necessarily the top rung ones. A good MCAT will help you in the SMP game too

Classes will be live not online. I have yet to take the MCAT. Basically my initial plan is to apply to medical school for the year of 2012. SMP I probably won't make it for 2011-2012 (have to look into it). At the same time I will apply to SMP during 2012 as well as a hedge in case I didn't get into any med school.

 

[graduate2be]

Classes will be live not online. I have yet to take the MCAT. Basically my initial plan is to apply to medical school for the year of 2012. SMP I probably won't make it for 2011-2012 (have to look into it). At the same time I will apply to SMP during 2012 as well as a hedge in case I didn't get into any med school.

I don't think that the Open University idea is a bad one and you may want to investigate all of your options before settling on one. I'm considering the San Diego State University and CSU-Sacramento Open University programs. The tuition costs per credit are $197 and $221 respectively. Also, you don't have to deal with applying to the schools and paying application fees. The downside is that the classes are only offered on a space available basis only but in speaking with several friends of mine that have taken Open University at both schools, they say that they were generally able to get into the classes that they wanted/needed. You also have to be more proactive about getting your LOR's and other elements needed for your application but there again, depending on the school, some Open University programs (SFSU, SDSU, UC-Berkley and CSU-Sacramento come to mind) allow Open U students the same access to pre-health support services that regular students have.

Like you, I have thought very heavily about applying to SMPs, but their costs make them prohibitive for me and to be honest, after speaking with several people on the admissions committee at the med school in my state (U of Arizona), I wonder if an SMP is truly necessary. I would suggest you speaking with some admissions folks and let them know what your situation is and then make a decision as to whether or not attending Open University would be the best route for you to take.