I met with an adviser today at the four-year college I am retaking my science courses in. I was planning on just re-taking sciences that I got lower than a B+ in, and in addition, taking some upper level courses (biochemistry, genetics, etc) since I had never previously taken any. The adviser informed me that I shouldn't do this, and that I should look into a program specifically designed for academic enhancement. He seemed standoff-ish and it was my first time meeting with him but he really put down the fact that I was just taking courses here. He made it seem very detrimental to taking courses without being in a program and stated it was a "waste of my time" and that programs are much more structured and would be the only option I have. I'm not sure what to do now, as I have already started taking 17 credits here and have a 93%+ average in all my courses. Should I forget taking classes next semester and start applying to post-bacc GPA enhancement programs? Please help! Thank you in advance!
Is it detrimental to retake courses without being in an academic enhancer program?
- Thread starter kkosp2451
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Your adviser is ill-informed, that is perfectly acceptable and shows more initiative on your part, especially if you are doing other things on your own as well. But you should only be retaking courses you got a C+ or lower in, otherwise it tends to look like GPA-padding, even a C+ isn't necessarily advisable for a retake. Pursuing upper-division science courses instead of retaking all the lower sciences you did decently in will look much better. For the most part post-bacc GPA enhancement programs are overpriced, but if you feel like you need the structure of advisers telling you what to do, have the money for it, and need help finding more ECs, then sure go ahead. Otherwise keep doing what you're doing but make sure to work on those ECs while also doing well in school.
This is from the opinion of someone who did their own post-bacc repair and was commended by multiple adcoms.
This is from the opinion of someone who did their own post-bacc repair and was commended by multiple adcoms.
Thank you so much. This is what I thought was right originally, but talking to the pre-health advisor here definitely discouraged me. I'm glad that my plan is justified and has worked out for other people!
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Your advisor is a *****. Plenty applicants here, and my own students, have taken a DIY "post-bac".
Don't re-take any B coursework, just F/D/C.
Don't re-take any B coursework, just F/D/C.
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I did a DIY post bac at various universities and community colleges and have recently been accepted to two top 30 medical schools, so I would say that advisor is full of it.
Just do well in your classes and crush the MCAT and you'll be fine. Good luck!
Just do well in your classes and crush the MCAT and you'll be fine. Good luck!
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Ditto here. Do what makes the most sense in terms of your financial and personal situation.
For some of my friends already in medical school, that meant doing the official Post-Bacc program at Columbia. For me, that meant taking classes at community college or my local 4 year university to make a full schedule according to what I could afford at the time.
In the end, we were accepted into the same school(s), and they spent $50k+ more than I did. But to them the money didn't matter -- and I've heard the advisement at Columbia is fantastic. For me, it was community college, state university, and SDN all the way. I don't feel I've missed out at all.
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