Is it really worth it?

[HopeFaith]

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Why are you applying to these programs. I'm thinking about doing so myself and would like to know your motivation for going through postbac, paying all that money with no 100% certainty of getting into med school if you can A) Go to med school in another country or B) Apply to DO schools?

 

[Sainttpk]

Why are you applying to these programs. I'm thinking about doing so myself and would like to know your motivation for going through postbac, paying all that money with no 100% certainty of getting into med school if you can A) Go to med school in another country or B) Apply to DO schools?

I personally have decided to do it myself. I do not think it is worth the money unless you are rich and have 50K to blow. If you can take all the classes on your own at your own pace and do well for 8K, why spend 40K just to get some advising? It does not make that much sense to me, but like I said before I am strapped financially.

If you have the money, then by all means do it! If you want to save the money and have more flexibility then I would say no.

T

 

[cammy1313]

Depends on what type of post-bac we're talking about, and where one lives also plays a large part in this decision. I live(d) in CA where the only post-bacs available were for socioeconomically disadvantaged reapplicants. The program at my undergrad institution that I did qualify for involved taking the upper division science courses. I had already taken all but a couple of these courses (Biochem major) and felt this program to be a waste of time. Not to mention that I had made equal amounts of As in Bs in these courses and so did not bear repeating.

That said, I opted for the oh-so expensive Masters in Med Sciences program at BU because it was a graduate level program but with all courses being med courses. The goal was to ace them all so that I would be accepted to, at the very least, BU's med school. Done and done. So there is no absolute certainty going into it but if you do as well as you expect for yourself then you do have an indirect guarantee of admitance.

 

[Sundarban1]

Why are you applying to these programs. I'm thinking about doing so myself and would like to know your motivation for going through postbac, paying all that money with no 100% certainty of getting into med school if you can A) Go to med school in another country or B) Apply to DO schools?

Because if you choose to go to any med school, overseas or DO, you still have to have completed the minimum requirements (completed through a post bacc, etc.).

Nothing is certain, correct. The only thing that is going to keep you from losing your mind and money is knowing that when you complete your post-bacc, you would have put yourself in position both grade wise and EC wise to be the best applicant you can be. Knowing medicine is your calling helps too.

Oh, and lots of anti-emetics for nausea

 

[Febrifuge]

Because I know that doing it this way is the right way for me to prepare. And if I try to practice medicine without doing the preparation first, I would kill someone, go to jail, and probably both.

A slightly less flippant answer is this: if you actually get to the point where you've figured out there is work that will make you happy and allow you to be great at something for the rest of your life, why would you let five years, $200,000.00, and a lack of guarantees stop you from trying to earn the chance to do that work?

 

[HopeFaith]

Because I know that doing it this way is the right way for me to prepare. And if I try to practice medicine without doing the preparation first, I would kill someone, go to jail, and probably both.

A slightly less flippant answer is this: if you actually get to the point where you've figured out there is work that will make you happy and allow you to be great at something for the rest of your life, why would you let five years, $200,000.00, and a lack of guarantees stop you from trying to earn the chance to do that work?

I think I should point out that my question was directed towards people who completed their premed courses while undergrads but are now opting to complete a postbac program to boost their science gpa.
Of course if you completed undergrad without taking the sciences you would have no choice but to do a postbac program. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[medanthgirl]

I think I should point out that my question was directed towards people who completed their premed courses while undergrads but are now opting to complete a postbac program to boost their science gpa.
Of course if you completed undergrad without taking the sciences you would have no choice but to do a postbac program. Sorry for the confusion.

i've completed my pre-reqs and will be applying for post-bacc (SMPs) in 2006. the reason why i've focused on that is b/c for me it's a last formal effort to try to apply to med school. i have always wanted to apply to med school, but haven't b/c i know my scores are not good enough, 3.1 gpa, 2.9 science gpa, 3.8 public health gpa. i'll be taking the mcat for the 1st time this august. i've got some interesting experiences in my past (international health degree, research in China, breast cancer research) but i really want to give it the best shot possible, and i think taking medical classes in a formal post-bacc program is the best way i can do that. to summerize, I have so much school already under my belt, i worried that if i don't do something as formal as a post-bacc, it will just look like i'm a career student. if i get into a post-bacc program, i will apply to both MD and DO programs. maybe i'm a sucker for marketing, but i think i will apply strickly to post-bacc, and then do an informal continuing ed program only if i'm not accepted to any. but i think if you work hard enough at any type of program, formal or informal, and do well with a challenging load of science classes, it would be hard for a medical school to dismiss that.