Is Open Admission viewed Negatively?!?

[atran017]

So,

I was just thoroughly looking my list of post bacs, and I noticed that one of them wrote under the admissions section: "To this end, the College of Professional Studies is an open admissions school." (Northeastern University College of Professional Studies in Boston)

I am only aware of one other post bac pre med program or school that is open admissions as well: Harvard Extension School (please correct me if I am wrong).

Do you guys have any opinions about this? I have read around, and many people have said that Harvard is not equivalent to Harvard Extension.... So likewise, I am assuming that Northeastern University (highly selective school) is not the same as Northeastern University College of Professional Studies....

Would the admissions committee consider an open admission school to be less than one that is not?

I guess in the end, in order to gain sponsorship from HES, you need to have achieved a certain level of success in the program...likewise, in order to gain a committee recommendation from NU, you will need to have shown academic success, etc. before the director will support your letter....Sorry for the rambling....so should open admissions play any factor in your decision to attend which school?


A.

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[drizzt3117]

So,

I was just thoroughly looking my list of post bacs, and I noticed that one of them wrote under the admissions section: "To this end, the College of Professional Studies is an open admissions school." (Northeastern University College of Professional Studies in Boston)

I am only aware of one other post bac pre med program or school that is open admissions as well: Harvard Extension School (please correct me if I am wrong).

Do you guys have any opinions about this? I have read around, and many people have said that Harvard is not equivalent to Harvard Extension.... So likewise, I am assuming that Northeastern University (highly selective school) is not the same as Northeastern University College of Professional Studies....

Would the admissions committee consider an open admission school to be less than one that is not?

I guess in the end, in order to gain sponsorship from HES, you need to have achieved a certain level of success in the program...likewise, in order to gain a committee recommendation from NU, you will need to have shown academic success, etc. before the director will support your letter....Sorry for the rambling....so should open admissions play any factor in your decision to attend which school?


A.

I think it really depends on the reputation of the postbac. HES has a good reputation with med admissions, I don't think NE has the same level of name recognition by any means.

 

[BORNagainSTDENT]

when you say open admition, does that mean any one can just sighn up for classes.

 

[NewmansOwn]

HES is probably a more solid bet but honestly, if you distinguish yourself academically, it doesn't really matter where you took your prereqs -- it just might be a little more difficult to get noticed.

I generally give the advice that if you can't get into/don't want to go to one of the top postbacs, you're better off taking the classes on your own at wherever is cheapest and most convenient for you. NU vs. HES won't matter in the long run.

 

[bellakk]

I think that going to an open admissions school would be OK as long as you get only A's. I think a high score is more important that the selectivity of the program. The school may have open admissions simply b/c it is a huge school while a small program simply means that the classes are tiny.

I would call a med school to verify this.

 

[Allopathic13]

HES is a good program, but if your applying to the HCP in order to get sponsorship, it is not open enrollment. Acceptance is not terribly difficult but applicants do get rejected. If students do well, they can certainly place you in the top med schools. In some classes you will even be taught by Harvard med profs.,these connections will help if you apply to Harvard med.

Outside of BM, Scripps, and Goucher I would say Harvard is one of the best programs, but the aforementioned 3 are certainly quite stronger due to their linkage agreements.

Good Luck

 

[Chauffeur2MD]

Hi,

I wouldn't worry about what the school says about an open admission policy. I think that many postbac programs are pretty flexible on admissions. It is all about how well you do in the classes during the program. That said, it is always more impressive to do well in more difficult classes and/or competing against top students. Harvard's program may be a little overrated if they do not put their postbacs in classes with regular Harvard College undergrads (which I think they do not). If the school does have separate classes for postbacs, find out why. Sometimes, it's just a scheduling thing. If for some reason the classes are different, medical schools will notice - they are used to seeing course codes from many students.

Good luck!

 

[Allopathic13]

I do not know what it means in other schools, but Harvard's classes in their Post Bacc are just as difficult as those taken in Harvard College. At Harvard the classes are separate because the HCP is structured through the School of Continuing Studies, which all classes are night classes. And the Extension School is one of the 13 Degree granting schools of Harvard,along with the Schools of Law, Medicine, Govt. etc.

In Harvard's Pots Bacc students are taught by Harvard Profs. and in many cases, depending on the classes you take, are taught by Harvard Med Profs.I know the quality of education is quite high at Harvard, probably just as high as BM, Scripps, or Goucher, except those programs are better because of linkage agreements, and a more concentrated support structure.

 

[NewmansOwn]

In Harvard's Pots Bacc students are taught by Harvard Profs. and in many cases, depending on the classes you take, are taught by Harvard Med Profs.I know the quality of education is quite high at Harvard, probably just as high as BM, Scripps, or Goucher, except those programs are better because of linkage agreements, and a more concentrated support structure.

I agree. We have a few people here at BM that took Gen Chem at HES last summer because they didn't graduate from undergrad in time to start Gen Chem here and they were all extremely well prepared for both O-Chem and the MCAT.

 

[Lacheln]

I agree. We have a few people here at BM that took Gen Chem at HES last summer because they didn't graduate from undergrad in time to start Gen Chem here and they were all extremely well prepared for both O-Chem and the MCAT.

FYI there is no HES summer, that's Harvard summer - also open enrollment, only some of the same professors, 5x the price.

Regarding open enrollment perception - worry about your performance and nothing else. No, HES is absolutely not the same as being a regular Harvard student in terms of prestige (and pretending otherwise makes you look like a gigantic tool), but it's well-regarded in the med school adcom world, and nothing else matters.

 

[NewmansOwn]

FYI there is no HES summer, that's Harvard summer - also open enrollment, only some of the same professors, 5x the price.

Oh how bout that...interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I just knew they were at Harvard and figured it was HES.