Is SMP right for me?

[crafty27]

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I'm five years out of college and I took the pre-reqs during 2007-2008 and did poorly. I believe my performance was due to family illness, a friend's death, and stress. I have not yet taken the MCAT. My overall science GPA is 3.1. My undergrad GPA is much better, 3.55..at Colgate University. I want to bring my science GPA up to at least a 3.5. I'm thinking about a SMP to bring up my GPA. I would enroll fall of 2010 and take the MCAT this spring(2010) since it is required for most SMP programs. I'm looking into programs at Georgetown, Harvard, Dartmouth, Drexel, Temple U., U. of Penn, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Edward Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Is this worth it? Should I just retake the courses I did not receive A's in?

 

[coat0023]

I think what you are thinking of is just a generalized post-bacc program. SMP's count as graduate courses so they do not affect your undergraduate GPA at all. You would get a new graduate GPA but your undergraduate GPA would remain the exact same.

With the post-bacc you would be able to retake courses that you did poorly in and replace the grades or take new science classes in an attempt to raise your GPA.

I can't really answer the question as to which one is better for you but I hope this clears up any confusion you had about the difference between the two.

 

[Looking Glass]

I think what you are thinking of is just a generalized post-bacc program. SMP's count as graduate courses so they do not affect your undergraduate GPA at all. You would get a new graduate GPA but your undergraduate GPA would remain the exact same.

With the post-bacc you would be able to retake courses that you did poorly in and replace the grades or take new science classes in an attempt to raise your GPA.

I can't really answer the question as to which one is better for you but I hope this clears up any confusion you had about the difference between the two.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're thinking of post-bac classes at those institutions (which are the pre-requisite classes that you already took). SMP classes are classes that you take alongside medical students and are counted as graduate GPAs (not undergrad GPAs). Outside of a select few institutions that I can think of: Georgetown, University of Cincinnati, EVMS, Toledo, and Drexel I can't think of any at places like Harvard, UPenn, or Dartmouth. Ultimately, you should figure out what kind of programs to enroll in. If you failed any of your pre-requisite courses, you should probably enroll in a post-bac rather than an SMP. On the other hand, if you did well on your MCATs (above 30), and completed all of your pre-requisites and did reasonably well in them, then you may want to consider an SMP as a shorter and faster route into medical school.

 

[crafty27]

Yes, I should be more specific. My grades in the pre-reqs were a mix of A's, B's(mostly B's), and 3 C's so I think I want to retake any class in which I did not receive an A. I did not fail any class so maybe a SMP would be sufficient?
Although, I really want to feel like I have mastery of the material and re-taking those courses and getting an A would do that. It is just hard to stomach taking those courses again.