Is there a specific thread for people who did a DIY post bac and got accepted?

[foreverlearner02]

Please link me if so.

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[PickleRickelus]

Please link me if so.

I do know of one person who did a DIY post-bacc. She discovered during the course of this application cycle that the institution where she took the classes classified them as being "graduate" as opposed to "undergraduate." This means that although she had an exceptional graduate GPA from those DIY classes, her undergraduate GPA remained stagnant. Her primary motivation was to get above a 3.0 since her undergraduate GPA is just slightly below it. Long story short, she now has to redo an entire year of course work at an established post-bacc program. My point in telling you this is to be weary of doing a DIY post-bacc. There are a lot of unforeseen variables that could appear for which you would be simply powerless to overcome. I highly encourage you to look into established post-bacc programs. They provide you with all the resources you need to get into medical school and then some (advising, LORs, EC opportunities, MCAT prep, etc). I understand if money or timing is an issue but it's better to do things right the first time and not go through the headache down the line. This may involve taking out a loan but it is worth it in my opinion. Think of it as an investment.

Just my two cents about DIY post-bacc. If you need to take one or two classes maybe it's fine but if are trying to get a GPA booster then make sure you do your homework beforehand.

 

[kraskadva]

Please link me if so.

PLEASE READ! Nontrad FAQs and Helpful Links: Updated 10/19/12
They're all stickied at the top of the forum...

 

[foreverlearner02]

I do know of one person who did a DIY post-bacc. She discovered during the course of this application cycle that the institution where she took the classes classified them as being "graduate" as opposed to "undergraduate." This means that although she had an exceptional graduate GPA from those DIY classes, her undergraduate GPA remained stagnant. Her primary motivation was to get above a 3.0 since her undergraduate GPA is just slightly below it. Long story short, she now has to redo an entire year of course work at an established post-bacc program. My point in telling you this is to be weary of doing a DIY post-bacc. There are a lot of unforeseen variables that could appear for which you would be simply powerless to overcome. I highly encourage you to look into established post-bacc programs. They provide you with all the resources you need to get into medical school and then some (advising, LORs, EC opportunities, MCAT prep, etc). I understand if money or timing is an issue but it's better to do things right the first time and not go through the headache down the line. This may involve taking out a loan but it is worth it in my opinion. Think of it as an investment.

Just my two cents about DIY post-bacc. If you need to take one or two classes maybe it's fine but if are trying to get a GPA booster then make sure you do your homework beforehand.

Thanks for your input! Will keep it in mind as I move forward

 

[foreverlearner02]

PLEASE READ! Nontrad FAQs and Helpful Links: Updated 10/19/12
They're all stickied at the top of the forum...

Thank you! I just read through some of these and most of them are pretty out-dated. Let me know if you know of any threads that have recent input

 

[kraskadva]

Thank you! I just read through some of these and most of them are pretty out-dated. Let me know if you know of any threads that have recent input

The first one is still current and has lots of info from many folks who succeeded with diy postbaccs, myself included.
Non-Trad "Secrets" of Application Success

Also, not sure what you mean by outdated. The roadmap for success hasn't changed much in the last decade, so just because a thread is a couple years old doesn't mean that the advice given would be any different today.
And if you want advice from people who've already gotten accepted, their info will be a couple years old anyway because they've already put the years into classes, app cycle(s), and potentially a couple years of med school. And we/they were making our game plans based on advice from previously successful posters, so the good advice I'd repeat to you came to me several years ago. ...outdated is relative and these are not.

 

[operaman]

I took a very odd path myself including some DIY postbacc action. Happy to answer any questions.

In a nutshell, chem sequence is the only intrinsic rate limiting factor; negotiate it however you like. Otherwise you can structure however you like that allows you to make As. Make sure classes and MCAT time out to let you apply early; schools start interviewing pretty early and you don’t want to be slogging through secondaries until October if you can help it.

Happy to elaborate if needed.

 

[Jamba1995]

I also did a DIY post-bacc and am doing fairly well this cycle! Happy to answer questions.

 

[katiemaude]

I did a DIY postbacc through a community college. I had to do lots of research and ask questions here to figure it out. Happy to help if I can.

 

[Lawfairy]

I also did a DIY post-bacc at a local community college and got into med school. If you do this route, make sure to research the specific requirements at the medical schools to which you might apply. Some schools require that you speak with them first if you completed the majority of your pre-reqs at a community college. Also, look into the quality of the community college, i.e., faculty bios, partnerships with local 4 year universities, and student opportunities. Otherwise, if you can, go to a four-year university.

 

[foreverlearner02]

I also did a DIY post-bacc at a local community college and got into med school. If you do this route, make sure to research the specific requirements at the medical schools to which you might apply. Some schools require that you speak with them first if you completed the majority of your pre-reqs at a community college. Also, look into the quality of the community college, i.e., faculty bios, partnerships with local 4 year universities, and student opportunities. Otherwise, if you can, go to a four-year university.

Thank you for your input. I am doing DIY postbacc at a 4 year university.

 

[foreverlearner02]

I did a DIY postbacc through a community college. I had to do lots of research and ask questions here to figure it out. Happy to help if I can.

What did you do along with your DIY postbacc and how many classes did you take at a time? Any advice you have for me?

 

[katiemaude]

What did you do along with your DIY postbacc and how many classes did you take at a time? Any advice you have for me?

Sorry for the late response - I’m in the middle of application season for residency. I volunteered 10 hours a week and did freelance work in my former profession but I mainly focused on classes. I took bio and chem with labs plus a psych class and a biotech science class with lab (part of the condition of my free education), then the next semester bio and gen chem plus calc and another biotech class, anatomy and physio over the summer, and then organic chem and physics with labs the second academic year - and I started working 20 hrs a week. When I finished I took an MCAT review class and sat for the MCAT that August. Then I went to work full time at a hospital (needed the benefits and money). At this point of the MCAT we are two full years into it. I gathered LORs and wrote my PS while working and applied the following June — 2 years and 10 months from when I started classes. Interviewed that fall (3 years out) and started med school the following August (4 years!) I did it without any debt and it was my only means

Do it faster if you can by doing a legit hardcore postbacc like Bryn Mawr if you can borrow for it and get accepted. You can cut the time in half.

 

[DarklingThrush]

I do know of one person who did a DIY post-bacc. She discovered during the course of this application cycle that the institution where she took the classes classified them as being "graduate" as opposed to "undergraduate." This means that although she had an exceptional graduate GPA from those DIY classes, her undergraduate GPA remained stagnant. Her primary motivation was to get above a 3.0 since her undergraduate GPA is just slightly below it. Long story short, she now has to redo an entire year of course work at an established post-bacc program. My point in telling you this is to be weary of doing a DIY post-bacc. There are a lot of unforeseen variables that could appear for which you would be simply powerless to overcome. I highly encourage you to look into established post-bacc programs. They provide you with all the resources you need to get into medical school and then some (advising, LORs, EC opportunities, MCAT prep, etc). I understand if money or timing is an issue but it's better to do things right the first time and not go through the headache down the line. This may involve taking out a loan but it is worth it in my opinion. Think of it as an investment.

Just my two cents about DIY post-bacc. If you need to take one or two classes maybe it's fine but if are trying to get a GPA booster then make sure you do your homework beforehand.

This doesn't make any sense. Was she taking the pre reqs or upper level science classes?

 

[Suess]

I did a DIY postbacc through a community college. I had to do lots of research and ask questions here to figure it out. Happy to help if I can.

In your experience, did you find that medical schools looked down upon your community college courses? Was this ever brought up?

 

[medschoolonthemind]

I did a DIY post-bacc at community college. No one mentioned it while I was interviewing aside to ask why. I think most people understand not wanting to shell out a bunch of cash for a post-bacc. I also think it was easier to make all A's than it would have been at a four-year college where they are trying to weed people out with some of these lower-level pre-med courses.

That said, if I could go back in time I would take out loans and take the more traditional, one-year post-bacc route. Here's why:

1) A post-bacc prepares you really well for the MCAT. With basically a year of dedicated study, I think I would have managed a much higher MCAT score.

2) I started looking for shadowing opportunities about a year before applying and nearly had to apply without any. It was that hard to find someone to let me shadow them without a university affiliation. I also had trouble finding relevant volunteer opportunities - both clinically and in research. I could never have anticipated how much time, energy and frustration would have been saved by having someone to help me arrange these unofficial pre-reqs.

3) It would have taken significantly less time.