Lecom Post-Bac vs SGU

[Flapjacks]

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Lecom Post Bac or straight acceptance into SGU?

From lecom post bac thats not a full guarantee and if i want to get lecom-b there are only a few slots that the post baccers can take; also, I hear sketchy things from the students on here and they dont pay hospitals for rotations.

or

SGU with its innate but few benefits.

 

[Dharma]

Lecom Post Bac or straight acceptance into SGU?

From lecom post bac thats not a full guarantee and if i want to get lecom-b there are only a few slots that the post baccers can take; also, I hear sketchy things from the students on here and they dont pay hospitals for rotations.

or

SGU with its innate but some benefits.

I'd try my damnedest to get into a D.O. school before setting sail for ANY island school at this point.

 

[dntke1518]

Personally I would do neither... I would try and take some time to do grade replacement.

 

[joeDO2]

with all the new US schools cropping up DO and MD, i think that IMGs are going to have an increasingly difficult time. i'd pass on the sgu and strengthen your app either through post-bacc or other ways

 

[Flapjacks]

Personally I would do neither... I would try and take some time to do grade replacement.

I posted this in Osteo not pre-med. I don't want an opinion from a premed and before you retort, i dont care.

with all the new US schools cropping up DO and MD, i think that IMGs are going to have an increasingly difficult time. i'd pass on the sgu and strengthen your app either through post-bacc or other ways

That's true and if I do make my decision and it ends up being SGU, I need to make it now because past 2018, it will look bleak.

However, the Lecom is "guaranteed" but I don't know how concrete the guarantee is.

 

[Makati2008]

I posted this in Osteo not pre-med. I don't want an opinion from a premed and before you retort, i dont care.



That's true and if I do make my decision and it ends up being SGU, I need to make it now because past 2018, it will look bleak.

However, the Lecom is "guaranteed" but I don't know how concrete the guarantee is.

Wow bit of a jerk move there bro. That premed HAS a seat in a US school something you couldn't accomplish.

Go to SGU we have more than enough axxhole d.o.'s myself included

 

[Flapjacks]

Wow bit of a jerk move there bro. That premed HAS a seat in a US school something you couldn't accomplish.

Go to SGU we have more than enough axxhole d.o.'s myself included

Will consider, thanks.

 

[NeuroLAX]

Just out of curiosity, what benefits from SGU are going into your consideration?

 

[dntke1518]

I posted this in Osteo not pre-med. I don't want an opinion from a premed and before you retort, i dont care.

 

[Flapjacks]

Just out of curiosity, what benefits from SGU are going into your consideration?

Not much other than a guaranteed seat. However, There is an informal guarantee for lecom's seat but its not an official guarantee. I don't understand when students that attend have to defend the condition saying "barring you show to be a freak at the interview or drugs or getting in trouble at lecom,' but if those conditions are true then why doesn't lecom also state that same clause, its not a deal breaker to attend, if its true.

 

[physcigirl27]

Not much other than a guaranteed seat. However, There is an informal guarantee for lecom's seat but its not an official guarantee. I don't understand when students that attend have to defend the condition saying "barring you show to be a freak at the interview or drugs or getting in trouble at lecom,' but if those conditions are true then why doesn't lecom also state that same clause, its not a deal breaker to attend, if its true.

I'm a pre-med who's waitlisted at a school so I don't know if my input will be appreciated BUT:

"freak" is a subjective term so I'm sure LECOM is vague to save itself legally. You could be brilliant but if you're a nutjob (subjective) then they probably won't take you.
I had looked into LECOM's post bacc because 1-2 people I know personally did the program and are now 2nd years at the med school. One is in PBL.

 

[se20001984]

id do the post bac,

if you werent able to gain admission to med this year it might mean you are a weak student, the extra classes from the post bacc will help you and give u a leg up for med

at sgu, you will be in an aggressive fight for a spot....not gaining admission isnt a good sign

but it depends on your stats and abilities

maybe you had a bad 1st year..etc..

 

[frankyazz]

From what I heard, you shouldn't have any problems getting a seat at LECOM through the post bac program as long as you meet the minimum MCAT requirement, and if your GPA of your post bac classes is above a 3.0.

 

[tide11189]

with all the new US schools cropping up DO and MD, i think that IMGs are going to have an increasingly difficult time. i'd pass on the sgu and strengthen your app either through post-bacc or other ways

This.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Personally I would do neither... I would try and take some time to do grade replacement.

I second this.

 

[st2205]

I would say it depends on 1. what your goals are and 2. your current family situation. Assuming there are no conflicts about SGU regarding 1 and 2 I'd say SGU.

 

[JRjcu08]

This:

http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2012.pdf

Page 11, US citizens attending international medical schools have less than a 50% chance of matching, whereas DO graduates have a 75% chance of matching into an allopathic residency.

 

[st2205]

This:

http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2012.pdf

Page 11, US citizens attending international medical schools have less than a 50% chance of matching, whereas DO graduates have a 75% chance of matching into an allopathic residency.

There are a lot of problems I find with this quick response that is often given. The first of which is that it lumps all schools together. The second is that I'm a big believer that it's much more about the individual than the institution. Caribbean schools, in general, accept many people who would otherwise not get accepted in the US (MD or DO), meaning that, academically speaking, they're not as competitive as their USMD and DO counterparts. Obviously, as the trends would follow, they'd be less competitive coming out of medical school, as well. The fact that these people were educated off-shore is only one of many variables and I'd believe that US DO students would still do quite a bit better if they had instead attended off-shore schools. One of the disadvantages, however, is that an SGU grad will not have osteopathic residency options, which traditionally (as a generalization) are less competitive. The problem the OP may find may not be whether he/she attends a DO school or a Caribbean school, but more so of dealing with which group, as a whole, they tend to fit in amongst more comparably academically. If the off-shore group, then they'd fare in the match more similar to those who went off-shore, whether they go DO or whether they go to SGU -- my opinion is that the results may roughly be similar (as far as the allopathic match goes).

 

[Whiskeypunch]

There are a lot of problems I find with this quick response that is often given. The first of which is that it lumps all schools together. The second is that I'm a big believer that it's much more about the individual than the institution. Caribbean schools, in general, accept many people who would otherwise not get accepted in the US (MD or DO), meaning that, academically speaking, they're not as competitive as their USMD and DO counterparts. Obviously, as the trends would follow, they'd be less competitive coming out of medical school, as well. The fact that these people were educated off-shore is only one of many variables and I'd believe that US DO students would still do quite a bit better if they had instead attended off-shore schools. One of the disadvantages, however, is that an SGU grad will not have osteopathic residency options, which traditionally (as a generalization) are less competitive. The problem the OP may find may not be whether he/she attends a DO school or a Caribbean school, but more so of dealing with which group, as a whole, they tend to fit in amongst more comparably academically. If the off-shore group, then they'd fare in the match more similar to those who went off-shore, whether they go DO or whether they go to SGU -- my opinion is that the results may roughly be similar (as far as the allopathic match goes).

I think the people that aren't ready for medical school are the 70% that fail out on the islands. The 30% that make it and pass all their boards only to match at a 50% rate are those that survived.

75% rate is pretty misleading too because those people that don't match from DO schools can always scramble for an AOA spot, they have mountains of them left over after the match.

 

[member927]

I would recommend the post-bac route. I myself have graduated from a post-bac program and can say it has definitely paid off. Here's a couple of pros and cons about post-bac programs.

PROs: -most post-bac programs have you take the actual medical school courses and see how you do vs. the current first year class. This is great because it allows you an opportunity to show you can hang or even excel in med school.

- If you do get into medical school from a post-bac program, it makes the first two years so much easier. Don't get me wrong, you still need to work hard but repeating the classes you've already taken during your post-bac program puts you at a huge advantage compared to your classmates. Although class rank isn't that high up the list for residency programs, I'm sure being in the top 5% of your class gives you a little more appeal than others.

CONs: if you DON'T do well in a post-bac, you're screwed for life. I know people from my old post-bac program that came in with decent GPAs but did horribly in the program. They didn't get in ANYWHERE. If you screw up a post-bac program then it just shows that maybe you don't have what it takes. I know a lot of people who gave up on their dreams because they couldn't hack it in the post-bac program in which you're not even taking the full load of medical school courses.

If your GPA is decent, and it's only your MCAT that's a little weak then I'd say study for the MCAT only. If your GPA is weak then I say go for the post-bac program. I know that admission committees don't look highly upon students who simply take "GPA boosters" at a community college. I mean repeating courses you might not have done so well in during undergrad doesn't prove anything. In fact you should ace a course you repeat, so how is it going to impress anyone? Either way, best of luck to you.

 

[Whiskeypunch]

I would recommend the post-bac route. I myself have graduated from a post-bac program and can say it has definitely paid off. Here's a couple of pros and cons about post-bac programs.

PROs: -most post-bac programs have you take the actual medical school courses and see how you do vs. the current first year class. This is great because it allows you an opportunity to show you can hang or even excel in med school.

- If you do get into medical school from a post-bac program, it makes the first two years so much easier. Don't get me wrong, you still need to work hard but repeating the classes you've already taken during your post-bac program puts you at a huge advantage compared to your classmates. Although class rank isn't that high up the list for residency programs, I'm sure being in the top 5% of your class gives you a little more appeal than others.

CONs: if you DON'T do well in a post-bac, you're screwed for life. I know people from my old post-bac program that came in with decent GPAs but did horribly in the program. They didn't get in ANYWHERE. If you screw up a post-bac program then it just shows that maybe you don't have what it takes. I know a lot of people who gave up on their dreams because they couldn't hack it in the post-bac program in which you're not even taking the full load of medical school courses.

If your GPA is decent, and it's only your MCAT that's a little weak then I'd say study for the MCAT only. If your GPA is weak then I say go for the post-bac program. I know that admission committees don't look highly upon students who simply take "GPA boosters" at a community college. I mean repeating courses you might not have done so well in during undergrad doesn't prove anything. In fact you should ace a course you repeat, so how is it going to impress anyone? Either way, best of luck to you.

The reason why admissions committees like repeats is because it boosts your GPA, so they can report higher numbers and seem more prestigious. That is part of the whole game. I promise they care.

There is a reason that DO schools take your adjusted GPA and report that rather than your actual GPA. It is to look more impressive.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I second this.

I third it...

PBs are expensive, you can take the classes yourself for way less and get in...

 

[thecgrblue]

I third it...

PBs are expensive, you can take the classes yourself for way less and get in...

Unless you've already graduated. At that point DO schools no longer do grade replacement. LECOM PB is only $13k for 1 year. If you compare that to the multiple years some may take with repeats it is potentially a money saver after getting you into a physicians salary faster.

Mind blown?

 

[dntke1518]

Unless you've already graduated. At that point DO schools no longer do grade replacement.

Where have you found this information? You can ask plenty of other non-trad students that have done retakes, schools have counted them regardless of their graduation status.

As far as the cost of LECOMs PB, that is pretty reasonable.

 

[thecgrblue]

Where have you found this information? You can ask plenty of other non-trad students that have done retakes, schools have counted them regardless of their graduation status.

As far as the cost of LECOMs PB, that is pretty reasonable.

I'm a non-trad who was talked with a number of admissions directors that essentially stated once you graduate your Ugrad GPA is locked in. New courses become post-bac or graduate GPA. Fiddle around with AACOMAS, your uGPA doesn't change when a course is entered as post-bac or graduate.

100% possible that they're all wrong, which wouldn't bother me one bit.

 

[thecgrblue]

Woot! (600th post)

 

[user3]

I'm a non-trad who was talked with a number of admissions directors that essentially stated once you graduate your Ugrad GPA is locked in. New courses become post-bac or graduate GPA. Fiddle around with AACOMAS, your uGPA doesn't change when a course is entered as post-bac or graduate.

100% possible that they're all wrong, which wouldn't bother me one bit.

New postbac coursework is collapsed onto the undergrad and total GPA. Original bachelor's GPA and the post bac GPA are separately reported on the primary as well, but that is mainly just for reference.

 

[st2205]

Unless you've already graduated. At that point DO schools no longer do grade replacement. LECOM PB is only $13k for 1 year. If you compare that to the multiple years some may take with repeats it is potentially a money saver after getting you into a physicians salary faster.

Mind blown?

Yes, only 13k. But more like 213k when you factor in losing out on taking that Caribbean acceptance. Perhaps you were just comparing PB to retaking classes, but in any case I'd take the SGU acceptance (circumstances pending) and run.

 

[pianoman511]

Yes, only 13k. But more like 213k when you factor in losing out on taking that Caribbean acceptance. Perhaps you were just comparing PB to retaking classes, but in any case I'd take the SGU acceptance (circumstances pending) and run.

Not really losing out on anything, except gambling on SGU and potentially not getting in to residency vs. getting in to a US medical school (the largest in the country by number of students and the cheapest private med school).

I did post bac and am happy that I did. Besides getting you in to medical school you are essentially taking "lite" versions of the same classes you'll take in medical school with the same professors you'll have in medical school. It is an advantage both due to learning the material better but also getting a preview of how testing goes & what kinds of questions are asked on medical school exams. $13k is not that much in the grand scheme of things (drop in the bucket !). Now I am done with medical school and in the residency that I wanted (and it's an allopathic residency as well).

I had considered working on grade replacement to bulk up my application, but it can be hard to find the financial means to take courses on your own and the post-bac program can be covered by student loans.

In terms of Bradenton, the few people that applied from my post-bac class got in no problem. Yes they hold less seats, but they also have less total seats available.

 

[DocEspana]

I'd avoid the caribbean route. But we've talked FJ. (if not, just talk to eponym). There is a storm a brewing in the caribbean and you might escape it or you might be caught in the middle of it. I hate taking >$200K risks

 

[NeuroLAX]

Yes, only 13k. But more like 213k when you factor in losing out on taking that Caribbean acceptance. Perhaps you were just comparing PB to retaking classes, but in any case I'd take the SGU acceptance (circumstances pending) and run.

:what: Sorry, but I do not follow your logic. If anything it would be a 200+k RISK by going to SGU and potentially not getting a residency.

 

[Dharma]

.

 

[Flapjacks]

You're so dramatic, its cute.

 

[Dharma]

.

 

[AFMD]

I third it...

PBs are expensive, you can take the classes yourself for way less and get in...

Post bacs make not sense to me for a DO school with grade replacement. Instead of fixing the original classes you're going to to take more advanced ones to see how you do?

 

[pianoman511]

Post bacs make not sense to me for a DO school with grade replacement. Instead of fixing the original classes you're going to to take more advanced ones to see how you do?

Not really more advanced, just more relevant. I did terrible in undergraduate level chemistry classes but did just fine in medical biochemistry for the simple fact that it was both interesting and relevant. The idea of a post bac is not to repeat coursework you have already done but to prove you can handle medical school. It is an audition, not a repeat performance.

Besides, you don't need to "fix" classes that you will never use again 😎 (let the premed hating begin).

 

[ShyRem]

Moving to pre-osteo as this is a pre-med topic and not a current medical student topic.

 

[NurWollen]

I posted this in Osteo not pre-med. I don't want an opinion from a premed and before you retort, i dont care.



That's true and if I do make my decision and it ends up being SGU, I need to make it now because past 2018, it will look bleak.
I
However, the Lecom is "guaranteed" but I don't know how concrete the guarantee is.

Quite possibly most arrogant, rude thing I have ever seen on SDN. I hope you change before you become a doctor.

 

[HalfListic]

I posted this in Osteo not pre-med. I don't want an opinion from a premed and before you retort, i dont care.



That's true and if I do make my decision and it ends up being SGU, I need to make it now because past 2018, it will look bleak.

However, the Lecom is "guaranteed" but I don't know how concrete the guarantee is.

Haha...is that funny that this got moved to pre med forum? Yes.

Also, you yelled at the person who gave you the best advice. SMPs are a waste...you should retake classes.

But after reading your responses here.....please just go to SGU

 

[Temperature101]

Lecom Post Bac or straight acceptance into SGU?

From lecom post bac thats not a full guarantee and if i want to get lecom-b there are only a few slots that the post baccers can take; also, I hear sketchy things from the students on here and they dont pay hospitals for rotations.

or

SGU with its innate but few benefits.

This is a no brainer...Lecom post bacc

 

[pianoman511]

For clarification, the post bac really isn't a true SMP unless you do the whole two year program. (So it's only one year). Most SMPs are all hard science as I understand it. As I said previously, all the coursework is just a lighter version of MS-1 coursework.

 

[Poisson]

Lecom Post Bac or straight acceptance into SGU?

From lecom post bac thats not a full guarantee and if i want to get lecom-b there are only a few slots that the post baccers can take; also, I hear sketchy things from the students on here and they dont pay hospitals for rotations.

or

SGU with its innate but few benefits.

Grade replacement is the smart and cheap way to get the biggest result. Formal post-bacs / SMPs are typically geared more towards pre-MDers, as the MS is a last ditch effort to show they can handle the work, as they don't have grade replacement.

 

[JD1957]

anyone knows the success rate for LECOM post bac in help getting in LECOM?

 

[pianoman511]

Its been quite a few years but when I went through everyone who got a 3.0 and a decent mcat got in. I know its gotten more competitive...

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[DantheManimal]

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