Low-income non trad seeking postbacc options that will lead to med school scholarship!

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pimpim1008

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Hey all,

I am 22 yrs old fresh out of college, interning in user research and design, and am living in NYC with my family.
I volunteer as a health educator in an immigrant clinic on the weekends, and from this experience, I am currently considering med school to work with underserved communities.
I studied English+Sociology. I went to an Ivy League so my UG is a brand-name (but does that matter?)

I am weighing my options for fulfilling my pre-reqs-- DIY postbacc or formal postbacc.
I am considering the formal postbacc (Bryn Mawr particularly) because it could make me a stronger applicant, which could help me secure med school scholarships/ admission to free tuition med schools (such as UCLA, UChicago, Cornell, Columbia) BUT I cannot really afford the formal post bacc, and my family can't help me pay for it.
I am considering saving up for a year and taking out loans to pay off the rest. I have no debt, but taking out 20~30k in loans is a little scary (though that's chump change compared to med school loans). My friend did this and is now studying at Columbia with her tuition fully paid for.

My other option is to take classes at SUNY Farmingdale and do it all on my own. I don't know if it's better to save costs now or see investing in a formal postbacc as investing in my future, and a way for me to secure good scholarships or free tuition, and perhaps going to more prestigious med schools will open more doors for me (and the issues I want to work on) in the future. Would love to get some advice on this!

edit: my gpa is around 3.5~

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If your GPA is good (3.4 or above), then I don't think you'd need to take a formal post-bacc. Just do it on your own, save money, and get good grades. Get plenty of volunteering, shadowing, and clinical exposure.
 
If cost is a concern, then do not do a formal post bac. Scholarship decisions are not based on where people did their post bac or undergrad. Apart from need based scholarships, there are merit based scholarships that are used to recruit impressive applicants (this is based on a review of the whole application).
 
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If you’re looking for funding, the only guaranteed options are going to be military or state funded programs for high needs (rural) primary care physicians that require a minimum length of service . All other scholarships are for luring high flying matriculants from attending higher ranked schools. With a 3.5 GPA you’re going to need an incredibly high mcat and an truly impressive application package. Another option would be to look at schools that have announced free tuition such as NYU Cornell and Kaiser (for first 5 classes).Unfortunately professional schools have even less merit/need based aid than undergraduate.
 
I had a wonderful experience at CCNY for an informal postbac, and yes, I went to a brand-name undergrad. Check out their new organized postbac.
 
I also must add--as a fellow normal person with a 3.55--that the only med school merit aid recipient I know of is a Phi Beta Kappa Marshall scholar. But the NHSC and the military offer some fantastic deals!!!
 
@DocJanItor @Moko @GreenDuck12 @samc
thanks everyone for your responses!!

@samc Two of my college friends attend our school's med school now (with a full merit scholarship!) They are also amazing people. Probability-wise/Realistically, I will probably not get a full merit, but I have my eyes set on free tuition schools such as Columbia or Cornell. The NHSC is really up my alley as well.
 
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