Making a Post-Bac decision

[lap12]

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Hi guys,

I'm brand new to this forum but I've stumbled across it in my search for more information about post-bacs and would love to get the community's input on my current situation.

To give you some background, I graduated from Dartmouth with an English major and about a 3.57 GPA. I was pre-med freshman and sophomore year and got B's in my bio pre-reqs, gen chem I and physics I, so my current science GPA is around a 3.0, maybe slightly higher. I dropped pre-med and pursued a job in PR, which I've been doing for about a year, and I really miss medicine and have decided it's the right path for me after all, but now of course have to finish up my pre-reqs.

After applying to a number of programs, it became clear that since I've completed about half of my pre-reqs I'm not really a candidate for the more supportive post-bac programs for career changers. I've gotten into the post-bac program at American University and UNC-Greensboro, both of which are essentially certificate programs. I'm waitlisted for the UVA post-bac as well. I'm from Maryland, and also have the option of the UMD SIE program. I know I need to up my sci GPA, and I think American, UMD or UNCG would give me a good opportunity to do that, but I'm just not sure what the right call is here, or if one exists.

So my questions are:
-What would you recommend? Is there a clear best option here?
-Is there benefit to (paying more for) a certificate program as opposed to a total DIY like the UMD SIE program?
-Is it worth it to try to get off the waitlist at UVA?
-Does anyone have any other advice going forward?

Thanks so much guys!

 

[477552]

Hi guys,

I'm brand new to this forum but I've stumbled across it in my search for more information about post-bacs and would love to get the community's input on my current situation.

To give you some background, I graduated from Dartmouth with an English major and about a 3.57 GPA. I was pre-med freshman and sophomore year and got B's in my bio pre-reqs, gen chem I and physics I, so my current science GPA is around a 3.0, maybe slightly higher. I dropped pre-med and pursued a job in PR, which I've been doing for about a year, and I really miss medicine and have decided it's the right path for me after all, but now of course have to finish up my pre-reqs.

After applying to a number of programs, it became clear that since I've completed about half of my pre-reqs I'm not really a candidate for the more supportive post-bac programs for career changers. I've gotten into the post-bac program at American University and UNC-Greensboro, both of which are essentially certificate programs. I'm waitlisted for the UVA post-bac as well. I'm from Maryland, and also have the option of the UMD SIE program. I know I need to up my sci GPA, and I think American, UMD or UNCG would give me a good opportunity to do that, but I'm just not sure what the right call is here, or if one exists.

So my questions are:
-What would you recommend? Is there a clear best option here?
-Is there benefit to (paying more for) a certificate program as opposed to a total DIY like the UMD SIE program?
-Is it worth it to try to get off the waitlist at UVA?
-Does anyone have any other advice going forward?

Thanks so much guys!

Can you take undergraduate courses by the unit at a nearby 4-year school? That's what I did and I essentially made my own "post-bacc program". I was in the same boat, where the post-bacc programs closest to me wanted people who had taken no science courses and were career-changers only (no blemished GPAs, etc.).

If you take classes individually, they count. Undergraduate courses would be counted as post-baccalaureate and averaged into your undergraduate BCPM, AO, and cumulative. And it's cheaper, too. You don't necessarily have to retake your pre-reqs... I was told not to retake anything and pursue upper-division biology. Talk to the med schools you're interested in and find out what they'd want.

Lastly, I say "4-year school" because the med school I really wanted to go to specifically said they didn't want community college courses. Again, check with the schools. If you decide to pursue the programs you're currently looking at, definitely make sure to find out how the classes would be calculated into your AMCAS GPA. Also, look at the connections... will it get you into the door at any MD program? Will it provide LORs, etc.?

To answer your questions (sorry for the long post):

1. It's really up to you. Cost, connections, and how they'll affect your AMCAS app are major considerations.
2. DIY (I wasn't even in anything formal... just took undergrad classes via "concurrent enrollment" at my alma mater) worked for me, so I can at least vouch that it works.
3. The same considerations for #1 come into play for answering this question. Does it fit your needs?
4. See rambling above. 🙂

 

[TriagePreMed]

Go wherever is cheapest and you can do best on your classes. There's nothing more to it than that when it comes to post-bacc work.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

-Is there benefit to (paying more for) a certificate program as opposed to a total DIY like the UMD SIE program?

None at all, unless you have a wood stove and need the certificate to light a fire with. The problem is that postbac programs, either structured or self-constructed, are totally useless for anything other than getting into medical school. Since you have half the prereqs finished already, a formal program would be largely redundant. Take the classes you need at whatever 4-year college is cheapest and easiest for you. Formal programs will brag about their premed advisors and MCAT prep, but you can get better advice here on the nontrad forum and organize your own MCAT prep with Princeton Review or Examcrackers books or whatever you want to use.