MASTER'S VERSUS POST-BACC

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together

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I know this has been brought up before but which program would you recommend -- Master's or Post-Bacc? For those of you who are currently in medical school and have completed one or the other, I would love to hear your story! You can e-mail me if you don't want to post.

Thanks!

Together 🙂
 
Hey together, there are advantages and disadvantages of doing both. If you do the post-bacc: you don't have any new degree to show for your work, but you might have more pertinent classes and the classes might be more geared towards taking your MCAT. I think that med schools respect post bacc grades more then they respect some graduate school grades because a lot of grad schools tend to have grade inflation. If you do the masters: you have the extra degree behind your name, which might be useful if you want to go into an academic career if you do a masters in a science, you are learning new stuff instead of re-learning old stuff, it might detract from your preparing for the MCAT and you want to be finished with your masters by the time that you enroll in medical school too. It really depends a lot on the post-bacc program and the masters program. Good luck.
 
masters: BU
MCP Hahnemann (optional)

post-bac: Chicago Med
U. Penn
Berry (i think)
U. Miami
Georgetown

i think this info is correct. i heard chicago med's program is a big feeder program into their med school. i am in the BU program and my class did really well as far as getting into medical schools. many are BU bound too. Georgetown is a tough program - not sure about their stats.

i agree w/ CKent though. the MASTERS degree (although a bullcrap degree b/c it pretty much can only get you into medical school or a research position) is good b/c it is a degree. you can actually put that on your resume --- "Masters in Medical Sciences" -- Boston University. blah blah blah.

but the post-bacs are also good. i know a lot of kids who went through MCP Hahnemann's program and got into med schools. w/ MCP you do one year of coursework and if you get into med school you go. but if you don't... you have the option to stay on for one more year to finish the degree. so it's pretty flex. BU is not like that. the thesis is non-negotiable. you can't just leave in the middle of the program.

anyways..... i think this is getting long. if you have any questions drop me a message. especially if you are interested in the BU program. good luck!!
 
one more thing.

when reading the success stories/ stats that come along w/ these programs... keep in mind that when they say they get 75% of their kids into a medical school --- that includes Caribbean, Canadian, DOs, etc.
 
Thank you all for your replies! Chilipina, I e-mailed you at your BU account.

Thanks again!

Together
 
Having completed a Master's degree, I think another advantage is that you can get teaching assistantships and research assistantships. Not only are these quality experiences to list on your application, but you usually get a tuition waiver and stipend making it pretty much free of cost. During grad school I have had the chance to take many upper-level science courses for free, helping my over all gpa. Writing a thesis takes a great deal of commitment so I'd advise against if you don't feel a strong sense of motivation towards it.
 
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