My post-bacc list - anywhere else I should be looking?

[JDtoMD82]

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Hi folks. Hoping I can get some input. This is the list of post-bacc programs that I plan to apply to (will submit my apps in August-September for matriculation the following June). I'm a non-trad (will be graduating from law school in May and am 26). I'm looking for formal programs with linkage. I would prefer classes that are not graded on a curve. I don't have any particular geographical preference although I would probably prefer to not be on the west coast (which is why, among other reasons, I have not listed Scripps). But I'm not ruling it out. Here are my stats and my list:

-SAT: reading 670, math 760 (plus a bunch of subject tests, as well as AP Calc AB & BC)
-ugGPA (in an arts-related major): 3.65
-LSAT: 170 (98th percentile)
-Graduating in May from top-10 law school, cum laude, top 1/3ish of my class
-2 medical-related law clinics/pro-bono projects (one of which has been ongoing for the past 2 years), 1 health law class
-over 400 shadowing hours in the past 7 years
-volunteered as a translator for a medical clinic outside of the US for 3 summers (fluent in English, and my first language)
- I am going to try to find pro-bono work in a hospital or other health care setting during this upcoming year while I am working at the law firm I am going to.

Here is my list of programs:

(first choices)
Goucher
Bryn Mawr
Temple
JHU

(second choices)
Tufts
Penn
UVA

Am I applying broadly enough? Will I have a decent shot at those top 4 programs (my spouse and I are alum of 2 of those top 4 - will that make a difference)? Thanks for any help anyone is able to give me in advance. I have been scouring these boards for awhile now, and find the collective experiences/stories an invaluable resource. Thanks!

 

[JDtoMD82]

Bumping this...anyone?

 

[deleted248403]

3 hour bumping is a bit unnecessary - this forum isnt as busy as pre-allo or allo.

Your list looks fine.

Tho the number of lawyers jumping ship to medicine these days is staggering - don't be surprised if no-one is in awe of that aspect of your application. There are so many these days.

 

[MedWonk]

Hi folks. Hoping I can get some input. This is the list of post-bacc programs that I plan to apply to (will submit my apps in August-September for matriculation the following June). I'm a non-trad (will be graduating from law school in May and am 26). I'm looking for formal programs with linkage. I would prefer classes that are not graded on a curve. I don't have any particular geographical preference although I would probably prefer to not be on the west coast (which is why, among other reasons, I have not listed Scripps). But I'm not ruling it out. Here are my stats and my list:

-SAT: reading 670, math 760 (plus a bunch of subject tests, as well as AP Calc AB & BC)
-ugGPA (in an arts-related major): 3.65
-LSAT: 170 (98th percentile)
-Graduating in May from top-10 law school, cum laude, top 1/3ish of my class
-2 medical-related law clinics/pro-bono projects (one of which has been ongoing for the past 2 years), 1 health law class
-over 400 shadowing hours in the past 7 years
-volunteered as a translator for a medical clinic outside of the US for 3 summers (fluent in English, and my first language)
- I am going to try to find pro-bono work in a hospital or other health care setting during this upcoming year while I am working at the law firm I am going to.

Here is my list of programs:

(first choices)
Goucher
Bryn Mawr
Temple
JHU

(second choices)
Tufts
Penn
UVA

Am I applying broadly enough? Will I have a decent shot at those top 4 programs (my spouse and I are alum of 2 of those top 4 - will that make a difference)? Thanks for any help anyone is able to give me in advance. I have been scouring these boards for awhile now, and find the collective experiences/stories an invaluable resource. Thanks!

Your SAT scores will little or no bearing on your success in a post-bacc. Are there post-baccs that actually ask for them? Because that would be silly.

I assume those shadowing experiences are with a physician. You're all set there.

Your GPA is good. I dig your LSAT score. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll have any bearing on post-bacc apps, nor on med school apps. Your experiences as a lawyer might, though.

Other places you could look at are University of Vermont (has linkage), Harvard Extension (no linkage, fairly unstructured), Brandeis (has linkage), UConn (has linkage), and NYU (has linkage). These are some that I thought of off the top of my head, assuming you don't mind living in New England/NYC.

I don't know if being an alumnus helps in your case, but it certainly can't hurt. It'll probably depend on the school. Harvard seems very "incestuous" in that regard (with the exception of the Extension School), while UMass is less so (my alma mater).

 

[JDtoMD82]

3 hour bumping is a bit unnecessary - this forum isnt as busy as pre-allo or allo.

Your list looks fine.

Tho the number of lawyers jumping ship to medicine these days is staggering - don't be surprised if no-one is in awe of that aspect of your application. There are so many these days.

Thanks for your reply. Im new to this forum - don't really know what the 'bumping' etiquette is.

I guess I don't really consider myself to be "jumping ship". There are a number of reasons for my desire to move to medicine. I have a law firm job that is secure and wouldn't have a problem making a living there if that's what I decided to do.

Whether or not post-bacc's look upon my JD in awe or not, is not really my main concern. My main concern is whether top programs will see 1430 SAT, 3.65 gpa, 170/98th percentile LSAT, and cum laude from a T-10 school as indicators of my ability to succeed in their program and med school. There is not much data out there - so I'm just looking for some input from this helpful forum.

 

[JDtoMD82]

Your SAT scores will little or no bearing on your success in a post-bacc. Are there post-baccs that actually ask for them? Because that would be silly.

I assume those shadowing experiences are with a physician. You're all set there.

Your GPA is good. I dig your LSAT score. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll have any bearing on post-bacc apps, nor on med school apps. Your experiences as a lawyer might, though.

Other places you could look at are University of Vermont (has linkage), Harvard Extension (no linkage, fairly unstructured), Brandeis (has linkage), UConn (has linkage), and NYU (has linkage). These are some that I thought of off the top of my head, assuming you don't mind living in New England/NYC.

I don't know if being an alumnus helps in your case, but it certainly can't hurt. It'll probably depend on the school. Harvard seems very "incestuous" in that regard (with the exception of the Extension School), while UMass is less so (my alma mater).

Thanks for the reply!

All the post-bacc apps I've looked at ask for SAT, ACT, and/or GRE (and I believe they would like whatever other graduate-level exams you've taken - i.e. LSAT, GMAT, MCAT, if you've taken it, etc.).

My shadowing has actually been with my mom who is the chief of her department. I have shadowed her for approximately 60-70 hours per summer for the past 7 summers.

Thanks a lot for those school suggestions - I had looked at Brandeis and NYU but I'm going to do more research. I did look at Harvard Extension but I think I'm looking for a bit more structure than that. However, I had not heard of the UConn or UVM programs. My wife's family is originally from Boston and I went to high school outside of Boston, so New England is ideal for us. Thanks again!

 

[Evidence Based]

Hey there,
Current student at Bryn Mawr, giving my two cents. Your list looks good to me. To the above poster, post baccs actually do look at SAT scores if you do't have any more recent standardized test scores, as performance on one standardized tests tends to correlate with other tests. Your LSAT may actually be an asset here, but I'm not sure what the protocol is.

Definitely looks like you have some very solid medical experience, which is a huge plus when applying for these programs. More than anything, they want to make sure of two things: that you can hack in medical school academics wise, and that you have a passion for medicine. You're looking pretty good in both of those categories.

I can give you info on Bryn Mawr (and Goucher to a much lesser extend). We have linkages to ~20 med schools, no curves, and great support from the faculty and staff. Goucher is also not curved. JHU I have no idea, but they do put you in undergrad classes, so there might be a curve in some. Goucher and BM have separate classes for post baccs, and none of them are bell curved (physics and orgo are sometimes scaled up, but only to your advantage).

 

[JDtoMD82]

Hey there,
Current student at Bryn Mawr, giving my two cents. Your list looks good to me. To the above poster, post baccs actually do look at SAT scores if you do't have any more recent standardized test scores, as performance on one standardized tests tends to correlate with other tests. Your LSAT may actually be an asset here, but I'm not sure what the protocol is.

Definitely looks like you have some very solid medical experience, which is a huge plus when applying for these programs. More than anything, they want to make sure of two things: that you can hack in medical school academics wise, and that you have a passion for medicine. You're looking pretty good in both of those categories.

I can give you info on Bryn Mawr (and Goucher to a much lesser extend). We have linkages to ~20 med schools, no curves, and great support from the faculty and staff. Goucher is also not curved. JHU I have no idea, but they do put you in undergrad classes, so there might be a curve in some. Goucher and BM have separate classes for post baccs, and none of them are bell curved (physics and orgo are sometimes scaled up, but only to your advantage).

Thank you so much - this is exactly the kind of info that I am looking for. I know things like essays, interviews, etc play a huge part, but numbers-wise, in your experience, am I somewhere in the middle/average of accepted applicants? If admissions looks for evidence of successful test-taking (especially high-pressure, generally one-shot-deal type of exams), then I do hope my LSAT is helpful in my application.

Does BM have MCAT prep as part of the program, or do students go elsewhere for prep (I feel like I heard it is not part of the curriculum at BM, but can't remember now)? And from what you've seen, are most people who choose to go the linkage route, linking successfully? Of those who don't link, are the published med school acceptance rates accurate or are there folks who are actually not getting into school?

 

[Bru]

Is Temple's postbacc better than UPenn's? I assumed it was the other way around.

 

[JDtoMD82]

Is Temple's postbacc better than UPenn's? I assumed it was the other way around.

There are not really any concrete stats. So I don't know which is better, but from what I gather, it is more competitive to get into Temple (someone correct me if I'm wrong). This is probably because if you get a 3.5/30, you are have a guaranteed spot at Temple Med in the fall. Which, to me, is a pretty good deal (I guess the deal could not be great if you end up with a 40 on the MCAT and 4.0 in the program...even if that happens, you are bound to Temple). Penn has linkage but I don't think they have a concrete deal for matriculation to Penn Med (again, if I've missed something, please feel free to correct).

Additionally, Temple has in state tuition (which I would qualify for) and seems a bit more structured than Penn. My only hesitation with Temple is the fact that you are taking classes with UGs. I haven't been able to find out if the classes are curved or not. Although people have said that if you work hard, Temple faculty will do their very best to make sure you hit the 3.5 mark.

 

[Bru]

Those are all good points. I did not know temple has instate tuition for their PB.

I'd be curious to see the rates at much people in temple pb make the mark and head right into med school from program.

 

[deleted248403]

Penn has linkage but I don't think they have a concrete deal for matriculation to Penn Med (again, if I've missed something, please feel free to correct)

They do - but linkage isnt a massive component of the UPenn program

 

[JDtoMD82]

Those are all good points. I did not know temple has instate tuition for their PB.

I'd be curious to see the rates at much people in temple pb make the mark and head right into med school from program.

There isn't any hard data that I've found. A bunch of people on SDN have reported going to Temple Med from the Temple Post bacc. And additionally, this might not be the most accurate way to get information on matriculation, but on Temple's website, there is a photo of the matriculants from this last year's post bacc class (http://www.temple.edu/medicine/ppp/about/matriculants.htm). I counted the number of students to be 33. Between the BCMS and ACMS programs, there were 58 students (again, according to the class profile from the website). So that would be 57% this year.

And lastly, from the website:

Outcomes: At the end of the Postbaccalaureate year, successful students (those who achieve a 3.5 GPA and a MCAT score of 30 with no score below 8) matriculate to the MD Degree Program. To date, 91% have matriculated into TUSM, 6% have been accepted into other health professions and osteopathic medical schools, and 2% have returned to their previous careers.

 

[campti01]

Hey! Was accepted to JHU and Goucher- Your stats are more impressive than mine (happy to elaborate via PM).

These programs are looking primarily for two things 1) Stats (you're fine here) and 2) Compelling reasons for choosing medicine. If you can sell this second bit in your personal statement and then interview, you'll make a very strong candidate.

Though I am speaking only from my limited experiences (have not attended Post bac yet), I was struck strongly with the sense that JHU and Goucher were looking for people who will make a meaningful contribution to their community and eventually the world and medicine.

 

[JDtoMD82]

Thanks for replying - I sent you a PM!