Need advice on postbac plan

[MSP20]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello,

I graduated with a B.S. in Political Science (3.0GPA) a couple of years ago and, after several years of work experience, decided to go back to school to pursue a dental degree. I am in the process of registering for classes at a large university, though it is not a formal post-bac program. Because of my low GPA, I assume it will take a few semesters of sustained good performance to convince a post-bac program to admit me.

In the meantime, I have a few questions:

1.) Outside of an introductory course in Biology and Chemistry, I had very little science experience as an undergrad. Since it has been nearly five years since I took these courses, I am planning to re-take similar classes at my current school in order to refresh my memory and re-familiarize myself with the material. Will schools look down on this practice?

2.) Is there an advantage of going with a post-bac program as opposed to just taking classes at a university? There are a few schools that offer a post-bac in my city, though these programs are very expensive and competitive to get into. My current school already has an office set up to advise pre-med students (including MCAT/DAT prep, committee letters, etc..)

3.) Can anyone recommend some upper division courses? Right now I'm looking at taking Cancer Biology, Immunology, and Genetics.

I plan to meet with an advisor early next month to plot out which courses I should take, but I appreciate any help I can get from those on this forum.

Thanks!

 

[ArkansasRanger]

Hello,

I graduated with a B.S. in Political Science (3.0GPA) a couple of years ago and, after several years of work experience, decided to go back to school to pursue a dental degree. I am in the process of registering for classes at a large university, though it is not a formal post-bac program. Because of my low GPA, I assume it will take a few semesters of sustained good performance to convince a post-bac program to admit me.

In the meantime, I have a few questions:

1.) Outside of an introductory course in Biology and Chemistry, I had very little science experience as an undergrad. Since it has been nearly five years since I took these courses, I am planning to re-take similar classes at my current school in order to refresh my memory and re-familiarize myself with the material. Will schools look down on this practice?

2.) Is there an advantage of going with a post-bac program as opposed to just taking classes at a university? There are a few schools that offer a post-bac in my city, though these programs are very expensive and competitive to get into. My current school already has an office set up to advise pre-med students (including MCAT/DAT prep, committee letters, etc..)

3.) Can anyone recommend some upper division courses? Right now I'm looking at taking Cancer Biology, Immunology, and Genetics.

I plan to meet with an advisor early next month to plot out which courses I should take, but I appreciate any help I can get from those on this forum.

Thanks!

1. Who cares? If it's what you've got to do then do it.
2. No, just take random classes if you don't want to be involved in a formal program. I'm not. Frankly, I'd keep going where you're going.
3. People say genetics, human physiology, immunology, microbiology, and biochemistry are good supplemental bio-ish courses. You can get by without them though.

 

[The right Path]

From as far as I can see, there may be a few advantages in applying for a post-bac pre-med specific program. I'm looking into a few myself and researching what acceptance rate into medical programs the program can cite, for instance.

When a college/university uses this program as a particular selling point, I think that as a student I would probably have higher priority in class placement.

I've also read somewhere about the benefit of receiving counsel from an advisor who is experienced with this unique situation and has insider knowledge of how to present the most successful application especially regarding the particular school of medicines applied for.

Good luck to you and I look forward to reading about the experiences of all of you and the different ways you have acheived success.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

Or if you go to smaller schools they're just happy that their classes fill and could careless if you're degree seeking or not.