Need help choosing between Postbacc programs, moved here because PB forum isn't active

Med School Insiders
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I would focus on getting into a medical school, any medical school with that gpa. The percieved prestige of the post-bac doesnt mean a whole lot if they dont have a high rate of matriculation into MD schools post post-bac. I would research the programs with the highest rate of placement/matriculation/linkage rather than the Ivy pedigree.

Another thing to think about is your GPA puts you in a bad spot, but, depending on your state, if you have an MCAT of 515+ , and a well rounded app you may be able to get by.
 
Sharknad0 said:
My state school is my current UG school and they highly favor their own applicants, roughly 80% went to the state school for UG. The average GPA for acceptance is like 3.75+. Another note is that they're building a new addition so the med school acceptance is gonna jump from about 105 to almost 140 starting fall 2017. It's not that I think I'll get rejected everywhere, but that I don't know how well I'll succeed due to learning for tests and dumping the material afterwards. I want the PB to prove to myself and other schools that I can handle the material better than I did in UG and that I can actually retain information rather than skip through school.
Click to expand...
You should probably reevaluate your odds in a realistic light. 3.4 gpa has a median acceptance rate of less than 50% unless you score in the 90th percentile of the mcat.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstablea24-4.pdf
 
I'm fairly certain some of the programs on your list are for career changers who haven't taken any of the sciences (NYU's and Columbia's are both for career changers), so they might not be the right fit for you. I did the NYU career-changer postbac and will be starting med school this summer so feel free to pm me if you have any questions about that program.
 
You have over a year until graduation, so I wouldn't look at post baccs, but that is me. Can you stick around your UG for a victory lap and pick up a cool minor? (Something that will set you apart from every other applicant... Econ, sociology, health policy, anthropology, religion/spirituality, ethics). Get some clinical experience in that time by shadowing it scribing, esp if you can get away w a 9-12 credit semester. Your GPA isn't that bad especially if you can do well on the MCAT... I would focus on getting some experience doing something else. It'll prob make you a better doctor in the future as well.
(None of this applies if you're in Cali tho)
 
I just looked through the websites again so I guess I'll take off those two. What are your thoughts on the other programs?

I don't know about doing a victory lap as I've never considered it but it's something to think about I guess. I was planning on spending some time after graduating to pile on the underserved/clinical volunteering hours. And if my plans for internships in the summer don't plan out I'm going to continue research and apply to be a scribe.
 
Another question: If i were to do the PB for the extra learning I mentioned earlier, would it be looked down upon?

With a pure hypothetical: will me acing a PB and getting a 515 look worse compared to applying with a 3.5 GPA and 515?
 
Sharknad0 said:
Another question: If i were to do the PB for the extra learning I mentioned earlier, would it be looked down upon?

With a pure hypothetical: will me acing a PB and getting a 515 look worse compared to applying with a 3.5 GPA and 515?
Click to expand...
You are re-taking the pre-med pre-reqs. I am unsure what sort of extra learning is occuring that shouldnt have occurred already.
 
libertyyne said:
You are re-taking the pre-med pre-reqs. I am unsure what sort of extra learning is occuring that shouldnt have occurred already.
Click to expand...

My reasoning is that I feel like I haven't retained much, and as such I wouldn't succeed in med school/won't be able to do as well as I hope on the MCAT. My GPA is on the lower end and I don't want that to hold me back more than it already is. I guess my biggest thing is that I'm overthinking things.

I'm going to do a gap anyways for work/volunteer hours and would do the MCAT then. Doing one year would put me at applying during the 18-19 cycle and two years/a PB would put me at applying during 19-20 cycle.

Due to the lower end GPA I was thinking that a PB would make me feel more prepared for the MCAT/med school.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
I freaking loved HES and can't say enough good things about it, but I don't think it's a great fit for what you need. In fact, based on what I've read on SDN, I think any of the top 5 you listed there would be a mistake. HES, WashU, Columbia, Penn, Hopkins.... ALL of those have reputations for being very rigorous/difficult. If you can't hack it at your state school, how do you expect to not get chewed up in an even more high speed environment?

Sure, a good GPA from a prestigious school would look nice, and would also set you up well to smash the MCAT. But if you end up just treading water with a 3.3 you will have shot yourself in the foot pretty majorly. You should figure out what you're doing wrong in your studies and fix that before diving into something like this.
 
to piggy back off of what gurby said. Do you want to go to any medical school or do you want to go to a t-20. If you want to go to any medical school you should improve your gpa by taking the easiest classes that pass muster(upper level science classes). If you want to go to a top medical school you should do goucher or something that has a track record of placing students at top institutions. Most of these are designed to be for career changers. At 3.5 you could honestly get by by just taking a year's worth of classes at your school to improve and show upward trend. The MCAT is the great decider and the quality of your ECs. The high risk has a possible high reward but also a big downside where you might just shoot yourself in the foot and end up having to go DO.
 
I did a gap year and brought my 3.7 up to a 3.85. Picked up a cool minor and was able to stretch out my courseload to 4-5 classes per semester. It was cushy. Gave me plenty of time to study for the MCAT and volunteer, do some research and chase girls.

10/10 would recommend.
 
If I understand correctly, post bacc programs involve taking classes along side the normal undergrad student body, right? If you just got a 3.25 sGPA at your state flagship you might not want to go up against the premeds at these WashU, Hopkins type places
 
Also - and I firmly believe this - before anyone takes out another 35k in loans for a PB, it should be mandatory that they make a few student loan payments so they realize what they're doing.
 
Sharknad0 said:
I see. I think one of the main issues I had coming in to college was that I had just turned 17 a few months before and wasn't ready for such an environment, but if I had the chance to go through an academic enhancer I'd be able to fix what went wrong, semi-indicated by my trend in the last line of this comment. Would an SMP be another viable choice? What was different about your situation that made you choose HES?



Honestly since my GPA isn't stellar I want any MD school, but one that is respected. It probably comes across as naive (and please tell me if this is) but I don't want to go somewhere ranked really low or unranked. Goucher is for career changers so the ones remaining in my posts (post #1 and post #4) are my options that I've learned about so far. Plus I still have one more year of UG left. The thing about the MCAT is that what I do during a gap decides when I take it. Be it during/after a PB, or while working/volunteering.



My current sGPA is dragged down by a few courses. I had a C in Bio and a C- in Orgo 1 (retaken for an A), and those were my lowest grades (aside from a B- in Calc), but other than that classes have been about 60% A-range 40% B range, but the B's and the C in Bio have really driven down my grades. A few stupid mistakes in non-BCPM courses have hurt (.05 from an A but the teacher refused to round, .2 from an A in another that the teacher refused to round). My trend has been decent so I know I at least have what it takes FrGPA 3.3 -> SoGPA 3.6 --> JunMiddle 3.53 with projected Jun 3.56.
Click to expand...

Just get a 4.0 senior year and see how you do on the MCAT

Your GPA will end up okay with another solid year.

I had a GPA trend of 3.2-->3.2-->3.8-->4.0-->3.6 (additional classes that I probably did not need to take post grad). GPA came out to ~3.6/3.5sGPA. Average MCAT and got love from plenty of schools
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Need help choosing a challenge/adversity essay topic
Replies
5
Views
624
minnie123
M
R
Choosing between activities
Replies
4
Views
629
radnerd
R
S
HELP! what are my chances and need advice
Replies
3
Views
375
AsclepiusAdvisingLLC
AsclepiusAdvisingLLC
Topizungochico
Would you do a postbacc in my situation?
Replies
2
Views
583
Topizungochico
Topizungochico
M
Clincal volunteering hours split between 5 activities?
Replies
1
Views
854
LizzyM
LizzyM
Top