Non Traditional Help

[Burfeind]

Hi All,

I am 26, out of UG for 3 years, and currently in Surgical Sales. My job consists of sitting in surgeries and talking to the DR, techs, nurses. I've been doing this for almost 2 years now and every time I leave the OR I regret not going into medicine and becoming a DR instead of the presky sales rep.

My questions are:
1) Is doing a Post-Bacc program part time looked down upon?
2) The average UG GPA of those accepted to Med School is now around a 3.4 - I had a 3.1 UG GPA, would I even be considered if I did well in a Post-Bacc program?

I appreciate any input. Thank you!

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[sunny1]

I think it's fine to do a part-time postbac if that's all you can afford to do at this point (i.e., you still need to provide for yourself financially). There are a few things to consider...

Going part-time will likely require: 1) more time to complete every prereq and/or 2) more focus and hard work to maintain good grades since work will also be demanding a large chunk of your time.

I would ideally recommend a part-time to full-time postbac schedule with part-time work. But if you can't afford that, there are plenty of us on here (myself included) who have done the "part-time postbac with full-time work" plan.

I can honestly say it's probably cost me a tenth or so on my BCPM gpa and that I didn't like working full-time while preparing for the MCAT. So if you're trying to raise your 3.1 gpa as much as possible, it's just something to consider. Go into Excel and see how many hours worth of good grades you'd need to pull your GPA up to 3.5 or so. Then compare that to how many hours of prereqs you need to fulfill + how well you think you can do.

 

[177983]

I would just also add that an upward trend is usually favorably looked upon. So, if you could get a 3.5+ in your post-bac classes, it might not raise your entire GPA, but it would ameliorate any concerns the program had with your current study habits. That and rocking the MCAT will help.

 

[DrJosephKim]

Right, make sure to invest time, resources, and energy to the MCAT. That's the common thread used to compare all students.