Not sure.. Post Bacc or SMP

[tennisplayer16]

Hi Everyone,

I graduated from undergrad in 2016 with a chemical engineering degree. I have taken all of the required classes but ended up with a cGPA of a 2.9 and a sGPA of a 2.7.

After graduation I have worked on clinical trials and in the medical device industry. To put to rest the dream of medical school I thought I would make one last ditch effort to apply and see what happens.

My current plan is to get my EMT-b and work as an ED tech and do research on clinical trials. I'm deciding whether or not to do a DIY post bacc to take some upper level bio and anatomy. I have also looked into SMPs but they are a lot of $$$. I have completed a graduate certificate in biomedical genetics with a 3.89 gpa that was suppose to go into a Master program but I decided to move and continue making money instead of taking out loans. I also am starting to study for the MCAT to potentially apply to SMPs that would start fall 2018.

Any advice (good or bad) is appreciated.

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[Robin-jay]

For a chemical engineering degree, 2.5+ GPAs are perfectly fine.

However, medicals schools don't care about content as much as sheer numbers. Gotta be much higher GPAs.

Goro has great information on whether you should do Post-bac. work or advanced degrees. Might be worth consulting him specifically.

 

[DocJanItor]

At a bare minimum you'd need a DIY post bacc with some amazing grades to get you into the 3.2+ range. You should really push for 3.7+ in your post bacc to show that you have what it takes to perform in medical school. As a former engineering major, I know that engineering courses difficulty >>> everything else, but med schools don't take that into account at all. So you'd need a solid post-bacc and a really good MCAT (510+) to be in a decent range for MD schools or 507ish for DO school.

As for research, I'm not sure it's that significant for your application. What you need are clinical volunteering and/or non-clinical volunteering with the underserved (200+ hours, but the more the merrier), and shadowing a doctor (around 50+ hours). These show that you know what you're getting into and that you are dedicated to helping those in need.

An SMP for you is probably not strictly necessary until you see how well you've done on everything else. The thing about SMPs is that they're all or nothing shots: do well and you'll have a very good shot of a med school acceptance; do poorly and your med school aspirations are over. Personally, I had to do both the DIY post-bacc and an SMP, but my uGPA was much worse than yours. If you can't do well in the post-bacc, don't waste your money on an SMP: it's a harder, faster, and will only waste your money.

 

[Shotapp]

At a bare minimum you'd need a DIY post bacc with some amazing grades to get you into the 3.2+ range. You should really push for 3.7+ in your post bacc to show that you have what it takes to perform in medical school. As a former engineering major, I know that engineering courses difficulty >>> everything else, but med schools don't take that into account at all. So you'd need a solid post-bacc and a really good MCAT (510+) to be in a decent range for MD schools or 507ish for DO school.

As for research, I'm not sure it's that significant for your application. What you need are clinical volunteering and/or non-clinical volunteering with the underserved (200+ hours, but the more the merrier), and shadowing a doctor (around 50+ hours). These show that you know what you're getting into and that you are dedicated to helping those in need.

An SMP for you is probably not strictly necessary until you see how well you've done on everything else. The thing about SMPs is that they're all or nothing shots: do well and you'll have a very good shot of a med school acceptance; do poorly and your med school aspirations are over. Personally, I had to do both the DIY post-bacc and an SMP, but my uGPA was much worse than yours. If you can't do well in the post-bacc, don't waste your money on an SMP: it's a harder, faster, and will only waste your money.

So basically OP needs to crank out a 3.7+ performance in a DIY post-bac in 20 or 30 credits before embarking on a SMP (for a chance at MD)?

 

[tennisplayer16]

Thanks for the advice on the SMP.. I was thinking along the same lines. Would apply to them the same time I apply to med school and decide at that time.

So I was thinking about cranking out 20-30 credits for post bac and if I didn't get a 3.8+ and a 510+ MCAT my chances would be slim.. Is there an opinion on CC or 4 year school? I've seen opinions on this vary on this site. I'm just thinking CC would be better since it is a lot less money.

As for ECs, I was in a research lab during undergrad. I held a lot of leadership positions (kinda the reason I did so poorly) and participated in a lot of volunteer work for multiple groups. I have some shadowing hours, but hoping to get more after I get my EMT-b.

Thanks for everyone's input! I really appreciate it!

 

[DocJanItor]

Thanks for the advice on the SMP.. I was thinking along the same lines. Would apply to them the same time I apply to med school and decide at that time.

So I was thinking about cranking out 20-30 credits for post bac and if I didn't get a 3.8+ and a 510+ MCAT my chances would be slim.. Is there an opinion on CC or 4 year school? I've seen opinions on this vary on this site. I'm just thinking CC would be better since it is a lot less money.

As for ECs, I was in a research lab during undergrad. I held a lot of leadership positions (kinda the reason I did so poorly) and participated in a lot of volunteer work for multiple groups. I have some shadowing hours, but hoping to get more after I get my EMT-b.

Thanks for everyone's input! I really appreciate it!

I did CC and it was fine for me. They're accepted at most schools now, but you should really evaluate the quality you're getting. For example, the state CC here is quite good, and people regularly go from CC to several of the many (very good) state schools. I scored well on my MCAT after taking those courses, so they were great for me. If you can't get a good education AND good grades there then you should look at other options.

Make sure you take some psych/soc prereqs. They are the engineer's Achilles heel.

 

[Robin-jay]

How much does a typical post-pac. cost?

SMPs usually around 25-35k.