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I got an interview. How long after the invterview did you hear back?
I was surprised to see Organic Chemistry II before Chemistry II. I was also surprised to see that the lecture and lab for Chemsitry II are scheduled during separate semesters and that the lab was 3 units.
I interviewed on Saturday, and I was accepted today.
I'm wondering if people have opinions on the curriculum sequence?
http://online.sfsu.edu/~brothman/formal_program/curriculum.html
I was surprised to see Organic Chemistry II before Chemistry II. I was also surprised to see that the lecture and lab for Chemsitry II are scheduled during separate semesters and that the lab was 3 units.
The tuition is pretty steep for a state school. Do you think the optional concepts or sections classes are worth the money?
I didn't realize that Biochemistry is technically required for the program. However, I don't think it is required by a lot of med schools, so I'm sure many people just don't take it.
Are there any current formal students reading this? If so, when do you recommend volunteering, shadowing, and working? At the interview, they strongly discouraged doing anything other than school during the first summer semester. For Cohort 4, the course load gets very light starting Spring 2011, so I suppose you can compensate toward the end of the program for holding back on extra curricular activities early on.
I can't comment on the rest of your post, but judging from what I've heard from other informal post-baccs and first BS students at SFSU, that is the typical sequence of courses here at SFSU for all students. Although I took those classes so long ago at Davis, I do seem to remember that Gen. Chem. 2 and O. Chem don't have much to do with each other at all and thus Gen. Chem. 1 followed by O. Chem is perhaps the more logical order.
Hi all,
I completed the formal program last year and I'm happy to answer any questions out there. I am also familiar with Berkeley Extention and Mills' program and can help compare pros and cons of those.
As an OOS does anyone know the chances of getting accepted or rejected from the Formal SFSU Pre-Health program? The school seems pretty competitive to get into from the undergraduate perspective, but for the Pre-Health program does anyone know someone who got rejected?
Also, in terms of pre-health/pre-med programs, do people think there are better programs on the west coast?
Thanks a lot!
-K
Hi all,
I completed the formal program last year and I'm happy to answer any questions out there. I am also familiar with Berkeley Extention and Mills' program and can help compare pros and cons of those.
Hi premedoenophile,
I would love to hear more about the formal program. First, how difficult would you say it is to get in? From what I've read on the program website, there are about 50-60 seats available - do you know how many people apply per year?
Were you able to get into a good number of upper division courses? I know the formal program suggests taking at least 2 before applying to med. school...are enrolling into these classes similar to the pre-reqs or is it like open university with the rest of the student population?
Last, what were some things you found particularly useful in the program and things that weren't useful? Thanks!
Thanks so much for all this useful information, premedoenophile! It was certainly very helpful. I just had a few more follow-up questions, if you don't mind
First, a lot of the "trilogy" electives you mentioned require you to take the pre-requisites first. Seeing the sequence of classes on the website, did you end up just taking all of these electives (besides Stats.) during the spring/summer you were taking the MCAT/applying?
Second, I noticed on the curriculum that most semesters have students take a maximum of 12 units (usually less). Was this an issue for an adcoms when you interviewed since you weren't taking a full courseload during many of the semesters?
Third, do you know if it matters if you applied earlier in the cycle (such as now) versus towards the deadline? I know it has been a while since you applied but do they normally just continually look at applications as they come in or just wait until the deadline and then make interview choices?
And last, on the same note, do you know if everyone was required to interview? Any tips for the interview if you remember your own? You are the best and congrats on your med. school acceptances!
To premedoenophile:
So, the formal program at SFSU allows you to take any classes? With guarantee (compared to being an open u student)? I need to retake a few classes and also take more upper division classes to extend my upward trend. Which would you rather recommend, formal program at SFSU or the Berkeley extension program? I've been reading about not so pleasant things for Berkeley and am leaning more towards SFSU.
I'm graduating this spring and am looking to enroll in this program to improve my GPA and apply to pharm school. It's either post-bac or MS at University of the Pacific. My overall GPA is 2.9 and sci GPA is around 2.6. I haven't applied to any other places so I think my choices for post-bac programs are limited.
Has anyone applied for admissions this year? If so, has anyone heard back from SFSU and received an interview?
Lifehouse, my application was considered complete on 1/25, on 2/5 they called me to come interview in March (which I actually missed the call and didn't realize I had a voicemail) and so on 2/8 I was emailed to come interview.
Thanks for the update, epione. My application isn't complete, so I haven't heard back yet. Good luck with your interview.
Thanks. I agree with what afuzzyllama said above. They seem to get back to you fairly quickly (couple of weeks), once your application is complete. So... complete it! :]
I just heard about this program and in the process of applying. Does anyone know how competitive you have to be to enter the program or how many applicants there are? The cutoff GPA is 2.5, but what is the average accepted gpa, if anyone knows? Looks like a great program though, and SF would be great to be in for a few years.
Last year about 150 people applied for the 50 spots (look a few posts up), but this year they introduced a new "enhancer" program for about 20 people in addition to the old program.
GPA and MCAT stats?
Epione, thanks and congrats on that great gpa! I'm applying for the AET route so i was just curious as to what stats were needed for an interview.
LastPolarBear, I am applying to CSU-LA but I'm not as familiar with the program and am unsure what the success rate of getting into a DO/MD School is?
I just got invited for an interview for the AET track. I'm a senior and currently have a ~3.3 and no MCAT. I got two F's in my freshmen year, one of which was Biology and I retook and got a B-...yeah I wasn't very motivated back then. I might want to retake it a third time at SFSU...I'm not too sure if that's a good idea. Other than that, I got mostly A's and some B's, and a C in Chemistry (which I took in freshman year also) in my pre-req classes.
So, that's enough with my stat. My question for this program is: I'm currently an out of state student, living in the East Coast...I don't really want to fly all the way to Cali just for a post-bacc interview. Plus, I'm extremely busy this semester...taking 23 credits. I know that they can do the interview on Skype too. Do you think it's a good idea to actually visit the school or just interview online?
My other question is...actually, how good is this program? It looks very formal from the application point of view, very similar to AAMCAS...but two years is a bit too long for a post-bacc program...and my grades aren't that bad to sacrifice two years. So, yeah...how good is this program in terms of helping students getting into medical school?
I could be wrong, but I was under the impression you don't need to complete the whole two years.
edit: Oh yeah, for the application, did anyone here NOT waive their right to view recommendations? Just wondering.
I'm not too sure...They have this cohort thing...seems very structured but just time consuming. I don't really need to retake any pre-req classes for med school...so, I'll take a bunch of advance science classes. Two years for that...I think a master degree would be better? But if this program is just as good as Johns Hopkins', where they said virtually 100% of their class got into med school (too bad, they don't have the academic route)...would be something that I want to stay for two years.
PS: I waived.
So, they ask for the interview in person...I was wondering if I could request to stay on campus with current student overnight before the interview? Would this be possible?
If it's too far to travel you can request a Skype interview - I know they do this for people who are out of the country or really far away. On the downside you don't get to meet other applicants or see the school at all.
Actually I asked them and they said no, they don't have the student host program. I have to spend more money for hotel now... I really want to do Skype though, and I told them I'm from the East Coast...doesn't seem like they care. They really are treating this almost like medical school.
Are you notified of their decision a few weeks after interview?