Planning a Nontrad Route

[BleedinBlue2016]

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Hi all,
I posted here a couple of weeks ago with questions on my potential as a future non-trad. As a rising college senior who dropped the pre-med track my sophomore year (got very discouraged mainly due to stress and competition at my school), I have been going through quite a whirlwind of a career crisis in terms of deciding whether this was a right decision for me or not. At this point, I have decided I do want to get at least some experience in the workforce and will be going through with job recruitment in the fall. However, I know that there is a part of me that is extremely hesitant to let go of medicine completely; I am a science major, and I know that if I went into a job and realized that the business field was not my calling it would be because I would not be happy doing something other than medicine.
All of that said, I do want to at least have a general idea/plan of how I would approach getting back into the med school route if I decide to do so, and this is where I need some help.
I am a biology major, so I have completed quite a few med school requirements, but because I dropped the pre-med track fairly early on I didn't get to maybe 4 or 5 classes like Organic Chemistry 2, Physics 2, Biochemistry, GenChem 2. I also never took the MCAT.
I'm really confused on how people in my situation approach this, because it seems as though most postbaccs are 2 year programs for career changers and most SMPs are for people to bring up their GPA and have requirements similar to med schools. I would reeeeally rather only spend 1 or 2 semesters taking needed classes and the MCAT so that I can apply right after. Any advice here?
And what is the general application process for these programs? Is it common/possible to do postbaccs/SMPs while working? The only program I've really looked into is the Harvard Extension.
I also am quite confused on rec letters and committee letters - better from an undergraduate university or post-baccs/SMP?

I go to a top university and have a fairly good general GPA (above 3.7...science GPA is less but still reasonable, I think). I feel that I have pretty good extracurriculars and lots of lab/research experience, but I definitely don't have a lot of hospital volunteer/shadowing hours - how do nontrads go about getting these out of school?

This is a lot of information and a lot of questions, but I really appreciate any and all advice as I continue along in this pre-graduation career crisis of mine. 🙂

 

[ghostman]

I can't provide too much info since I didn't take any science classes in college. But I did go through Harvard Extension through their 2 year program before the recent change in med school course requirements (meaning I only needed to take Bio, Chem, OChem and Phys).

You can certain take classes piecemeal, rather than go through an official postbacc program. This might be the way to go if you want to finish all the requirements in 1 or two semesters. No clue how you'll pull off Gen Chem, Organic Chem and Physics in that time, but perhaps it's doable. MCATs are going to require a few months of studying on its own. Harvard Extension School (HES) allows you to take classes individually without being in the postbacc program. You can also piece it together at your local city college. But I believe HES only gives a committee letter to those in the program.

Volunteer at your local hospital on weekends. Shadow a few doctors once you're there. Some postbacc programs can give you advice. For HES, you can easily volunteer at the nearby hospitals. I was part of the Brigham and Women's MCEP volunteer program. Generally, that's all you'll really need, but take that opportunity to see if medicine is really the path for you. Even with volunteering, you're only getting a very minor and largely unrepresentative taste of actual medicine, but it's still better than nothing and the med schools adcom will want to see it.

And there's nothing wrong with working a few years to get your footing and save some money for med school (if you choose that path). But if the thought of medicine lingers, at least get some volunteer/shadowing hours to see how it fits for you.

 

[BleedinBlue2016]

I can't provide too much info since I didn't take any science classes in college. But I did go through Harvard Extension through their 2 year program before the recent change in med school course requirements (meaning I only needed to take Bio, Chem, OChem and Phys).

You can certain take classes piecemeal, rather than go through an official postbacc program. This might be the way to go if you want to finish all the requirements in 1 or two semesters. No clue how you'll pull off Gen Chem, Organic Chem and Physics in that time, but perhaps it's doable. MCATs are going to require a few months of studying on its own. Harvard Extension School (HES) allows you to take classes individually without being in the postbacc program. You can also piece it together at your local city college. But I believe HES only gives a committee letter to those in the program.

Volunteer at your local hospital on weekends. Shadow a few doctors once you're there. Some postbacc programs can give you advice. For HES, you can easily volunteer at the nearby hospitals. I was part of the Brigham and Women's MCEP volunteer program. Generally, that's all you'll really need, but take that opportunity to see if medicine is really the path for you. Even with volunteering, you're only getting a very minor and largely unrepresentative taste of actual medicine, but it's still better than nothing and the med schools adcom will want to see it.

And there's nothing wrong with working a few years to get your footing and save some money for med school (if you choose that path). But if the thought of medicine lingers, at least get some volunteer/shadowing hours to see how it fits for you.

Ah, I see. Would you say it isn't feasible to take 4-5 requisite classes over the course of 2 semesters? I wonder if maybe rather than a post-bacc program it would perhaps be easier/more efficient/cheaper for someone in my situation to just take classes at a nearby college...but then that also makes me worry about the credibility the courses would hold and the possibilities of obtaining rec and committee letters (though I may be able to get a committee letter from my undergrad university even after I graduate.) I think would plan on studying the MCAT throughout the time I was taking classes and then focusing solely on studying for a couple of months afterwards.
Great, thank you for the advice! The real extent of volunteering that I've had is high school hospital volunteering (which I believe would be irrelevant) and interning at an international hospital for a global health project over one summer. I think I definitely need some more shadowing/volunteer experience to know where/if I fit in medicine. That would definitely be something to pursue post-graduation, even with the commitments of a job. Thanks a lot!

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Ah, I see. Would you say it isn't feasible to take 4-5 requisite classes over the course of 2 semesters? I wonder if maybe rather than a post-bacc program it would perhaps be easier/more efficient/cheaper for someone in my situation to just take classes at a nearby college...but then that also makes me worry about the credibility the courses would hold and the possibilities of obtaining rec and committee letters (though I may be able to get a committee letter from my undergrad university even after I graduate.) I think would plan on studying the MCAT throughout the time I was taking classes and then focusing solely on studying for a couple of months afterwards.
Great, thank you for the advice! The real extent of volunteering that I've had is high school hospital volunteering (which I believe would be irrelevant) and interning at an international hospital for a global health project over one summer. I think I definitely need some more shadowing/volunteer experience to know where/if I fit in medicine. That would definitely be something to pursue post-graduation, even with the commitments of a job. Thanks a lot!

I did a "career change" post-bacc. It was 12 months long (2 summer sessions, fall, spring) and I ended up taking about 39 hours total. It was a ton of work, but it is definitely possible to do that many classes in 2 semesters. I got all my pre-reqs done, plus biochem and a little research on the side. I also had a committee letter at the end. PM me if you are interested.