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Thanks in advance for reading and giving insights!
I have to make a decision very soon regarding where I will be in a few months for a postbac program and I have narrowed my options to: Mills, UMiami, Uvermont and Bennington.
I went to college in the bay area which is where my family, boyfriend, friends, work, research etc is. I am having a hard time deciding because Mills will be 2 years and the rest will be 1 year. (I tried getting a year of gen chem 1 and 2 and a semester of calc (calc needed for phyics) in before Mills starts in fall but don't think logistically I can swing calc on top of gen chem 1 and 2). Being far away on the east coast might help with studying and be less distracting and it would be AWESOME to finish in 1 year. But it's a double-edged sword as it'd be nice to have wayyy cheaper housing, fam/bf/friends nearby, research, my job at a doctor's office that I have worked at for the last 5 years that I can pickup as many hours as I need etc.
UVM seems like a good put-together program but if I have absolutely no support system on the east coast, and being from CA, I'd rather have warmer weather (Miami). Bennington is cheapest and have found an SDNer that liked it but not too many other people to comment. Mills has a 75-90% med school acceptance rate (what is with the range??), UVM has 90% over last 10 years, Bennington 90%ish and not sure about Miami.
How does Mills comprehensively rate compared to these other programs? If you had to rate the list, what would you say?
If I do any other program but Mills, it is 1 yr (none of the 1 yr programs link) and I will finish in spring but then my application will be completed late because I'd take the mcat in late summer. Also, I couldn't apply to half of the CA schools b/c I wouldn't have calc and some of them need 1 or 2 more upper division bio classes.
If I went to Mills, I'd keep doing research which is nearby and working at a doctor's office and this would be my class schedule:
summer: gen chem 1&2
fall: ochem 1 and bio 1
spring: ochem 2 and bio 2 with possibly precalc
summer: calc
fall: physics 1 with maybe molecular bio
spring: physics 2 and a mcat review course
early summer: apply early/take mcat
glide year: maybe take genetics and another bio course
Basically, it comes down to that spare year. It's just hard for me to swallow that extra year where I would be essentially stretching out my class schedules while all my peers are working full-time jobs or have already started medical school and I just want to start med school already! Regarding price, Bennington is 25k for the year and all the rest are pretty much the same(higher 40k's-low 50k's). The cost of housing for the year on the east coast would be another 10k or so. It is about 5k for me to live here.
It comes down to...for those that have 2 yr postbac programs, would you have done it differently? I don't have a family to feed and can take out loans if needed but just trying to convince myself that 1 year isn't that long...I graduated college last year and this path is already quite long and 1 year isn't going to make a difference. I keep thinking down the road counting how old I'll be when I'm done with residency and thinking about having kids and these kind of thoughts muddy the water of trying to realize 1 extra year isn't that long and that rather slow and steady wins the race? and that I'd be eligible to apply to all the CA med schools and maybe stick around for med school 🙂:cough:: 😍 UCSF😍:::cough:::.
Mills I guess is my best chance at a CA school...is it worth the extra yr? is time not money? idk. Or should I move away, kick ass during 1 postbac year, come back during the glide year and keep researching, working etc but having applied to med school late and hope to get into a CA school? I hear that applying late worsens your chances but isnt that what all the other 1 year postbac students are doing? Ahh! Help! thank you if you're still reading 🙂
total sidenote: if i did the 2 year mills program, would it be worth the glide year or better to link to tulane? i guess if I'd be stretching my postbac over 2 years to stay in CA and have a better chance of CA med school, I might as well stay 1 more year and actually try to apply to some of those CA schools, right?
I have to make a decision very soon regarding where I will be in a few months for a postbac program and I have narrowed my options to: Mills, UMiami, Uvermont and Bennington.
I went to college in the bay area which is where my family, boyfriend, friends, work, research etc is. I am having a hard time deciding because Mills will be 2 years and the rest will be 1 year. (I tried getting a year of gen chem 1 and 2 and a semester of calc (calc needed for phyics) in before Mills starts in fall but don't think logistically I can swing calc on top of gen chem 1 and 2). Being far away on the east coast might help with studying and be less distracting and it would be AWESOME to finish in 1 year. But it's a double-edged sword as it'd be nice to have wayyy cheaper housing, fam/bf/friends nearby, research, my job at a doctor's office that I have worked at for the last 5 years that I can pickup as many hours as I need etc.
UVM seems like a good put-together program but if I have absolutely no support system on the east coast, and being from CA, I'd rather have warmer weather (Miami). Bennington is cheapest and have found an SDNer that liked it but not too many other people to comment. Mills has a 75-90% med school acceptance rate (what is with the range??), UVM has 90% over last 10 years, Bennington 90%ish and not sure about Miami.
How does Mills comprehensively rate compared to these other programs? If you had to rate the list, what would you say?
If I do any other program but Mills, it is 1 yr (none of the 1 yr programs link) and I will finish in spring but then my application will be completed late because I'd take the mcat in late summer. Also, I couldn't apply to half of the CA schools b/c I wouldn't have calc and some of them need 1 or 2 more upper division bio classes.
If I went to Mills, I'd keep doing research which is nearby and working at a doctor's office and this would be my class schedule:
summer: gen chem 1&2
fall: ochem 1 and bio 1
spring: ochem 2 and bio 2 with possibly precalc
summer: calc
fall: physics 1 with maybe molecular bio
spring: physics 2 and a mcat review course
early summer: apply early/take mcat
glide year: maybe take genetics and another bio course
Basically, it comes down to that spare year. It's just hard for me to swallow that extra year where I would be essentially stretching out my class schedules while all my peers are working full-time jobs or have already started medical school and I just want to start med school already! Regarding price, Bennington is 25k for the year and all the rest are pretty much the same(higher 40k's-low 50k's). The cost of housing for the year on the east coast would be another 10k or so. It is about 5k for me to live here.
It comes down to...for those that have 2 yr postbac programs, would you have done it differently? I don't have a family to feed and can take out loans if needed but just trying to convince myself that 1 year isn't that long...I graduated college last year and this path is already quite long and 1 year isn't going to make a difference. I keep thinking down the road counting how old I'll be when I'm done with residency and thinking about having kids and these kind of thoughts muddy the water of trying to realize 1 extra year isn't that long and that rather slow and steady wins the race? and that I'd be eligible to apply to all the CA med schools and maybe stick around for med school 🙂:cough:: 😍 UCSF😍:::cough:::.
Mills I guess is my best chance at a CA school...is it worth the extra yr? is time not money? idk. Or should I move away, kick ass during 1 postbac year, come back during the glide year and keep researching, working etc but having applied to med school late and hope to get into a CA school? I hear that applying late worsens your chances but isnt that what all the other 1 year postbac students are doing? Ahh! Help! thank you if you're still reading 🙂
total sidenote: if i did the 2 year mills program, would it be worth the glide year or better to link to tulane? i guess if I'd be stretching my postbac over 2 years to stay in CA and have a better chance of CA med school, I might as well stay 1 more year and actually try to apply to some of those CA schools, right?
