Post bac advice needed

[iowagirl7]

Situation:

I will be graduating from the University of Pennsylvania this spring with a PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) major and a minor in Spanish. I've recently decided, after doing journalism in the medical field that I want to pursue a career in medicine. I'm enrolled in Calculus in order to be able to apply to post bac programs. I would like to be in Philadelphia or Chicago and am considering applying to Temple, Drexel, Loyola and Northwestern's premedical post bac programs. I would like to apply to Mryn Mawr, but it appears that the deadline is Feb. 1 and I don't have enough time to get the application together. I have a good GPA (3.63), SAT (1430) and ACT (32). I have relatively little experience working within healthcare besides spending much time interviewing doctors and writing about healthcare innovations, problems etc. which I think will probably be the weak part of my application.

Questions:

Do I have good chances of getting into these programs?
Are there other programs in these cities I should look into?
Is it rare for someone to apply to premedical post bac programs directly out of undergrad?
Which of these programs are the best and why?
It is a possibility for me to go back to the U of Iowa and take courses, is this a good option, or would it be much better to do a structured post bac program?

Any advice would be appreciated!

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[moneduloides]

Situation:

I will be graduating from the University of Pennsylvania this spring with a PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) major and a minor in Spanish. I've recently decided, after doing journalism in the medical field that I want to pursue a career in medicine. I'm enrolled in Calculus in order to be able to apply to post bac programs. I would like to be in Philadelphia or Chicago and am considering applying to Temple, Drexel, Loyola and Northwestern's premedical post bac programs. I would like to apply to Mryn Mawr, but it appears that the deadline is Feb. 1 and I don't have enough time to get the application together. I have a good GPA (3.63), SAT (1430) and ACT (32). I have relatively little experience working within healthcare besides spending much time interviewing doctors and writing about healthcare innovations, problems etc. which I think will probably be the weak part of my application.

Questions:

Do I have good chances of getting into these programs?
Are there other programs in these cities I should look into?
Is it rare for someone to apply to premedical post bac programs directly out of undergrad?
Which of these programs are the best and why?
It is a possibility for me to go back to the U of Iowa and take courses, is this a good option, or would it be much better to do a structured post bac program?

Any advice would be appreciated!

(1) Absolutely
(2) I didn't really look at specific geographic areas, so I can't say with confidence that there aren't any others in the cities you listed. If your looking for a structured post bac that's a sure thing, however, then there are only a few programs for you (And, you have the stats for them certainly; you just need a lot more EC work).
(3) Rare, no, but most of the top post-bacs are filled with people who have been out of school for at least a year.
(4) Bryn Mawr, [sarcasm] because the other programs you listed aren't Goucher, Scripps or JHU [/sarcasm]
(5) This is hotly debated, and depends completely upon your financial situation and what you're comfortable with. The top post bacs will basically guarantee you a spot (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps and JHU all have at, or just under, 100% acceptance rate to medical school) through either linkage or the open pool.

Enjoy

 

[NewmansOwn]

Well yeah, you've got a shot at any postbac program you want. The lack of clinical experience would hurt you at Bryn Mawr, but I have to say it's a shame you didn't get the application together earlier -- you would have at least gotten an interview.

Temple has a link to Temple Med, if you achieve a certain set of criteria.

My personal opinion is that outside of the top couple of postbac programs, you're better off doing your courses wherever it will be cheapest. If that's Iowa for you, then go there. Only a couple of formal programs actually have the right to use that designation -- beware of glorified money traps where you will likely be miserable.