Post Bac at State University Vs. Goucher, Bryn Mawr

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ae2027

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Hey all,

Long time reader and first time poster. I am asking for advice because I'm currently in the throes of deciding how to proceed with my post-bac plans. I keep going back and forth between pursuing a formal program like Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps or taking the courses at SUNY Albany my local state university.

Some quick facts about me:

1. I graduated summa cum laude from a top tier university in Boston and have taken no pre-reqs for Med school.

2. I'm currently participating in a competitive urban education fellowship in Boston and am looking to either begin taking the courses a-la-carte this coming fall or apply to a formal program in the fall.

My main question is: is it possible to still get into a top-tier medical school if I do well in my courses at SUNY Albany and well on the MCAT? I'm concerned about the quality/rigor of the courses impacting my MCAT score or admission chances. I know that competition is fierce for med school and I'm concerned that going to SUNY might make admissions more difficult.

On the other hand, I am drawn the idea of a small, intimate (and highly successful) post-bac program like Goucher or Bryn Mawr. The consort option is a big draw as is the advising and the 100% admissions rate to school. I do much better in a smaller class environment and I feel like it would be much easier to really get to know my professors. The cost however is really weighing me down.

I would be super appreciative if anyone who has had a similar internal struggle could offer me any guidance or support about what they chose and how it turned out. This forum has been a HUGE help and I'm hoping it can help me on my journey to med school!

Thanks!

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You can definitely get into a top tier school with an a la carte postbac, but it'll be easier with a formal program.

Hey all,

Long time reader and first time poster. I am asking for advice because I'm currently in the throes of deciding how to proceed with my post-bac plans. I keep going back and forth between pursuing a formal program like Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps or taking the courses at SUNY Albany my local state university.

Some quick facts about me:

1. I graduated summa cum laude from a top tier university in Boston and have taken no pre-reqs for Med school.

2. I'm currently participating in a competitive urban education fellowship in Boston and am looking to either begin taking the courses a-la-carte this coming fall or apply to a formal program in the fall.

My main question is: is it possible to still get into a top-tier medical school if I do well in my courses at SUNY Albany and well on the MCAT? I'm concerned about the quality/rigor of the courses impacting my MCAT score or admission chances. I know that competition is fierce for med school and I'm concerned that going to SUNY might make admissions more difficult.

On the other hand, I am drawn the idea of a small, intimate (and highly successful) post-bac program like Goucher or Bryn Mawr. The consort option is a big draw as is the advising and the 100% admissions rate to school. I do much better in a smaller class environment and I feel like it would be much easier to really get to know my professors. The cost however is really weighing me down.

I would be super appreciative if anyone who has had a similar internal struggle could offer me any guidance or support about what they chose and how it turned out. This forum has been a HUGE help and I'm hoping it can help me on my journey to med school!

Thanks!
 
I completed my post-bac at Harvard Extension recently and I couldn't have been happier with my time there. The professors, especially for chem and orgo, were outstanding, especially considering they made me actually enjoy the subjects.

I have a few friends who did post-bacs at formal programs (bryn mawr, goucher, hopkins), and they were also happy with their programs. Most of my friends opted out of the consort options because they didn't want to be locked into a school (from what I understand, it's like applying Early Decision to college), so don't let that be the final decision for how you chose a post-bac program because you may actually decide it's not right for you.

In any case, I really have only good things to say about Harvard Extension, but you really have to decide what program is the right fit for you. I was able to network a little within the Harvard network, and I am now spending my glide year working at Harvard Public Health which is giving me great experience and the flexibility to apply to many medical schools. The money thing is important, but in the end if you're going to be a physician you'll be able to pay back the loans you take. Money was a factor for me too, since I still have undergrad loans to pay off. In the end, I felt that Harvard Extension was the right program for me because I felt I could do well and save some money.

Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck!
 
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Hey ae2027,

Thought I'd jump in because I am having the same internal struggle as well. Unfortunately, I haven't gone through the entire process so I don't have advice from the other side, but I can tell you what I've been thinking. I'm drawn to the top formal programs for the usual reasons - reputation, structure, opportunities, interaction with other post-bacc pre-med students, etc. - but a bit deterred because of costs (the biggest) as well as when I can start in the summer (which leaves programs requiring an early summer start out).

I will begin classes mid-summer/fall 2013 (I have been volunteering abroad since June 2011), and my plan is to devise a strategy for both options. For the formal option, I plan to apply to several good post-bacc programs and see how I do. I have a good GPA/test scores, but based on these forums it seems like it can sometimes be a crapshoot whether one gets in. I also plan to talk to the university I attended for undergraduate (which would make it easier to schedule classes and maintain a network, since I'm not starting from scratch) as well as another state university, and come up with a class schedule and support system for when I prepare to apply for med schools, should I take the state university route. Based on what I've seen so far, it seems that as long as you prepare and perform well and build up a supportive network (which is hard work, but worth it), you can succeed by going through the courses yourself. In an ideal world I'd almost 100% choose a formal post-bacc because, as others have stated, it just makes the process easier, but I'm planning for both because you never know what could come up!

Good luck in applying and making decisions!


Hey all,

Long time reader and first time poster. I am asking for advice because I'm currently in the throes of deciding how to proceed with my post-bac plans. I keep going back and forth between pursuing a formal program like Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps or taking the courses at SUNY Albany my local state university.

...

My main question is: is it possible to still get into a top-tier medical school if I do well in my courses at SUNY Albany and well on the MCAT? I'm concerned about the quality/rigor of the courses impacting my MCAT score or admission chances. I know that competition is fierce for med school and I'm concerned that going to SUNY might make admissions more difficult.

On the other hand, I am drawn the idea of a small, intimate (and highly successful) post-bac program like Goucher or Bryn Mawr. The consort option is a big draw as is the advising and the 100% admissions rate to school. I do much better in a smaller class environment and I feel like it would be much easier to really get to know my professors. The cost however is really weighing me down.

I would be super appreciative if anyone who has had a similar internal struggle could offer me any guidance or support about what they chose and how it turned out. This forum has been a HUGE help and I'm hoping it can help me on my journey to med school!

Thanks!
 
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I also graduated summa from a top-tier university in Boston, did MATCH, and had this dilemma. This post is a few months old, so you've likely decided already, but I went with the state school after just missing an app cycle and having a longish time to consider both paths. Here were my primary considerations.

1) Cost. Expensive is bad. I don't buy into the whole "you'll make enough money to pay it back eventually," because student loans really are The Worst and they should be avoided at any/all cost (until you're actually in medical school and need them). That said, definitely look into how much SUNY-Albany's actual program will cost you - my state school is significantly cheaper than a formal post-bac (even though I think I have the best of both worlds by having an actual "program" with a committee letter and link opps to state schools at a-la-carte state school prices), but I'm still surprised when I cut semesterly tuition checks. You should just know what to expect, obviously. I work full time and haven't had any trouble doing/paying for both, but I'm very glad I took the "don't go into debt for your post-bac" advice to heart. That's my story so far, anyway. If you have time you might also want to consider day jobs in Boston (and cheap night classes at HES) or employment at UPenn (and cheap/free night classes as Penn-LPS)... those are wild cards that could very effectively cover cost of living and tuition simultaneously if you can swing it. Point is, and everyone is different, you either have a lot saved and do a post-bac out-of-pocket, you pay as you go and deal with working throughout, or you take out loans that will suck/accrue interest for a long time before you're able to start comfortably paying them back. You have to choose what's going to get you As on your transcript quickest/cheapest/whatever you're after.

2) Registration. The only thing my post-bac "program" does, really, outside of the eventual committee letter, is give me senior privileges for course registration. At many state schools, if you're just a non-matric you won't have any special privileges in terms of getting into very popular sciences classes at times you need to take them. If you go state school, do a lot of research into course schedules and make sure you can secure a spot inside the courses you'll need when you'll need them.

3) Guidance. The more you research how the admissions/linkage process works, the less you'll need advisement. It'll just tell you what you already know: it's competitive, get good letters, do well on the MCAT, shadow, volunteer, research if you can find something. This is all pretty obvious stuff. I found that the handholding at a formal program wasn't going to be worth the formal program markup to me. Being able to do school full time without any other distractions might be worth the cost, but not a health professions office. Read SDN a fair amount until you get what it's about, grow a bull**** detector when you browse pre-med forums, and private message some posters who have done similar paths. It helps.

4) Time. I wanted to get into medical school as quickly as possible (protip: do not do this). I would probably go formal if my state school didn't have a linkage opportunity. Sometimes it's just that simple - how quickly do you want to be where you want to be and what program can make that happen for you?

Best of luck.
 
With your undergrad academic achievement, and unless you're a URM, do you really benefit significantly more from a prestigious postbacc program over an informal postbacc?
 
When I had to choose between the formal and informal route, the following ultimately swayed me towards the formal route, in order of importance:

1. Speed: In my circumstances, I wanted to enter med school asap. Some formal programs only last a year, and if the linkages appeal to you, you can be a med student just over a year after you started your postbac. I didn't think finishing an informal postbac in a year was feasible. This ultimately meant a maximum of two years to get into med school with a formal program, versus a minimum of two years with the informal route. Not only would I enter med school quicker, but my long-term earnings would be at least an extra $200,000.

2. Cost: I would contradict cherryghost about student debt. To me, it's the best kind of debt: easily deferred, long term, relatively low interest rates. Again, once you factor in the additional earnings of qualifying as a doctor 1-2 years earlier, any additional student loan principal + interest brought on by a formal program pays for itself.

A lot of us have liberal arts degrees. These days, we get those degrees because we're expected to, not because we're on a specific career track. Thus, it's hard to think of those degrees as a specific investment, since the outcome is so vague. Pre-med, on the other hand, is a very specific investment with very specific returns. As with any business investment with a demonstrable rate of return, this is the right kind of investment to go into debt for.

3. Consistency of instruction: lots of places have good pre-med classes and advising. But some professors care more than others, some TAs are better than others, and sometimes a grad student will end up teaching your orgo class when you need someone highly experienced to make the subject matter digestible to you. Formal programs offered me the consistency of teaching and instructor interest that I felt I needed to get the highest-possible grades.

4. No distractions: in a formal program, you can't even work part-time. This ensures I stay focused. As pre-meds go, I could be earning on the high side if I decided to keep working part- or full-time ($50-100k), but even then the risk to my grade, plus the lost income of taking longer to become a doctor, makes student debt a perfectly acceptable alternative.

5. Admissions odds to specific schools: set your sights on a linkage school that isn't the most overly popular with your cohort, meet the minimum grade criteria, and you can have a 50%-or-higher chance of getting into that school. Your odds will never be higher - and it's purely an option, so no pressure.


With all that having been said, if you have a very impressive background already and have sufficient aptitude and motivation, I don't think your odds of going to med school are particularly affected by your choice of a formal or informal program. It comes down to personal preference for factors like cost and speed.
 
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