Post bac Instead of taking Pre med classes at 4 year school

[151617]

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I recently posted a forum where I told about how I was thinking of transferring because I disliked my large premed classes and the serious atmosphere at Berkeley so much. I just realized that to make my undergrad experience better, I could still major in Public health instead of MCB, and take the rest of my pre med courses through a post bac program after my undergrad. Then I would be getting my degree from Berkeley instead of transferring to another college, and then be majoring in something that I can do well in without sacrificing other aspects of the college experience that are important to me.

I am not doing poorly at Berkeley in the premed classes, but it is hard to enjoy them and really reach my full potential academically with the large classroom sizes combined with the pre med attitude. If i do a post bac, I will be able to better enjoy my college experience now, and be away from the Berkeley pre med culture, so I will probably do even better in this program. Will this plan work out?

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

I guess it would work, but it would mean an extra year of college and you'd most likely have to take a gap year after your postbac. That means you'd have two years less to do a doctor's job and earn a doctor's salary. If you add the cost of the additional tuition and the lost potential wages, a postbac is going to cost you something like $400,000. My advice is to suck it up and take the classes now. You will be dealing with unpleasant people all your life, so you might as well start now. You could take one or two of the premed classes over the summer at your local state school. Of course, there will also be premeds there, so the atmosphere might be just as competitive.

Another option is to take the premed science classes for science majors. For example, most colleges have physics with and without calculus. Since both classes meet the med school requirements and physics without calculus is easier, you won't find many premeds in the physics with calculus class. However, unless you are willing and able to do the extra work involved, you'll be better off in the easier class.

 

[darkjedi]

I am a strong advocate for postbacs. I think the good ones have vastly superior advising than most premed committees. Gap years are also a good opportunity to really boost your application, as well as to take a break from being in school endlessly. The additional year of tuition (private at that) is definitely something to consider however.

The east-coast tend to have more/better postbacs, but Scripps in CA is well renowned for their postbac.

 

[beethousand]

I would also caution that the federal loan limit for postbaccs is 12500 per year for two years if you are not pursuing a second degree. Something to be aware of depending on how you plan to finance your post bacc.

 

[getdown]

If you can't handle the premed classes in undergrad how're you gonna handle the med school classes when you actually get in. It doesn't suddenly become less competitive or rigorous or cut throat when you're in. The amount of material becomes exponentially greater and your time smaller. Just sayin'

 

[nabilesmail]

If you can't handle the premed classes in undergrad how're you gonna handle the med school classes when you actually get in. It doesn't suddenly become less competitive or rigorous or cut throat when you're in. The amount of material becomes exponentially greater and your time smaller. Just sayin'

Berkeley's pretty brutal compared to many institutions

 

[pandaman2000]

Berkeley's pretty brutal compared to many institutions

Those same kids in your class are the ones that will be in your med school class though.
You have to face the music sometime...and i'm guessing adcoms will probably wonder why you only have a portion of your pre-reqs done -> suddenly stop -> take a postbac to finish.

This sounds like a ton of unnecessary work/money/extra years for you because you're scared of taking classes with other premeds. I went to the little bear UC and while classes were much harder than say, UCI, you can make up slight grade deflation by rocking your MCAT.

I understand what you mean by not liking the premed atmosphere, but some of those cutthroat people follow you into med school. You have to learn to roll with the punches.