Post bac? Masters?

[oliverkahn]

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I'm a senior at a top 20 school. I'm a finance major and have taken all the pre med pre reqs but Organic 2 and Bio 2. Due to a poor freshman first semester, my GPA will end up being around a 3.55 with a BCPM of 3.7. I will have 135 hours. I haven't yet taken the MCAT. I want to go to a top tier medical school if possible. I have great extracurriculars.

Because I haven't taken the MCAT yet, applying to medical school will take another year after I graduate, so I was planning on doing an MPH (a degree that I have a geniune interest in and would love to pursue) and then applying straight to medical school. This would also give me time to take the MCAT and boost my GPA.

After some research though, a post bac looks appealing. Here are my questions:

1. Would a post bac GPA be recorded in my undergrad GPA? The problem is, after taking only 20 or so hours (like Harvard suggests for someone with my GPA), my GPA wouldn't even be significantly raised. Would medical schools just appreciate the fact that I'd made the extra effort and weight these post bac classes (from an incredible school like harvard) more heavily?

2. The Harvard deadline is September 25th. Is this for next year?

3. What does the average time line look like for somone doing a post bac? Because you need time to take the classes, time to take the MCAT, and then time to apply...

4. Would it look bad to repeat my pre-med classes, so should I take more advanced sciences? Or would it look good, as I genuinely do want to improve my GPA and grip of the basic sciences. Also, taking these at a place like Harvard would be incredible.

Thanks

 

[DrMidlife]

I'm a senior at a top 20 school.... I want to go to a top tier medical school if possible.

Med school isn't law school or B school. Prestige is WAY less important than you're making it out to be. If you're choosing a postbac or med school on prestige, you're not paying attention to factors that could drastically affect your options and satisfaction, not to mention your wallet.

Because I haven't taken the MCAT yet, applying to medical school will take another year after I graduate, so I was planning on doing an MPH (a degree that I have a geniune interest in and would love to pursue) and then applying straight to medical school. This would also give me time to take the MCAT and boost my GPA.

From a med school admissions perspective, graduate level work doesn't boost your GPA, and in particular, an MPH does not address academic weaknesses. If you want to raise that 3.55 to a more competitive number, you have to do more undergrad work.

Doing an MPH to improve credentials: not good. Doing an MPH because you really want to: good.

You could also consider doing an SMP instead of further undergrad work. Your numbers are pretty high for this, but it's great proof of your mettle. Basically, you do the first year of med school to prove you can do med school. Expensive and risky.

But wait: you're just starting your senior year. You should be able to improve your undergrad GPA and take the MCAT by June of '09. If you're really looking to prove something, an 18 hour load of hard science and a 35+ MCAT next May would be pretty interesting...

1. Would a post bac GPA be recorded in my undergrad GPA? The problem is, after taking only 20 or so hours (like Harvard suggests for someone with my GPA), my GPA wouldn't even be significantly raised.

Yes, all undergrad work is averaged together for initial screening. Later, adcoms will look at your record year-by-year, and sometimes course-by-course. Harvard's suggestions should be balanced with a general consensus of how to play - don't put all your eggs in one basket. If you want your cumulative overall GPA to be higher, then yes, you have to do more than 20 hours.

Would medical schools just appreciate the fact that I'd made the extra effort and weight these post bac classes (from an incredible school like harvard) more heavily?

Upward trend is always a good thing. Solid performance in hard sciences is always a good thing. But to depend on an adcom's objective, appreciative consideration of specifics of your story in lieu of strong basic qualifications is not a good thing.

Seriously, if you're looking for prestige, do you really think Harvard's extension program offers that? If you must go for prestige, you need to look at Goucher, Bryn Mawr and Scripps. These are very selective.

3. What does the average time line look like for somone doing a post bac? Because you need time to take the classes, time to take the MCAT, and then time to apply...

Work backwards from when you want to apply. You want to be ready with your improved GPA and MCAT score in hand in one June or another. If you can get great grades in your postbac and a great MCAT score by June '09, then you're ready to apply. If you can't, then plan to apply the following year. Etc.

4. Would it look bad to repeat my pre-med classes, so should I take more advanced sciences? Or would it look good, as I genuinely do want to improve my GPA and grip of the basic sciences. Also, taking these at a place like Harvard would be incredible.

If you got a C or better in a prereq, then repeating it is pointless (unless you're applying to DO schools). To demonstrate your scientific prowess in lieu of killer grades in prereqs, get killer grades in upper-div science such as microbiology, genetics, physiology, biochem etc.

Best of luck to you.

 

[oliverkahn]

Thanks for your thoughts!

So the Harvard Extension School isn't prestigious at all? You would think that taking classes with Harvard Med. School professors would impress ADCOMS. The problem with the more exclusive programs is that you can't have had any of the pre-reqs in undergrad.

I could potentially bust my ass this year and take the MCATs this summer, and then have a year off to apply. Or I could plan on doing the post bac, and save my self a 20k semester of college. Then I could do the classes I haven't taken yet, as well as some upper level (even graduate level) classes for VERY cheap at HES and take the MCAT in Spring 2010.

Wouldn't this make sense?

 

[Perrotfish]

You should probably stop thinking about a top 10 school because

1) It doesn't really improve your chances at a good residency and

2) You're probably not getting in to a top school with a 3.55, upward trend or not.

Neither the post-bac nor the MPH is going to significantly change your odds of getting in at this point

An MPH, though, can help you get into a top residency, which does impact your career.

So my vote is for the MPH and a broad application. This is coming from a medical student, though, not an attending.

 

[oliverkahn]

Thanks again for the replies. If I take 6 classes post-bac, I can get up to a 3.65, which will help me out considerably. One quick question:

I would like to be sponsored by HES if I go there, but will only have one year of it (summer, fall, spring) before I apply. Should I apply to the sponsorship now, a year before I even go to HES, or do I apply next fall upon starting? Also, is it easy to take summer classes at Harvard? I know it's not part of HES, per se, but is it easy enough to get the credit transferred to count towards your HES sponsorship required hours?

Thanks

 

[hung]

No offense, but maybe you should get an MCAT score first. If you can't get a high MCAT score (35+), then all this planning to raise your gpa to get into a top tier medical school might be a waste of time.

 

[oliverkahn]

Well I haven't finished my pre reqs, so I don't want to take the MCAT yet. That's part of the reason I want to do the post-bac.

 

[StanfordDropout]

35+? Easy said than done. I'm struggling.🙁

No offense, but maybe you should get an MCAT score first. If you can't get a high MCAT score (35+), then all this planning to raise your gpa to get into a top tier medical school might be a waste of time.

 

[kac714]

Hey everyone,
I've already applied to all my med schools (i think 25 total). I have a 31Q mcat (10 ps, 9 vr, 12 bs) and approx a 3.4 BCPM and 3.5 cum. I have a 3.79 in my cog psych major. I'm considering taking anatomy and physio this winter and spring quarter to boost my science gpa. what do you all think?