Post-bac program or work?

[s3trots]

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Hello eveyone,

I was hoping I could get a little insight from all of you. Right now I am an undergrad senior graduating in May. I took my MCAT and didn't blow it out of the water so I plan on taking the new 2015 exam. In my year off I will still be working in the hospital as a phlebotomist, but I am trying to decide if a post-bacc program would be beneficial to me. My GPA is about a 3.5, I plan on retaking my MCAT, and I have plenty of extra curricular activities. Would I be better off just waiting and working in the hospital or enrolling into a post-bacc program? Money is a huge factor at this moment in my life so I need to work, but I just want to make sure I'm not passing up an opportunity that could increase my chances of getting in to medical school.


Thank you 🙂

 

[s5260205]

I would strongly recommend working for the gap year since your GPA is not bad (is your sGPA about the same?). As long as you get around 30 on MCAT (or the equivalent in percentile), you should be able to secure an acceptance in the next cycle.

 

[s3trots]

I would strongly recommend working for the gap year since your GPA is not bad (is your sGPA about the same?). As long as you get around 30 on MCAT (or the equivalent in percentile), you should be able to secure an acceptance in the next cycle.

I think sGPA is about a 3.4ish with one semester to go, so it should go up a little bit more because I am in all science courses now.

 

[s5260205]

I had very similar GPAs as yours with 30+ MCAT and got a few interview invites this cycle, so I would still suggest aiming for a good MCAT score. You can potentially retake a few courses if you have a few C's but post-bac would be a waste of money given you already satisfactory GPAs.

 

[s3trots]

I had very similar GPAs as yours with 30+ MCAT and got a few interview invites this cycle, so I would still suggest aiming for a good MCAT score. You can potentially retake a few courses if you have a few C's but post-bac would be a waste of money given you already satisfactory GPAs.

I had to make a correction, it is about a 3.4. And the only classes that I got C's in were engineering physics classes that I took as a freshman before I switched my major to premed. But I plan on retaking my MCAT, but I am nervous because it is changing and like I posted above, I didn't do too hot on it and I don't know how that is going to mix with my new MCAT score, especially because it is a completely different scoring scale.

 

[s5260205]

The admissions will likely compare the percentile of the new score with the percentile of the old MCAT. A 30 on MCAT is around 75-80 percentile. Do well on the new MCAT and you should be fine.

 

[songl4a]

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