Post Bac Program

[water4girl]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone out there has done any post bac work.. and if so then where did they go and did they like it. Especially interested if anyone attends Tufts post bac program. I just graduated college and am looking at post bac programs and trying to find the best fit.

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[agent]

post bac to do your pre-reqs for med school?

or just to do a post-bac?

 

[xaelia]

If you have none of the prerequisites for medical school, the Bryn Mawr College Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program is one of the best. I attended it last year, and I am finding in my medical school interviews that I'm getting positive comments I didn't expect on the reputation of the program and the students accepted to it. I definitely enjoyed the program, as well....

Bryn Mawr College Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program

 

[water4girl]

Post bac for requirements for med school.

Was Bryn Mawr hard to get into? For undergrad i went to villanova which i know is right down the street from Bryn Mawr. Can u tell me about what interviews you have had and your experience at bryn mawr.

 

[Toots]

I am a post bacc at Penn right now for my pre-reqs. It's very challenging - I'm only taking one class right now b/c I also work full time - but I'm really enjoying it! They went through some administrative changes over the past year, but they really have gotten their act together, and everyone is extremely supportive. Plus the cost is reasonable! PM me if you have any questions about it.

Toots

 

[agent]

there are plenty of ppl who just went to a local community college for their pre-reqs.

 

[water4girl]

toots,
you like Penn tell me more about the program...was it difficult to get into

 

[agent]

pfft..

 

[ussdfiant]

I did my post bac at Temple and now am a MS1 at Temple.

 

[Toots]

IMO, they made it SEEM like it was hard to get into, but it really isn't, if that makes sense. You basically have to jump through hoops (like send SAT scores, recommendation letters, transcripts, essays, sit for an interview, etc.), but if you had a decent ugrad GPA (>3.0) I don't think you'll have a problem.

Some more info - each class (lecture + lab) runs around $1600, and they are all offered at night/on Saturdays, so you can work while doing it. You can go either full time and be done in a year and a summer, or part time at your leisure. They also have a "linkage" with Jeff, Temple Med, Drexel Med, GW, and Robert Wood Johnson, where you can get a conditional acceptance and eliminate the application year. Here's the website:

Post-Bacc at Penn

Let me know if you have any other questions!
Toots

 

[The Hulk]

Quote from Water4Girl
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hi,
Just wondering if anyone out there has done any post bac work.. and if so then where did they go and did they like it. Especially interested if anyone attends Tufts post bac program. I just graduated college and am looking at post bac programs and trying to find the best fit.
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Hi water4Girl,

Good for you! Congrats on your decision to go to a post-bac program. I am currently enrolled in one. There are alot of them out there, and I think the best resource to find all of them is at the Syracuse Website; they list virtually every formal post-bac prgoram in the US. The website is:

http://www-hl.syr.edu/hpap/LISTPB.HTM

In terms of getting in, the programs range considerably in difficulty. Just so you know, Tufts is actually one of the most difficult programs to get into, mainly because their program is one of the only ones to offer a provisional acceptance into their med school - take all the pre-med courses, maintain a 3.33 or higher GPA and don't totally mess up the MCAT and you are in Tufts Med. If you can get into a program like tufts (or Uconn) I say go for it, otherwise, most of the other programs are the same; GPA of 3.0 and above with a decent essay and one good LOR and you shouldn't have a problem getting into at least one of them. Most of the programs like Bryn Mawr, Upenn and Columbia are a little on the expensive side, however. And beware of their "linkages"; only a very small number of the people in a program get in through them, leaving the rest to wait a year like everyone else; also, because so few get offered linkages, the competition for these spots between post-bacs in these programs are at times extremely intense.

If your looking at Tufts, I suggest looking at Harvard's as well. It is the cheapest of any program I looked at (750$ / course / semester) and it also has on of the highest rate of med school acceptance (over 90% of all who finished the program "in good standing" [3.0+ GPA in all courses])

Good Luck!!!

 

[LoveDoc]

I checked out the Harvard info:

Finances: No financial aid is available and there is a $100 application fee



What could Harvard possibly be doing with a $100 application fee for post-bacc? Someone's probably taking their staff out to for drinks....

 

[agent]

Originally posted by LoveDoc
I checked out the Harvard info:

Finances: No financial aid is available and there is a $100 application fee



What could Harvard possibly be doing with a $100 application fee for post-bacc? Someone's probably taking their staff out to for drinks....

that would really slim the application pool..

small text: only daddy's little rich girls need apply.

 

[Random Access]

Originally posted by LoveDoc
I checked out the Harvard info:

Finances: No financial aid is available and there is a $100 application fee

The financial aid part sounds normal for some Ivy League schools. They only cover financial aid for the first 8 semesters of undergrad (and they generally require you to graduate in 8, without special exemptions). As for the $100, that's about $30 too high.

-RA

 

[chopsuey]

Originally posted by xaelia
If you have none of the prerequisites for medical school, the Bryn Mawr College Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program is one of the best. I attended it last year, and I am finding in my medical school interviews that I'm getting positive comments I didn't expect on the reputation of the program and the students accepted to it. I definitely enjoyed the program, as well....

Bryn Mawr College Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program

do you work at CHOP? if you do, i think i know you....

 

[Random Access]

Another random question for Xaelia...What does a Symbolic Systems major study? Is it related to CS?

My cousin-in-law is an MD at CHOP (she went to JHU). She does neurology stuff and also does research in GABA receptors. I wonder if you know her too? It's a big place...

-RA

 

[The Hulk]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------that would really slim the application pool..

small text: only daddy's little rich girls need apply.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK... that makes sense.... because the application fee is 25$ - 50$ more than others, its for daddy's little rich girls, meanwhile the program is about four grand a year compared to Bryn Mawr's, Columbia's, Goucher's and the others that cost ten grand a year or more?!?!... whoever did that math is gonna have some trouble on the physics portion of the MCAT.... hmmmm

 

[xaelia]

Originally posted by The Hulk
Most of the programs like Bryn Mawr, Upenn and Columbia are a little on the expensive side, however. And beware of their "linkages"; only a very small number of the people in a program get in through them, leaving the rest to wait a year like everyone else; also, because so few get offered linkages, the competition for these spots between post-bacs in these programs are at times extremely intense.
Good Luck!!!

Hm...the competition isn't quite as salient as you make it out be. The fall consorts are basically automatic; keep your GPA up, get 9s on the MCAT sections, and you're in - no one who applied this past year was turned down for Jefferson, Temple, or MCP-Hanneman (Drexel). I don't think anyone did SUNY this year, but it's basically the same thing.

Realistically, there is competition for the spring consort schools (Rochester, Brown and Dartmouth) because they only have a certain number of spots, but you don't ever really know who you're competing against and who else is interviewing there until the very last step of the process. There's probably a little bitterness in those rejected towards those accepted, but it's not "intense" or anything.

 

[xaelia]

Originally posted by chopsuey
do you work at CHOP? if you do, i think i know you....

Yes, yes, and since you point it out, I probably know who you are too.

"Thrillsville."

 

[chopsuey]

Originally posted by xaelia
Yes, yes, and since you point it out, I probably know who you are too.

"Thrillsville."

well, i definitely know you, but i'm not convinced you know me since "thrillsville" means nothing to me....it's ok. i only met you once or twice. i just haven't met too many bmc postbaccs at CHOP who are applying right now.

 

[xaelia]

Originally posted by chopsuey
well, i definitely know you, but i'm not convinced you know me since "thrillsville" means nothing to me....it's ok. i only met you once or twice. i just haven't met too many bmc postbaccs at CHOP who are applying right now.

Heh, no, "thrillsville" is just a miscellaneous saying relating how excited I am to have made a real-life connection on this website! Oh boy!

And, about the only people who know who I am are the folks hanging out in the ED that one day I was shadowing Dr. Alpern....

 

[chopsuey]

Originally posted by xaelia
Heh, no, "thrillsville" is just a miscellaneous saying relating how excited I am to have made a real-life connection on this website! Oh boy!

And, about the only people who know who I am are the folks hanging out in the ED that one day I was shadowing Dr. Alpern....

ahh....yup, you got me. i think i saw you in haffner the other day (you're kinda tall...hard to miss!!). in any case, hope apps are going well for you and that CHOP is keeping you entertained!

 

[The Hulk]

quote from Xaelia
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Hmm...the competition isn't quite as salient as you make it out be. The fall consorts are basically automatic; keep your GPA up, get 9s on the MCAT sections, and you're in - no one who applied this past year was turned down for Jefferson, Temple, or MCP-Hanneman (Drexel). I don't think anyone did SUNY this year, but it's basically the same thing.

Realistically, there is competition for the spring consort schools (Rochester, Brown and Dartmouth) because they only have a certain number of spots, but you don't ever really know who you're competing against and who else is interviewing there until the very last step of the process. There's probably a little bitterness in those rejected towards those accepted, but it's not "intense" or anything.
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Xaelia, you make a good point there. I should have pointed out that I was speaking from heresay and that my information came from people at programs at columbia and Goucher. If your going to the Bryn Mawr program or another PB, then my inofrmation could be incorrect. Sorry!

 

[water4girl]

Thanks everyone,
For all your help.

Just a question though what do you recommend for someone with a low gpa applying to these programs. Around 3.0 but not exactly a 3.0 more like a 2.8. I hated the classes i took in college. Subsquently it showed in my grades. Just keep applying and see who takes me. I have great ECs and LORS