Post-Bac Programs

[nakanna]

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Hi all. Just looking for some advice or some people in similar situations.

I just turned 30 and have decided to pursue my dream of going to med school. I graduated in 1999 with a BS in Chemistry and Biology. At the time I had planned on going to med school. I graduated with a GPA of 3.1 and didn't think I would get in and didn't really feel fully committed for more school at the time; so I never sent back my secondaries. I got a job and the next thing I knew 8 years had passed. I have always wanted/planned to go back to school but just haven't. This summer I decided the time was right to try to go back and give it my best try. I wasn't exactly the best student the first time around and know that I am much more mature and determined now then I was then. I have enrolled in a biochemistry class at the University in my city and am doing well (hopefully will hold on to my A). Unfortunately work does not allow me to take a lot of classes. I have been working full time as an LC-MS/MS analyst for the last 7+ year. Obviously I have no current MCAT scores but when I took it many years ago I got a 26O (9V, 9P, 8B). But I have started studying for them again and hope to take it this spring. I really would like to get into a full time Post-Bac program both to re-learn a lot of material and to increase my GPA. I have been looking into LECOM (sounds like a good program and is fairly close to me in ohio). Anyone currently or previously been in the program have an opinion.

Does anyone have any suggestions on programs that are good choices for people who have been out of school for a while. How much weight would a PB program carry over my grades from 8 years ago. I realize that med schools look at a lot of criteria but was just wandering if anyone could give me a feel for this based on similar experience. Thanks for you advice and good luck to you all.

 

[DrMidlife]

Come over to the non-trad forum for input on what it's like to be 30+ and have a weak ancient undergrad transcript: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=110

Come over to the postbac forum for input on what types of programs are available for different postbac situations: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=71

In general, any postbac coursework is averaged in with your normal undergrad work - few schools look at them separately or emphasize postbac over undergrad. There are a lot of us in these ancient low-GPA shoes. For DO schools, repeats wipe out the old grade, and you're going to find that this is one of the less interesting things to like about DO (meaning you'll find a lot of qualitative reasons to like DO vs. MD).

Also in general, if you've already taken all or most of the premed prereqs, the structured postbac premed prereq programs aren't for you. You might want to try an SMP (see the postbac forum). Or you can pursue regular coursework at a regular university in an unstructured fashion.

Best of luck to you.

 

[superfan56]

doing well in a formal post bacc program can make or break you. I would either try and bring up the GPA via an undergrad post bacc (may not be possible in your case because you are a bio major) but that is what i did at a local university, and did as well as I could have. Being out of school for so long now, it will show that you really are a serious student after all these years. I think taking and doing well in 20 credits of science classes per semester shows them you can potentially do well in med school.

Come over to the non-trad forum for input on what it's like to be 30+ and have a weak ancient undergrad transcript: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=110

Come over to the postbac forum for input on what types of programs are available for different postbac situations: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=71

In general, any postbac coursework is averaged in with your normal undergrad work - few schools look at them separately or emphasize postbac over undergrad. There are a lot of us in these ancient low-GPA shoes. For DO schools, repeats wipe out the old grade, and you're going to find that this is one of the less interesting things to like about DO (meaning you'll find a lot of qualitative reasons to like DO vs. MD).

Also in general, if you've already taken all or most of the premed prereqs, the structured postbac premed prereq programs aren't for you. You might want to try an SMP (see the postbac forum). Or you can pursue regular coursework at a regular university in an unstructured fashion.

Best of luck to you.

I've actually heard otherwise if it is science work. Maybe not so much in my case (was only out of school for a few years) but one of my friends in my post bacc program was out of school for almost 15 years before he started again and Drexel said they didn't even look at his grades at all from back then. Which in my mind is what a post bacc should be treated like, otherwise, what's the point?

 

[gasapple]

Most of the advice here is good. I think post-bacc coursework "a la carte" is a good way to replace old grades and boost your AACOMAS GPA calculation. As far as SMPs (Special Masters Programs), I was told by an experienced admissions dean that nothing beats MCAT improvement to offset other deficiencies. In fact, he told me to just focus on the MCAT and skip the SMP saying that the post-bacc work I'd already completed would do the trick. He said the SMPs were not that big of a deal (compared to MCAT) for his adcom at least. There are many threads regarding this topic but that's my take.