Post Bac: USC vs Cal State

[mondoman]

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Ok folks, you've graduated from college with no science and now you wan't to be a doctor. You can do two things: 1.) Take all your sciences at Cal State Long Beach under an informal post bac program or 2.) You've been accepted into the formalized post bac program at USC. Money is not an issue. I'm new to the area so I do not have a solid opinion on the CAL State system. And to keep it easy, lets assume you're academically strong enough to get the same grades at either school. What do you do?

 

[Doctor Wyldstyle]

Money is not an issue? USC route probably because it has more structure and is geared to get you into medical school if it is a post-bac program. However, do you have any specific reasons why you would chose cal state long beach? Just curious.

Good luck,
wyldstyle2000

 

[Jeffy]

Personally, I have no beef with the Cal State system. Nor do I know much about their graduate programs. What I do know is that they aren't recognized much for their undergraduate academic programs. With the exception of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona, their schools are not very competitive. Moreover, many do not even require an SAT to get in. Most of the students from my high school that ended up at a Cal State basically just didn't want to go to a JC. Once again though, thats what I know about the undergrads, not the grads.

 

[Lavndrrose]

I strongly suggest you go with USC. Good luck! 🙂

 

[inanna]

Since $$'s not an issue, I suggest you also look into the Scripps Post-bac program (part of the Claremont Colleges). That's where I went and I highly recommend it. Plus, their acceptance rate out of their program into med school is over 93%. I don't know USC's stats in that area, but be sure to compare. Claremont's a whole lot nicer area too. PM me if you have additional ?'s. I would not do a Cal State program (although I graduated in Engl Lit from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo). You'll be in a much better position coming from a school like USC or Scripps.

Good Luck.

 

[psyche]

I think most post-bacc programs are a bit of a rip-off, frankly. I struggled to get A's and B's at an expensive private post-bacc program in L.A and ended up not getting in. The next year I took a year of upper level bio classes at Cal State L.A. and got in. Unexpectedly, classes at the private school were overenrolled and involved little interaction with professors. All of my classes at Cal State L.A. were small and the teachers were accessible. More expensive isn't always better.

 

[LizardKing]

Go with USC. I know many students who've been successful with their post-bacc program. The school also has a better reputation than Cal State...and school rep does make a small difference in the adcom's minds.