Post-Bac vs Masters

[lucy]

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I need advise about which program to choose. I have finished all of the pre-req's by independent study(A's and B), since I took all of them over 5 years ago. I have not taken the MCAT as of yet. To be a better candidate, I have two choices. To do the post-bac program at Hunter with a committe letter, or a Master's at Harvard with a thesis. The Masters will take longer. I am going to apply to both allopathic and osteopathic schools. I am confused as to which route would be the better choice. Any thoughts would be helpful.

 

[DrMidlife]

You've already taken the prereqs and your GPA is over 3.0, correct? I don't see why you need to get back in school at all. You can take a prep course for the MCAT. You might want to take one or two upper division science classes to demonstrate recent academic achievement. Getting a masters, unless you really want one, is overkill.

Do you have good extra-curriculars?

Why, exactly, do you think you're not a good candidate?

Why do you think you need to go back to school?

The postbac forum may be helpful to you as well: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=71.

Best of luck to you.

 

[whatintheworld?]

Have you been out of school for over 5 yrs? Maybe an SMP (special masters program). I don't know anything about them, except that they are tailored for people wanting to apply to med school. I think they usually take 1 year. According to LizzyM (an adcom that posts on here with lots of great advice) masters programs in general are looked upon less favorably then undergrad courses b/c of grade inflation. Anyway, just throwing that out there.

 

[Law2Doc]

I need advise about which program to choose. I have finished all of the pre-req's by independent study(A's and B), since I took all of them over 5 years ago. I have not taken the MCAT as of yet. To be a better candidate, I have two choices. To do the post-bac program at Hunter with a committe letter, or a Master's at Harvard with a thesis. The Masters will take longer. I am going to apply to both allopathic and osteopathic schools. I am confused as to which route would be the better choice. Any thoughts would be helpful.

Different paths are going to be better for different people. There is no "one size fits all" approach to getting into med school. Without knowing your GPA and history it is impossible to tell you which (from the two above, or an SMP) is the "better choice".

 

[lucy]

You've already taken the prereqs and your GPA is over 3.0, correct? I don't see why you need to get back in school at all. You can take a prep course for the MCAT. You might want to take one or two upper division science classes to demonstrate recent academic achievement. Getting a masters, unless you really want one, is overkill.

Do you have good extra-curriculars?

Why, exactly, do you think you're not a good candidate?

Why do you think you need to go back to school?

The postbac forum may be helpful to you as well: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=71.

Best of luck to you.

I have a GPA of a 3.0 from 10 years ago. I retook the prereq's because they were too old and to refresh for the MCAT. I need to raise that pitful GPA. Repeating the pre-req with the A's and B didn't raise it all that much. I have been in the healthcare field for about 7 years now with ICU and transplant experience. I don't know which program (post-bac or Masters) would be looked on more favorably by the ADCOM's. If I enroll in the Post-bac science enrichment program, it really won't raise my undergrad GPA by that much. But
the program provides a committe letter, it one does well. On the other hand, If I do a Masters in science it would show the ADCOM's that I could handle graduate Biochem, Molecular Bio, Immunolgy,etc. I don't know which is the better road to choose.

 

[njbmd]

I have a GPA of a 3.0 from 10 years ago. I retook the prereq's because they were too old and to refresh for the MCAT. I need to raise that pitful GPA. Repeating the pre-req with the A's and B didn't raise it all that much. I have been in the healthcare field for about 7 years now with ICU and transplant experience. I don't know which program (post-bac or Masters) would be looked on more favorably by the ADCOM's. If I enroll in the Post-bac science enrichment program, it really won't raise my undergrad GPA by that much. But
the program provides a committe letter, it one does well. On the other hand, If I do a Masters in science it would show the ADCOM's that I could handle graduate Biochem, Molecular Bio, Immunolgy,etc. I don't know which is the better road to choose.

Since you have already taken the pre-med pre-reqs, you probably do not need to keep taking Post Bacc coursework. Depending on how many hours of poor grades you need to overcome, years of post bacc may not get your GPA into the range that you need. As someone above suggested, a Special Masters might be ideal for you. Take a look at the AAMC website AAMC Post Bacc Searchfor a list of programs that offer a Special Masters Degree and other Post Bacc Programs that offer certificates and grade enhancement.

Since you believe that you need to "prove" that you can handle graduate coursework, a Special Masters Degree such as the one offered by Georgetown University (there are others) might accomplish what that task.

Beware that entering Special Masters Degree programs are great as long as you do well in these types of programs. They are also expensive so financing may be difficult for you. In most of these programs, you take the same coursework as medical students so do not attempt this type of program if you need to work full-time. You just won't have loads of extra time for work.

Unless you are interested in having a thesis-based masters degree, entering this type of program as an enhancer to enter medical school is not a great idea for a couple of reasons. First, you must complete your graduate coursework and research (at least through the defense portion) before you apply to medical school and second, the time requirement may become an issue in terms of how long it takes to you complete both your coursework and research. If you are willing to put in two possibly three years in order to complete the degree before you can apply to medical school, then the time taken may be worth it. Good luck!