Post Bacc (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, etc) Admissions Question!

[KB2492]

Hi everyone!

After evaluating my options, I'm really hoping to attend a formal post bacc program. I know that I'm late in the game for early admissions and a lot of programs call for high school SAT scores/ transcripts and I'm worried that I won't have a shot getting in if those are taken into consideration. Here are my stats:

High school GPA: 3.0 - took AP chem, AP bio, received C grades due to family circumstances. Had some great semesters (3.8 gpa) and some not so great semesters (1.6 gpa, but my weighted gpa would be higher)
SAT: 1810

College:
Business Management Degree: 3.8 GPA
Taken two bio courses for med school plus labs: 4.0 GPA

Graduated magna cum laude, top 15% of class, with honors.

Extra Curricular:
-Director of Student Events on Student Government Association
-President of Students for Social Justice club
-Director of Publicity, Honors Council
-Acquisitions Editor, Honor's Newsletter
-Presented a paper at my college's academic symposium

-Research student at Mass General, I have two papers published, with seven pending publications in scientific journals (since July 2014)
-Had a poster presented at the Radiological Society of North America conference
-Worked with Harvard Business School in launching a pilot costing program at Mass General.
-Volunteered at Dana Farber cancer institute : 2 years
-Volunteered at St. Franciscan's children's hospital : 1 year
-Worked at a suicide hotline : 3 years
-Around 100 hours of physician shadowing experience

And I've done other various internships that aren't really related to medicine.

Thank you guys!

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[ksyhe]

Yes, you have a shot at those programs -- so apply ASAP. They will look at high school performance, but the later coursework (i.e. your magna cum laude) outweighs this. However, have you taken any of the other prereqs aside from Bio? The programs you mentioned are geared towards "career changers" who haven't taken any (or many) of the prereqs. 1 or 2 is fine, but more than that may make you ineligible, unless you took those classes a long time ago (AP doesn't count.)

Good luck!

 

[KB2492]

Yes, you have a shot at those programs -- so apply ASAP. They will look at high school performance, but the later coursework (i.e. your magna cum laude) outweighs this. However, have you taken any of the other prereqs aside from Bio? The programs you mentioned are geared towards "career changers" who haven't taken any (or many) of the prereqs. 1 or 2 is fine, but more than that may make you ineligible, unless you took those classes a long time ago (AP doesn't count.)

Good luck!

Sorry for my long delay in response- just finished applying to JHU, Temple, Bryn Mawr, and Goucher! I've only taken the two biology courses. However, I was enrolled in Gen Chem I and then withdrew from it due to a scheduling conflict with Gen Chem II- I went to a super small liberal arts school that constantly had scheduling conflicts and I wanted to take Gen Chem I and II sequentially instead of at different times! I'm sure that if I get an interview that they'll mention this and I'm not sure if that's a valid enough reason for the interviewers.

 

[ksyhe]

I'm sure that if I get an interview that they'll mention this and I'm not sure if that's a valid enough reason for the interviewers.

Hey, don't fall into the neuroses of SDN -- whether it's a valid reason or not (and it sounds fine to me), going into an interview thinking it's a horrible strike against you (which it isn't) isn't going to do anything for you. Own it, or better yet, find a way to give it a positive spin. Interviewers love confident applicants. (Confident, not cocky!)

Good luck!

 

[KB2492]

Hey, don't fall into the neuroses of SDN -- whether it's a valid reason or not (and it sounds fine to me), going into an interview thinking it's a horrible strike against you (which it isn't) isn't going to do anything for you. Own it, or better yet, find a way to give it a positive spin. Interviewers love confident applicants. (Confident, not cocky!)

Good luck!

Thank you!!! I found out yesterday that I didn't get into Bryn Mawr, but I have an interview at JHU! Hoping Goucher doesn't straight up deny me either, but we shall see!

 

[honestskyV]

KB2492 -- keep us posted on how things turn out? I applied to three of the same schools (JHU, Goucher, Bryn Mawr) and unfortunately did not get in (straight up denied). I guess I'd just like to hear someone's success story!

 

[KB2492]

KB2492 -- keep us posted on how things turn out? I applied to three of the same schools (JHU, Goucher, Bryn Mawr) and unfortunately did not get in (straight up denied). I guess I'd just like to hear someone's success story!

Hi! I got an interview at JHU but wasn't accepted and got denied at Goucher and Bryn Mawr as well! I called Bryn Mawr and they said that biggest reason I didn't get accepted was because I didn't have enough volunteer experience...even though my gpa and scores were on par with what they accept! So strange, hah.

 

[honestskyV]

Ah, well I'm sorry you didn't get accepted. Did you get in to Temple or will you re-apply to a group of schools next year?

 

[KB2492]

Ah, well I'm sorry you didn't get accepted. Did you get in to Temple or will you re-apply to a group of schools next year?

Thank you! I'm sorry you didn't get in! I haven't heard back from Temple yet, but if I don't get in, I'm just gonna be doing a DIY post bacc at my state school!

 

[late_bloomer]

Oh man that is so discouraging! I also have high scores but little to no healthcare experience. However, I have had a desire to work in healthcare for couple of years now. I demonstrated this by taking nursing prerequisites at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing - do you all think this will help? I have also done some psychology research that can be related to healthcare, taken courses in public health, and done a lot of direct service work in the social work field. I am hoping to explain that I want to work directly with people and that I am confident that medicine will be the best way to do this. Thoughts?

 

[kmed93]

Oh man that is so discouraging! I also have high scores but little to no healthcare experience. However, I have had a desire to work in healthcare for couple of years now. I demonstrated this by taking nursing prerequisites at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing - do you all think this will help? I have also done some psychology research that can be related to healthcare, taken courses in public health, and done a lot of direct service work in the social work field. I am hoping to explain that I want to work directly with people and that I am confident that medicine will be the best way to do this. Thoughts?

Apply to UVA. In my experience, Bryn Mawr only accepts students they feel confident that they will get into med school, as is. Same with Temple. They're less interested in passion (regardless of what they tell you) and more interested in maintaining the highest matriculation stats. So, they don't really care about building you to be a competitive applicant - they want you to already be a competitive applicant and judge you on whether you're likely to get into medical school, as is. UVA, in my experience, was more interested in passion and then providing you with the appropriate experience to make you a competitive applicant for med school.