Post-Bacc Course Advice for Improving GPA

[blockle]

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Hello,

After being advised here on the forums that I should seek a post-bacc, I have decided to take the informal route due to costs and location (currently in San Diego).

I was a Bio major with 3.3X c and s GPA, graduated from UCSD in 2010(stayed fifth year with 3.9GPA). I am still deciding between SDSU or UCSD,(cost vs familiarity) but I plan to take new upper division bio classes (I heard for MD it is better to take new courses).

-How many courses are enough? Would 3 courses per quarter/semester for a year be sufficient with some volunteering on the side?
-Does it strictly all have to be upper division science? Perhaps if the cost is manageable, I can take some course work in humanities?
-Should I retake some lower/upper divisions courses I received C's in?

Advice from anyone with personal experience or knowledge on the matter would be greatly appreciated.🙂

 

[chayo234]

Hello,

After being advised here on the forums that I should seek a post-bacc, I have decided to take the informal route due to costs and location (currently in San Diego).

I was a Bio major with 3.3X c and s GPA, graduated from UCSD in 2010(stayed fifth year with 3.9GPA). I am still deciding between SDSU or UCSD,(cost vs familiarity) but I plan to take new upper division bio classes (I heard for MD it is better to take new courses).

-How many courses are enough? Would 3 courses per quarter/semester for a year be sufficient with some volunteering on the side?
-Does it strictly all have to be upper division science? Perhaps if the cost is manageable, I can take some course work in humanities?
-Should I retake some lower/upper divisions courses I received C's in?

Advice from anyone with personal experience or knowledge on the matter would be greatly appreciated.🙂

Put yourself in the shoes of an adcom and think about what would impress you enough to cover up your past mistakes. You should be taking hard science courses as a full time student status if you can. Even at max credits worth of hard sciences in undergrad won't emulate the amount of material you will cover in the first year of med school, therefore more classes at the upper division hard science the better. Obviously this will boost your GPA more also (taking into account you can handle the load). Don't worry about re-taking classes you have a C, unless you feel you completely didn't understand the material.

Quite honestly, 2 years worth of full time student status in the 3.8+ GPA range is enough to prove you are capable of holding up the GPA to most adcoms it seems. It also highly depends on the rest of the application whether or not they will view you as an acceptable candidate. GPA is only one component, albeit a large one, of the application.

Have you spoken to adcoms in the perspective schools you are looking to apply? Their direct advice and network will matter more than anonymous sdn members providing advice.

 

[blockle]

Thank you for the advice.
I haven't done the math yet, but I am hopeful a full year can get me much closer to a 3.5 to be competitive. I will definitely consider DO route, because I am not sure if I will be able to fund 2 years worth of classes.
I initially assumed adcoms would receive so many questions that they would not be helpful. Are they generally responsive and supportive to pre-med students? I'll look into emailing or calling them!

 

[chayo234]

Thank you for the advice.
I haven't done the math yet, but I am hopeful a full year can get me much closer to a 3.5 to be competitive. I will definitely consider DO route, because I am not sure if I will be able to fund 2 years worth of classes.
I initially assumed adcoms would receive so many questions that they would not be helpful. Are they generally responsive and supportive to pre-med students? I'll look into emailing or calling them!

They love student visitors that are truly interested in coming to their program. Just ask for their honest advice and ask if you would be competitive enough to apply. Most adcoms will give a straight answer in point blank situations.

If you are thinking about the DO route, you're already competitive long as you get a decent (27+) MCAT score with usual EC activities with a 3.3 GPA. Although you probably thought about it, but you might also consider going to a SMP/Post-bacc with a high linkage. Although it might cost you more, it's worth the cost to know you'll be entering somewhere in one year.

You might consider applying to a few DO schools this cycle if you have a decent MCAT and EC.

Best of luck!