Post Bacc Course Load

[benbuttcakes]

I know this subject has been raised before, but I want to ask it in the osteopathic forum. I get the feeling that osteopathic medical schools are more generous on the post bacc route and so they might be with my situation.

I was wondering how important it is for osteopathic medical schools that I have a full course load if I go the informal, self-designed community college post baccalaureate route

I'm a reapplicant currently set to retake 2 science courses I did poorly in (one at a university, one at a community college). I want to make SURE I ace both of them.

My extracurricular: I'm going to be volunteering at a hospital and maybe something else like a peer volunteer.

Not working fortunately.

However, I'm thinking 2 courses might be too low for adcoms. Perhaps they'll find it unacceptable

So here are - in blunt presentation - my 2 questions:

1). Must I, to satisfy osteopathic adcoms, take another class so I can show adcoms I was a "full time student"?
2). And if so, must it be a science course? Can I just take any GPA booster class?

Again, I was reluctant to take a 3rd science course because I wanted to make very, very sure I would ace the two I was taking, but I can't have that certainty with another one.

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[TriagePreMed]

Focus on EC instead of taking classes that don't matter.

 

[benbuttcakes]

Focus on EC instead of taking classes that don't matter.

So will adcoms be okay with me being a part time student and a busy volunteer?

I'm pretty sure they are fine with part time students who are busy working on the job, but thats not my situation.

Edit: Btw, there is yet another science class that I did poorly in that I can retake. So the additional class doesn't have to be a class that "doesn't matter".

Do u recommend that I

1. Go part time student and busy it up with volunteering?

2. Or go fulltime student by taking on another third science retake course - although my overall performance in all 3 classes will suffer compared to if I just took 2 (pretty much certain A's). I can still Ace all three but likely a B(s) will result

I really want to go with option 1 as it is far more convenient and secure, but I hope I pass the adcom's criteria of: "is this student keeping busy enough?".

 

[nicknickp3]

bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.

dont make a b either.

 

[benbuttcakes]

bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.

dont make a b either.

I like that attitude, and believe me I can go in with that mentality.....but I also know my limits at least as they present themselves right now.

Can anybody else weigh in? Any adcoms or people with personal experience would be especially helpful here of course. Is option 1 of taking just taking 2 (retake) courses and a lot of volunteering a busy enough of a schedule (and I'll definitely keep quite busy with volunteering!)? I don't want to give the impression of slacking off or not doing enough. I have to decide very soon on my fall schedule and so help is much appreciated.

 

[DrWily]

I like that attitude, and believe me I can go in with that mentality.....but I also know my limits at least as they present themselves right now.

Can anybody else weigh in? Any adcoms or people with personal experience would be especially helpful here of course. Is option 1 of taking just taking 2 (retake) courses and a lot of volunteering a busy enough of a schedule (and I'll definitely keep quite busy with volunteering!)? I don't want to give the impression of slacking off or not doing enough. I have to decide very soon on my fall schedule and so help is much appreciated.

I'd just do option 1. Better to get A's and give a little less favorable impression than to get Bs and demonstrate that you can't handle the courseload.

In my opinion though, Option 1 won't make you look bad at all. Two courses, getting As, and volunteering sounds good to me.

 

[Goro]

We need to know if you can handle the heavy load of medical school, so it's iin your best interest to take the two science classes, and do well in them.

Please keep in mind this isn't about just getting the easy A and making your GPA look good...you will have a crushing load of material in medical school. Think, read 80-100 pages by Friday! And that's just for one class! We constantly ask ourselves, about an applicant "can he/she make it in our curriculum?"

A colleague of mine once said that med school is like getting an MS every semester, and he's right.

We've rejected people who took one class here, one there for several years in their post-bac.

I know this subject has been raised before, but I want to ask it in the osteopathic forum. I get the feeling that osteopathic medical schools are more generous on the post bacc route and so they might be with my situation.

I was wondering how important it is for osteopathic medical schools that I have a full course load if I go the informal, self-designed community college post baccalaureate route

However, I'm thinking 2 courses might be too low for adcoms. Perhaps they'll find it unacceptable

So here are - in blunt presentation - my 2 questions:

1). Must I, to satisfy osteopathic adcoms, take another class so I can show adcoms I was a "full time student"?
2). And if so, must it be a science course? Can I just take any GPA booster class?

Again, I was reluctant to take a 3rd science course because I wanted to make very, very sure I would ace the two I was taking, but I can't have that certainty with another one.

 

[mafunk]

I am not an Adcom, but when I attended a conference for older premeds here is what they had to say. BTW 'they' were... premed advisers, present and former adcoms, and other such folks.

The general advice was that they want to see a full year of full time schooling with a heavy science load in the recent past. So if you have been out of school for awhile, if your science pre-reqs are old, or if you did not have a strong term... then they want you to prove you can do it with a full year, full time load that includes science.

I also recall somewhere on this forum an adcom said that strong grades and strong mcat is the core and should come first. They said not to sacrifice your academics for volunteer work.

 

[benbuttcakes]

It seems, after reading in between the lines at what is implied, that this thread is roughly 50/50 pro-take 2 science (retake) classes and make sure you get A's and pro-take 3 classes (although I haven't been informed if the additional course must be a relevant science course or if GPA boosters are ok).

I feel quite well informed, pretty much all these posts have been great, especially the last few. I almost feel ready to make my decision here though there a few more factors for me to consider.....

I am not an Adcom, but when I attended a conference for older premeds here is what they had to say. BTW 'they' were... premed advisers, present and former adcoms, and other such folks.

The general advice was that they want to see a full year of full time schooling with a heavy science load in the recent past. So if you have been out of school for awhile, if your science pre-reqs are old, or if you did not have a strong term... then they want you to prove you can do it with a full year, full time load that includes science.

I also recall somewhere on this forum an adcom said that strong grades and strong mcat is the core and should come first. They said not to sacrifice your academics for volunteer work.

You raised a good point that forces me to raise another question : Suppose I graduated on time in four years, but I haven't taken classes since then because at the time I expected to get into osteopathic medical school (I'm a re-applicant now).....Now, I only have a 1 year gap......will that explain away the year gap that I have and why my activity during that year was low?

For example, will schools
1. suspect I'm getting rusty and wanted me to have taken a full schedule of classes at this point?
2. or will they understand and think "o, he didn't take anything because he thought he was finished and was waiting on medical schools. Of course he wasn't slacking off"
3. none of the above

So for those that lean towards recommending I take 2 classes (those like Goro), would I now have to step up my game further and take 3 classes in light of this new information?

I really would have no problem with taking a full schedule of class.....but like I've said, I want to play this safe and ensure I get A's which I can with only 2 classes.....I'm also going to be busy with applications too since I haven't started (busy studying for the MCAT).....and then the avenue of volunteering presents itself as a way to somewhat make up for the lack of classes I would be taking.

I'm thinking of just calling the schools and asking them individually on what I should do, but they don't have my application and won't for a while (perhaps last years if they held onto it).....