post-bacc for a new nurse?

[floatingribs]

So I wanted to further my education regardless and a DNP program is 4 years and the same cost as most medical schools. That being said from what I've seen I prefer the medical model (which lots of nps do, but doctor's have more specialization options + more autonomy) and just find it more interesting so I was looking into post baccs for pre med and I wanted to know if I would look like a bad candidate because I've only been a nurse for a year since lots of the good programs (JHU, Goucher, Bryn Mawr, etc) seem to have the avg age of acceptance far higher than 21.

My stats are:
- RN
- BSN (my nursing school is in the top 10% in the nation)
- 3.96 gpa
- 29 on my ACT (11/12 on the essay if that matters)
- worked as a nurse for 11 months
- worked as paramedic during undergrad
- and worked 2 part times as well (no loans haha)
- lots of volunteering in hospitals as an undergrad (600+ hours)

Will that outweigh the fact that I mat seem like a career flipper w/out much thought or that I have no significant life experiences or that I'm a lot younger than other candidates? I didn't do pre med w/ nursing b/c there rlly is no point in majoring in nursing if u never plan to be an RN and my nursing advisors gave me hell for it. Also I think part of the reason why I didn't exactly go in as pre med or just apply to direct MD/DO programs was because my parents wanted to me to and wouldn't let me consider anything else, but I had gotten accepted to a direct law and a direct PA (so it shows I really had no clue what I wanted to do).

but would being a nurse for barely a year hinder my chances greatly or my low ACT score?

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[frosted_flake]

I am confused as to what you are asking.... re-ask and we will try to help you out.

 

[Ismet]

1) No one will care about your ACT score. That served its purpose in getting you into undergrad and now it no longer matters. Now you need the MCAT.

2) Lots of career changers in medicine. Being a nurse, even for "just" a year, gives you some invaluable patient exposure. No one will fault you for realizing you wanted something more for your career.

3) Your age doesn't matter. Post-baccs tend to have a higher average age because career changers who require a post-bacc are usually older. Still, there are plenty of people who do post-baccs immediately after college similar to what you'll be doing. Average is an average. Doesn't mean that everyone in a post-bacc is in their late 20s. I'm sure you'll meet plenty of people your age.

4) Before you commit to this, you really need to figure out what you want to do. Maybe shadow some doctors, learn more about medical school and the application process, etc.

 

[floatingribs]

I am confused as to what you are asking.... re-ask and we will try to help you out.

Sorry I should've been more clear. But would my stats hinder my acceptance to a good post-bacc program (anything w/ a 90%+ med school acceptance rate). B/c of not committing to a something over a year and my ACT?

 

[floatingribs]

1) No one will care about your ACT score. That served its purpose in getting you into undergrad and now it no longer matters. Now you need the MCAT.

2) Lots of career changers in medicine. Being a nurse, even for "just" a year, gives you some invaluable patient exposure. No one will fault you for realizing you wanted something more for your career.

3) Your age doesn't matter. Post-baccs tend to have a higher average age because career changers who require a post-bacc are usually older. Still, there are plenty of people who do post-baccs immediately after college similar to what you'll be doing. Average is an average. Doesn't mean that everyone in a post-bacc is in their late 20s. I'm sure you'll meet plenty of people your age.

4) Before you commit to this, you really need to figure out what you want to do. Maybe shadow some doctors, learn more about medical school and the application process, etc.

I mentioned the ACT because I was reading through some forums and some don't even look at you until you have a 31 ACT b/c the good programs want to know how you'd do on the MCATs. I should've asked if a 29 is low enough to warrant me to take the GREs and show I'm a good standardized test taker. (all the programs require u to send a transcript of ur SAT/ACT even if it was 10 years back).
Oh I definitely do plan on looking more into it, I think I'll apply to both post bacs and DNP schools and make a decision then.

 

[Ismet]

There are also more unstructured post-bacc programs. Really all you need to do is take the pre-med requirements and do well in them, you don't NEED a formal/structured program in order to do that.

AAMC has a full list of post-bacc programs: https://apps.aamc.org/postbac/#/index

 

[cherubb3]

By the time you apply you should have 2+ years of job experience, which will be fine. From my understanding, it is only concerning to admissions when nursing students apply to medical school right out of undergrad without ANY work experience. I am a nurse and applied with 3 years of experience and while of course I had to answer why I was switching, I was never accused of using nursing for the sake of applying to medical school. You are fortunate that you are starting with a high GPA; keep up the good work but don't underestimate the difficulty of pre-med courses. I found them to be more demanding than nursing school/pre-nursing courses. This means you'll likely have to work harder in your courses while balancing your job demands.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I agree - You might want to at least consider informal post-baccs. (Enroll as a non-degree student at any university and just take the courses you need to take for medical school.) This may end up being cheaper for you, depending on the schools in your area, and if you're planning to work while taking classes, you'll probably stand a better chance of finding night classes this way.

As others have said, the ACT isn't important at all so don't let that hold you back. First and foremost, take the time to decide if you really want to be a doctor. I recommend really dedicating some time to shadowing MDs and thinking about how the MD role differs from nursing.

 

[BGMayagi]

You really shouldn't need a formal post Bacc program though it couldn't hurt. It looks like your doing good so far in all other areas. Just get the prerequisites done at a good pace while working and by the time your ready apply, you'll have enough valid experience to come up with a decent reason to validate your change to medicine.

The biggest destroyer of premed dreams is the MCAT so you should try and kill that with the prereqs and you'll be all set. As an RN finishing my BSN, I did an informal post bacc program at my CC while completing my BSN online as an ADN RN and focused on the MCAT and will be attending Medical School this Summer with multiple accepts. There is absolutely no need to worry about the ACT as its unnecessary(i'm not even familiar with it) and definitely don't do the DNP unless you enjoy wasting time, writing papers and love to get your GPA tanked on subjective standards of grading. Do well in courses and the MCAT, apply smart and you will most likely succeed.

 

[floatingribs]

Thank you! I think I'll definitely look into a CC program or just take the reqs at a public university, but iw as considering prestigious post bacs b/c the better ones integrate MCAT review and I'm scared that's where I'll do bad, since I took Physics I and Calc as a general elective and did fine in them (I'm a very science oriented person which also another reason I'm leaning more towards medicine, but I'm still scared for Orgo I and II)

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Thank you! I think I'll definitely look into a CC program or just take the reqs at a public university, but iw as considering prestigious post bacs b/c the better ones integrate MCAT review and I'm scared that's where I'll do bad, since I took Physics I and Calc as a general elective and did fine in them (I'm a very science oriented person which also another reason I'm leaning more towards medicine, but I'm still scared for Orgo I and II)

Totally understandable to be nervous about MCAT prep. I would suggest looking at the MCAT forums here. There are several study plans floating around. If you really think you need directed prep rather than self-study, you could look into a prep course through Kaplan or something similar. They have online and in-person courses. They can be expensive but they may still be more cost-effective than a fancy postbacc.

 

[New_Slang]

The post-bacc programs that you mentioned DO care about ACT/SAT. I had a higher score than you and Goucher flat out told me that I wasn't accepted only because my score wasn't high enough to suggest a stellar MCAT performance. Which is crazy because my ACT was 10 years prior to my post-bacc application...

I also second the informal post-bacc at a local school or CC. Save yourself time and get out of the pressure cooker.

 

[childofmercy]

My secondaries were in by my 9th and 10th months of working as an RN, and had IIs within 2-4 weeks of submission. Having a year of experience is plenty, nothing to worry about.