Post-Bacc or 2nd Bachelor's. Confused. Please Help!

[Musicalntuition]

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I know this has been talked about before, and I've read through a bunch of threads on the topic, but I was hoping some of you kind people here could offer me some more specific advice unique to my situation,

I am a late bloomer in terms of getting interested in medicine. I received my bachelors in English from the University of Maine in August 2011. I am now 23 and will be 24 at the beginning of next semester. My local state university offers a post-bacc certificate program in pre-medical studies (http://usm.maine.edu/bio/certificate-pre-medical-studies-postbaccalaureate), but they do not offer any type of linkage program. This program would take me no less than 2 years to complete, as I don't have any of the prereqs done. This means I'd complete the program in the Spring of 2014. This program was a little confusing to me, as they offer the choice between A+P and General Biology, because I thought all medical schools require General Biology.

My other option is to apply for a B.S. in Biology, which I believe would take about 2.5-3 years to complete, meaning I'd be done by Fall 2014 or Spring 2015.

I guess I'm just wondering what you would do in my situation. I haven't even taken precalculus yet. I have the ability to do well in math and science, I just never really heavily enrolled in those courses while getting my English degree.

Thanks for any advice. It's much appreciated.

P.S. I think I'll be applying exclusively to osteopathic schools if that even matters.

 

[LaughingGas]

I know this has been talked about before, and I've read through a bunch of threads on the topic, but I was hoping some of you kind people here could offer me some more specific advice unique to my situation,

I am a late bloomer in terms of getting interested in medicine. I received my bachelors in English from the University of Maine in August 2011. I am now 23 and will be 24 at the beginning of next semester. My local state university offers a post-bacc certificate program in pre-medical studies (http://usm.maine.edu/bio/certificate-pre-medical-studies-postbaccalaureate), but they do not offer any type of linkage program. This program would take me no less than 2 years to complete, as I don't have any of the prereqs done. This means I'd complete the program in the Spring of 2014. This program was a little confusing to me, as they offer the choice between A+P and General Biology, because I thought all medical schools require General Biology.

My other option is to apply for a B.S. in Biology, which I believe would take about 2.5-3 years to complete, meaning I'd be done by Fall 2014 or Spring 2015.

I guess I'm just wondering what you would do in my situation. I haven't even taken precalculus yet. I have the ability to do well in math and science, I just never really heavily enrolled in those courses while getting my English degree.

Thanks for any advice. It's much appreciated.

P.S. I think I'll be applying exclusively to osteopathic schools if that even matters.

I'll just throw my 2cents. I would personally do 2nd bachelor in your shoes because 1) Let's say you finish all the required prereqs by spring 2014 and apply summer 2014, you can continue academically meanwhile you wait for the response. 2) I don't know about the school you are thinking of pursuing 2nd bachelor, but from where I am , I get the highest priority to add the classes, which means its easier to get all the classes I need.
And about the prereq in bio, I'm pretty sure you need the gen bio courses and A&P are additional courses that you need to take b/c it's a prereq for some med school (or highly recommended).

 

[Musicalntuition]

Thanks for the advice. It's very helpful.

 

[Musicalntuition]

If I were to finish the second bachelors by Fall 2014, when would I take the MCAT and when would I apply to schools?

 

[Soco9087]

Take the MCAT when you feel that you are more than ready for it. Since you're going to finish in fall that mean you have all of spring to study for it, which means a mid to late spring exam date. You're going to have a glide year to make use of also.

 

[LaughingGas]

Take the MCAT when you feel that you are more than ready for it. Since you're going to finish in fall that mean you have all of spring to study for it, which means a mid to late spring exam date. You're going to have a glide year to make use of also.

This. But also remember you don't have to finish second bachelor. The ideal is , and if you could, prep for MCAT in spring 2014 and submit your app by early summer. But as Soco said, if you are not ready, don't take it. It's expensive and it's not a test that you want to take multiple times.