Post bacc or continue in College?

[katmari3]

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i'm a 22yrs old student about to graduate with a major in Psychology. i was pre-med in freshman yr and switched to psyc but i just feel this "vocational calling" to become a doctor. i put a lot of thought into it and decided that is my true dream.

i finished with my psyc requirements for a while and need electives. i don't know if i should fill them up with bio/chem...etc. or enroll into a university that offers post bacc?? 😕

i didn't even know about post bacc programs till a friend of mine who told me about this site mentioned it to me.

any information/advice whether to go to a post bacc program or stay in a (oh yeah i go to a private school in nyc...) ?

 

[PinkLilly1]

I was in the same position, I did not settle on medicine until I was a junior (with a psych major). Unfortunately I took the advice of other students and non medical faculty members and waited. I am taking classes at UChicago and I think it is way too expensive and I am not getting the same quality of experience as in undergrad.

It really depends on what type of postbac you are interested in. A formal program can provide you with advantages like linkange if you meet certain requirements. There can also be disadvantages like if you decide to do an informal postbaccalaureate program as an at large student, you might not get the same amount of help (At some schools taking clases under at-large status disqualifies you for advising and premed committee).

Other things to factor:
1.How is your gpa? (If you always get A's then go for it, if science doesnt come as easy you might want to take your classes at an easier school - Some might say the premed commitees will be suspicious, but I have a friend that did exactly that and she already has 3 acceptances from above averge medical schools).
2. Do you have any other goals that might prohibit or take away from premed work? (I did an extensive research project for psychology thesis. It required me to take certain classes and sign up for research credits for my entire senior year.)
3. How good are you at getting reccomedations? (If you take classes at a larger school it might be harder to get reccomedations. My undergraduate college was small so it was hard not to get to know faculty and staff, at a larger school it can be very difficult and time consuming to make an impression - especially when there are 150 other students trying to get a reccommendation also).

This post is getting long - PM me if you have any more questions. Good luck.😉

 

[katmari3]

i really don't want to take advice from the school's faculty, b/c they rather "put down" than actually help in the science dept....which is a reason why i switched majors in the beginning. i love psyc but i def know medicine is for me.

i do well in science classes, and no i have no plans in psyc since i was majoring in developmental psyc that would lead to grad school. but i want to pursue medicine instead.

gpa 3.0, last semester gpa about 3.67
letters is no problem 🙂

i'm just hesitant whether to continue with pre-med classes at the college which is a lot of money as well, or go to a post-bacc school? i really don't know much about it, is there a significant difference between the two?

thanks 🙂

 

[lovernotahater]

Katmari, I was in the exact same position as you this time last year. I elected to graduate a semester early, and started my post-bacc at a state school. It's going well, and I will be done in May. So happy I did it this way.

I had a 3.9 GPA undergrad, and my science grades, while good, are by no means perfect, and so this way my science grades didn't hurt my solid undergrad gpa. It's a long road--good luck!

 

[cubbbie]

All that matters is getting good grades in the classes. It doesn't matter when you take them. In my case, I knew I couldn't focus well enough on the classes in undergrad because I had a ton of stuff going on, so I opted to wait and do a post bacc. If you can do them in undergrad and pull off the good grades, then do it -- it'll save you both time and money.

But, keep in mind that if you take a few science classes in undergrad, some post bacc programs won't accept you because they only take kids who haven't taken ANY of the pre-reqs. Not generally a big deal, but something to consider.

 

[cubbbie]

Katmari, I was in the exact same position as you this time last year. I elected to graduate a semester early, and started my post-bacc at a state school. It's going well, and I will be done in May. So happy I did it this way.

I had a 3.9 GPA undergrad, and my science grades, while good, are by no means perfect, and so this way my science grades didn't hurt my solid undergrad gpa. It's a long road--good luck!

AMCAS will still factor your post-bacc grades into your GPA. They'll break the GPA down by years, but schools won't get to see your undergrad gpa as a whole.

 

[katmari3]

All that matters is getting good grades in the classes. It doesn't matter when you take them. In my case, I knew I couldn't focus well enough on the classes in undergrad because I had a ton of stuff going on, so I opted to wait and do a post bacc. If you can do them in undergrad and pull off the good grades, then do it -- it'll save you both time and money.

But, keep in mind that if you take a few science classes in undergrad, some post bacc programs won't accept you because they only take kids who haven't taken ANY of the pre-reqs. Not generally a big deal, but something to consider.

actually the reason i'm kind of struggling is because i took the fall semester off...i was taking care of my mom. and i just need one semester more, so i want to finish it this spring. i really want to get my diploma and work while finishing my pre-req...i was planning on taking maybe bio and chem this semester to get ahead and not be in a post-bacc program for a longer period of time. 🙁 ...i didn't know that some post-bacc programs won't accept a student with some background in science.

my initial plan was to graduate this spring, and finish the pre-req ASAP in the same college after graduating. but then a friend of mine (who is in med-school) mentioned post-bacc programs and how good they are.

do med-school really care where the pre-req are taken ...such as post -bacc or someone who is taking the class in a non-certified way (college)?

 

[cubbbie]

actually the reason i'm kind of struggling is because i took the fall semester off...i was taking care of my mom. and i just need one semester more, so i want to finish it this spring. i really want to get my diploma and work while finishing my pre-req...i was planning on taking maybe bio and chem this semester to get ahead and not be in a post-bacc program for a longer period of time. 🙁 ...i didn't know that some post-bacc programs won't accept a student with some background in science.

my initial plan was to graduate this spring, and finish the pre-req ASAP in the same college after graduating. but then a friend of mine (who is in med-school) mentioned post-bacc programs and how good they are.

do med-school really care where the pre-req are taken ...such as post -bacc or someone who is taking the class in a non-certified way (college)?

I don't think post-baccs are looked down on. Some are better than others. In my experience, med schools have not seemed to care that I took some pre-reqs in my undergrad and the majority in a post-bacc.

For your own benefit, though, I would try to take them all at the same school (whether that be at your current school or a different post-bacc school). The 4 core pre-reqs are all year-long courses. Since you only have one semester left, it wouldn't make sense to me to start them at one school and finish them at another school. It would be better to do all of chemistry/ physics/bio/orgo at the same school so that there is some degree of uniformity and linearity to what you're being taught. If you want to get a jump start on things, you could take some intro level physiology or genetics course -- or some intro level chem if it's offered.

Post-bacc programs can generally be done in 2 years while working full-time. It's a lot of work, but that's how people usually do it. Then you spend a year applying. So it's a total of 3 years. If you're in a big rush, you can squish it all down to a 2-year process, but to do that you would have to be a full-time student (you could possibly have a part-time job, depending).

I'd say go for the 3 year option, though. That way you can get a job in research and get some papers published, and do all the other lovely EC's that med schools are looking for. People that try to do it all in 2 years have the grades and the MCAT done (often poorly) and not much else.

 

[katmari3]

thanks for your input 😀
and you are right, i did see students who completely rushed into the pre-req and didn't do well in the MCAT or were so burned down by the stress and work. i can say that also from personal experience when i finished my psyc requirements early by even taking psyc classes as electives and the competition/work/stress led to a burn out...

but i'll def be careful with these pre-req, and pace myself b/c med school will just get harder and i can't burn out in a race 😉

last year i did take an bio class that was similar to gen bio, but the labs were shorter, so i believe taking gen bio, chem maybe now and finishing in the summer will be ok. and you're right about sticking to one school for now, i'll see what happens! 👍