Post-bacc or Second Bachelor's?

[depressionwalrus]

Hi all, I am getting ready to start my journey on applying to medical school, specifically MD. I graduated in 2023 with a degree in Computer Science and a cGPA of 3.2. The problem is that aside from the math, my degree did not cover any of the medical school pre-reqs, so I almost certainly need to take them. The state university near my home offers both a post-bacc program specifically for getting into medical school or a second bachelor's degree option (again, with a focus on getting into medical school).

Which do you think sounds better for my situation? I talked with the advisor and she told me that the second bachelor's is better if I want to raise my GPA, but that the post-bacc program offers a lot of volunteer and shadowing opportunities that are not available as easily to people going for the second bachelor's (it is still available but you need to meet a certain GPA that you do not with the post-bacc program).

Right now, I am heavily leaning towards the post-bacc, but there is just one problem: my original degree is a BAS. I am not sure how medical schools look at a BAS over a BA or a BS so that is what I am struggling with. Both would take me roughly the same amount of time, if I were to do the second bachelor's I would do Psychology (I have a lot of courses that cover this already from my first over something like Chem or Bio). I am not considering anything other than my state school for this, it is close by, affordable, and relatively straightforward.

Also during this time I will be working full time, I currently work as a developer for a medical contractor and I need to keep this job to pay for either my post-bacc or second bachelor's comfortably. Luckily my work is flexible so I don't expect this to be a huge issue, I will quit once I get into medical school obviously.

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[Faha]

A post bacc is fine since you would have more flexibility. You basically need to take all the medical school prerequisite classes which will probably take 2 years. You will also need 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including primary care) 200+ hours of clinical volunteering with patient contact and 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering (homeless shelter, food bank, etc. ).

 

[esob]

The post bacc is likely a better option for you and a BAS is unlikely to be given a second glance for med school apps. The only exception would be if you are 1000% sure that you want to be a psychiatrist. As a psychiatrist, I strongly prefer residency applicants with a degree in psychology (or a closely related field) because it is highly relevant to what we do and demonstrates a lifelong interest in human behavior.

 

[Goro]

A postbac is perfectly fine