Post Bacc programs? Yay or Nay?

[billymays]

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Hey everyone, I had a couple questions about post-bacc programs.

This thread (below) had some great info but I want to know what the general consensus is on post baccs. Should I try to avoid these programs at all costs? Or are they generally a good way to get prerequisite coursework done?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=114425

I really want to major in psychology, and my # 1 plan is go all the way to the top with a PhD. I am at community college right now and want to transfer to UCLA or Cal for my Bachelors. This is another reason why I want to major in psychology; the prereqs to transfer are easier to get done than, let's say, biology. And since I'm a transfer it's hard to plan out and take those required premed courses. I would like to focus on psychology for now.

I want to have medical school as a viable option if graduate school doesn't work out. Would a post bacc be the best option to fall back on? Apparently Berkeley has an extension program. Does anyone know anything about it? Are post baccs expensive? Straightforward? Competitive? Practical?

A bachelors in psych might give me a leg-up if I did psychiatry down the road, no?

Can someone tell me that post-baccs are a workable routes, so I can breathe easy for my psychology BA without totally ruling out being a future MD?

Thanks

 

[huskydock]

Hey everyone, I had a couple questions about post-bacc programs.

This thread (below) had some great info but I want to know what the general consensus is on post baccs. Should I try to avoid these programs at all costs? Or are they generally a good way to get prerequisite coursework done?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=114425

I really want to major in psychology, and my # 1 plan is go all the way to the top with a PhD. I am at community college right now and want to transfer to UCLA or Cal for my Bachelors. This is another reason why I want to major in psychology; the prereqs to transfer are easier to get done than, let's say, biology. And since I'm a transfer it's hard to plan out and take those required premed courses. I would like to focus on psychology for now.

I want to have medical school as a viable option if graduate school doesn't work out. Would a post bacc be the best option to fall back on? Apparently Berkeley has an extension program. Does anyone know anything about it? Are post baccs expensive? Straightforward? Competitive? Practical?

A bachelors in psych might give me a leg-up if I did psychiatry down the road, no?

Can someone tell me that post-baccs are a workable routes, so I can breathe easy for my psychology BA without totally ruling out being a future MD?

Thanks

1. I think it's strange that you're already thinking about doing a post-bacc while you're still in the process of your first bachelors. You should pursue a career in graduate school if that is your true dream. Medical school should not be your "backup" plan. There's too much effort and cost that goes into it. In fact, most aspiring pre-meds would start to do their ECs in their first or second years. Medicine, just like a PhD, is a very long and difficult path. It's not practical to have medical school be your Plan B. IF you really wanted to pursue medicine, then you should take all your pre-reqs in CC and undergraduate institution. But I digress, I don't know you or your motivations, so hopefully you do make the best decision. Career-changer programs are for people who graduated with non-science degrees but decided after graduation they want to pursue medicine. In this case, a post-bacc is a very viable option.

2. Post-baccs are EXPENSIVE. If you plan on pursuing medicine, take all your coursework in university. It's not cost effective whatsoever to "plan" on going to a post-bacc when you're not even halfway done with your undergraduate years. You will pay FAR LESS even attending a UC.

3. Being a psychology major will not necessarily give you a leg-up on being a psychiatrist. First of all, your interest in medicine may shift when you're actually doing rotations in medical school, or maybe even through shadowing. Second, you won't be doing any psychiatry for a looooong time. You're a doctor first, learning about the human body and taking intensive science coursework, before even touching psychiatry. You might get the leg-up because you know more about disorders by taking an abnormal psychology class, but you learn all that stuff during medical school and residency.

tl;dr: Reconsider the post-bacc as your backup plan. It's expensive. It's more cost efficient to just do all your pre-med coursework during undergrad. Pursue what you REALLY want. If it's grad school, then give it your all.

 

[darkjedi]

Unequivocal yes. If I had to go back in time to do college all over again, I would still do a postbac because it is I think the far superior option to pursue medical school for a number of reasons.

Depending on what your ugrad major is, you have the opportunity to explore an alternative passion and decide for yourself which road is the best for you.

That time you take off between graduating and postbac will only strengthen your application to medical schools (provided you are working on a career and not sitting on your butt), allowing for the possibility of getting into better medical schools than you would otherwise get into if you applied straight from ugrad.

A well set up postbac program, while a lot of work and still pretty stressful, will still be more organized, better structured, and all around less stressful than a premed program at any undergrad. Additionally, doing a postbac at an established, respected program will open a lot of doors.

The only downside is cost, however you are planning to pursue a career where the average indebtedness for graduating physicians is around $200,000. Med school will be far more expensive than a year at postbac.

 

[La Presse]

I thought that a post-bac program is for those who do not have the pre-requisites to apply. is this true?

 

[huskydock]

I thought that a post-bac program is for those who do not have the pre-requisites to apply. is this true?

There are academic enhancer programs (science majors who need to retake classes or just beef up their GPA) and career changer programs (take all pre-reqs for the first time), or hybrids of both, depending on what you need.

 

[billymays]

1. I think it's strange that you're already thinking about doing a post-bacc while you're still in the process of your first bachelors. You should pursue a career in graduate school if that is your true dream. Medical school should not be your "backup" plan. There's too much effort and cost that goes into it. In fact, most aspiring pre-meds would start to do their ECs in their first or second years. Medicine, just like a PhD, is a very long and difficult path. It's not practical to have medical school be your Plan B. IF you really wanted to pursue medicine, then you should take all your pre-reqs in CC and undergraduate institution. But I digress, I don't know you or your motivations, so hopefully you do make the best decision. Career-changer programs are for people who graduated with non-science degrees but decided after graduation they want to pursue medicine. In this case, a post-bacc is a very viable option.

2. Post-baccs are EXPENSIVE. If you plan on pursuing medicine, take all your coursework in university. It's not cost effective whatsoever to "plan" on going to a post-bacc when you're not even halfway done with your undergraduate years. You will pay FAR LESS even attending a UC.

3. Being a psychology major will not necessarily give you a leg-up on being a psychiatrist. First of all, your interest in medicine may shift when you're actually doing rotations in medical school, or maybe even through shadowing. Second, you won't be doing any psychiatry for a looooong time. You're a doctor first, learning about the human body and taking intensive science coursework, before even touching psychiatry. You might get the leg-up because you know more about disorders by taking an abnormal psychology class, but you learn all that stuff during medical school and residency.

tl;dr: Reconsider the post-bacc as your backup plan. It's expensive. It's more cost efficient to just do all your pre-med coursework during undergrad. Pursue what you REALLY want. If it's grad school, then give it your all.

I guess it's not really my plan B. I just don't want to totally rule it out. I think I'm more cut out for the graduate school path anyway, and you're right I should give it my all. Too bad it's cheaper to squeeze in all the prereqs into my undergrad years. I don't know if I could handle all the extra classes. Your right, becoming a psychiatrist is a long long ways off. Still, the perks of psychiatry as opposed to clinical psychology seem limitless (not to mention the salaries). Nonetheless, It sounds like you could go a lot of different ways with an MD, and I don't want to be out of the loop with just psych bachelors and no premed coursework. I still think puruing graduate study would be more of my gig. I guess I'll see what happens, thanks for your insight.

 

[billymays]

Unequivocal yes. If I had to go back in time to do college all over again, I would still do a postbac because it is I think the far superior option to pursue medical school for a number of reasons.

Depending on what your ugrad major is, you have the opportunity to explore an alternative passion and decide for yourself which road is the best for you.

That time you take off between graduating and postbac will only strengthen your application to medical schools (provided you are working on a career and not sitting on your butt), allowing for the possibility of getting into better medical schools than you would otherwise get into if you applied straight from ugrad.

A well set up postbac program, while a lot of work and still pretty stressful, will still be more organized, better structured, and all around less stressful than a premed program at any undergrad. Additionally, doing a postbac at an established, respected program will open a lot of doors.

The only downside is cost, however you are planning to pursue a career where the average indebtedness for graduating physicians is around $200,000. Med school will be far more expensive than a year at postbac.

The cost of doing a postbacc seems to be one of the biggest downsides mentioned here. I'm not too worried though because otherwise it sounds like they are actually very practical and usually pretty structured. I don't care as much about cost I suppose (although like huskydock said, doing premed undergrad is much economically smarter). I just wanted to know that know that a thoughtful coordinated switch down the road is in fact possible, and that I am not going to get stuck in a corner with just a psychology bachelors.

 

[darkjedi]

The cost of doing a postbacc seems to be one of the biggest downsides mentioned here. I'm not too worried though because otherwise it sounds like they are actually very practical and usually pretty structured. I don't care as much about cost I suppose (although like huskydock said, doing premed undergrad is much economically smarter). I just wanted to know that know that a thoughtful coordinated switch down the road is in fact possible, and that I am not going to get stuck in a corner with just a psychology bachelors.

Absolutely, there were a whole bunch of psych majors in my program. As long as you do well in school and ace your GRE's, you'll be fine as far as applying to postbac programs go. Something like 98% of people who go through a top-tier postbac program eventually matriculate into medical school. It's a competitive process to get in however.

Just make sure you don't take any of the prereqs in ugrad, because that would bar you from applying to most career changer postbacs.

 

[cuculici1]

Postbacs don't have to be that expensive. You can just do an informal postbac at your local state school and pay by course. It's not free, but it's not that expensive either. But if you are pretty sure you want to go to medical school, or at least leave it as an option, take as many prereqs as you can during undergrad.

 

[billymays]

Absolutely, there were a whole bunch of psych majors in my program. As long as you do well in school and ace your GRE's, you'll be fine as far as applying to postbac programs go. Something like 98% of people who go through a top-tier postbac program eventually matriculate into medical school. It's a competitive process to get in however.

Just make sure you don't take any of the prereqs in ugrad, because that would bar you from applying to most career changer postbacs.

Thanks! Good to know! Yes I just want to have a bridge, even if it's narrow one, to get to medical school, if I ultimately decide it is for me. For now I can go full steam for a BA psychology, and ideally, not stop there. I just wanted to know that it is possible to switch over, regardless of price, stress, time... now I know, and I can focus my undergrad on psychology

 

[huskydock]

Postbacs don't have to be that expensive. You can just do an informal postbac at your local state school and pay by course. It's not free, but it's not that expensive either. But if you are pretty sure you want to go to medical school, or at least leave it as an option, take as many prereqs as you can during undergrad.

Not so much an option if you are in California (I'm assuming OP is from CA because he/she mentioned UC). CSUs are struggling with budget issues as is and are mostly phasing out 2nd bachelor degrees and informal/open U enrollment. UC extensions = expensive.

Thanks! Good to know! Yes I just want to have a bridge, even if it's narrow one, to get to medical school, if I ultimately decide it is for me. For now I can go full steam for a BA psychology, and ideally, not stop there. I just wanted to know that it is possible to switch over, regardless of price, stress, time... now I know, and I can focus my undergrad on psychology

OP, I actually was a psychology major at a UC and thought I was going to pursue a PhD in psych pretty much until recently. However, I had also taken SOME pre-med coursework in my undergrad. I almost exactly shared your struggle between choosing between psychology vs. psychiatry. However, I ultimately decided to go to a post-bacc and am currently attending one. If you want to discuss this further, PM me. 🙂

 

[theWhat]

One thing to be aware of is federal caps on subsidized stafford loans for post bacc at 12500 per year, and 25k total so if you're planning on going to a spendier post bacc program you may have to pursue other means of funding. I would suggest getting your prereqs as an undergrad prior to graduation if you plan on staying in school, but if you're taking time off and then going back, then I would graduate.