Post-bacc questions

[kendrick lamar]

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I'm a pharmacy student and I will be graduating in May with a GPA in the lower 3.0s. My pharmacy pre-reqs were pretty laid back: I got out of biology with an AP credit, and took anatomy, physiology, microbiology and biochemistry. I also got out of calculus with AP credits, took statistics. I also have yet to take physics.

My question is this: what exactly are post-bacc programs? Would I have to consider this if I need to bump my GPA or can I just take classes at my local community college or public institution? And would I have to take biology again, even though i took classes that require bio 101 as pre-reqs? I also got a C+ in Orgo II and microbiology. Should I take these classes again?

My hope would be to just take these at a community college-I learn a lot better in CC classes and they would work better in my schedule too. But I'm not sure if I need a post-bac program to bump my GPA.

My hope would be to not spend all my time in a classroom again b/c the only reason I have ever considered med school is from the practical experiences I have had so far. I want to get more practical experience as I learn better that way and it would also be useful for the app process, but I know requirements are requirements.

 

[AliciaAccepted]

Hi Kendrick,

I served as the acting director for the UC Davis School of Medicine Postbaccalaureate Program for over five years. Any classes that you take after college, whether they are part of a formal program or not, are considered postbaccalaureate coursework. It may be more cost effective and time efficient for you to take informal coursework, meaning signing up to take classes after graduation at your local community college or 4-year university. Formal postbac programs often have an established curriculum and length of time that they require participation. The advantage is that many programs have high success rates of helping students get accepted into professional programs. Many offer prestigious volunteer, clinical and research opportunities as part of their program, during and/or after.

If you have received passing grades in the prerequisite requirements, a C or higher, than I do not recommend that you retake those courses. Admissions committees in the health sciences would rather see you earn A's in upper division science courses. These classes are similar to the level taught at graduate schools and provide the most compelling evidence that a student can handle their curriculum. That said, it may be difficult to find upper division bio sci courses at a community college. You may want to consider the availability of these courses when deciding where to complete postbac coursework.

I just finished writing a book on postbac programs with Linda Abraham for Accepted.com; it will be available in a couple of months on their website and amazon.com in ebook and paperback formats. It will be titled, The Definitive Guide to Premedical Posbaccalaureate Programs. It focuses on pre-medical postbac programs but the advice will still be helpful for pharmacy school. For more information on postbac programs now, please see this article that I have written titled, "What Types of Postbac Program Are Available?" I hope this is helpful!