Post-bacc students and the ivy league

[tchantel21]

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2 questions:

1) Should I have any reason to think that having to complete a post-bacc program (academic record enhancing kind) will make me less competitive for the ivy league schools? Am I doomed by my undergrad stats? (see below)
I am a black female with a 3.1 undergrad gpa and 27s mcat.

2) I got into a DO school and im waiting to hear the outcome from interviews at two allopathic schools. Should my plan B be a post bacc or the DO school? Anyone here in a similar situation?

 

[ZAZA67401]

2 questions:

Should I have any reason to think that having to complete a post-bacc program (academic record enhancing kind) will make me less competitive for the ivy league schools? Am I doomed by my undergrad stats?

I am a black female with a 3.1 undergrad gpa and 27s mcat. btw I got into a DO school and im waiting to hear the outcome from interviews at two allopathic schools. Should I even think about a post bacc or go for the DO school?

No. I think anything that demonstrates that your ability to do well in graduate work will only help you. I was once told though that it could hurt you too if you don't keep at least a 3.5 in graduate work. As for the Ivy league, are you trying to get into an ivy league school? I don't think that they would look down on your graduate work. I had a friend with me in my postbacc (enhancing kind) that did go on to an Ivy League school.

 

[sunnyjohn]

tchantel21,

What is your BCPM GPA?

I'm sure there are folks who have done a post-bacc and gotten into Hopkins or Harvard. A few folks on these forums have come back from abysmal undergrad performances. I don't know if any have gone "ivy league" though.

What post-bac are you considering?

IMHO if you have to do a post-bac to make up for a less than sterling undergrad performance, then while you theoretically stand a chance everywhere you apply, it may be a small chance. I certainly don't think 3.1 or a 27 MCAT is anything to sneeze at!

If you can bump that 3.1 into a 3.7 or 3.8 then maybe, but that 27 MCAT is really what will kill you.

Check out mdapplicant.com for stats on folks who have applied.

Congrats on getting into the DO school 👍
(DO means DOctor after all!)

You're still waiting to hear from 2 more schools? If you don't mind me asking, are they ivy?

You certainly have a hard choice to make. Boy, I envy you!

If you post basic stats some of the smarter folks on SDN will be sure to give you better info....😛

Agape

[edit: Jamaica-Cuban! Cool I'm Bahamian-Cuban-American]

 

[Blue Scrub]

I think if you're doing graduate work in an attempt to improve upon or make up for your average/poor undergrad performance, then it may hurt your chances at being accepted at ivy leagues, not to say that it's impossible, Im sure top schools have taken people with post bacc or grad work, but I've heard that some schools are more particular about letting in non-trads as opposed to accepting straight college grads....but if you've done or are doing a post-bacc and are determined enough, Im sure you can make it to the ivy leagues!

 

[tchantel21]

Thanks guys...very helpful. Im not sure of my bcpm b/c my amcas didnt have my last semester on it which was a 3.6 for the sciences; before that sem it was a 2.9. My final major gpa (physiology and neurobiology is 3.3). So hopefully by now it is @ least a 3.0. The schools im waiting on arent ivy league -- Michigan State and Morehouse. I just figure that if I have to do a post bacc I may as well go all out and go for ivy leageu b/c i know i can -- my undergrad gpa wasnt the result of steady Bs in science, but many As and two very ugly semesters (one was a 1.2....yes, seriously!) I had some extenuating circumstances. In addition, I taught myself the physics, genetics, and some of the orgo on the MCAT, so hopefully i have lots of room for improvement now that Ive taken those courses.
I JUST heard from michigan a few minutes ago though and they are considering me for their post bacc program -- theirs is diff in that only student that are offered interviews for the 2005 class are eligible. So its a very good and selective program; so while its not direct admission i am ecstatic to not have been rejected. I also applied to UConn and someone on the adcom said i had a good chance of getting in.

 

[sunnyjohn]

Wow , you took the MCAT Before you took Physics and O-chem? 😱

You just studied on your own? Good job. Now that you have those classes you wil probably knock the ball out of the park (35, 36...)

What study material did you use...?

Agape

 

[tchantel21]

Wow , you took the MCAT Before you took Physics and O-chem? 😱

You just studied on your own? Good job. Now that you have those classes you wil probably knock the ball out of the park (35, 36...)

What study material did you use...?

Agape

Well let me clarify; When I say some i mean i just hadnt taken the lab for o-chem and many passages use experiments so everything but the rote knowledge (names, reactions) was foreign. I had a lot under my belt though. As for physics; @ uconn i did a 3 course sequence and had only taken the 1st intro course. So yes, physics was pretty much an independent project as was genetics. Although I used kaplan ive heard way more good things about examcracker's materials.

 

[sunnyjohn]

bump

 

[blankguy]

What are the average class stats for the ivy league med schools? I just read columbia the average MCAT is something like 35 😱

 

[Crake]

If you can bump that 3.1 into a 3.7 or 3.8 then maybe. .

Haha, bump your GPA up from a 3.1 to a 3.8? Is that even mathematically possible after 4 years? How many classes does that require?

 

[Homer Doughnuts]

Haha, bump your GPA up from a 3.1 to a 3.8? Is that even mathematically possible after 4 years? How many classes does that require?

A **** load, getting A's in all of them

 

[45408]

Well let me clarify; When I say some i mean i just hadnt taken the lab for o-chem and many passages use experiments so everything but the rote knowledge (names, reactions) was foreign. I had a lot under my belt though. As for physics; @ uconn i did a 3 course sequence and had only taken the 1st intro course. So yes, physics was pretty much an independent project as was genetics. Although I used kaplan ive heard way more good things about examcracker's materials.

the lab doesn't help much for the MCAT at all

 

[sunnyjohn]

Haha, bump your GPA up from a 3.1 to a 3.8? Is that even mathematically possible after 4 years? How many classes does that require?

Not without a 'hella load of credit hours.

 

[45408]

Haha, bump your GPA up from a 3.1 to a 3.8? Is that even mathematically possible after 4 years? How many classes does that require?

Way over 120 credits, that's for sure. If the OP has a 3.1 with 120 credits now, she'd need 96 more credits of straight A's just to get a 3.5

Not gonna happen. I'd say a post-bacc 3.8 would be a lot more realistic....

 

[LoveDoc]

tchantel,

WELCOME to SDN!

i recommend posing your question ON the the black female pre-med
thread. we may be better able to answer your question. 👍

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=2470568#post2470568post2470568

 

[masterMood]

for the physics is General Physics I and General Physics II sufficient to ace (or do really well on) the physics section on the MCAT?

What further courses can you take to make you a master for the physics section?

 

[45408]

for the physics is General Physics I and General Physics II sufficient to ace (or do really well on) the physics section on the MCAT?

What further courses can you take to make you a master for the physics section?

Don't bother. I got a 13 in the PS section with only gen chem and algebra-based physics. I just had a really good physics instructor.

 

[ajt2003]

What are the average class stats for the ivy league med schools? I just read columbia the average MCAT is something like 35 😱

Actually, Columbia's is about a 36; Yale, Penn, Cornell hover at about a 34.5; Harvard, I think, is about a 33; WashU's (though not technically Ivy) is the highest - about a 37, I think.

But again, those are averages. There are a lot of people with significantly higher and significantly lower scores at most of the above schools...

 

[blankguy]

Actually, Columbia's is about a 36; Yale, Penn, Cornell hover at about a 34.5; Harvard, I think, is about a 33; WashU's (though not technically Ivy) is the highest - about a 37, I think.

But again, those are averages. There are a lot of people with significantly higher and significantly lower scores at most of the above schools...

What are the advantages of these schools over others aside from probably research opportunities?

 

[Law2Doc]

What are the advantages of these schools over others aside from probably research opportunities?

Depends which "others" you are referring to. (I mean these schools have no advantage over, eg, JHU, but might over the less competitive ones).
To the extent prestige and ranking are important to you, these schools certainly have that. But you still have to do well there and on the boards to get the more competitive residencies - a school's name isn't going to carry you.
Other than research funding, these schools tend to have more big names on their faculty, which means you will potentially be able to get good recs from big name people when applying for residency, which I suspect is useful.

 

[twicetenturns]

I did a post-bac, worked for me. HES is brilliant.