Post Bacc

[rwblanto]

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Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and sure this topic has been explored, but I will ask again. I have been searching for post-bacc programs and it seem sthat most of them are for students that have not taken the pre-reqs rather than a student that needs to improve their grades. I got a very low cum gpa and science gpa in college and wanted to go back and retake some of the classes in one of these post bacc premedical programs.

Most of these post bacc classes have a set schedule of classes that all of their students take. Many of the classes that are on the list I received A's in. i.e pre-calc and calc I, I did not take those but took calc II and got an A, and I also got an A/A- in organic, microbiology, immunology. Most of my bad gardes are in the other science courses or humanities that I had to take with my BS in Biology. I also have a MS in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and have taken many graduate classes in microbiology and even the clinical medical micro class that the med students at the univ that I got my MS from had to take.

My question really is: is the post bacc the best option or is there something else I should do to boost my ug gpa since from what I am reading IS HUGE!!!

Thanks for your help guys...

RB

 

[njbmd]

You don't have to be enrolled in a formal post-bacc program to take undergraduate level coursework which will enhance your undergraduate GPA. You can take the courses that you need (or a interested in) at any college or university, do well (no grade less than B+) and raise your uGPA.

The main benefit of being in a formal postbacc is that you have priority when it comes to registration for your classes and the pre-med/MCAT advising/coaching that many of the programs offer. The formal post baccs (for students who are not looking for uGPA enhancement) are fairly competitive and since you have a previous degree in the sciences, you would likely not be eligible for one of these for example the Hopkins post bacc.

Undergraduate GPA and MCAT are the main two academic criteria that we use to evaluate candidates for admission. That being said, we do evaluate the entire application and all academics but the two I just mentioned are most important. Graduate work is not weighted as heavily as uGPA and MCAT but in your case, you may want to upgrade your coursework in order to do well on the MCAT and enhance your uGPA. As I said before, you don't have to enroll in a formal postbacc program but take the coursework anywhere you can get quality and comprehensive instruction. Your graduate school performance and work will help you so you likely need to make sure that you have the knowledge base to ace the MCAT. There is only so much undergraduate GPA upgrading that you can accomplish.

 

[gman33]

There are a couple of options depending on how much you have to raise your gpa and what types of schools you are interested in.

If you are interested in DO schools, you can retake individual classes and they will not count your first grade when calculating your gpa. This will allow you to raise your gpa much quicker. For allo schools, they are not this forgiving so if your overall gpa is low it will take a lot of ug coursework to bring it up.

If you give specific numbers concerning gpa, science gpa, credits taken, etc, you will probably get some more directed advice.

 

[rwblanto]

My UG gpa was 2.82, science around 2.6. I also went to Clinical Lab Science school which I did not take at my UG but at a college and got 4.0. Then got 3.8 in my MS.

So all in all,

124 credits 2.82 in UG
48 credits 4.0 in post-grad (I guess professional certificate program)
45 credits 3.8 in grad school

So if they were to take into account on UG tI would have to take like 50 credits of 4.0 to even raise my gpa to 3.0. Are there any options to trump my immaturity in college?

Thanks again

RB

 

[gman33]

Overcoming those ug numbers will take a lot of work.
I would think about DO schools first. You can retake the prereqs, replace those grades, and have a good science gpa and maybe an acceptable overall gpa. You may need to take a few extra classes to get the overall gpa up to 3.0. If you can do well on the mcat, you would then have a shot at some DO schools.

Now if you are only thinking MD schools, I would say you need about 2 years of full-time ug coursework, then a SMP and a really good MCAT. That being said, you will still have a battle to get an MD spot. I'd go the DO route if I was you. Do some searches on DP schools if you are not as familiar with this option.

good luck.