Post Bacc.?

[DannyWSP]

Hello Everyone,

I recently joined the SDN and am desperately seeking information and advice. I graduated from Univ. of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in finance and am currently living and working in New York City. This definitely makes me a non-traditional student with very few pre-req's for Med school. Does anyone have any insight to provide as to the preferred path to attaining these requirements? I am preparing to apply to post bacc. programs but am not confident that this is the correct course of action. My undergrad. GPA was 3.32 and I have been volunteering at a local ER for some time. I want to get out of the business world and onto the right track asap! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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[LoneCoyote]

I am doing post-bac work right now and opted to do it at a state school to save $ instead of doing a formal program. From what I gathered from doing research on the topic the positives of doing a formal program, especially one of the big name ones, is that it can help you get in if the program has links with med schools, and the name prestige is said to help in the admissions if you don't do the link. Also, some of the programs have more access to pre-med advisors than you will get elsewhere. Some will write you a committee recommendation for med school. The downside, from what people who went this route have said, is that the big name programs can be really competitive, stressful, and expensive, and you are not guarateed to be able to link to med school.

That said, Columbia has program with links to several schools that is rumored to be good at getting people in places. A good friend of mine is currently in the program and is not totally happy with it due to the cost, and high stress level of the program. I assume you are a NY resident so you might want to look at the Hunter College Program which would proably be cheaper. I don't know a whole lot about it but they have a nice pre-med website. I am sure there are others on this forum who can tell you more about that program. Or you could think about taking a couple of courses at a CUNY branch and seeing what you think and then move into a more formal program later.

I am very happy with my choice to go to state school. The advisors here have been great and it is mellower than what my friends report on at Columbia, Bryn Mawr, and Harvard Extension programs. Feel free to PM me if you want. Good luck.

 

[brownman24]

I don't know if you are willing to go down to Maryland, but I know Goucher has a reputable program, with links to a few med schools. Plus, if you are a NY resident, they have a linkage to Stony Brook med if you meet certain GPA/MCAT requirements.
Hope this helps.

 

[Patrick Noonan]

Goucher has an unparalled record of getting "non-traditional students" into medical school. The director is extremely competent, well connected with both the "link" schools and others. It is a great way to get the premeds done and it is amazing how affordable it is-- by the way, Goucher's post-bacc program is not there to make money for the school.

good luck

 

[Iron Horse]

Check out the other post-bacc thread in this forum for more info. I was in your shoes as well (no science in undergrad, career after college, etc.). Be sure to do some research before choosing a program. Good luck.