Post-baccalaureate suggestions?

[Garibaldo]

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I'm a Molecular and Cellular Biology major at Cal going into my third year and my GPA is suffering (2.9). I intend to bring myself around in the next two years and take my MCATs soon. I've done research in a histology lab and volunteer work in a hospital. Since I have a good curriculum to back me up against the MCATs, I think I can score in the mid to upper 30's. Let's say I get almost all A's in my upper division science courses and I really do score in that range. With that in mind, what post bac programs should I consider applying to with these stats? I've read some posts where people mentioned post-bac programs that accept students directly into the medical school in the same institution. Do schools like this exist and what are the chances of that happening? I'm willing to spend 1-2 years at most in a post-bac program raising my GPA to be a better applicant. I am not so open to the idea of osteopathic schools, but I am willing to consider it. Also, do med schools *really* consider the added difficulty of the science curriculum at Berkeley vs. lower tier schools or is that something they just glance at? Suggestions? Comments? Stories? Hate mail?

 

[reed0104]

Forget about the relative difficulty of the different colleges. The MCAT is the objective standard by which all go by. I Hope you do well, study hard...really hard.

Sincererly,

Bryan...DO 2004

 

[Arti]

Garibaldo:

Berkeley is an excellent school and you should get an excellent prep for medical school there. However scoring high on MCATs has only part to do with your undergrad preparation, make sure to study your ass off for the MCATs if you want to get mid to upper 30s.

Also I would not try to find post-bac with direct connection to medical schools. Just do your best in college for the next two years and apply to a wide range of schools. Post-bacs that have a direct connection to a medical school, I imagine, can be quite competitive and there is really no reason to put you eggs all in one basket.

Arti

 

[Garibaldo]

ARTI,

I understand what you're saying about not putting my eggs in one basket, but I don't see how my SENIOR year will really affect my admission GPA that much. At present I have a 2.9 GPA. I have all of my Junior year left to get straight A's for two semesters. Let's say I do that hypothetically. It would really raise my GPA much higher than a 3.1. Even with stellar MCATs, how can you expect me to apply to med school with those stats?