Post-Baccs

[lucky_75]

Can someone give me some insight with regards to post-baccalaureate students and the AAMC application process. This is my situation:

I received an undergraduate degree in the sciences (geology). I had taken some, but not all of the pre-medical requisites. Currently I am enrolled in General and Organic Chemistry and Physics with labs in Orgo and Phy. My goal is to take the MCATs in August.
As I am doing some research, I find that I am going to be at a severe disadvantage because I only took general bio. (eons ago), and no biochem. which seems to be heavily represented on the biological sciences portion of the MCATs (at least the ones I've seen). So is there any one/several source I can rely upon to somewhat prepare me? I do plan on enrolling in a summer mcat prep. course...I am just feeling very very unprepared. It really is mostly about strategy it seems...

The other issue: I am also accepted (conditionally) to a Masters in Biomedical Science program provided that I score at LEAST the average on the MCATs. No pressure! I figured it would be a good contingency plan; I could always go on to acquire a PhD. However, I do not know if a student pursues a higher degree, how those grades are weighted versus the undergraduate grades. Are the sciences combined or???

Thanks in advance

lucky

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[oscar505]

Don't take the MCAT unless you feel ready for it. Take the extra time if you have to and prepare yourself. Better to wait and do well the first time around rather than waste your time and money and kill your spirits by getting a score you won't be happy with.

 

[lucky_75]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by oscar505:
Don't take the MCAT unless you feel ready for it. Take the extra time if you have to and prepare yourself. Better to wait and do well the first time around rather than waste your time and money and kill your spirits by getting a score you won't be happy with. •

Thanks. That was my original inclination but I seem to feel like there is this incredible rush to produce. I am leaning more towards waiting and preparing myself better.

 

[lizard]

I, too, was a post-bac and since all my friends are nearly finishing med school or in residencies, they were very distanced from the ins and outs of the process and could not offer much advice. So, well, it is a daunting task, but you can do it! I took the august mcat after I took all my pre-med reqs. I studied very hard during the summer...and made time to enjoy the sun, exercise, spend time with my family. Fortunately, all this paid off and I did fairly well. Still, I think it is a disadvantage to take the MCAT in August, because the scores aren't released until late October and at some schools, some people have already gotten acceptances by then!

I submitted my AMCAS application before taking the MCAT and submitted secondaries before the scores were released and I think that helped to get things rolling. However, I think it is a real disadvantage to take the August MCAT during the same year you are applying. If you can spare the time, I suggest applying the following year by the earliest date, June 1. That way, you will not be at a disadvantage simply because they take two damn months to score a test.

Also, you may end up spending more money taking the August MCAT because you have to apply to schools without knowing your scores. So, you may end up applying to schools that are out of your range.

Graduate GPAs are calculated separately from the Undergraduate GPAs and the post-bac grades are considered with the undergrad GPA calculation.

Also, I studied on my own using the Berkeley Review and Kaplan materials. I am an independent learner with a limited budget. Even if I had the money, I wouldn't enroll in a course, but if you feel alone in the process, it would be a good way to get info about the application process and meet others who are going through the same stuff as you are. I hear Kaplan even tells you which test centers have the best tables/chairs, etc. I know it is silly to fret over the little things, but when you feel alone, stressed, and out of the loop, they can be haunting. I even had a bit of anxiety about the conditions of my test center...I was afraid of doing the test in one of those half-desks you find in most college classrooms...it's much nicer to spread out on a table.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

 

[Kimya]

Hi,

I was a post-bac student, too (non-bio major). I enrolled in a review course that I could take advantage of office hours and ask lots of questions in the areas that I was uncertain of, and review some of the areas that I was fuzzy on having taken the courses 7 years ago! Found this structure to be very helpful, and I was happy with my MCAT score.

WRT a masters, keep in mind that AMCAS calculates graduate and undergraduate GPA's seperately. Also, don't try to enroll in a master's degree unless you are going to finish it before starting med school- neither the master's program or ADCOMS would be very happy!

Kimya

 

[pinkie08]

Do not take the mcat unless your ready. if that means sitting out a year just sit out. Focus on doing well in those coursses you are taking they will help you on the mcat.

 

[lucky_75]

I have another question to pose...I am 90% certain that I will be taking the MCATs April of next year. Is there still a 2-month waiting period before they score the April MCATs in contrast to the August???

Thanks again for all your advice

lucky

 

[lizard]

As with the August MCAT, it takes about 2 months to score the April MCAT. Your scores come out around mid to late June. The earliest you can submit your AMCAS application is June 1. You can submit the AMCAS application before you find out your scores because the scores are forwarded to all the schools you have listed on your AMCAS application directly. Good luck with everything!

 

[ebon]

Hi, I have a post-bacc question for all of you.
I am a graduating sr. with a major in psyc. and focus on public health. I"m also v.p. of our pre-med assoc. b/c of what i felt was poor perf. in my undergrad my first year..i have improved dramatically 3.4,3.7 my last couple of semesters and I expect to finish off well too. I applied to a post-bacc. The application is due june 01 but after talking to the dean he advised me to hand it in asap. So i handed it in dec. 2000. IT's rolling admissions..how long does it take for a decision to be made? Especially if it's rolling admissions? Can any of you tell me about that from your own experiences?
thanks

 

[BigBill]

ebon, I was accepted at mcv/vcu graduate post bacc and from the time I applied it only took three weeks to get my acceptance. If you have taken an mcat before they maybe waiting on your scores or they may require a gre. I would call the office to see what is going on because this has taken a long time and they may need scores from something. If it is amcas then I would get your additional score report in now. A bit of advice is to fax the request.

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[ebon]

this is the uconn post-bacc.
no gre,mcats are required. I've been in contact with the dean and he's emailed me and
has even called me to make sure I didn't have any questions. Two weeks ago he mailed a note (handwritten) to my house lettign me know that my application was full and complete.
This is also a pretty competitive program only 12 spots are open and 100+ people apply.
Thanks

 

[BigBill]

Ebon, If the dean has written a note to you then I would think that you have a great shot. It is important to be known to the people making the decisions. Sounds like things are moving your way. Just a thought.

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[ebon]

Thanks for the words of encouragement!
right now I"m just going to prepare for the worst and hope for the best!
I have to keep a realistic outlook given the numbers of acceptance!
It's just the waiting is so agonizing sometimes you know! You're very lucky to find out so soon from MVC.
congrats, and good luck to you.

 

[PuppyLuv]

I'm currently in a post-bac program (Barry University Master of Biomedical Science)and i'm graduating this semester. Here's the situation with me and my classmates applying. I haven't gotten accepted to any M.D. schools yet (applied to 16), got 1 D.O. interview (applied to 3) (i got 28 MCAT and 3.95 in the master program) and as far as i know out of about 60-70 people in my program that are applying (as of 3-16-2001), only 3 got accepted to M.D. schools and they are all underrepresented minorities. A lot of us have gotten accepted to D.O. schools and so far nobody got rejected from a dental school. Hope this help.
P.S. when a school says that such percentage of their student gets accepted to Medical schools, check with the program director of what schools they got accepted to because in my Master program's brochure it says 82% got accepted but they are mostly to either D.O. or Carribean M.D. schools

 

[youngjock]

Can anyone tell me more about their post-bac experience?

anything would be helpful. thanks.

 

[poloace]

if you have a lower undergrad GPA, will a postbacc always count to improve it? i mean, does it matter on the undergraduate institution that you attended whether or not they allow other courses to figure into your overall GPA??? also, what post bac programs are there in so cal??? please help-