Hi all,
I was doing some reading and decided to post. Basically, if we come from non-science backgrounds our options are a) apply to formal postbacs or b) begin a do-it-yourself route to get the fundamental pre-med courses.
I have a few questions and was hoping if knowledgeable folks could provide some advice or lend a hand in what is the best or most feasible approach here.
For formal postbacs, tuition is often expensive as you pay the regular tuition that the rest of the student population does. Not only that, but you have to factor in living expenses. The places I see people talking about include Harvard and a few east schools. Living expenses is not cheap, and factor that in with high tuition, and you are left with a hefty expense.
The good part to all this is that you get the same privileges to do research and engage in opportunities as the rest of the student population does.
The second route is a DIY method where you yourself enroll through a JC or University to just take the pre-med courses, and that's it. You don't have much opportunity to engage with professors in research or what not since you are not a matriculating student or so.
(sidenote: If we do decide to do a do it yourself route then would you say enrolling at your local university (a UC here in CA) would be much better than a JC to get your pre-req's done, or does it "really not matter"? I ask because I'm still a bit unclear on the rigor of classes.)
The second disadvantage of enrolling through your university's extension school is the fact that because the science courses are so impacted and limited to the majors, your opportunity to enroll can only be done so if there is enough room first for the undergrads. Only then if space permits, can one enroll. In other words, the certainty of enrolling and completing your pre-requisites on time and in an orderly fashion is not a "given" through Extension as it would be when you attend an official postbac, since you are a regular student there. This means that there may be gaps in your timeline to take the G Chem or Bio courses since the university gives priority to matriculating students.
The flipside to Extension though is that one would only have to commute to the university and would not have to pay the exponential living expenses (rent, food) associated with most postbacs as students from across the nation attend.
Does anyone know - from the standpoint of money and opportunity (as well as ability to do well and engage with faculty) whether a formal postbac outweighs a do it yourself route?
I inquired about a second bachelor's but they no longer offer that.
Basically I just wanted to know if anyone has heard these stories and whether one's opportunity and leverage is increased if they attend a postbac or decreased if you just take classes at a university since you wouldn't be in a program per se, but just taking pre-med requirements.
This is a huge decision and I wanted to know what is the most realistic route to get around this, but also be very competitive since its something we want to make the most out of.
Any advice or suggestions that anyone can muster up, as well as share perhaps some anecdotes about whether a student fared well in a postbac (or vice-versa with a DIY program), would be extremely insightful and appreciated. Thank you in advance!
