Postbac/SMP Advice

[yessirMD]

I am a pre-medical student with a BS in Biology with an overal GPA of around 3.3 or so overall GPA with a science GPA at 3.25. I have over 1000 hours of volunteer hours at the VA hospital as a stop smoking counselor, and volunteered at several health fairs. I work as an inpatient pharmacy technician at a top hospital here in the west and have been for the past 2.5 years. I was wondering if a postbac (undergrad GPA enhancer) or SMP is right for me. And which SMPs place many of their grads at their respective medical schools? I've read about UCinncinati, EVMS, Tulane and Drexel. Are there any others?

Here are my Prereq grades with a few other courses that may be relevant:

Gchem1 B
Gchem2 B
Ochem1 B
Ochem2 B
Bio1 A
Bio2 A
Physic1 A
Physic2 B
Calc1 B
Eng1 B
MoBio A
Physci B
Micro B+
Calc2 B
Eng2 A
Biostat A
Biochem A-

I will be taking the April 5, 2012 MCAT. Will my MCAT be a better factor of whether I should pursue a Postbac or SMP? Hopefully I can hear from DrMidlife as well as others who have gone through the non-traditional route.

Thanks!

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[drizzt3117]

I'd take the MCAT and see how you do. If you score 33+ I think you can apply w/o doing a SMP. I'd definitely not do a postbac, you'd be taking all the same classes you have and you didn't do badly in any of them.

I am a pre-medical student with a BS in Biology with an overal GPA of around 3.3 or so overall GPA with a science GPA at 3.25. I have over 1000 hours of volunteer hours at the VA hospital as a stop smoking counselor, and volunteered at several health fairs. I work as an inpatient pharmacy technician at a top hospital here in the west and have been for the past 2.5 years. I was wondering if a postbac (undergrad GPA enhancer) or SMP is right for me. And which SMPs place many of their grads at their respective medical schools? I've read about UCinncinati, EVMS, Tulane and Drexel. Are there any others?

Here are my Prereq grades with a few other courses that may be relevant:

Gchem1 B
Gchem2 B
Ochem1 B
Ochem2 B
Bio1 A
Bio2 A
Physic1 A
Physic2 B
Calc1 B
Eng1 B
MoBio A
Physci B
Micro B+
Calc2 B
Eng2 A
Biostat A
Biochem A-

I will be taking the April 5, 2012 MCAT. Will my MCAT be a better factor of whether I should pursue a Postbac or SMP? Hopefully I can hear from DrMidlife as well as others who have gone through the non-traditional route.

Thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

I'd take the MCAT and see how you do. If you score 33+ I think you can apply w/o doing a SMP. I'd definitely not do a postbac, you'd be taking all the same classes you have and you didn't do badly in any of them.

In California it'll take more than a great MCAT to get into med school, but elsewhere it might work. And if it doesn't, then you do an SMP.

I'm a bit concerned about all those B's in prereqs though. They aren't problems for admission, but to me they would be a cause for concern in the daily work in an SMP. The level of effort to succeed in an SMP is greater than I see in that course list. (By contrast, in med school, you are already in, so getting B's doesn't threaten your status.)

which SMPs place many of their grads at their respective medical schools? I've read about UCinncinati, EVMS, Tulane and Drexel. Are there any others?

Sigh. Are there any others. I sweated bullets over the lists I made in this forum. And there are 10 years of experiences shared in program-specific threads in this forum. Please do lots of reading to educate yourself. SMPs aren't standardized, there's no ranking, there's no survey published. So you have to just pony up and read.

I will be taking the April 5, 2012 MCAT. Will my MCAT be a better factor of whether I should pursue a Postbac or SMP?

First, don't take the MCAT until you have all the evidence you can gather that you'll get an above average score (31+ for MD, 27+ for DO). That means you've beaten your goal on multiple practice exams. Retakes are a crazy inefficient way to get a good MCAT score, and most retakes don't show improvement.

Second, an April 2012 MCAT puts you in position to apply to good SMPs in fall 2012 for summer 2013 matriculation. That's the timeline. You're going to have at least one year "off", so plan accordingly.

Best of luck to you.

 

[yessirMD]

In California it'll take more than a great MCAT to get into med school, but elsewhere it might work. And if it doesn't, then you do an SMP.

I'm a bit concerned about all those B's in prereqs though. They aren't problems for admission, but to me they would be a cause for concern in the daily work in an SMP. The level of effort to succeed in an SMP is greater than I see in that course list. (By contrast, in med school, you are already in, so getting B's doesn't threaten your status.)

Sigh. Are there any others. I sweated bullets over the lists I made in this forum. And there are 10 years of experiences shared in program-specific threads in this forum. Please do lots of reading to educate yourself. SMPs aren't standardized, there's no ranking, there's no survey published. So you have to just pony up and read.

First, don't take the MCAT until you have all the evidence you can gather that you'll get an above average score (31+ for MD, 27+ for DO). That means you've beaten your goal on multiple practice exams. Retakes are a crazy inefficient way to get a good MCAT score, and most retakes don't show improvement.

Second, an April 2012 MCAT puts you in position to apply to good SMPs in fall 2012 for summer 2013 matriculation. That's the timeline. You're going to have at least one year "off", so plan accordingly.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the replies. Do you think I'm overqualified for an SMP or Postbac? I know for sure that I am not as competitive for MD programs right now, as several of my upper division grades are C's. I have a GRE in the 78th percentile so I will be applying to a few SMPs that take GRE in leiu of MCAT this year. Also, UCinncy takes apps till June 1, 2012. So I will try for this year.

 

[yessirMD]

I'd take the MCAT and see how you do. If you score 33+ I think you can apply w/o doing a SMP. I'd definitely not do a postbac, you'd be taking all the same classes you have and you didn't do badly in any of them.

Thanks for the advice but I don't feel my 3.2 GPA is enough to get into any US MD program, even with a 30+ MCAT. Should I still try applying this year? I feel I should apply for an SMP like BU or UCincy, get the grades, get the letters and then apply.

Thoughts?

 

[yessirMD]

What would be stronger for an AMCAS application in my situtation: A postbac with upper division undergrad science work at a state school or an SMP at a private university with MS1 classes? I know a combination of the two would be the strongest but I'm trying to avoid spending all that money if I can help it.

Thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

It's late to be applying for SMPs for fall 2013. You don't have your MCAT score back yet, correct?

Another year of undergrad won't do much for your GPA (maybe get it to 3.35), unless you are considering DO and you want to do a bunch of repeats. But a year in an SMP, assuming you do well, would "fix" your story.

Best of luck to you.

 

[yessirMD]

I reschedule my MCAT to a July date since my practice exams were in the low 30s. DrMidlife, you think I should mainly aim for an SMP this upcoming application cycle rather than postbacs?

 

[DrMidlife]

I reschedule my MCAT to a July date since my practice exams were in the low 30s. DrMidlife, you think I should mainly aim for an SMP this upcoming application cycle rather than postbacs?

If you get a competitive MCAT score (31+) in July, I'd vote for you to apply to SMPs starting in October.

If you're not able to get a competitive MCAT score in July, then give up on the idea of solving this problem in one year. Worse things have happened.

Best of luck to you.

 

[yessirMD]

DrMidlife, based on the amount of B's in my prereqs, do you suggest I retake them or is showing my mastery of the courses on my MCAT sufficient for a 2013 AMCAS application?

 

[yessirMD]

I'm in my 2nd year of taking post-baccalaureate classes. I'm taking Human Anatomy/Physiology and Spanish this year. My advisor says she thinks I've done all I can regarding classes. From reading this forum, I feel you can never have done enough post-bacc work. What are your guys' thoughts on taking classes this year, and through my glide year? I'm staying involved with ECs and community service, and have shadowed two physicians.

 

[Hailstorm]

More is better, but there's diminishing returns to consider.

How did your MCAT go?

 

[yessirMD]

More is better, but there's diminishing returns to consider.

How did your MCAT go?

MCAT will be taken in May 2014. Studying for it now and will take spring quarter from my postbac off since I have more than enough classes.