postbac to boost undergrad gpa or get a masters?

[Ibrahim05]

am I better off taking those undergrad med school prereqs over or should i just go ahead and get masters.

i really want to do the umdnj masters program, alot of the classes are taking with med students. i feel like it'll be a waste of my time to take classes i've already taken over again.

which one will help my med school application more??

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[mshheaddoc]

am I better off taking those undergrad med school prereqs over or should i just go ahead and get masters.

i really want to do the umdnj masters program, alot of the classes are taking with med students. i feel like it'll be a waste of my time to take classes i've already taken over again.

which one will help my med school application more??

If you search through the thread you might find some input on this. I don't really know off hand what to say ... I'm in the same boat

 

[Singing Devil]

I've seen this thread somewhere before...

 

[DrHuang]

below 3.0, postbacc, between 3.0-3.5, Masters

 

[Singing Devil]

Ah, here it is. I knew it was here someplace:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=126896

My advice: if you have a lot of undergrad science courses, do the masters. If not, do the postbacc. If you're not sure, ask some medical school admissions person (one who works at med school you would like to attend) what to do.

 

[Ibrahim05]

it seems like most postbac classes are just the med school prereqs. taking those 8classes over again and getting all A's will increase my gpa by a .1. so it seems like it'll be a waste to retake those classes.

 

[neurodoc]

am I better off taking those undergrad med school prereqs over or should i just go ahead and get masters...
which one will help my med school application more??

Taking a Masters program and earning the degree does two things that I think enhance your status over someone who just takes PB courses. First, it demonstrates that you can complete a program. Second, you end up with a higher academic degree that might be useful for something other than filling out an AMCAS application. You might, if you don't get into med school, use it to teach or work in some technical field.

The downside is that if you enroll in a graduate program (especially a PhD program), your professors and TAs would expect you to demonstrate a serious interest in the coursework. They tend to look askance at pre-meds in their programs, whom they may view as mercenary carpetbaggers who enroll in their programs for ulterior motives.