PostBac with low GPA

[dukecrazie]

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I'm a senior, graduating in May. Right now, My GPA is around a 2.8. What postbac programs, if any, can I get into? I am taking the MCATs in April and hopefully I can pull out a 30. My major is Biology. Has anyone heard about the NIH program and the difficulty/competitiveness of gettin accpeted?

What are my other options in the Health field? (I am looking into Ross Med, in dominica. Is this a good move????)

Thanks for the help.

 

[CaptainJack02]

Hey,
I am in a similar situation to yours, though I have already taken the MCAT. I too am a senior and considering all my options, so here's my POV on this:

Whatever, you do, make sure your MCAT is above average. 30 is fine, but if you can, try for a 33 or so. A high MCAT will help offset(but not eliminate the damage from) a low GPA. I am actually banking on this. My GPA is a 3.1. MCAT 34.

That said, stay away from Ross or other FMG's unless you have some strong reason to go there or unless you have tried repeatedly for US schools 3 or so years. I have been told that you should try for Osteopathic schools(DO schools) before you head overseas. FMGs will give you a great education, I'm sure, but you will be handicapped come residency app time. US allo will be your best option if you're trying to go on a "Traditional" route.

You have yet to take the MCAT, and thats a huge factor in this. But if you still don't get accepted with a great MCAT score, I would(and might be doing this myself) shoot for a post-bacc program that caters to people trying to enhance their records. Harvard, UPenn are some of the more reputable(name-wise) that let you correct your past. There is obviously some $$$ involved but if you can ace a post-bacc program and do well on the MCAT, I am told that you have a very strong chance at getting in somewhere.

The site listing all the Post-bacc programs is given here:
http://services.aamc.org/postbac/

Well, this post is just as much for me as it is for you. I need to organize my options and so on...But anyway, good luck!

Cheers,
Captjack

 

[ScienceMind]

Hey Dukecrazie,

There are two programs that I know about, one is at PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine)and the other is at LECOM. These are year long programs and cost about $18,000/year for tuition. When I graduated from undergrad I had an overall GPA of 3.0. I applied to PCOM in the Biomedical science program in the end of May and received an aceeptance letter around June 20th or so. During the year of the program I applied to DO schools around the country, including PCOM and received requests for seven interviews. My grad school GPA at PCOM was a 3.65 and since they were similar to first year medicla school courses I more than made up for my undergrad GPA . If you are in the PCOM program and you achieve average grades of 85% then you are guaranteed an interview around late January or early February(this is not advertised for obvious reasons). I can say honestly that the program helped me be confident with my academic abilities during this first year. I am doing well in all of my classes (I have atleast a B in all of my classes except for one, Pathology in which I have a C). So if you can find a year long program like that in Philadelphia then great. I am sure you will be able to get in to med school if you concentrate these next few months and try to get all A's in your classes. It can be done and I should know because I did it the last two years of college. Good luck to you.

Donnell

 

[Jady]

ScienceMind,

Which track did you take the certificate or the MS for the biomedical sciences?

 

[upitt]

Definately do a year of post-bacc before going to a foreign med school. Some schools will give your a great education and prepare you very well for the usmle but you will be at a disadvantage when applying for residency.

Doing one year of post-bacc is only one year and the courses will prepare you for med school. There are many post-bacc programs that accept students with a 2.8 gpa and a 27 mcat. Post-bacc is intended to improve gpa and it doesn't really matter where you go.

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by ScienceMind
Hey Dukecrazie,

There are two programs that I know about, one is at PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine)and the other is at LECOM. These are year long programs and cost about $18,000/year for tuition. When I graduated from undergrad I had an overall GPA of 3.0. I applied to PCOM in the Biomedical science program in the end of May and received an aceeptance letter around June 20th or so. During the year of the program I applied to DO schools around the country, including PCOM and received requests for seven interviews. My grad school GPA at PCOM was a 3.65 and since they were similar to first year medicla school courses I more than made up for my undergrad GPA . If you are in the PCOM program and you achieve average grades of 85% then you are guaranteed an interview around late January or early February(this is not advertised for obvious reasons). I can say honestly that the program helped me be confident with my academic abilities during this first year. I am doing well in all of my classes (I have atleast a B in all of my classes except for one, Pathology in which I have a C). So if you can find a year long program like that in Philadelphia then great. I am sure you will be able to get in to med school if you concentrate these next few months and try to get all A's in your classes. It can be done and I should know because I did it the last two years of college. Good luck to you.

Donnell

If u do a post bacc at a DO school, can us still apply to allopathic med schools after u complete the post bacc?

 

[NRAI2001]

bump

 

[jayski2030]

I've heard that if you have a decent public university nearby, do your post-bacc there, as opposed to an expensive private school. I'm doing mine at a CUNY, and I hear that their acceptance rate is pretty high.

 

[Dr2006]

I did the first part of my post bacc at NYU and put myself in debt. then I did the second part of my post bacc year at a community college in new jersey - Brookdale for what it cost for one credit at NYU. I made the decision to switch after I researched and found the syllabus and text books at the community college were EXACTLY the same as NYU.

My grades were high in both places and not once did I hear at any interview "Wow - NYU" i more often heard - excellent grades and how practical for switching - remarks I was surprised to hear. So maybe its not all in a name but in what you produce where ever you are. I think a post bacc itself helped - not so much where it was done.

hope that helps.

 

[pushkin]

Dr2006,

That's really great to hear about your experience. I went to a community college myself for most of my post-bacc classes, but I started hearing really derogatory things about cc's both on this website and from certain med schools. So I switched to my local Big 10 university earlier this year and I've now completed two semesters of pre-reqs and science electives there. (I had to do over 2 years' worth of classes since I came from a non-science background). The big state school costs 3 times what the cc cost, and I've found the education to be not one shred better--in fact I've found it to be worse in some ways. For example, in my huge classes at the U, there is no hope on earth of asking my physics or chem profs any kind of questions, or any hope of ever TALKING to them about the subject matter. I've gotten the same kind of grades (all good ones) at both schools, and my rank in big classes at the U has actually been higher than it was at the cc! Oh, and I got a scholarship at the cc too, and I got to know my profs really well. I'm HOPING there are people in the medical world who care about the actual education students are receiving and not just the name of the school... so I'm sure glad to read your post. If you have any more to share on that topic, I'd love to hear it!

 

[scota]

Well, some CCs are good and some are bad. I took classes at a local CC before transferring, and I thought the science, chemistry especially, was unorganized and poorly taught (at the CC.) So after graduating from the university, I'm going to take my science pre-reqs at a state college. State colleges are great b/c they are cheaper than universities, and the sciences, according to what I've heard and experienced at the CC, are taught better. So all in all, I think post bac students should consider a decently priced state school over CC. It might be more expensive, but worth it!

 

[NRAI2001]

Do all CC's and state schools have post bacc programms?

 

[scota]

NRAI2001,

Well, since you're at Cal (undergrad, I'm assuming), it's going to be difficult to find a Cal State that'll let you take courses as second bac or post bac because of the terrible CA budget crisis. UCs are NOT taking second bacs or post bacs, with the exception of some schools (UCI for example) that are taking post bac students that have already completed reqs, but need to improve gpa, etc.

SJSU, Cal State LA, and San Diego State are a few of the Cal States taking post bac/second bac students. I'm at UCLA now, and I applied to SFSU (special program for URMs) and Cal State LA. I need to complete and retake (I took gen bio 1 and gen chem 1 at a CC and didn't learn as much as I would've liked) the science reqs. I'd also like to do some extra science course work to show adcoms that I'm serious. In my opinion, both Cal State LA and SFSU and other Cal States teach the pre reqs as well, and better in some ways, than either UCLA or Cal. If you've got any questions, pm me 🙂 .

BTW, I don't know of any CC that has a formal post-bac program. But you can always take classes there, and it only costs $18 a unit.

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by scota
NRAI2001,

Well, since you're at Cal (undergrad, I'm assuming), it's going to be difficult to find a Cal State that'll let you take courses as second bac or post bac because of the terrible CA budget crisis. UCs are NOT taking second bacs or post bacs, with the exception of some schools (UCI for example) that are taking post bac students that have already completed reqs, but need to improve gpa, etc.

SJSU, Cal State LA, and San Diego State are a few of the Cal States taking post bac/second bac students. I'm at UCLA now, and I applied to SFSU (special program for URMs) and Cal State LA. I need to complete and retake (I took gen bio 1 and gen chem 1 at a CC and didn't learn as much as I would've liked) the science reqs. I'd also like to do some extra science course work to show adcoms that I'm serious. In my opinion, both Cal State LA and SFSU and other Cal States teach the pre reqs as well, and better in some ways, than either UCLA or Cal. If you've got any questions, pm me 🙂 .

BTW, I don't know of any CC that has a formal post-bac program. But you can always take classes there, and it only costs $18 a unit.

Why are the CA schools not taking post baccs anymore? Do they loose money?

 

[scota]

NRAI2001,

What I've been told is that many of the Cal States (and other CA public schools) do not have the budgets they once had! That is, they do not have the funds to support a larger student body. What we pay to attend CA public schools doesn't come close to what it actually costs to have us there!

Have you taken any pre-reqs yet?

 

[NRAI2001]

I am just a third year at Cal right now. I am going to be applying to schools at the end of my senior year, giving me a year off. I was just thinking about somethings to do during my year off. I don't really know much about post bacc programms so sorry if some of my questions sound stupid.

 

[El Chupacabra]

Santa Monica Junior College has an official Post-bacc program. You can find their info on the aamc.org website.

 

[AnAppleADay]

Originally posted by NRAI2001
Why are the CA schools not taking post baccs anymore? Do they loose money?

I believe it's because of the budget crisis as well as the fact that the majority of CA schools are so crowded. It's such a bummer. I'm going to be a trillion dollars in debt before I even apply to med. school. 🙁

 

[scota]

AnAppleADay,

Don't worry, the Governator will make it all better .

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by scota
AnAppleADay,

Don't worry, the Governator will make it all better .

Hey, you don't want him to recall ur ass.

 

[Jasminegab]

Originally posted by dukecrazie
I'm a senior, graduating in May. Right now, My GPA is around a 2.8. What postbac programs, if any, can I get into? I am taking the MCATs in April and hopefully I can pull out a 30. My major is Biology. Has anyone heard about the NIH program and the difficulty/competitiveness of gettin accpeted?

What are my other options in the Health field? (I am looking into Ross Med, in dominica. Is this a good move????)

Thanks for the help.

You GPA is better than mine. I transferred from a community college after a long and stressful life. I started out well at the CC with a 4.0 that went down as my personal problems increased in my life. In the end, I left community college with a Cummulative GPA of a 2.58.😱

Now, I just completed my first semester at a WCU and I have a 3.5 for this semester which I'm sure will go down once the grades are in and computed on the system.

I only pray now that I can maintain at least a 3.0 to get into a post-bac program and bust my butt off to raise my Cummulative GPA to at least a 3.5. So, hang in there.

Anywho, I need to know the difference between a post bac program that is undergrad work and a post bac that is graduate level work. Is it better to go with a post bac that adds to your undergrad work or to a post bac that is graduate?