PostBac

[Sinbadthesailor]

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Say you have completed premed requirements at your university(science major), but arent very competitive in terms of admissions. Perhaps you could get in somewhere if you applied to 20 schools, but your gpa is really bad. Got a D on a gen physics class. Took it over and got a B+. A lot of B's in other premed courses.
Now would a postbac help in any way for such a student? I've heard of people doing postbac and getting into good programs. But are they mostly the kind of people who just majored in humanities in ugrad and never took those science classes or just people who got a bunch of D's and had a whole new life, not someone who just consistently did so-so in college?

If you were to enroll in a postbac, would it be a good idea to take those same premed courses, like gen. physics and gen chem? What if you could get into a master's program in some discipline at some school like columbia, would it be actually any good? I've heard that schools place great emphasis on the core premed courses, while grad courses are purported to have grade inflation.. Besides, i doubt i could get straight A's in grad courses anyway..

 

[Sinbadthesailor]

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[Law2Doc]

Say you have completed premed requirements at your university(science major), but arent very competitive in terms of admissions. Perhaps you could get in somewhere if you applied to 20 schools, but your gpa is really bad. Got a D on a gen physics class. Took it over and got a B+. A lot of B's in other premed courses.
Now would a postbac help in any way for such a student? I've heard of people doing postbac and getting into good programs. But are they mostly the kind of people who just majored in humanities in ugrad and never took those science classes or just people who got a bunch of D's and had a whole new life, not someone who just consistently did so-so in college?

If you were to enroll in a postbac, would it be a good idea to take those same premed courses, like gen. physics and gen chem? What if you could get into a master's program in some discipline at some school like columbia, would it be actually any good? I've heard that schools place great emphasis on the core premed courses, while grad courses are purported to have grade inflation.. Besides, i doubt i could get straight A's in grad courses anyway..

I don't think you could retake prereq classes were you have Bs, so that form of postbac is not going to be an option for you. There are a variety of forms of postbac programs, designed to address different problems, which is where some of your confusion stems. Some are for folks who never took the sciences, some allow folks to retake the sciences, and some are where you take upper level type courses to bolster your stats. Usually these latter two forms consist of informal, design your own postbacs, while the first version is the more traditional formal postbac program. For someone who took the prereqs already, it often pays to do the last form postbac where you take upper level sciences, both the boost the GPA/BCPM, and to prove an ability to excel in upper level science courses. There are also SMP type programs which are graduate level (and thus not technically called a postbac), where you spend a year working on medically related sciences in order to prove your abilities. Both the postbac and SMP routes have some success in getting folks into med school. But it depends on your starting point, and you are going to need to get high grades from here on out and crank on the MCAT. There is a postbac board on SDN which tends to be a good place to get more specific info FYI.

 

[Sinbadthesailor]

thanks for the info! so how is this last form of postbac different from a masters program? it seems to me that the former is part-time while masters program is fulltime and in the masters program you have a research supervisor. i am a bit skeptical about this because upper level courses are often considered to be grade-inflated. like i heard that doing a master's program rarely helps you, and if it does it's because of your research, not your gpa boost. at the same time i am taking a lot of upper level courses in my ugrad now, and sometimes i do well and sometimes not so well. i see absolutely no grade inflation, and i get completely pawned if they make us write term papers, i would much rather work with the textbook.

I'm now thinking between either doing such a master's program or instead just taking a year off and working in some research lab without actually taking any classes. What do you think about enrolling in a master's program at some solid schools like columbia in programs like biology or biochemistry? I assume most students enrolling in such programs plan to pursue ph.d.'s...

I don't think you could retake prereq classes were you have Bs, so that form of postbac is not going to be an option for you. There are a variety of forms of postbac programs, designed to address different problems, which is where some of your confusion stems. Some are for folks who never took the sciences, some allow folks to retake the sciences, and some are where you take upper level type courses to bolster your stats. Usually these latter two forms consist of informal, design your own postbacs, while the first version is the more traditional formal postbac program. For someone who took the prereqs already, it often pays to do the last form postbac where you take upper level sciences, both the boost the GPA/BCPM, and to prove an ability to excel in upper level science courses. There are also SMP type programs which are graduate level (and thus not technically called a postbac), where you spend a year working on medically related sciences in order to prove your abilities. Both the postbac and SMP routes have some success in getting folks into med school. But it depends on your starting point, and you are going to need to get high grades from here on out and crank on the MCAT. There is a postbac board on SDN which tends to be a good place to get more specific info FYI.

 

[Law2Doc]

thanks for the info! so how is this last form of postbac different from a masters program? it seems to me that the former is part-time while masters program is fulltime and in the masters program you have a research supervisor. i am a bit skeptical about this because upper level courses are often considered to be grade-inflated. like i heard that doing a master's program rarely helps you, and if it does it's because of your research, not your gpa boost. at the same time i am taking a lot of upper level courses in my ugrad now, and sometimes i do well and sometimes not so well. i see absolutely no grade inflation, and i get completely pawned if they make us write term papers, i would much rather work with the textbook.

I'm now thinking between either doing such a master's program or instead just taking a year off and working in some research lab without actually taking any classes. What do you think about enrolling in a master's program at some solid schools like columbia in programs like biology or biochemistry? I assume most students enrolling in such programs plan to pursue ph.d.'s...

Postbac differs from masters as the former is undergraduate level, and thus the postbac grades can help raise your cumulative GPA (there is a column on AMCAS where postbac and undergrad GPA are combined to get a cum). Graduate grades are always separate and so and SMP or masters program will never affect your ug cum GPA. SMP's have decent stats in getting into med school. I don't know where you heard that doing a masters rarely helps; quite a few people on the other board will dispute this. It depends on your credentials and where you need the boost -- what you need to prove to the med schools. The rest of your answers can probably be answered better by folks on the other board actually pursuing degrees at columbia etc.

 

[Sinbadthesailor]

Thanks for the replies! So in a non-smp postbac program you can take any upper division courses and hope to do well, then your cgpa becomes good? Should you do this as a fulltime student, taking 15credits in a semester? Or is it better to take fewer, like 9 and devote time to research? But then medshools might think you cant handle a higher course load, and besides 9 credits won't boost your gpa as much.

Arent most master's programs 2 years long, and they require a thesis?

 

[Sinbadthesailor]

haha wow. you coudlnt have described my situation any better than that. I got a bunch of Bs with a fair number of Cs in my premed courses. Got a D in a gen physics course which i retook and got a whoppin B+.

anyways with my stats at the end of my undergrad, my counselor told me I prolly still have a shot at a "low-tier" med school. However, I opted to hold off on applying and do a one-year postbacc at penn (non-SMP) where I took a bunch of upper-div courses. I am now applying this year with all my eggs in one basket, and am fairing pretty well.

Initially, I was resentful of myself for having to go through a post-bacc but looking back retrospectively, I'm very glad I took this route. The courses I took were really awesome, I feel much better prepared mentally and spiritually for med school, and I got to experience what its like to live in another state other than CA. (which was a good experience but am glad that I'm back in CA and will be able to stay here for another 4 years)

cool, what was your mcat and what schools interviewed you? Are you doing anything else besides taking courses in your postbac (such as volunteering or research) that you consider is helping your application?

 

[Sinbadthesailor]

I did a good amt of volunteering and research prior to starting my post-bacc so I focused more on my classes instead. However, I took a course during postbacc that gave me a lot of clinical exposure in the emergency dept so if they had asked about volunteering, i wouldve just pointed to that. (no one asked).

Also, I completed the program last summer so this year, i'm just working fulltime to make some money and taking random classes at a local community college (e.g. spanish).

as for my stats and the schools that interviewed and accepted me, ill PM you my mdapplicants page later.

cool thanks

 

[BOBODR]

I did a good amt of volunteering and research prior to starting my post-bacc so I focused more on my classes instead. However, I took a course during postbacc that gave me a lot of clinical exposure in the emergency dept so if they had asked about volunteering, i wouldve just pointed to that. (no one asked).

Also, I completed the program last summer so this year, i'm just working fulltime to make some money and taking random classes at a local community college (e.g. spanish).

as for my stats and the schools that interviewed and accepted me, ill PM you my mdapplicants page later.

I am curious, if you could PM me with the profile? I am debating what to do with myself, SMP, UPENN or what? Maybe seeing how successful you have been may make me lean to a cheaper UPENN.