Scripps Post-Bacc Alumnus: willing to answer questions

[Hiree44]

Hello,
I'm a graduate of the Scripps post-bacc program. I know that back when I was planning my post-bacc applications I would comb through the internet looking for advice from graduates. It seems like it's been a few years since someone posted about Scripps, so I figured I'd see if I could be of any help. The short summary of my post-bacc experience is that it was incredibly difficult, but profoundly formative. I credit the program for much of my success: both getting into medical school and succeeding in it. I got into a U.S. MD school. The majority of my class was very successful; almost all of us were accepted to MD schools or went to DO school by choice. Feel free to ask me any anything you'd like and I will do my best to answer.

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[harino45]

Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's great to hear that you and your cohort were successful in your applications. My questions are as follows:

1) How does Scripps compare to other similar programs like Bryn Mawr, Goucher, etc? One thing I've heard is that from Bryn Mawr, med schools look upon the name favorably and it may give you a shot at schools that you wouldn't otherwise consider thanks to the name brand. I was wondering if Scripps has similar, unofficial ties to med schools that could provide a boost, or whether med schools aren't as aware of the Scripps name. If not, do you think there are other factors that make the cost of attending the Scripps program worth it?

2) Speaking of costs, how was the cost of living in the Scripps area? And if I want to volunteer / do research, would I have to have a car? One thing that concerns me is that the Scripps tuition is already $10K+ more expensive than others, and I'm sure adding the COL of LA would increase the difference. I've also heard that the MCAT prep costs extra.

3) How was the advising? Was there a lot of help on applications and interview prep?

4) How did people in your and recent cohorts do in gaining acceptance to the more competitive medical schools, such as the UCs or other top schools? I know there are linkages to Pitt and UMich, but I'm curious about the top schools outside of that. The reason I ask is that I am interested in certain MD schools that have strong research, and some of them seem to belong in the competitive category.

5) Overall, what are your overall impressions of the program and your classmates?

Thank you again for your time and sharing valuable insight.

 

[Hiree44]

Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's great to hear that you and your cohort were successful in your applications. My questions are as follows:

1) How does Scripps compare to other similar programs like Bryn Mawr, Goucher, etc? One thing I've heard is that from Bryn Mawr, med schools look upon the name favorably and it may give you a shot at schools that you wouldn't otherwise consider thanks to the name brand. I was wondering if Scripps has similar, unofficial ties to med schools that could provide a boost, or whether med schools aren't as aware of the Scripps name. If not, do you think there are other factors that make the cost of attending the Scripps program worth it?

2) Speaking of costs, how was the cost of living in the Scripps area? And if I want to volunteer / do research, would I have to have a car? One thing that concerns me is that the Scripps tuition is already $10K+ more expensive than others, and I'm sure adding the COL of LA would increase the difference. I've also heard that the MCAT prep costs extra.

3) How was the advising? Was there a lot of help on applications and interview prep?

4) How did people in your and recent cohorts do in gaining acceptance to the more competitive medical schools, such as the UCs or other top schools? I know there are linkages to Pitt and UMich, but I'm curious about the top schools outside of that. The reason I ask is that I am interested in certain MD schools that have strong research, and some of them seem to belong in the competitive category.

5) Overall, what are your overall impressions of the program and your classmates?

Thank you again for your time and sharing valuable insight.

Hey, sure thing.

1. When it comes to the somewhat esoteric world of premed career changer postbaccs there are a handful of prestigious options. The most successful postbaccs are Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps, and Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins is prestigious but brutal. They pit the classmates against each other, and it caters to gunners, but if that’s an environment that you think you can do well in then go for it. They have very successful graduates that go on to get accepted to great medical schools. Scripps, Bryn Mawr, and Goucher are all about equal in prestige. Some people argue that some are better than others. I always thought that Bryn Mawr felt a little more prestigious but my classmates in medical school who went there thought that Scripps was more prestigious (small class size). Honestly, it’s neither here nor there. All three of those programs are well regarded and have very good relationships with medical schools all over the county. They are tantamount to the Ivy league and Stanford of postbaccs.

As far as Scripps specifically goes, yes there are numerous official and unofficial ties. Deans of admission at top medical schools (Duke, Rodchester, BC, Vanderbilt) all visited and gave presentations, and then would have lunch with the class afterwards. Since the class is only about 16 people you really get one on one time with them. When it came time to interview, the dean of admission at my medical school knew me by name. The linkage agreements are evidence of strong ties to medical schools. Any program that has linkage agreements means that they have a close personal connection with medical schools. Linkage agreements are pretty opaque and difficult to understand from the outside. There are a lot of subtle things that you can’t read about from a program’s website. For example, Scripps has less linkage agreements than Bryn Mawr but they also have less students. At Scripps there will be years that no one applies through a linkage, and years where there are two or three students applying to the same linkages. However, at Bryn Mawr you can have up to 10 students competing for the same linkage spot. There are also minimal restrictions to the linkages at Scripps. I think most of the people who linked in my class had at least an A- or two when they applied. I was surprised to learn from my Bryn Mawr friends that an A- there disqualifies you from applying for a linkage.

2. Cost of living was honestly not that bad. I found a place through the 5Cs housing website. It was a room in a nice house with a bunch of med students. I shopped at Walmart and El Super and tried not to eat out a lot. It really wasn’t bad, especially for LA area. But Southern California being Southern California, you will need a car. I had a few classmates who went it without one. They rode their bikes or lived within walking distance, but pretty much everyone else had a car. One guy tried taking the bus every day, and after summer chemistry he was so exacerbated he broke down and got a car.

I’m not sure what other program costs are now; I think most of them are pretty similar. Last I looked Scripps was like 3 or 4 thousand more than Bryn Mawr. The MCAT course sort of depends, you can choose not to take it but it’s highly recommended that you do. It’s like an extra thousand, but last I heard all the postbaccs pitched in and got Kaplan to hand design them a postbacc MCAT course. So, you’ll be facing the same situation now wherever you go.

The big thing you should take away about cost is this. Postbaccs are expensive, medical school is MUCH more expensive. Don’t make a big financial decision based on three thousand dollars in difference over a postbacc. Make yourself competitive and use that to get scholarships in medical school. I got a 60% scholarship for where I went, and I don’t think I could have done that without having gone to Scripps. The way I looked at it going in was: I can try to save money and go to a cheaper postbacc/ community college and risk not getting into medical school at all, or I can make sure that I get into medical school and just spend the extra cash. I’m very happy I did the latter.

3. The advising was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had as much help as I got at Scripps. The class size is very small on purpose. It’s all overseen by the director, DeEttra. She is fantastic. She’s nice, gentle, and blunt when she needs to be. She will tell you what you need to do and what you should not do. She walked me through courses I was struggling in, MCAT prep, and applications, and on top of that she reaches out to the contacts she has at every medical school you apply to and makes them aware that you are a Scripps student and they should keep an eye out for you. I remember a few years ago there was a student who had a really rough semester in college that was caused by a family situation, but they had concealed that situation from Scripps and the medical schools they were applying to. They were having a rough application cycle, and the director sat down with them and got them to tell her the story about what had happened. She sent out an email to her contacts at the medical schools that the student was applying to, and relayed the story to them. Within a month the student had multiple interviews and an acceptance.

That’s the reason that you pay the extra money to go to one of the reputable postbaccs, because you have advisors that can do something like that.


4. I would say that recent classes have done pretty well. Every year they send about a quarter/half of the cohort to UC schools. The last two years each sent a student to USUHS. Off the top of my head I can think of students who went to Georgetown, Emory, Vanderbilt, Duke, some others. This past year had a student who got a full ride to UCLA. The year before had a full ride to Michigan. The tricky part about research is that big research schools typically don’t like postbaccs as much because you are probably going to lack the research experience they’re looking for. If you’re kind of set on that then you’ll probably have to put in some extra work to round that out wherever you end up going. A good option might be going to Scripps and linking to Pitt (Pitt loves research).

The thing about being interested in going to more competitive medical schools is that frequently people don’t take things into account. It’s not like choosing an undergrad school. When you apply to medical school the medical school chooses you. Weird things come out of medical school application cycles. I had a friend who wanted to go to a low ranked state school. They didn’t even interview him, but he got accepted to an Ivy League school….

Scripps has a lot of Californian students (obviously) and there is a huge bias against Californians in medical school admissions. They got burned by too many applicants sitting on acceptances and then turning them down at the last minute to stay in California. So, the majority of competitive schools that Scripps graduates go to are UCs. If you are trying to go to a UC, then Scripps is your best bet. If you are looking at something in the Pitt/ Michigan range, then any program with linkages to those kinds of schools is a good option. If you are trying to go to an Ivy League, then any of the big post baccs will be the best thing you can do (Bryn Mawr or Johns Hopkins might be better, but I really don’t know). But overall, I would caution you against aiming too high. Applying to medical school is different than applying to undergrads and being a nontraditional applicant or a Californian does weigh into those admission decisions. You should also note that many postbaccs who get into competitive schools have other things going for them besides just going to that postbacc. My program had students with law degrees, PhDs, Ivy League grads, Fulbright scholars, and high ranking officers in the military. These things make those applicants jump out of an application when applying to competitive schools. A big name postbacc just supplements it.

The last piece of advice I would give you is that it doesn’t matter where you go to medical school. Nobody cares once you are out. An MD is an MD is an MD. Unless you are trying to run the CDC then all of it is the same once you are in residency. Some may disagree, but I would go to medical school wherever you can minimize your debt the most.

5. I loved the program and I loved my classmates. You form a very close bond with each other because of the high stress nature of the year, as well as how small the cohort is. I still keep in touch with my classmates even now that we are scattered all over the country. A one-year postbacc is a very difficult thing. It transforms you into the kind of student that you need to be to get through medical school and introduces you to the kinds of sacrifices that you will need to make as a physician. I was not the same student coming out as I was going in, and I don’t think that I could have handled medical school without having done this.

A lot of postbacc programs know how much the workload is and they don’t care. They take your money and throw you to the wolves. They are not concerned with their reputations or success rates, and they only use the program as a source of revenue. Scripps was not like that for me. I felt helped and supported the entire way through. On the most stressful days I was able to pause and remind myself that essentially everyone who went through this came out the other end and went to medical school. It was comforting to know that this was a tried and true process and I had guidance along the way.


I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to ask me anything else and best of luck interviewing.

 

[longhaul3]

.

 

[withlovefromj]

Hello,
I'm a graduate of the Scripps post-bacc program. I know that back when I was planning my post-bacc applications I would comb through the internet looking for advice from graduates. It seems like it's been a few years since someone posted about Scripps, so I figured I'd see if I could be of any help. The short summary of my post-bacc experience is that it was incredibly difficult, but profoundly formative. I credit the program for much of my success: both getting into medical school and succeeding in it. I got into a U.S. MD school. The majority of my class was very successful; almost all of us were accepted to MD schools or went to DO school by choice. Feel free to ask me any anything you'd like and I will do my best to answer.

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I have a few questions regarding fit and culture, and the application process.

• How did you decide on going to Scripps for a post-bacc? Were you considering other post-bacc's or was this program your first choice?
• Can you give a general overview of the application process? i.e. After turning in your application, how long did it take for you to be invited to an interview and know that you were accepted?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Hiree44]

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I have a few questions regarding fit and culture, and the application process.

• How did you decide on going to Scripps for a post-bacc? Were you considering other post-bacc's or was this program your first choice?
• Can you give a general overview of the application process? i.e. After turning in your application, how long did it take for you to be invited to an interview and know that you were accepted?

Thank you for your help.

Hi,

So I approached applying to post-baccs (and medical school) in a fairly utilitarian fashion. My thoughts were, if I am going to go to a pos-bacc I want it to be one of the best ones that will assure my acceptance into medical school. I applied to Bryn Mawr, Scripps, Goucher, and George Washington (which was my backup program). I went to Scripps because my life circumstances ended up making that the most practical choice. Had things been a little different I would have gladly gone to Bryn Mawr or Goucher. As I stated above, I view all three of these programs as equals. If you are looking for fit or culture I can try to shed some light for you, although these were not major factors in my decision process.

Scripps is small. It is the smallest of the big name post-baccs with a class size of 15-18 people, depending on the year. Goucher has about 30ish students and Bryn Mawr has around 80. So the Scripps cohort ends up being very close knit. This, like most other things, can have pros and cons. A one year post-bacc is a pressure cooker, and people can get sensitive or step on others' toes without realizing it. When there's tension between two people in a small class everyone feels it. Each class develops their own culture and that largely effects how they act around each other when you get to the spring semester and everyone is studying for the MCAT while also taking classes. That being said the small cohort size is usually a positive thing and is a draw for most of the students who go to Scripps. My class was very supportive of each other. We had a google drive and shared messaging platforms where we shared resources with each other. We would frequently help each other out, comfort each other when we were stressed, and even during busy times we would try to organize dinners/movie nights to help each other unwind. I imagine things like this happen in most post-baccs, but it feels more intimate when your whole class is less than 20 people. This culture is fostered by the people who run the program. The director and faculty director both had students over to their houses for dinner throughout the year. We would drop by the post-bacc office on an almost daily basis to casually chat with the administrators. The administrative coordinator was also a yoga teacher, and would do free weekly yoga sessions in the gym open to anyone in the program. Despite being a stressful year, Scripps definitely made it doable, and despite everything I look back on it fondly.

One of the biggest things that sets Scripps apart from the other big name programs is that we have integrated classes with undergraduates, or at least that's what everyone told me when I was applying. Summer chemistry is basically all with post-baccs, so you're all together for that. Recently they changed the spring physiology class so that it only focuses on human physiology and combines it with biochem in order to prepare for the MCAT. That class is also open to undergraduates, but it is mostly post-baccs, and is taught by the faculty director. But the rest of the classes are integrated with undergraduates. This has positives and negatives. It definitely lightens things up to take classes with people that are just being normal college students, and not strung out post-baccs that are fretting over every little thing. I made friends with the undergrads, and even though I never really had time to hangout with them they helped me relax every now and then. The classes are not big, and with CMC pulling out of Keck they are going to get even smaller. Your professors definitely know who you are and work closely with you. So when people talk about being wary of post-baccs that are integrated with undergrads: they're talking about being an anonymous face in a big lecture hall. Scripps doesn't really fall into that category. The one really annoying part of having integrated classes is that you will get a professor that you don't like for at least one class, and you're discouraged from switching because all the professors want to teach post-baccs and they get angry if they don't have any in their classes.

As far as the application process goes... A few years ago all of the big programs pitched in to form PostBacCAS. It is the central application system for all post-baccs, so instead of filling out a hundred separate applications and asking your letter writers to send the same letter to 10 different programs, you just pay a fee and submit one application that can be sent to all the programs you apply to. It is similar to AMCAS, which is the same concept but for medical schools. You fill out that application, get some letters of recommendation, write your personal statement, pay some ridiculous application fee, and then fill out the secondary applications for all the programs you applied to. I heard back from Bryn Mawr and Goucher the next day. Scripps took about a week to invite me to an interview. Scripps takes longer because all of the applications are reviewed by the director, and they get about 300 applications each cycle. They are usually in person interviews, med schools and post-baccs alike have an aversion to video interviews (although in the age of COVID19 that is probably changing).

The interview is nice. It consists of the director, the faculty director, and usually one other faculty member. Scripps has an absolutely beautiful campus. Typically you come in early in the morning and tour the campus briefly. Then you interview and shadow a student for the day, go to class, have lunch, ask them all of your questions. This will give you an opportunity to see if the program is a good fit for you, and likewise it will let the program see if you are a good fit for them. You will probably get a similar experience to this wherever you apply, and I would recommend asking the students critical questions to figure out if you like the program or not. I don't remember how long it took after my interview to hear back, I think it was about a week or two. Scripps is unique in that they have a wait-list and a deferred acceptance offer. Don't get discouraged if you are wait-listed, there is a lot of movement particularly around spring, and people can come off the wait list rapidly. A large portion of my class was wait-listed or given a deferred acceptance from the previous year.

The application deadline is sometime in the spring, but I would recommend applying a lot earlier than that. This rule goes for medical school too. When there are hundreds of applicants for just over a dozen spots, things can fill up quickly. If you can apply on the first day of the application cycle I would. The longer you wait to apply, the worse your chances are.

I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions. If you're still not sure if it's a good fit for you or not, Scripps usually has an open house in the fall that could be helpful. I know that they've streamed them in the past and put them on youtube, so you could maybe check those out.

 

[withlovefromj]

Hi,

So I approached applying to post-baccs (and medical school) in a fairly utilitarian fashion. My thoughts were, if I am going to go to a pos-bacc I want it to be one of the best ones that will assure my acceptance into medical school. I applied to Bryn Mawr, Scripps, Goucher, and George Washington (which was my backup program). I went to Scripps because my life circumstances ended up making that the most practical choice. Had things been a little different I would have gladly gone to Bryn Mawr or Goucher. As I stated above, I view all three of these programs as equals. If you are looking for fit or culture I can try to shed some light for you, although these were not major factors in my decision process.

Scripps is small. It is the smallest of the big name post-baccs with a class size of 15-18 people, depending on the year. Goucher has about 30ish students and Bryn Mawr has around 80. So the Scripps cohort ends up being very close knit. This, like most other things, can have pros and cons. A one year post-bacc is a pressure cooker, and people can get sensitive or step on others' toes without realizing it. When there's tension between two people in a small class everyone feels it. Each class develops their own culture and that largely effects how they act around each other when you get to the spring semester and everyone is studying for the MCAT while also taking classes. That being said the small cohort size is usually a positive thing and is a draw for most of the students who go to Scripps. My class was very supportive of each other. We had a google drive and shared messaging platforms where we shared resources with each other. We would frequently help each other out, comfort each other when we were stressed, and even during busy times we would try to organize dinners/movie nights to help each other unwind. I imagine things like this happen in most post-baccs, but it feels more intimate when your whole class is less than 20 people. This culture is fostered by the people who run the program. The director and faculty director both had students over to their houses for dinner throughout the year. We would drop by the post-bacc office on an almost daily basis to casually chat with the administrators. The administrative coordinator was also a yoga teacher, and would do free weekly yoga sessions in the gym open to anyone in the program. Despite being a stressful year, Scripps definitely made it doable, and despite everything I look back on it fondly.

One of the biggest things that sets Scripps apart from the other big name programs is that we have integrated classes with undergraduates, or at least that's what everyone told me when I was applying. Summer chemistry is basically all with post-baccs, so you're all together for that. Recently they changed the spring physiology class so that it only focuses on human physiology and combines it with biochem in order to prepare for the MCAT. That class is also open to undergraduates, but it is mostly post-baccs, and is taught by the faculty director. But the rest of the classes are integrated with undergraduates. This has positives and negatives. It definitely lightens things up to take classes with people that are just being normal college students, and not strung out post-baccs that are fretting over every little thing. I made friends with the undergrads, and even though I never really had time to hangout with them they helped me relax every now and then. The classes are not big, and with CMC pulling out of Keck they are going to get even smaller. Your professors definitely know who you are and work closely with you. So when people talk about being wary of post-baccs that are integrated with undergrads: they're talking about being an anonymous face in a big lecture hall. Scripps doesn't really fall into that category. The one really annoying part of having integrated classes is that you will get a professor that you don't like for at least one class, and you're discouraged from switching because all the professors want to teach post-baccs and they get angry if they don't have any in their classes.

As far as the application process goes... A few years ago all of the big programs pitched in to form PostBacCAS. It is the central application system for all post-baccs, so instead of filling out a hundred separate applications and asking your letter writers to send the same letter to 10 different programs, you just pay a fee and submit one application that can be sent to all the programs you apply to. It is similar to AMCAS, which is the same concept but for medical schools. You fill out that application, get some letters of recommendation, write your personal statement, pay some ridiculous application fee, and then fill out the secondary applications for all the programs you applied to. I heard back from Bryn Mawr and Goucher the next day. Scripps took about a week to invite me to an interview. Scripps takes longer because all of the applications are reviewed by the director, and they get about 300 applications each cycle. They are usually in person interviews, med schools and post-baccs alike have an aversion to video interviews (although in the age of COVID19 that is probably changing).

The interview is nice. It consists of the director, the faculty director, and usually one other faculty member. Scripps has an absolutely beautiful campus. Typically you come in early in the morning and tour the campus briefly. Then you interview and shadow a student for the day, go to class, have lunch, ask them all of your questions. This will give you an opportunity to see if the program is a good fit for you, and likewise it will let the program see if you are a good fit for them. You will probably get a similar experience to this wherever you apply, and I would recommend asking the students critical questions to figure out if you like the program or not. I don't remember how long it took after my interview to hear back, I think it was about a week or two. Scripps is unique in that they have a wait-list and a deferred acceptance offer. Don't get discouraged if you are wait-listed, there is a lot of movement particularly around spring, and people can come off the wait list rapidly. A large portion of my class was wait-listed or given a deferred acceptance from the previous year.

The application deadline is sometime in the spring, but I would recommend applying a lot earlier than that. This rule goes for medical school too. When there are hundreds of applicants for just over a dozen spots, things can fill up quickly. If you can apply on the first day of the application cycle I would. The longer you wait to apply, the worse your chances are.

I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions. If you're still not sure if it's a good fit for you or not, Scripps usually has an open house in the fall that could be helpful. I know that they've streamed them in the past and put them on youtube, so you could maybe check those out.

Thank you so much for your insight! I’m happy I‘m not the only one who, when choosing the different post-bac‘s, am wanting to go to the one that will give me the best chance of a medical school acceptance.

I find it interesting that you mentioned there were classmates who received a deferred acceptance from the previous year. Does that mean the program accepts students but asks them to start the following year or is it the students that choose to defer?

thank you!

 

[Hiree44]

Thank you so much for your insight! I’m happy I‘m not the only one who, when choosing the different post-bac‘s, am wanting to go to the one that will give me the best chance of a medical school acceptance.

I find it interesting that you mentioned there were classmates who received a deferred acceptance from the previous year. Does that mean the program accepts students but asks them to start the following year or is it the students that choose to defer?

thank you!

Both of those situations can happen. Sometimes people get accepted, but for whatever reason they choose to take a year doing something else before starting a post-bacc. On the other hand, the program sometimes interviews students, and likes them, but chooses to accept them for another year. This can happen for a few reasons. Sometimes a really good applicant applies too late in the cycle, and the program wants them but the cohort is already set. Another situation that can happen is that the program likes an applicant, but does not feel that they are ready. Examples of this could be a great applicant with almost no volunteer experience. Scripps might love to have that student, but they're not going to accept someone if they feel that they can't get them into medical school. Fitting 200 hours of volunteer experience into a post-bacc year is difficult, and applying to medical school with minimal clinical experience is a red flag. Another situation I've seen is a really strong applicant that for some reason is just not ready for a post-bacc. The program will sometimes offer them a deferred acceptance and then tell them to work on something over the next year.
I will add, this is not a common occurrence. It's very normal that a cohort is made up of a lot of people that were wait-listed, but deferred acceptances are rare. That being said, when I was applying I decided that even if I was offered a deferred acceptance I would still attend, because maximizing my chances of getting into medical school was always my primary focus.

 

[mintydaisy13]

Hi,

So I approached applying to post-baccs (and medical school) in a fairly utilitarian fashion. My thoughts were, if I am going to go to a pos-bacc I want it to be one of the best ones that will assure my acceptance into medical school. I applied to Bryn Mawr, Scripps, Goucher, and George Washington (which was my backup program). I went to Scripps because my life circumstances ended up making that the most practical choice. Had things been a little different I would have gladly gone to Bryn Mawr or Goucher. As I stated above, I view all three of these programs as equals. If you are looking for fit or culture I can try to shed some light for you, although these were not major factors in my decision process.

Scripps is small. It is the smallest of the big name post-baccs with a class size of 15-18 people, depending on the year. Goucher has about 30ish students and Bryn Mawr has around 80. So the Scripps cohort ends up being very close knit. This, like most other things, can have pros and cons. A one year post-bacc is a pressure cooker, and people can get sensitive or step on others' toes without realizing it. When there's tension between two people in a small class everyone feels it. Each class develops their own culture and that largely effects how they act around each other when you get to the spring semester and everyone is studying for the MCAT while also taking classes. That being said the small cohort size is usually a positive thing and is a draw for most of the students who go to Scripps. My class was very supportive of each other. We had a google drive and shared messaging platforms where we shared resources with each other. We would frequently help each other out, comfort each other when we were stressed, and even during busy times we would try to organize dinners/movie nights to help each other unwind. I imagine things like this happen in most post-baccs, but it feels more intimate when your whole class is less than 20 people. This culture is fostered by the people who run the program. The director and faculty director both had students over to their houses for dinner throughout the year. We would drop by the post-bacc office on an almost daily basis to casually chat with the administrators. The administrative coordinator was also a yoga teacher, and would do free weekly yoga sessions in the gym open to anyone in the program. Despite being a stressful year, Scripps definitely made it doable, and despite everything I look back on it fondly.

One of the biggest things that sets Scripps apart from the other big name programs is that we have integrated classes with undergraduates, or at least that's what everyone told me when I was applying. Summer chemistry is basically all with post-baccs, so you're all together for that. Recently they changed the spring physiology class so that it only focuses on human physiology and combines it with biochem in order to prepare for the MCAT. That class is also open to undergraduates, but it is mostly post-baccs, and is taught by the faculty director. But the rest of the classes are integrated with undergraduates. This has positives and negatives. It definitely lightens things up to take classes with people that are just being normal college students, and not strung out post-baccs that are fretting over every little thing. I made friends with the undergrads, and even though I never really had time to hangout with them they helped me relax every now and then. The classes are not big, and with CMC pulling out of Keck they are going to get even smaller. Your professors definitely know who you are and work closely with you. So when people talk about being wary of post-baccs that are integrated with undergrads: they're talking about being an anonymous face in a big lecture hall. Scripps doesn't really fall into that category. The one really annoying part of having integrated classes is that you will get a professor that you don't like for at least one class, and you're discouraged from switching because all the professors want to teach post-baccs and they get angry if they don't have any in their classes.

As far as the application process goes... A few years ago all of the big programs pitched in to form PostBacCAS. It is the central application system for all post-baccs, so instead of filling out a hundred separate applications and asking your letter writers to send the same letter to 10 different programs, you just pay a fee and submit one application that can be sent to all the programs you apply to. It is similar to AMCAS, which is the same concept but for medical schools. You fill out that application, get some letters of recommendation, write your personal statement, pay some ridiculous application fee, and then fill out the secondary applications for all the programs you applied to. I heard back from Bryn Mawr and Goucher the next day. Scripps took about a week to invite me to an interview. Scripps takes longer because all of the applications are reviewed by the director, and they get about 300 applications each cycle. They are usually in person interviews, med schools and post-baccs alike have an aversion to video interviews (although in the age of COVID19 that is probably changing).

The interview is nice. It consists of the director, the faculty director, and usually one other faculty member. Scripps has an absolutely beautiful campus. Typically you come in early in the morning and tour the campus briefly. Then you interview and shadow a student for the day, go to class, have lunch, ask them all of your questions. This will give you an opportunity to see if the program is a good fit for you, and likewise it will let the program see if you are a good fit for them. You will probably get a similar experience to this wherever you apply, and I would recommend asking the students critical questions to figure out if you like the program or not. I don't remember how long it took after my interview to hear back, I think it was about a week or two. Scripps is unique in that they have a wait-list and a deferred acceptance offer. Don't get discouraged if you are wait-listed, there is a lot of movement particularly around spring, and people can come off the wait list rapidly. A large portion of my class was wait-listed or given a deferred acceptance from the previous year.

The application deadline is sometime in the spring, but I would recommend applying a lot earlier than that. This rule goes for medical school too. When there are hundreds of applicants for just over a dozen spots, things can fill up quickly. If you can apply on the first day of the application cycle I would. The longer you wait to apply, the worse your chances are.

I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions. If you're still not sure if it's a good fit for you or not, Scripps usually has an open house in the fall that could be helpful. I know that they've streamed them in the past and put them on youtube, so you could maybe check those out.

Can you talk about what a competitive Scripps Applicant looks like? also, what is the interview like? Do they ask generic questions or is it scenarios like SFSU?

 

[Hiree44]

Can you talk about what a competitive Scripps Applicant looks like? also, what is the interview like? Do they ask generic questions or is it scenarios like SFSU?

So every program out there is going to look at your stats to some extent. Like I wrote above, they are not going to accept you if they don't think they can get you into medical school. It will be a waste of your time and money, and it will reflect poorly on their stats. That being said, I think sometimes people obsess over stats. Interesting life experiences and a strong personal statement are things that are really important to Scripps and frequently overlooked. When I looked at the cohorts that came before and after me, I didn't see a group of over achieving premeds, I saw people who had lived interesting fulfilling careers and then somewhere along the way had a revelation that they wanted to be a physician. Think: screen writers, musicians, teachers, professors. It was clear that everyone who was in the program had some kind of story to tell and a passion that was fueling this career change. I think that those are very important characteristics that don't get enough attention.
Like all the other post-baccs, grades and test scores are important. If you don't have grades and you also don't have passion or a story to tell then it's going to be hard to get in. If you are really good in one of those areas and not the other then you might be able to swing it. But you need to be good in at least one.

The average GPA is like a 3.75 or something. Full disclosure, I was under that. However, upwards trends are something they take into account. Math grades are also particularly important. It's no secret that many people hate math, and because of that physics can be a tough subject for post-baccs. Demonstrating strong math skills, especially calculus, will show a program that you are able to handle physics. They also like to look at standardized test scores because they want to know how you will perform on the MCAT. How well you do on those largely depends on which standardized test you are submitting, but they will obviously prefer higher percentiles- 80 or above. However, all of these things are relative. Grades and test scores do matter, but I am serious when I say that they look at an applicant holistically. I knew multiple people from my class and previous classes that the director took a risk on, and they all ended up doing great. It's very possible to win the heart of an ADCOM if you have a good story that you can transform into a good personal statement and interview. If you get wait-listed, don't write it off. Stay in touch, call back to check up on things, be respectful and polite, and just continue to let them know that you're out there and that you're still interested. You'll be surprised how much of an impact those things can have when applying to post-baccs and med school.

The interview is pretty relaxed. It's a traditional interview, I don't know how "generic" the questions are, but there were no curve balls. Granted I had my interview years ago but I can't remember any of the questions that they asked me. It consists of the director, the faculty director, and one other faculty member. The best thing that you can do in an interview is to turn it into a casual conversation, so that it doesn't seem like an interview at all. That's the best piece of advice I would give for interviewing.