SFSU Post Bac Program!

[futuredoc1027]

Hello!

I am looking to apply to SFSU and I was wondering if anyone can give me more information about the program. I'm wondering what the classes are like and how many students are successful getting into med school! Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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[pyrrion89]

Hey there. I graduated from the formal post-bacc (career changer) in Dec 2012, cohort 6. Visit http://www.mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=27648 to see how I'm doing. I also have friends in my cohort who are doing really well in getting many interviews at med schools. Previous cohorts have also done pretty well. I read somewhere it's a 85% success rate at getting in somewhere for people who finish the program. In my cohort, I'd say maybe 30% dropped out before finishing, though.

Generally the classes are very fair, the lecturers are good, and the advisers are really friendly and down to earth people (although a little optimistic and may take awhile to write your committee letter of recommendation at the end of the program). Dr. Rothman, Anderson, and Small are just the best!

The best part about the program is how friendly and helpful the students are to each other. The classes are not curved so that only a percentage gets an A. Everyone is very collaborative and we hang out with each other a lot. Even now that we've graduated we're still together and helping each other. For example, yesterday a fellow former post-bacc student drove me to UCSF (we both had an interview there for the med school) because I don't have a car.

If anyone has any questions about the SFSU post-bacc, feel free to send me a message.

 

[futuredoc1027]

Hey there. I graduated from the formal post-bacc (career changer) in Dec 2012, cohort 6. Visit http://www.mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=27648 to see how I'm doing. I also have friends in my cohort who are doing really well in getting many interviews at med schools. Previous cohorts have also done pretty well. I read somewhere it's a 85% success rate at getting in somewhere for people who finish the program. In my cohort, I'd say maybe 30% dropped out before finishing, though.

Generally the classes are very fair, the lecturers are good, and the advisers are really friendly and down to earth people (although a little optimistic and may take awhile to write your committee letter of recommendation at the end of the program). Dr. Rothman, Anderson, and Small are just the best!

The best part about the program is how friendly and helpful the students are to each other. The classes are not curved so that only a percentage gets an A. Everyone is very collaborative and we hang out with each other a lot. Even now that we've graduated we're still together and helping each other. For example, yesterday a fellow former post-bacc student drove me to UCSF (we both had an interview there for the med school) because I don't have a car.

If anyone has any questions about the SFSU post-bacc, feel free to send me a message.

Thanks for your response! How are the volunteer opportunities and housing? Do most people live on campus or off campus?

 

[pyrrion89]

Thanks for your response! How are the volunteer opportunities and housing? Do most people live on campus or off campus?

I've heard you can live in the campus towers, but nobody in our program really did that. Most kids lived in Daly City or the Outer Sunset neighborhood. The rent there is relatively cheaper, but still expensive.

Most people volunteer at the local hospitals. Ucsf is nearby which is a great opportunity!

 

[futuredoc1027]

I've heard you can live in the campus towers, but nobody in our program really did that. Most kids lived in Daly City or the Outer Sunset neighborhood. The rent there is relatively cheaper, but still expensive.

Most people volunteer at the local hospitals. Ucsf is nearby which is a great opportunity!

Got it! Do you know how competitive getting admissions is?

 

[pyrrion89]

Got it! Do you know how competitive getting admissions is?

When I applied to the formal post-bacc program, I noticed that maybe 60-70% of the students at my interview group ended up in the program. I am sure some of that 30-40% I didn't see included many people who attended the interview but decided not to matriculate despite being offered admittance to the program. Whether or not this generalizes across years is unknown to me. I think most students who get an interview end up getting in. I am unsure on what percentage of applicants get an interview. Any other SFSU people here know the answer to that?

I think they are just looking to eliminate people who have truly unsalvageable GPA's, incredibly poor social skills, and no clue as to why they want to become a physician (i.e., have no good motivation and won't succeed in finishing the program). That being said, I knew a few people who got in who didn't seem to have well-developed reasons for going into medicine and seemed to have a not-so-good academic record. If you're going into the academic enhancer track, of course you can have a less-than-stellar GPA (after all, that's the point of the program---to remediate an unsatisfactory GPA record).

 

[shivasdance121]

When I applied to the formal post-bacc program, I noticed that maybe 60-70% of the students at my interview group ended up in the program. I am sure some of that 30-40% I didn't see included many people who attended the interview but decided not to matriculate despite being offered admittance to the program. Whether or not this generalizes across years is unknown to me. I think most students who get an interview end up getting in. I am unsure on what percentage of applicants get an interview. Any other SFSU people here know the answer to that?

I think they are just looking to eliminate people who have truly unsalvageable GPA's, incredibly poor social skills, and no clue as to why they want to become a physician (i.e., have no good motivation and won't succeed in finishing the program). That being said, I knew a few people who got in who didn't seem to have well-developed reasons for going into medicine and seemed to have a not-so-good academic record. If you're going into the academic enhancer track, of course you can have a less-than-stellar GPA (after all, that's the point of the program---to remediate an unsatisfactory GPA record).

Do you know when applicants for Spring of 2014 should expect to hear about interviews? Thank you in advance!