SMP vs Post-Bac

[smarty666]

Hello, I'm trying to find information out because I'm confused a little bit; what is the difference between a SMP and a Post-bac program? I know that the majority of post-bac programs are for people who have not taken the undergraduate science requirements but there are some schools, such as Temple, Columbia, UPenn, etc that have another kind of post-bac programs (for someone like me) who has taken all of the undergraduate science prereqs but has a GPA on the lower end of the spectrum (mine is cGPA 3.45, sGPA 3.39) and wants to improve it and their credentials for entry either directly into that univ's medical school or for application to med school in general

For either a advanced post-bac program or a SMP do you have to have taken the MCAT already or is that something you do during that year your in the program?

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[mbm54]

Hello there, to answer your question most SMPs do require MCAT or GRE. You have to look at each program for specifics. Your GPA isn't really that low and with a high MCAT score, alot of extra-curriculars/volunteer/shadowing experience, I'm sure you can get into some schools, probably not top 20, but still very decent schools. If you really feel the need to improve your GPA/credentials, if I were you I would apply to SMPs. Post-baccs are for people who need to improve their GPA to have a shot at med school (like me), while SMPers usually have higher GPAs and want to enhance their application to med school by getting a master's degree in the sciences. If my GPA was higher, I would apply to SMPs, but instead I'm going the post-bacc route. Hope this helps.