SNHU Undergrad - Transfer or Post-bacc?

[ayohriver]

I am 7 months away from finishing my BA in Psychology at SNHU but have realized I definitely want to go to med school. Obviously SNHU is not exactly prestigious, but I decided to go there at the start of the pandemic after having dropped out of a school in Boston due to medical issues (which are all good now). Anyway, I am wondering if it would make more sense to try to transfer to an in-person school (University of Southern Maine) or if it would make more sense to graduate and apply to a good post-bacc program like Tufts. I was also considering trasferring to USM and changing my major to Human Biology because I am way more interested in that. I am looking at medical scribe jobs but have no background in biology or chemistry so I'm not sure if I'm qualified. Any input on what would increase my chances of getting into med school would be useful. Thank you.

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[MedicallyEnthused]

If you are taking out federal loans for school, I would transfer (post-pone graduating) and take all the classes you need with your new major for med school.
If finances are not much of an issue and you can afford to pay for school out of pocket (or have scholarships), I would stick with it, graduate, and do a DIY postbacc for the pre-reqs you need.

I say this because, as an undergrad you can receive a finite number of federal loans. Which are drastically reduced (to zero in most cases) once you have graduated and have a bachelor's degree under your belt.

In my experience, when I did a postbacc (ended up with a 2nd BS degree) after my 1st degree, I only got $3k worth of federal loans in my 1st semester, which only was able to cover a fraction of that semester. And for that same semester and going forward, I had to either take a private loan or pay out of pocket for the remainder of my postbacc.

Keep in mind that if you plan on doing an MS or other grad degree prior to med school, you will start "fresh" when it comes to federal loans.

 

[ayohriver]

Thank you for all that info, I have been leaning towards transferring because in undergrad I would still be eligible for financial aid, although the Tufts post bacc looks amazing but I have no idea how I would afford it or even if I could get approved for a private loan (the cost of that one is over $40,000). There is a pre med post-bacc certificate program at the same school I am considering transferring to, and that would probably be around $14,000 but it would also take about the same amount of time as if I transferred. I am wondering though, which would look better on a med school application? Another factor I am considering is how graduating from SNHU would look in general.

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

Thank you for all that info, I have been leaning towards transferring because in undergrad I would still be eligible for financial aid, although the Tufts post bacc looks amazing but I have no idea how I would afford it or even if I could get approved for a private loan (the cost of that one is over $40,000). There is a pre med post-bacc certificate program at the same school I am considering transferring to, and that would probably be around $14,000 but it would also take about the same amount of time as if I transferred. I am wondering though, which would look better on a med school application? Another factor I am considering is how graduating from SNHU would look in general.

If you do choose a postbacc over transferring, I'd suggest doing the cheaper option. The prestige of the school or program you go to doesn't really matter. It's more about how you perform. The only exception is 4 year university is favored over community college. Another option is to simply do a DIY postbacc. That is what I did. After I graduated and after my gap year, I simply returned to the same university where I graduated. This was relatively cheap in my case, but it really depends on the university. I ended up taking a private student loan though. But generally speaking a DIY will be cheaper than a formal program.

But again, I think simply transferring is the best option financially. Medical school won't really care that much, as long as you perform well.