State school good enough for pre-reqs?

[hello3angel]

I will be starting my pre-reqs this fall, but I am looking for an option that is affordable. I'm a Missouri resident and originally wanted to enroll in Wash U's post-bacc program. However, the price is off the charts! So, instead, I considered doing a D.I.Y. at Missouri State University. The price, in the end, will be more than three times less than that of a post-bacc program.

My question is, assuming I do well at MSU (A's and A-'s, maybe a B+ or two,) will my BCPM GPA be considered up-to-par with other people applying to medical school who attended pricey post-bacc programs? In other words, is there a good reason for the pricetag?

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[pstone]

go to university of missouri. being a mo resident myself, the only two places anyone outside of this state will really know is mizzou and wash u so if u want brand name recognition then you know what you need to do.

 

[hello3angel]

go to university of missouri. being a mo resident myself, the only two places anyone outside of this state will really know is mizzou and wash u so if u want brand name recognition then you know what you need to do.

When you say that, are you including all the U of M's (i.e. UMKC, Mizzou, UMSL, UMR,) or specifically Mizzou?

I am not really all that concerned about brand name recognition. I just want a reasonably resepectable program that will prepare me for the MCAT and for medical school. I would also prefer a program that doesn't stab my pocketbook in the heart several times.

Aside from brand-name recognition, do you think that Wash U and the U of M's provide something essential that Missouri State doesn't?

 

[sindadel]

Any 4 year institution is commonly regarded as just fine. Go with cheap.

 

[reisub]

The prerequisites for most medical schools are freshman-sophomore courses. Many students complete the courses at community colleges, transfer, graduate, then attend medical school. There is no good reason that community-college coursework completed after graduation shouldn't be considered as good as coursework completed before graduation.

 

[njbmd]

I will be starting my pre-reqs this fall, but I am looking for an option that is affordable. I'm a Missouri resident and originally wanted to enroll in Wash U's post-bacc program. However, the price is off the charts! So, instead, I considered doing a D.I.Y. at Missouri State University. The price, in the end, will be more than three times less than that of a post-bacc program.

My question is, assuming I do well at MSU (A's and A-'s, maybe a B+ or two,) will my BCPM GPA be considered up-to-par with other people applying to medical school who attended pricey post-bacc programs? In other words, is there a good reason for the pricetag?

My state school was good enough to get six acceptances for me. In the end, your performance and not the school will determine your fate. If you earn "C"s from expensive private school, you are not in better shape that someone who earned As from state university. In the end, your performance in your coursework and on the Medical College Admissions Test will largely determine your fate. If you are working overtime to pay for expensive coursework, you are likely not to do as well.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Sorry I'm late to this party. I'm a non-trad medical student who did an informal post-bacc at Mizzou. I have a med-school classmate who also did an informal post-bacc at Mizzou at the same time (we were lab partners in Physics -- how cool is that?). I have even more classmates that did informal post-baccs at other state schools.

If you get good grades, MSU versus Mizzou isn't a big deal. What Mizzou gets you (versus MSU) is proximity to a medical school. So if you're looking to get involved in a medically related research project, maybe getting an LOR from a physician/scientist, there are plenty around if you look. Other than that, go where you are comfortable and can make good grades. That's the most important thing about your post-bacc: proving you can cut it in medical school.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

concur with posts above -- I was accepted after completing undergrad at a state school & prerequ's at a regional 4 year institution. The first cut is academic based on GPA, that's much more important than the name of the institution.