Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Is this a bad idea? Was looking at an Anatomy course through UC Berkeley Extension. It says that it "recommends one year of College-level Biology", but it's not a requirement. In college, I was a philosophy major with essentially zero science coursework and a relatively mediocre GPA @ 3.5. If possible, I want to demonstrate my capabilities in science coursework to the best of my abilities before I apply to the career changer post baccs later this year (bryn mawr, gwu, scripps, uva etc.).
I reached out to some of the officials running the post-bacc and they recommended AGAINST taking any of the pre-reqs (e.g bio I, chem I, etc.) and suggested taking Calc I, Biostats, or A&P. They would rather I not have taken them than have it interfere with the usual curriculum in the program.
I received an A in both Calc I and Biostats (4.0 BCPM fwiw hahaha) but I still think this doesn't really demonstrate my abilities to do well in science courses. Additionally, I kind of think that an adequately rigorous Anatomy course would be a good introduction into whether I would enjoy some of the coursework of medicine before I dive into the hellfire expensive commitment that is a formal post-bacc program and even moreso a career in medicine.
In my incredibly naive understanding, anatomy sounds all right in my mind. Since it's more memorization based rather than concept based, I could maybe get by with a crap ton of anki grinding? There is a lot of pressure and risk here as not getting an A in anatomy would look really bad for the post-baccs. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot if I'm fighting an uphill battle by not taking bio beforehand. But if I were to do well I do feel like it would get rid of a lot of doubt regarding my abilities to do well in science coursework.
An alternative is taking the non-major equivalent for bio, but these courses are quite expensive and I kind of get the sense that it's pointless to spend the $1000+ take them if they won't really contribute to requirements/desired courses for med school admissions. Any thoughts on this?
Am I in over my head here?
I reached out to some of the officials running the post-bacc and they recommended AGAINST taking any of the pre-reqs (e.g bio I, chem I, etc.) and suggested taking Calc I, Biostats, or A&P. They would rather I not have taken them than have it interfere with the usual curriculum in the program.
I received an A in both Calc I and Biostats (4.0 BCPM fwiw hahaha) but I still think this doesn't really demonstrate my abilities to do well in science courses. Additionally, I kind of think that an adequately rigorous Anatomy course would be a good introduction into whether I would enjoy some of the coursework of medicine before I dive into the hellfire expensive commitment that is a formal post-bacc program and even moreso a career in medicine.
In my incredibly naive understanding, anatomy sounds all right in my mind. Since it's more memorization based rather than concept based, I could maybe get by with a crap ton of anki grinding? There is a lot of pressure and risk here as not getting an A in anatomy would look really bad for the post-baccs. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot if I'm fighting an uphill battle by not taking bio beforehand. But if I were to do well I do feel like it would get rid of a lot of doubt regarding my abilities to do well in science coursework.
An alternative is taking the non-major equivalent for bio, but these courses are quite expensive and I kind of get the sense that it's pointless to spend the $1000+ take them if they won't really contribute to requirements/desired courses for med school admissions. Any thoughts on this?
Am I in over my head here?
