too stressed out. What should I do?

[nanaschool2000]

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coming from Top 25 national university

I'm not sure if I need to do one of those formal postbacc program or I should take classes @ local state school. I took most of prerequsites but my sci gpa and cumulative gpa are mediocre. I'm worried that med school would think like I chose to take classes @ state school because it is easier (I believe it might be easier than those classes @ HES, Columbia, and SMPs). Which route should I take?

 

[lawnboy313]

"Top" schools--whatever that means (the ranking system is questionable)--aren't necessarily harder. I've taken undergrad classes at an ivy league school, a small liberal arts college, and a state school, and I found that classes at the state school--the lowest ranked of them all--were the most difficult. So it's not safe to assume that the state school classes will be easier than those at a more "prestigious" institution...I think adcoms know this as well.

A formal program will have benefits that a la carte classes won't. Consider specific program perks--the reputation/success rate, linkage options, volunteer opportunities--weigh them against your financial situation and opportunities available at the state school, and decide what you can do. If you can swing it, I'd pick a formal program over an informal one, especially if the program is at a well-respected and successful post-bac or SMP. However, if you do well at the state school, get strong LORs from your work there and do everything else involved in good application-building, you'll probably be successful either way.

 

[nanaschool2000]

Thanks lawnboy313. I agree that formal program is more beneficial in many ways. One thing that I concern most is my grade. I'm very cautious to take the next step of action because of my mediocre performance in the past. I guess all postbacc students go through this moment tho. How did you all manage this type of issue?

I took general chemistry @ community college over the summer in my freshmen year. I aced it but now I regret. i dunno why i took it @ community college. That's about five year ago. Some advisors told me that it would be better for me to retake the course @ postbacc. Some advisors told me that I should not retake it and take upper level chem courses instead. What do you guys think? For those who have/had a same problem w/ me, please tell me what your advisor told you and what actions you took.

Also, do you know what upper level chem course my advisor is referring to? I forgot to ask that question to my advisor.

 

[lawnboy313]

I got a C+ in Bio I my freshman year of college. 8 years later as a post-bac, I had no problem getting A's in general bio. I think alot of post-bacs find that it's much easier to do well when you're older, more serious, and not caught up in undergrad drama. The only way to vanquish the fear of not performing well a second time is to go for it. If you find you still can't do well, med school probably isn't right for you anyways--the classes only get tougher.

If all you've taken is gen chem, you'll need organic chem. Another common upper level chem course is physical chemistry, which I hear is a biatch. Biochemistry (which is technically a bio class) is another one to consider and might be the most useful for med school prep because there is lots of biochem in med school. I don't know if you should retake genchem or not, but it seems silly to retake a course just because you aced it at a community college.

 

[Maxprime]

I got a C+ in Bio I my freshman year of college. 8 years later as a post-bac, I had no problem getting A's in general bio. I think alot of post-bacs find that it's much easier to do well when you're older, more serious, and not caught up in undergrad drama. The only way to vanquish the fear of not performing well a second time is to go for it. If you find you still can't do well, med school probably isn't right for you anyways--the classes only get tougher.

If all you've taken is gen chem, you'll need organic chem. Another common upper level chem course is physical chemistry, which I hear is a biatch. Biochemistry (which is technically a bio class) is another one to consider and might be the most useful for med school prep because there is lots of biochem in med school. I don't know if you should retake genchem or not, but it seems silly to retake a course just because you aced it at a community college.

No question - the older a post-bacc is (in my experience), the more driven, focused, and successful they are. You don't care nearly about things like what's on TV, what pieces of clothing are clean (ha), etc. 🙂

P-Chem is supposedly VERY tough - since it's not necessary, unless you love chem I would avoid it. Biochem is (IMO) a must-have. Most schools "highly recommend" it and statistically it is the single best predictor of your med school GPA.

As for gen chem, don't some schools not count community college courses? I would re-take it, as you'll need it for biochem. The biggest downside would be paying for the course, it should be a breeze the 2nd time around.

 

[mars2213]

Hey there,

I took P-chem in undergrad and am now in an smp program. P-chem is a tough course. Think of it as the worst combination of chem and calculus. For me, calculus is pretty tough in itself, so P-chem was challenging.

I think there are other courses available at state schools and at formal post-bacs that would be better to take, i.e. definitely Biochem, Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, Physio, etc. You should take courses that would be indicative of your performance in medical school, so classes like P-chem although a science course is more geared to the research arena and not as comparable to fundamental 1st-yr medical classes like biochem, histo, physio... Not to mention, P-chem makes more sense after you have had orgo II, biochem, micro..etc.

As for whether or not to retake the community college prereq, it really depends on where you want to go to medical school (if they permit community college credit). I think though if you have an A in prereq at a community college, took upper level bio classes at a post-bac and got A's, and did well in the MCAT bio section, it really doesn't matter that you took a prereq at the community college.

Best of luck

 

[Lshapley]

I agree with the other posts to retake gen chem and that taking pchem would amount to subjecting yourself to cruel and unusual (and not very relevant) torture.

Do you have a letter from your pre-health committee at your undergrad? A lot of med schools require this with your AMCAS application and going to a formal post-bacc would be a good way to get one of those.

Good luck!

lee

 

[medstud_95]

Completely agree with others.

 

[homeostatic]

I thought I'd share my own experience to further address your concern about how taking courses at a state school will be viewed by medical schools.

I graduated from a top 10 US News school, and am in the fourth semester of my full-time unstructured post-bac as a non-degree student at a reputable state school. According to my PI, who was an adcom for the med school here for several years, good grades at a good state school will be viewed very favorably, perhaps just as favorably. Where you did your post-bac won't matter as much as how well you did, so long as the school you do it at isn't a community college or something. What matters most of all is whether your application falls into the lap of an adcom who values reinvention, or someone who just cares about seeing a high GPA and MCAT. This last part is effectively black magic, so unless you majored in witchcraft, the best you can do is cross your fingers and apply broadly.

I found that the upper level classes I'm taking are are self-selecting, since despite the huge student body, the upper levels are just as difficult as they were at my alma mater. The pre-reqs are very effective at weeding people out. While it's a bit easier to do better than the average here, the curve is not nearly as forgiving as it was at my previous school. Overall, I don't think getting A's at this state school is any easier than it was where I got my undergraduate degree.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

EDIT: just saw the date of this thread...

 

[Leefa]

I've got a minor in witchcraft, will that be sufficient to influence who gets my app?

In all seriousness, I'm wondering why you aren't pursuing a degree in your unstructured post-bac. Any insight into this? I'm currently deciding between doing an SMP or simply reenrolling in my undergrad institution in pursuit of a Biology degree, which would take me about 4 semesters.

 

[homeostatic]

I've got a minor in witchcraft, will that be sufficient to influence who gets my app?

In all seriousness, I'm wondering why you aren't pursuing a degree in your unstructured post-bac. Any insight into this? I'm currently deciding between doing an SMP or simply reenrolling in my undergrad institution in pursuit of a Biology degree, which would take me about 4 semesters.

Pursuing and doing well in a second degree could only help, and if that's something you're considering I'd say go for it (depending on what your current situation is). The top SMPs are quite effective, but they are geared towards people with high MCATs and fleshed out ECs, generally the only thing wrong with their app is a low GPA that isn't so low that it gets screened out. If you feel like you still need to get volunteering hours, research, shadowing, or a solid MCAT, you should probably do more undergrad work. A second major might help accentuate yourself as a candidate for reinvention in the eyes of medical schools. I personally didn't, because I was only planning on doing 1 year at first. It soon became apparent that I would need more than that (given my 3.0 GPA at my previous institution) so I tacked on a second year. The classes I have been taking don't necessarily all fall into the same major, so it would probably take a whole other year or two for me to actually complete another major. I've also been taking almost strictly upper level classes, so I'd have to also take the mid-level stuff which just isn't worth it for me at this point.

I'm honestly not sure whether a minor in witchcraft would be sufficient, have you tried searching for older threads addressing this topic?

 

[DrMidlife]

public service announcement: "in all seriousness" typically indicates that a prior statement was HUMOR.

 

[homeostatic]

public service announcement: "in all seriousness" typically indicates that a prior statement was HUMOR.

Well dang it, I thought they were dead serious about having a minor in witchcraft. I myself have a minor in facetiousness.