UC-grad taking post bacc @ Cal State - Bad idea?

[hunhyung]

will it matter if i graduated from a UC
and then take post bacc classes at a Cal State University (not formal program, just choosing upper div. science courses)?

Cal states are, of course, much lower than UC's in terms of academic recognition and perceived difficulty (which may or may not be true)

or would I be better off taking post bacc classes at another UC?

The ultimate goal here is to boost gpa, stay close to home (california), save money, and DO WELL.

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[BlackPuma]

i heard most post bac programs give prefrence to students in their own post-bac program...

but I mean this is debatable...

u save more money by going to cal, prolly higher gpa etc etc

 

[Lil IceBoy]

hunhyung:

I went to CalStateLA and I actually met a lot of people who were in your situation.

To address the cousework, I actually think the difficulty is the same if not harder. I'm currently taking a Neuroscience class at UCI, and it seems to be a little bit easier than the Neuro class at took at CSULA.

I'm not sure how a friend of mine did his post-bac, but he graduated from UCLA, worked for about 6 years, and then took classes at CSULA for about 3 years. In the process he retook his MCAT and etc. He did really well in his classes and from what he tells me the interviewers really appreciated that. He's at UCLA Drew right now.

I'm not sure what the best course of action for you is, but my AIM name is Lil IceBoy, if you want to talk about it.

 

[Fizz]

I took classes at Cal State Fullerton for a year and was accepted to my first med school in January. It helped so much to be able to show my work at Cal State at the interviews. I don't think they really cared about prestige. When they asked me why I took them there, I just said it was cheaper and everyone seemed to understand and think that was good thinking. Fullerton has a super awesome advisor named Dr. David Drath and over 85% of the people that work with him get in or something like that. I also don't know if there is that much of a difference in the difficulty of the classes because the upper division coursework at the cal-states is pretty rigorous.

 

[neofight]

It would be better to take science classes at a UC vs a Cal State schools since adcoms know that, in general, it's tougher to get good science grades at a UC then a Cal State. However, going to a Cal State school for cost, convenience, etc. is fine; just make sure you do well.

 

[burlypie]

I went to a UC as an undergrad then did all my science at SFSU. I was completely happy there, and actually I had better professors that were there because they wanted to teach and not just do research. Also, there were so many other post-baccs there that it was not easy to get a good grade, they kept the averages so high. The real undergrads hated us

Also, almost every person I know who did post-bacc work at SFSU has gotten in to med school, no problem.

 

[BMBiology]

Originally posted by Lil IceBoy
To address the cousework, I actually think the difficulty is the same if not harder. I'm currently taking a Neuroscience class at UCI, and it seems to be a little bit easier than the Neuro class at took at CSULA.

I am assuming you are talking about Bio 110 (Neuroscience).

I think it is premature to assume the neuroscience class you are currrently taking at UCI is "easier" since the first midterm is on July 9. Furthermore, this is an introductory neuroscience class and your previous exposure to neuroscience at CSULA would give you a great advantage. Lastly, summer classes are usually not as competitive as classes that are offered during the regular academic year.

 

[Lil IceBoy]

Haha that might very well be true.