UConn Post Bacc

[DocHoo]

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I was just wondering if you get accepted to UConn post bacc you have automatic acceptance into their med school?

 

[beanbean]

In general, no. You still interview at the med school, but they interview you the same year as you finish the post-bacc which eliminates a lag year. If you do well in your classes and on the MCAT, you will most likely be admitted about (80-85% of the post-baccs are accepted).

A believe they are starting to offer some contingency acceptances, but everyone I knew in the program went through the interview process.

The schedule works like this:

Fall semester - full courseload of science classes
Spring semester - full courseload of science classes + MCAT in April

Beginning of June - Interview at med school
Mid-June - MCAT results are in and acceptances are given out

August - Start med school

 

[DocHoo]

Thanks... now I have looked online at the classes they offer and they are basically classes I have taken or will have taken by the time I graduate. Would it be worth it to do post bacc if my gpa isn't really high?

 

[toxin]

can someone post the link for the program

 

[beanbean]

UCONN Post-Bacc Link

 

[nikkie]

Hi!

Do you know anyone who took a full science courseload at UConn (including calculus)? How did they do? How was their experience?

 

[beanbean]

I did and I survived just fine. No calculus though, I am an engineer and already had 4 semesters of it. The key is time management and not putting stuff off until the last minute. Labs take lots of time to write up so don't leave them until the night before. Go to professor's office hours if you don't understand the lecture material that week; don't put it off until right before the exam. For a study group with some of the other post-bacc students in your classes. They are usually very motivated to do well, but are really nice people - no gunners.

Take care,

Deirdre

 

[nikkie]

Hi Deirdre!

When did you take the MCAT? Did you take the same year you finish your pre-reqs. Also, when did you start med school? Did you get to take any upper level science classes or only pre-reqs? I'm starting with pre-reqs. So far, I have only taken Gen Chem. I'm scheduled to finish all pre-reqs in spring 05 and take upper level science classes in fall 05 and spring 06.

 

[beanbean]

I had been out of school since 1990 (BS in BME form BU). I had a very low (2.5) gpa due to a chronic health issue in undergrad. I had worked as a clinical engineer for 6 1/2 hours and then was a stay-at-home Mom for 6 yrs. I had also been a volunteer EMT since high school and an EMS Instructor.

I started taking classes in the Summer of 2001 by retaking General Chem I and II at UCONN's West Hartford Campus. It had been since 1987 since I had seen a periodic table and wanted a review before Orgo. I then took Bio 107 and Orgo 243 (at W. Hartford) and Cell Bio at Storrs in the Fall of 2001. I applied to the post-bacc program for Jan. 2002 and was rejected. I took a full courseload at Storrs in the Spring - Adv. Cell Bio, Orgo II, Spanish, and Orgo lab and shadowed with IM resident teams at the hospital I had worked at previously. I reapplied to the post-bacc for Fall 2002 and was accepted. I took Physics 121 in the Summer if 2002 and also took a Kaplan review class. I sat for the MCAT in August 2002 (11,11,11,S). In Fall 2002 I took Genetics, Animal Physiology, Biochem 204 with lab and Physics 122. I planned on taking a full courseload in Spring 2003, but much to our surprise my husband and I found out we were expecting our third child. With the support of the post-bacc program at UCONN I took the semester off due to horrible morning sickness. Fortunately I had completed all of my prereqs and MCAT. My post bacc gpa was 4.0.

I was accepted to UCONN last year in June when all of the post-baccs were evaluated for admission. I started med school last August, had my sone 2 weeks into MS1, was back at classes a couple of weeks later and survived the first year just fine.

I had a great time in the post-bacc program and loved the other students and the advisors. Med school at UCONN is awesome! It is a wonderfully supportive environment and I couldn't be happier.

Deirdre

 

[dentasp79]

I was wondering how large class sizes are at storrs for bio, chem, physics etc. Are the professors good? How difficult is it to get A's. Thanks in advance!

 

[Mac O. Phage]

I went through the UCONN post bac program and i am now a third year student hereat uconn. I thought the classes at storrs were fairly large depending on what you take. The medical school tailors the program individually to your needs. So for me a former psychology major with minor science exposure, i took biochem, organic, cell bio, molecular genetics, physics, and some other. They usually want you to take a full course load of all science classes which may be hard depending on your previous experiences and major. Also If you are not the type of student who likes to approach professors or ask alot of questions that will have to change because you need alot of recomendations! I did a year at storrs and got 6 recomendations. I asked questions i knew the answer to just to build rapport! Most of the professors you'll only have for a semester so you have to make it count. Between the full corse load, recomendations, and the mcat, i call it academic bootcamp whenever i describe my experience 🙂.... but it has obviously worked for me 🙂

 

[Cold Penguin]

I am not from CT, and I am wondering if this will play any role in the admissions. Where were the participating students from? Were they mostly from CT?

Thanks,
CP

 

[Mac O. Phage]

You know i am not sure the ratio of out of state to instate. While I was in the program there were students from outside of ct. A good friend of mine was from georgia another was from cali. So I don't think it plays a large role.

But one plus for uconn is that they "save a seat for you" meaning that as long as you do what they tell you you'll have a seat in the next medical class. Not all post bac programs are like that. So when you look for post bac programs just know that each can be very different. Uconn has about 15 or so students max involved in thier program at a particular time other schools may have 50+ which makes for more competition

 

[vankempd]

Do you think shadowing and or clinically related volunteering experience is critical for acceptance into Uconn's postbacc? I've several volunteer experiences, but nothing directly in a clinical setting.

 

[beanbean]

Some of the classes at UCONN are pretty big. I think my Genetics class had about 250 people in it. I never had a problem with large classes. Talk to the professors after class or during office hours to get to know them and ask questions. You need recommendations and getting to know the professor - small class or large - is part of the process.

I had very good experiences with professors at UCONN. I was very impressed with the quality of the teaching. Some of the classes are quite hard, but they definitely prepare you for med school.

The post-baccs I knew were a diverse bunch - premed majors, finance backgrounds, engineering, teaching, computers, etc. There were in-state and out-of-state students; young students and older (like me); URM and non-URM. The one thing I found in common with all of the post-baccs I have met is that they were smart, nice and lots of fun.

With regard to having clinical experience, I think it is fairly important. All of the students I knew had some medical related volunteer work. There are also opportunities to gain clinical exposure while on Winter break from post-bacc classes.