UCSD Extension Premed Post Bacc 2019-20

[djaliram]

1. I got pretty similar stats to you.

2. "'Ive heard from another postbac student that the stats are misleading and not everyone who does the ucsd postbac gets into med school or even neccesarily has an improved shot at california schools/UCSD."

I've heard nothing about the post bacc program's ability to increase your chances of CA schools. I've heard really varying things about the post bacc's ability to get you into UCSD. I've heard that 33% of post bacc students were able to matriculate into UCSD SOM. I've also heard 50% of post bacc students were able to matriculate into UCSD SOM. Both of these are of course from specific cohorts but I was given the impression that the # of matriculants from the post bacc program is rising. I've also heard that they don't tell you but that every post bacc member is granted an interview with UCSD SOM.

Of course I also asked the interviewer this very same question (i.e. will the post back help me enter UCSD SOM). She said that while there is of course no direct linkage, they seem to look favorably at its members.

My opinion is that the post bacc members have a higher chance of getting in than most applicants (which is not that high in the grand scheme but pretty good compared to others). The national acceptance rate for UCSD SOM at 3.4%, is one of the lowest in the country. I read it a few years back but I was also shocked at how few of its own undergraduates UCSD accepted.

This is all in light of the interview process at UCSD SOM supposedly being terrible. I read a particularly scathing reddit post about how UCSD SOM seemed very stuck up about its reputation and didn't care for its students on interview day. I had someone who recently interviewed there confirm almost the exact same experience; mind you it was this person's dream to attend UCSD SOM, as it probably is for many of you.

I figured something like that might be at play--you articulated it very well! Have you heard anything about whether other UCs in the postbac consortium communicate or are more likely to grant interviews to applicants which have graduated from the postbac program?

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[MrBanana211]

Current student here. Please please don't believe everything you hear. Keep these things in mind: 1. Not everyone in each cohort applies to med school during their respective upcoming cycles (like in June when the program ends). 2. Some people don't even apply to UCSD. 3. Yes, each year is different in the number of acceptances to UCSD SOM but that literally only means those people were what the admissions committees were looking for that year. 4. No, you are not guaranteed an interview with UCSD SOM if you do the post-bacc. I know this because some students from the last cohort applied and didn't get an interview. It all depends on the applicant pool that cycle and it's out of our control. But yes, the post-bacc students' apps are looked at more favorably.

My main goal in saying all this is that you shouldn't worry about all the stats (it's hard I know!). Just enter the program wanting to improve your academic abilities in upper div biology classes and medical school level content. I was terrified about not being prepared enough to enter medical school a year ago and end up failing the classes if I got in. This program has done 2 things to get me to a point where now I know I can be successful in medical school. 1) It's given me some baby steps into what the actual medical school curriculum looks like, with one class per quarter at the med school campus with an amazing professor who works hard to ensure we understand the content (that he teaches to the first year medical students as well). 2) It's also given me the confidence that I can balance rigorous classes and study effectively to do well. I'll be the first to admit my study habits were subpar in undergrad, but this year I've learned what works for me and being surrounded by another 29 insanely motivated individuals helped a lot with that.

Thanks for dispelling the myths and giving me greater insight into the program. It's been really confusing for me to navigate through all the information.

 

[Pioleen]

Hi! I'm interested in this program and was wondering what your stats were for admission? Also, what made you choose this program over other programs you may have applied to/gotten accepted to? Thanks!

Hi! Sorry for the late reply I did not get any notification updates from this page.
Undergraduate: UCSD Major: Physiology & Neuroscience
Stats:
I am actually a lower end applicant numbers-wise but I'm proof that you can still be accepted into a top tier program even though you may be lacking a little. My 1st 2 years of undergrad were poor 2.8-3.1ish and I had a lot going on at the time family-wise so basically nothing was on my side tbh. I did come from a not so stellar high school so my foundation was poor and I did not have study skills to help me succeed throughout college. Going into 3rd year, I spent the whole summer trying to figure out how to study properly and I reached out to Dr. Andre Pinesett and he really helped me out on how to succeed (You don't have to pay for his material I'm not a sponsor or anything but he personally helped me and even face to face help without me spending money, he truly just wanted to give back). Throughout 3rd year I maintained a 3.45 (not a 4.0 but a significant uptrend) taking upper div bio and this past quarter I got a 4.0 so that's basically my academic career.
cGPA: 3.25
sGPA: 3.1

Activities list:
It mainly focuses on the Hispanic underserved community (orgs/hospital volunteering, outreach), the special needs community (awareness, volunteering), clinical research about autism (2 years), clinical research on stem cells (3 months 16 hrs a week), clinical volunteering at a hospital (400 hours), shadowing (400 hours). Leadership in everything except the shadowing. If you want specifics or help with yours feel free to DM me and I can run through it with you.

Personal Statement:
Focus on giving back to the special needs community and the underserved Latino community. Both are communities I grew up in. I am Hispanic/Latino and saw these struggles first hand. My brother has autism and again I want to make a difference for people like him in the medical field. I did not restate anything from my activities list. If you want more specifics or if you want help on yours, feel free to DM me.

I'm going to breakdown why UCSD in 3 parts:

1. Why UCSD (location personal to me)
I'm from LA and I went to UCSD for undergrad so it won't be that much of a transition for school or moving. My medical scribe job is also in SD so that helps lol. All of my connections and LOR writers are in SD so it helps that I can strengthen my relationship with them for future letters, opportunities, or just advice in general.

2. Why UCSD (academics)
So I am familiar with the classes and the layout of the campus so it won't feel any different for me. The reason why I think the UCSD post bacc stands out to any other post bacc is because of Steve Schneid, the teacher. He teaches MS1s and pharm year 2 students. He is a professor that teaches a class each quarter specifically for UCSD post bacc students. He is also one of the founders of the UCSD post bacc and after meeting with him in person, I wouldn't want to go to any other post bacc. His mission is to transform students that have virtually 0% chance to get into med school (2.8 GPA students) into students that crush exams in med school. The way he explained it to me was that he wants to give everyone a strong foundation of the sciences for the MCAT and any other bio class you may take.

3. Why UCSD (med school application help and/or advising)
The advising looks top notch which can be said about other programs. This did not factor into my decision too heavily only because each program I applied to had personal advising so it wasn't a dealbreaker but thankfully all programs I looked into were great on this. My advisor for UCSD is good friends with Dr. Pinesett (mentioned above) so I'll be in good hands once the program officially begins. Cost does not impact me because to me this is an investment so in the long run I will be fine. If this helps me reach my dream to be a physician, I'm fine with it.

Again if anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask on here or DM me!

 

[MrBanana211]

Hi! Sorry for the late reply I did not get any notification updates from this page.
Undergraduate: UCSD Major: Physiology & Neuroscience
Stats:
I am actually a lower end applicant numbers-wise but I'm proof that you can still be accepted into a top tier program even though you may be lacking a little. My 1st 2 years of undergrad were poor 2.8-3.1ish and I had a lot going on at the time family-wise so basically nothing was on my side tbh. I did come from a not so stellar high school so my foundation was poor and I did not have study skills to help me succeed throughout college. Going into 3rd year, I spent the whole summer trying to figure out how to study properly and I reached out to Dr. Andre Pinesett and he really helped me out on how to succeed (You don't have to pay for his material I'm not a sponsor or anything but he personally helped me and even face to face help without me spending money, he truly just wanted to give back). Throughout 3rd year I maintained a 3.45 (not a 4.0 but a significant uptrend) taking upper div bio and this past quarter I got a 4.0 so that's basically my academic career.
cGPA: 3.25
sGPA: 3.1

Activities list:
It mainly focuses on the Hispanic underserved community (orgs/hospital volunteering, outreach), the special needs community (awareness, volunteering), clinical research about autism (2 years), clinical research on stem cells (3 months 16 hrs a week), clinical volunteering at a hospital (400 hours), shadowing (400 hours). Leadership in everything except the shadowing. If you want specifics or help with yours feel free to DM me and I can run through it with you.

Personal Statement:
Focus on giving back to the special needs community and the underserved Latino community. Both are communities I grew up in. I am Hispanic/Latino and saw these struggles first hand. My brother has autism and again I want to make a difference for people like him in the medical field. I did not restate anything from my activities list. If you want more specifics or if you want help on yours, feel free to DM me.

I'm going to breakdown why UCSD in 3 parts:

1. Why UCSD (location personal to me)
I'm from LA and I went to UCSD for undergrad so it won't be that much of a transition for school or moving. My medical scribe job is also in SD so that helps lol. All of my connections and LOR writers are in SD so it helps that I can strengthen my relationship with them for future letters, opportunities, or just advice in general.

2. Why UCSD (academics)
So I am familiar with the classes and the layout of the campus so it won't feel any different for me. The reason why I think the UCSD post bacc stands out to any other post bacc is because of Steve Schneid, the teacher. He teaches MS1s and pharm year 2 students. He is a professor that teaches a class each quarter specifically for UCSD post bacc students. He is also one of the founders of the UCSD post bacc and after meeting with him in person, I wouldn't want to go to any other post bacc. His mission is to transform students that have virtually 0% chance to get into med school (2.8 GPA students) into students that crush exams in med school. The way he explained it to me was that he wants to give everyone a strong foundation of the sciences for the MCAT and any other bio class you may take.

3. Why UCSD (med school application help and/or advising)
The advising looks top notch which can be said about other programs. This did not factor into my decision too heavily only because each program I applied to had personal advising so it wasn't a dealbreaker but thankfully all programs I looked into were great on this. My advisor for UCSD is good friends with Dr. Pinesett (mentioned above) so I'll be in good hands once the program officially begins. Cost does not impact me because to me this is an investment so in the long run I will be fine. If this helps me reach my dream to be a physician, I'm fine with it.

Again if anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask on here or DM me!

If you don't mind sharing, what study tips did Dr. Andre share with you?

 

[MrBanana211]

It seems like there are a limited number of merit based scholarships for med school.

Is it possible to kill this program and the mcat and be looked at favorably for such scholarships?

 

[Pioleen]

If you don't mind sharing, what study tips did Dr. Andre share with you?

Sure! If you want the full details visit his page and website for courses that can help you. These are just what I learned and what I took from his advice.
Scheduling: scheduling 2-3 hours out my day to study 5x a week in the morning really changed how my grades shot up. No tricks or anything just have time blocked out where there’s no phone or distractions to study. Personally I studied from 7:30-10:30am in the library when it just opened so it was empty and quiet. It worked with my schedule but do what works for you.an hour in the morning is worth 2 at night. Your brain is most fresh in the morning after good sleep. Dr. Pinesett goes into way more detail about this but yeah.
Consistency: Really the only way to make sure this works is if you keep doing it. Think of it like the gym. This is where your mental strength comes in and push yourself to study. The beginning is obviously difficult but it does become fun tbh. Once the material clicks it’s great lol
Condensing material: digesting material from a difficult class is the worst. He helped me chuck material and how to organize information to Basically cue myself off to memorize lecture/reading material. Even if I couldn’t remember specifics, knowing the general idea about topics could at least narrow down choices especially in multiple choice tests. Each class requires some tweaking and it comes down to you and what makes
Mindset: He’s great at helping people to get into the mindset that they can be that student that dominates in the class. I personally felt down after my first 2 years in undergrad and was pretty lost tbh since my gpa wasn’t near enough to be accepted. He helped me believe in myself and I wouldn’t be in this post bacc program if it weren’t for him. He also told me to apply to post baccs lol
High yield vs low yield: separating on what’s testable vs not testable at times is hard but this comes with practice. He gives an okay process but it was a good baseline to use
Practice and persistance: There really is no other way around hard work unfortunately. You won’t be the perfect studier but it does get better. I still struggle if I’m completely honest but his advice made college a little easier. You will have setbacks but that’s just the life of a premed.
I had big time imposter syndrome since everyone around me just seemed so smart and my background is of a hs that wasn’t exactly top notch. He helped me realize I can become a doctor even though I had setbacks and came from a disadvantaged background. It may take longer for me to grasp concepts and more time to memorize some stuff, so be it, all that matters are my test scores in the end. He’s also very brutally honest and will tell you if you’re slacking.

There’s more but this is just off the top of my head. He also has a lot of stuff on the activities list section, personal statement, interviews, when to apply, etc....

 

[dreamzchaser]

Anyone on the waitlist for UCSD and hear back?


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[Denver123]

Hi, I was wondering what MCAT score you need in order to partake in the linkage to westernU upon finishing the post bacc with a gpa higher than a 3.3

 

[Meowster007]

Hey! If anyone has gone thru this by now, I had a few questions.

Linkage how well?
Are you forced to take MCAT again?
What are the actual chances of getting into their own med school? Especially if you are OOS and then do this program?
How difficult is the program?
Is this for people who haven't done premed prereqs or is it academic enhancing?

 

[MrBanana211]

Hey! If anyone has gone thru this by now, I had a few questions.

Linkage how well?
Are you forced to take MCAT again?
What are the actual chances of getting into their own med school? Especially if you are OOS and then do this program?
How difficult is the program?
Is this for people who haven't done premed prereqs or is it academic enhancing?

1. Linkage works really well. Everyone who applied (4-6 people) got in.
2. You aren't forced to take the MCAT. If you're happy with your score, you don't have to do anything MCAT related.
3. Actual chances of getting into UCSD med school is higher than the national average, which isn't saying much as the national average is 1%. I think there are 3-5 people who get in every cohort.
4. Program difficulty for most people (pre-covid) was that it was difficult and had time for little else. Some had time for work but even then, not much. The difficult part is balancing the program with MCAT studies and other stuff.
5. You need premed prereqs to enter the program. It is primarily for record enhancement.

 

[bbdubz]

Hi everyone! I was just accepted to the program as well and just committed this weekend. I've been living in San Diego for the past 5 years (I'm an SDSU alumni) and if anybunny needs help with anything, I'm happy to help! Also a huge foodie so I'm your girl for any recommendations.

Hi! I am still waiting to hear back from UCSD for this 2021-2022 cycle. As you already went through the program, might I ask how it's going? Especially in regards to its impact on your MCAT and if you decided to go through their linkage program or not?

I appreciate it!