University of Colorado Denver or Boulder for post-BAC pre-requisite courses?

[Premed Colorado]

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone here has an opinion about whether it would be better to attend CU-Boulder or CU-Denver for pre-med prerequisite courses as a post-baccalaureate student.

I have a degree from CU-Boulder but am currently living near Denver (though would be willing to move back to the Boulder area if necessary).

I'm particularly interested whether professors at CU-Denver are helpful in terms of recommendation letters, as well as opinions about the pre-med committees at each school, research opportunities, etc.

I have visited CU-Denver a few times now and while it seems like a nice overall school, I thought the administration (Arts and Sciences advising specifically) was rather unhelpful and this made me concerned about whether the professors and pre-med committee are likely to treat students similarly.

Any input or experience would be appreciated.

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[lego1443]

I looked into both and ended up at CU Denver, starting this past January. I have a BA from a small liberal arts college so I initially had no clue about what it was like to attend a large university. At UCD, It's nice to be able to tailor your own schedule outside of the 12 month program that CU Boulder offers. Also, from what I've heard from students who've attended both schools, the science curriculum is better taught at CU Denver. I'm very satisfied with my experience so far at UCD.

As far as advising, the pre-health advisors at UCD are actually very good. They will be much more helpful once you are a matriculated student. That said, they see hundreds of students everyday (it seems like 3/4 of the campus is pre-health of some kind), so do your best to go in prepared with thought out questions. Once you see them a few times, it's easy to form a relationship. They just need to remember who you are.

Since UCD is laden with pre-health students, there is a pretty intense process for committee letters, but if you are committed to going to medical school, this probably shouldn't come as a surprise and you should just consider it another "pre-med hoop" to jump through. As far as professors, every department is different, but you'll encounter that at any school. In my opinion, as long as you are industrious and make the point to form good relationships with professors, you should be able to get strong letters of rec, no matter what school you decide on.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions 🙂

 

[Premed Colorado]

Thanks, that was really helpful. Could you elaborate a bit on the committee letter process being intense because of the large number of pre-health students at UCD? I don't mind an intensive process but I want to make sure I'm making a wise choice about how to spend the student loan money I'll be taking out in order to do this. I wouldn't want to go through taking courses there just to have the pre-med committee not write a letter if I have a strong academic and volunteer record because the school is over-crowded with pre-health students.

In other words, do they deny writing letters at a high rate just because there are so many students trying to get letters? To me that seems like an unfair process because that could suggest that a similarly qualified student at another school would not have a problem getting a letter. (If this is what you meant by the large numbers of pre-health students making the letter process more intensive.)


Oh and if you don't mind, what has your experience been like with professors and their willingness to write recommendation letters? I had really helpful professors at CU Boulder who were very willing to write letters and were engaged with students and genuinely interested in helping them succeed. I guess I just got a negative impression from some of the administration I've encountered so far and am concerned about what it may suggest about the rest of the school.

Mainly, I would like to go somewhere that is supportive and willing to take the time to help you succeed over a place that is over-burdened with students and unwilling to do those things for that reason.

 

[lego1443]

Let me preface all of this with the fact that I still have 4 semesters left of pre-reqs and that I haven't yet asked any profs for LORs (I am taking additional classes with several of them, and wanted to wait until I finished their upper level courses before asking). So my knowledge is second-hand and subjective.

From what I hear, the committee letter process is essentially a large packet of information (looking eerily similar to a professional school application) comprised of information about you personally, academically, professionally, etc. There are several seminars at the beginning of each semester that you must attend one of to get the low-down on what the committee wants from you (finishing the packet, scheduling meetings with them, etc.). I say it's an intense process in that I have several friends tell me how long they've worked on said packet. What I haven't heard of is the committee being selective about who they write letters for. As long as you do what they ask, I think you're golden.

My professors thus far have been fantastic (often better than those I had the first time I was in undergraduate classes at a 'top-tier' college). I definitely have shopped around and catered my schedule towards the professors who my peers recommend, because I've heard horror stories too. I'm not the least bit nervous about asking them for LORs. Go to office hours, spend extra time on the material, show that you really want to "get it" and they'll be happy to help.

A word about the large number of pre-meds- this has been more of a blessing than a curse for me thus far. UCD has a large number of non-traditional students, and I have made some great friends who are in the same boat I am. Not once have I felt as if I had to be competitive with them. It's actually been great to be surrounded by supportive, like-minded people.

 

[Premed Colorado]

Thanks, that helped a lot to assuage some of my concerns. I've been looking into the pre-medical committee letter process at CU Boulder and it sounds like it is pretty similar to what you described.

Have you looked into doing any research there?

I'm really glad to hear that you've had a positive experience with your professors so far. Just out of curiosity, is there anyone you would suggest for chemistry, biology, and / or physics in case I end up going there? Thanks for all your help

 

[lego1443]

Still working on the research part. I'm doing hospital volunteering right now and getting basic sciences under my belt first. I think I'll probably start more aggressively looking for opportunities once I have a better understanding of the scientific basis of what I'm going to be researching, if that makes sense.

I'll send you a pm about professors.

 

[HoltMD]

I looked into both and ended up at CU Denver, starting this past January. I have a BA from a small liberal arts college so I initially had no clue about what it was like to attend a large university. At UCD, It's nice to be able to tailor your own schedule outside of the 12 month program that CU Boulder offers. Also, from what I've heard from students who've attended both schools, the science curriculum is better taught at CU Denver. I'm very satisfied with my experience so far at UCD.

Are you enrolled as a degree seeking student or as a nondegree? I know if you already have a BS they charge you graduate tuition even when enrolled in undergrad class.

 

[lego1443]

Are you enrolled as a degree seeking student or as a nondegree? I know if you already have a BS they charge you graduate tuition even when enrolled in undergrad class.

I applied as a degree-seeking student and was accepted for that track. Both the pre-health advisor and admissions advisor I spoke with said this was the correct thing to do. I don't have a declared major, I just classify myself as pre-med if asked. There are many other students at UCD in the same situation. It also hasn't had any bearing on my tuition... I have lived in CO all my life and because most of my classes from my bachelors transferred, I'm technically a fifth year senior (which is great for registration 🙂 I pay in-state tuition as an upper-level undergrad student. This may not be the case if you are an out-of-state student, I don't know.

 

[HoltMD]

I applied as a degree-seeking student and was accepted for that track. Both the pre-health advisor and admissions advisor I spoke with said this was the correct thing to do. I don't have a declared major, I just classify myself as pre-med if asked. There are many other students at UCD in the same situation. It also hasn't had any bearing on my tuition... I have lived in CO all my life and because most of my classes from my bachelors transferred, I'm technically a fifth year senior (which is great for registration 🙂 I pay in-state tuition as an upper-level undergrad student. This may not be the case if you are an out-of-state student, I don't know.

That's the best route to take from what I hear.

 

[greenman2012]

I'd like to reactivate this thread because I have a couple of questions about these post-bac programs:

1. For CU-Denver, is there a formal post-bac program? I can't find anything on the school's Website about it. Did you just enroll as an undergraduate and create your own program with the required courses?

2. Were I to enroll in a program at either school, would there be an opportunity to matriculate into med school immediately following the post-bac program, or would I have to wait a year, take the MCAT and enroll afterward? I'm still trying to get my head around how these post-bac programs work when there's no formal "linkage" program with a medical college.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Since CU-Denver doesn't have a linkage, you would be applying as a normal student... I did an informal post-bacc and I did fine... Go to whichever school suits you the best...