which postbacc program should I attend?

[ididoc]

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I have been accepted into the NYU and Columbia Postbacc premed programs as well as the Harvard health careers program. Which program should I enroll in.? Any suggestions? pros/cons?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Hey, First off, congrats on getting accepted! Would you mind divulging how you got accepted? (i.e. Did you take the GRE's, and if so, how well did you score, also what volunteer work did you, and what's your background.)

What Mr. Adventure has heard:

I have heard that the Columbia program is not the best ever due to the ratio of instructors to students. I've also heard that it's not a great environment for "team-work" since everyone is fairly cut-throat.

From what I've heard, NYU has one of the better programs due to class size, cooperation among students, and course structure...

Could someone please verify?

 

[ididoc]

Hey, First off, congrats on getting accepted! Would you mind divulging how you got accepted? (i.e. Did you take the GRE's, and if so, how well did you score, also what volunteer work did you, and what's your background.)

What Mr. Adventure has heard:

I have heard that the Columbia program is not the best ever due to the ratio of instructors to students. I've also heard that it's not a great environment for "team-work" since everyone is fairly cut-throat.

From what I've heard, NYU has one of the better programs due to class size, cooperation among students, and course structure...

Could someone please verify?

Mr. Adventure,

I did not take the GRE's and I did not volunteer at any hospital/home. However, I mentioned that I did some labwork during my college career. I graduated with a BS in Biomedical Engineering in May. I guess they must have loved my personal statement. Maybe the fact that I attended an Ivy league college might have helped immensely. All I can say is write a darn good essay and pray.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Thanks bro (or sista), I will! And pray I shall... Have you looked into housing around NYU? The big X Factor for me is how to be able to afford living in these mucho grande expensive studio apartments. Anyway, I've intruded on your thread enough. Hopefully someone who's actually been through these programs can chime in for ya...

 

[allisonbk]

Thanks bro (or sista), I will! And pray I shall... Have you looked into housing around NYU? The big X Factor for me is how to be able to afford living in these mucho grande expensive studio apartments. Anyway, I've intruded on your thread enough. Hopefully someone who's actually been through these programs can chime in for ya...

I am finishing up my post-bacc at NYU now. Although Columbia has a much better reputaion for their post-bacc, I am happy with my decision (for the most part) I think both programs have their problems- you can PM me with any questions.

 

[jules0328]

Go to Hunter, its cheaper and better!

 

[Jazzinax]

Does anyone know the differences between University of Vermont, Boston University, Hofstra University, LaSalle, Rutgers interms of their post bacc premed programs? How are their class sizes, living situations, faculty, etc... any help would be great!

 

[jeantm]

Hi,

I'm currently in the COlumbia program, and have really enjoyed it so far. There are some that don't, but I think it is a very individual thing. For myself I wasn't looking for a program that I would be in small classes etc, because I had that as an undergrad and wanted to tyr something new. I loved my small classes, but I have also really liked my large lectures with small recitation sections. Everyone says it is very competitive , but I think you can tell who not to talk to etc if you don't want to be around competition. I've surrounded myself with lots of noncompetitive people and it has been great. The advising is amazing, my advisor is very caring and so much more informative than I could have imagined. The professors have all been very approachable and open to lots os office hours etc. There are lots of opportunities to get into outside stuff as well, and the program has lots of activities it sets up. If you have any specific question maybe I could be more helpful.

Good luck

 

[RogueRules]

Dear Ididoc,

Both Columbia's and NYU's programs are solid - if those are the two schools to which you have narrowed your search, I would suggest you choose the school at which you will feel more comfortable. In truth, your postbacc program will have little to do with where you attend medical school - the most important part of succeeding in your medical school admissions process is how well you do at your post-bacc, not where you do it.

As one other post suggested, I would strongly urge you to consider Hunter's postbacc program. You will save yourself about $20K, have great instruction and a wonderfully collegial atmosphere. I did my postbacc there and am attending Cornell Med. In fact, out of 101 students in the incoming 2009 class at Cornell, 5 are Hunter post-baccs, 1 is a Hunter undergrad. You can't argue with numbers like that. This year, students were accepted into every NYC school including Columbia, as well as all the various SUNY schools and plenty of others. In any event, I would urge you to check out the Hunter post-bacc yahoo group to get a feel for the community there. The web site also has a database table of a list of schools to which post-baccs were accepted this year. The link is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PreHealthPostBacc/

Admittedly, the weak part of the program has been the pre-med advising. However, the advisor has retired and they are in the process of hiring a new advisor as we speak, so we are all confident that things should get better in that regard.

Best of luck to you in your decision. Again, you really can't go wrong no matter what you choose unless you choose somewhere that you're miserable. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to PM me.

I have been accepted into the NYU and Columbia Postbacc premed programs as well as the Harvard health careers program. Which program should I enroll in.? Any suggestions? pros/cons?