Will I need a masters/SMP after my post-bacc?

[Tayne]

Hi all,

I recently graduated. I did pretty poorly in pre-med classes and major classes.

Cumulative GPA: ~3.0
BCMP GPA: ~2.9

I'm now a post-bacc. student re-taking some pre-med requirements. I also will soon start volunteering in the ER at a hospital, and will continue to look for other extracurricular activities that will prepare me for medical school.

My question is: If I do very well in the post-bacc, and get a good MCAT score, should I direct my energy to applying to medical school? Or will I need a master's program (or SMP) to be competitive?

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[deleted248403]

I would say yes you need an SMP

 

[James Sacket]

If you get good GPA in post-bacc and good MCAT score, it's going to help you a lot. I knew a handful of post-bacc students who were in your shoes. Most of them went on to SMP and applied to med schools at the same time.
I think of SMP as a further means to increase your chances, if you do well.

 

[Tayne]

Thank you for your responses!

If you get good GPA in post-bacc and good MCAT score, it's going to help you a lot. I knew a handful of post-bacc students who were in your shoes. Most of them went on to SMP and applied to med schools at the same time.
I think of SMP as a further means to increase your chances, if you do well.

If I do well in post-bacc, and well on my MCAT, could I do something else to augment my resume: say, working in a lab? I could possibly get a good letter of recommendation and more hands-on science experience than I already have (I've worked in a lab before, briefly.) Or is an SMP the only thing that would help?

 

[deleted212936]

If I do well in post-bacc, and well on my MCAT, could I do something else to augment my resume: say, working in a lab? I could possibly get a good letter of recommendation and more hands-on science experience than I already have (I've worked in a lab before, briefly.) Or is an SMP the only thing that would help?

Have you had any research experience? The important thing is to do what REALLY interests you so you can get the best result to show med school.

 

[Tayne]

Have you had any research experience? The important thing is to do what REALLY interests you so you can get the best result to show med school.
Also, be aware that SMP is risky: If you do below B level, it will backfire.

I have done research before, but wasn't given as many responsibilities as I had hoped for. I am interested in biology/chemistry research and hope to find something I can really get involved in.

My main concern though is if good post-bacc grades, MCAT scores, and extracurriculars will be enough to atone for my mistakes. In a few words: Will I NEED a masters? And if so, is just a masters that isn't an SMP (e.g. the Columbia nutrition program, or something such as an M.S. in biology) OK?

 

[Tayne]

Huh? What's ur mcat score and what are ur grade trends? How many years of postbac or semesters or credits most importantly have you done?

All these make a bigger point then the overall number in and of itself from my knowledge.

Doing 60 credit hour of postbac with 4.0 even if overall is 3.0 and 2.94 is a bigger deal then say 20 credits of 4.0 postbac with 3.0 and 2.94.

Also MCAT scores make a big different.

If you ahve 2 strong years of 60 credits I don't think you need an SMP if it is also coupled with a strong MCAT. But 1 year of postbac, might want to do 1 year of SMP following that. I don't know ur full specifics though.

Thanks for the response, gujuDoc. I am only in my first post-bacc semester, and have yet to take the MCAT, so I realize this is not much to work with.

I'm in my first post-bacc semester and plan on re-taking all the general science requirements, plus a couple biology electives. It will probably wind up being somewhere between 30-40 credits. As such, my overall GPA won't be boosted very much; I was hoping that showing that I am capable of doing well in these classes is good enough, but I'm not sure if it's enough to fix things.