Does my Post-Bacc plan look OK?

[brightglo]

Hi, I'm a long time lurker of SDN and this is my first post....

About me: I will be graduating soon from undergrad and I know I will need some form of a post-bacc to repair my science GPA. My plan is to take courses as a non-degree seeking student at a local state school and take the MCAT in January 2018.

URM: AA Female
cGPA: 3.28 (Non-science Major, w/o science courses cGPA is 3.56)
sGPA: 2.8ish (yes I know)
ECs:

• More than 200 hours volunteering at a cancer center
• Tutoring elementary school students 20ish hours (will be returning this fall so this number can go up)
• Current employee at a mental health facility
• Other miscellaneous community service activities

I used an AMCAS GPA calculator and if I take 6 upper-division science courses (18 credits) and receive As, my sGPA can move up to 3.1, with 10 courses (30 credits) my sGPA can move up to 3.24.

Does this plan look okay? Any other suggestions for me?

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[SDeduN]

Hi! Looks fine to me, if your goal is to do your absolute due diligence before jumping into your first (and hopefully only) app cycle. First step though, finish your undergrad as strongly as possible. Then, like you assessed, your aim should be to do your best in every post-bacc course taken and to earn those A's. If you can afford to take 10 courses, OK. However I feel like if you can raise your sGPA to at least above 3.0, that should prove sufficient from a value-standpoint.

Aside from that, don't take too many upper-division science courses per semester if you can (personally, I'd say 3 max). Not sure if you'll be working at the same time, but this would increase your chances of earning those high marks you want while still balancing workload. Try taking courses that will also double as prep for the MCAT, if you haven't taken them yet. For example, I found Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Immunology and Developmental Biology useful (even a recent psychology/sociology course would be quite beneficial). If you can find a course that also includes a lot of scientific research-paper reading/analysis in its curriculum, take that too. I unexpectedly found those dense-material reading skills helpful in the Bio/Biochem section on the real MCAT. Lastly if possible, hold off on taking the MCAT until you have free time to dedicate to it without having to worry about acing your courses. Although the courses will hopefully help you prepare content-wise, ~2 months+ of dedicated prep for the MCAT would be most ideal, especially right after you have just completed all the post-bacc courses. Having been Lucky to gain acceptance to a med school with slightly worse undergrad stats, you can do it! I followed a similar plan as you hope to take and as detailed above. Best of Luck!!

 

[brightglo]

Hi! Looks fine to me, if your goal is to do your absolute due diligence before jumping into your first (and hopefully only) app cycle. First step though, finish your undergrad as strongly as possible. Then, like you assessed, your aim should be to do your best in every post-bacc course taken and to earn those A's. If you can afford to take 10 courses, OK. However I feel like if you can raise your sGPA to at least above 3.0, that should prove sufficient from a value-standpoint.

Aside from that, don't take too many upper-division science courses per semester if you can (personally, I'd say 3 max). Not sure if you'll be working at the same time, but this would increase your chances of earning those high marks you want while still balancing workload. Try taking courses that will also double as prep for the MCAT, if you haven't taken them yet. For example, I found Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Immunology and Developmental Biology useful (even a recent psychology/sociology course would be quite beneficial). If you can find a course that also includes a lot of scientific research-paper reading/analysis in its curriculum, take that too. I unexpectedly found those dense-material reading skills helpful in the Bio/Biochem section on the real MCAT. Lastly if possible, hold off on taking the MCAT until you have free time to dedicate to it without having to worry about acing your courses. Although the courses will hopefully help you prepare content-wise, ~2 months+ of dedicated prep for the MCAT would be most ideal, especially right after you have just completed all the post-bacc courses. Having been Lucky to gain acceptance to a med school with slightly worse undergrad stats, you can do it! I followed a similar plan as you hope to take and as detailed above. Best of Luck!!

Thanks so much, SDeduN. I was planning on working and continuing to volunteer while doing my post-bac, but I know I'll have to leave enough time to study so I can ace my courses.

 

[DrKendrickLamar]

If medicine is what you want to do, I definitely would consider a post-bac as it did help me get into medical school several years ago.

I agree with the above reply. Message me if you have further questions