Post Bac vs Doing it on my own

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kjharris

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Hi everyone --

I am 28 years old and currently work in the investment industry. When I was in college majoring in business, I THOUGHT this was what I wanted to do with my life, but now I feel so disillusioned with the whole financial industry, like the only purpose of my job is to make rich people richer. I graduated from undergrad in 97 with a degree in International Business and a very limited science background. While I realize that I must take the science prereqs before I can even begin to consider applying to med school, I'm wondering if it really matters if I enroll in a post bac program or just take the prereqs on my own. Is the latter option frowned upon by admissions committees? My cumulative GPA from undergrad was 3.38 and my science GPA was 4.0 which is not as impressive as it sounds, since I only took one science class :) Anyway, sorry this is so long but I would really appreciate any opinions you guys could give!

Thanks so much!
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I just pm'd you. hope it helps.
 
I did a post-bacc program on my own, after having been in a similar situation -- having a liberal arts degree and several years of job experience in a non-health field. My situation was slightly different, though, in that I was applying to optometry school rather than medical school.

Assuming that you choose a university that has a pre-health committee, you can put together the courses you need along with the required recommendation letters for a fraction of the cost of what a formal post-bacc program will cost you. A formal post-bacc program has a lot of benefits, though -- among them, you get a lot of good contacts from the program (and sometimes get preferential consideration from affiliated med schools), and your class schedule is streamlined so that you might get through the program faster than if you took courses a-la-carte.
 
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I personally went with the formal post bac program (Temple's, which is geared for those with no science background). I liked the fact that I was told exactly what I needed to take to satisfy the requirements for med school and that there were opportunities in place if I wanted to boost my app by doing some research, volunteer in the Tioga Knife and Gun Club (uhhh... I mean Temple Hospital's ER), or other such stuff. The linkage was also a plus (although my undergrad grades were so bad that I didn't qualify) and I know others that were able to take advantage of it, lucky bastards!
 
Thanks so much for your advice, everyone! It's been really helpful!
 
kjharris -- I just noticed you're in Baltimore -- if you're interested in going the DIY route, you should check out UMBC. They have a really high graduate school acceptance rate (the percentage of undergrads applying to and getting accepted to grad/professional school programs including medicine...), and they have a pre-professional committee that will handle your rec letters requirement.

It's just a thought. If you have any questions about it, PM me. :)
 
Hi,

I come from a similar background as you do. I graduated in '99 with a degree in economics and worked in consulting for two years before becoming disillusioned and wanting "more" from life.

I initially thought that the formal post-bac route would be the way to go, as linkage programs and post-bac geared advising would be available. I started off at Columbia U's post-bac program. After a semester, I realized that it was a total waste of money. While many of the post-bacs were initiallydrawn to CU for the linkage programs, few actually ended up applying. People cited narrow school selection and difficulty of being accepted into the linkage programs as being reasons for not applying.

Also, in CU's case, they don;t let you take classes over the summer. Thus, it takes two years to complete all the post-bac courses.

Also, I got a very poor impression of the post-bac premed advisors. When I went to meet with one for the first time, she hardly paid attention to me and even took a non-emergency sounding phone call during our meeting.

I decided to transfer to UMD to finish up my courses. Not only did I save a ton of money, but I had more flexibility in terms of the courses I wanted to take and when to take them. The courses were equal in difficulty and I met many fellow post-bacs in my classes. Also, the premed advising is excellent.

I personally think that doing it on your own is a both economically and logistically better option.

I know I've rambled...Please let me know if you have any other questions....
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "doing it on my own". You still need to take the classes at a university. I'm in a post-bacc program: to me, it just an "official" way for me to take undergrad classes, and it acknowledges my nontraditional route. Here's the IMPORTANT part: You need to develop relationships with your professors because they'll be writing your recommendations, AND you need to connect with the university's prehealth committee because they will assign you an advisor and assemble your recommendation package. Skip this and you're screwed.
 
When I said "doing it on my own", I simply meant taking the classes individually on my own schedule without being enrolled in an "official" post bac program. Thanks for the advice about the prehealth committee! I had almost forgotten about that!
 
i wrangled over that same dilemma. i rec'd a BA in the arts many years ago and decided to go into medicine recently. i always recommend that you let the pros make the decisions for you. i hired a private premed advisor recommended to me by UC San Diego. she explained the 2 options to me and they're pretty much what the others in this posting have said.

she told me to go with the less expensive do-it-on-my-own postbac program.

couldn't be happier! i'm now an extension student at a very competitive science school (UCSD) and:

1) i didn't have to apply to "get in" (i'm not in a degree program), i just whipped out my wallet and had the whole catalog of courses to choose from;

2) i only take the classes my advisor tells me to;

2) my tuition is a sliver of what you'd pay in a postbac program.

besides, you'll be in debt up to your corneas soon enuf...

-hightide;)

p.s. my premed advisor works with students across the country, she placed 100% of her clients into med school in 2003... let me know if you'd like her URL.
 
Originally posted by hightide
i wrangled over that same dilemma. i rec'd a BA in the arts many years ago and decided to go into medicine recently. i always recommend that you let the pros make the decisions for you. i hired a private premed advisor recommended to me by UC San Diego. she explained the 2 options to me and they're pretty much what the others in this posting have said.

she told me to go with the less expensive do-it-on-my-own postbac program.

couldn't be happier! i'm now an extension student at a very competitive science school (UCSD) and:

1) i didn't have to apply to "get in" (i'm not in a degree program), i just whipped out my wallet and had the whole catalog of courses to choose from;

2) i only take the classes my advisor tells me to;

2) my tuition is a sliver of what you'd pay in a postbac program.

besides, you'll be in debt up to your corneas soon enuf...

-hightide;)

p.s. my premed advisor works with students across the country, she placed 100% of her clients into med school in 2003... let me know if you'd like her URL.
Click to expand...

When I did Temple's post bac program, I paid the same as if I would have if I did it on my own, plus the advising was free and I had resources available to me that I might not had know about if I wasn't in a structured (no cost above tuition) program. Personally I wouldn't want to pay additional $$$ for an outside advisor, for me it was all about connections. I would recommend against paying for an advisor, just use the one at which ever school you take your classes.
 
Hi all,

Both of you (ussdefiant and hightide) have good points, however, it would probably depend on the needs of the individual person whether they choose an independent post-bac program vs. an "official" structured program. For example, if someone could not come out of their pocket to pay for classes and needed to have some sort of financial aid, especially if you are trying to do your postbacc full-time. Then, you might choose an "official" program. Another point I'd like to make, however, is that not ALL schools have good pre-health advising committees or advisors. So, in that sense, you might not have the access to those resources you might miss if you did it on your own. It does seem a bit extreme to pay for a private pre-med advisor, but hey!....if you have the money, then what better way to get guaranteed, personalized attention to your pre-med needs. It just might be worth it, depending on the price he/she charges as a professional private advisor. On that note......what's the URL for that private advisor hightide? :D
 
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Thanks kjharris, for the clarification. I haven't encountered any restrictions with my post-bacc program (Loyola). I can take what I want when I want. Also, med schools are looking for commitment, so it sounds good to be able to say that you've entered a post-bacc program. It implies a decision, a commitment.
 
hightide - pls PM me with your advisor's URL. thanks
 
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I also vote for doing it on your own. I had a BA in history, and then did post-bac at U of Arizona and had a great experience. It was cheap, and since I was serious about school and older than most of the undergrads in my classes, I found it was pretty easy to get to know professors. I made some great relationships and learned a lot. And the university provided a letter service and advising, which is often one of the "perks" with a formal program. I had friends who did formal programs, Columbia, Harvard Extension, and Bryn Mawr, and none of them had much postive to say about their programs. Their conclusion was that they were expensive, full of obnoxious, driven people, and in the end didn't really help much with admissions.
 
Getting the feeling that the majority of people resonding to this thread agree with the "do it yourself" route. I'm just going to be another voice supporting the majority.

I graduated from UMBC in 94 with a degee in Psych. Worked in clinical trial research for a few years and hated every minute. Got fed up and applied to Goucher College's post-bacc program.... They rejected me QUICKLY. So, I decided (by default) that I would do it on my own at UMBC. Started in May 97 and finished in May of 98 having taken ALL (but one) pre-reqs during that period. Did Chem 101 and Chem 102 in the summer session, Org I and II, Physics I and II with labs in the fall and spring sessions. Also snuck in a Genetics course as my "upper level" biology (took the "lower level" in my original college experience).

So, I decided to screw around for another 2 years and then I finally applied to 7 area med schools- got accepted at 3. Chose U of Maryland. Will graduate in a few months.

So, the point of my story is that you can do it on your own and you can do it expeditiously and with less debt.

I'm still bitter about being rejected from Goucher, but OH SO GLAD that it worked out that way. Rather than spending 16 K, I only spent < 3K at UMBC.
 
Thanks, dwgs

I have heard good things about UMBC so they are definitely on my list. I was was also thinking about Towson since they offer a lot of classes in the evenings.

PS. Why do you say "Baltimore-ugh!" According to the benchs at the bus stops, it's the "Greatest City in America!" They are even nice enough to have a "parking ticket amnesty day"! :D
 
Hi there kjh-

Just thought I'd finish this up with a little discussion for all the Marylanders out there. In terms of UMBC vs. Towson, I'd opt for UMBC. Reason: Towson is a wonderful liberal arts school while UMBC is known for its science programs. Not that it should make that much of a difference as far as med school goes, but I might think twice about this decision. Getting into med school is hard enough.

At UMBC there are dedicated counselors available to all post-bacc students. The support I got when I was there was tremendous. They are very honest folks that give it to you straight. Not sure about Towson in this respect.

Hope this helps.

One more thing- parking at UMBC is substantially better than at Towson. :p

-dwgs
 
Hmm, now that makes me lean more toward UMBC...

Also traffic from downtown to UMBC would be much less hectic than downtown to Towson!
 
I'd also absolutely choose UMBC over Towson! I echo everything dwgs says, since I was also a UMBC undergrad-turned-UMBC post-bacc student. :D

Originally posted by dwgs
Hi there kjh-

Just thought I'd finish this up with a little discussion for all the Marylanders out there. In terms of UMBC vs. Towson, I'd opt for UMBC. Reason: Towson is a wonderful liberal arts school while UMBC is known for its science programs. Not that it should make that much of a difference as far as med school goes, but I might think twice about this decision. Getting into med school is hard enough.

At UMBC there are dedicated counselors available to all post-bacc students. The support I got when I was there was tremendous. They are very honest folks that give it to you straight. Not sure about Towson in this respect.

Hope this helps.

One more thing- parking at UMBC is substantially better than at Towson. :p

-dwgs
Click to expand...
 
I'm in the same boat as the original poster. One aspect of this discussion that I haven't yet seen covered is the idea of 'academic stamina,' to quote the director of one postbac program I spoke with.

If an applicant has a reasonably okay transcript, but does not have evidence of the ability to take a big heavy courseload all at once, do you think there's extra benefit in going the postbac route?

I've had a couple of med schools tell me they do like to see that you can handle it... and I've had others say that doing the heavy lifting of a postbac doesn't necessarily impress them more than working and doing courses part-time would. Have you encountered feedback on the topic?
 
It's certainly something to think about....but I truly think that PROVING your "academic stamina", as you put it, is very important. It sucks that sometimes, life's events don't allow you to go to school full-time because of various reasons (financial, family, etc), and though something positive can be said for being able to take care of those responsibilities and only take some classes part-time, it doesn't really help the medical school admissions committee in judging whether or not you will be able to handle the FULL TIME courseload of a typical medical student.....after all...you WON'T be working part-time when in medical school, since it requires you total focus/attention/concentration to do well. And this is really the important point here....that you show the adcomm you are able to handle a full courseload. Otherwise, you are making their job more difficult by making them predict or guess whether you will be able to handle it, if you have not shown it to them on your transcript. And I'll bet my bank account that adcomms don't like to give you the benefit of the doubt cause they really don't have too....cause there's always gonna be some other person out there who will have proven themselves in this way, thus....they won't HAVE to take his/her word for it. (
:D phew....talk about run on sentences....lol Anyway, you get my point...

I guess the major question now, becomes...how does one get themselves to a position where they can go to school full time in a postbacc or MA program, etc? Well...it certainly takes a lot of sacrafices and perhaps a little luck. Obviously, if you're going to quit your job (ie...not work full time and take part-time classes), you're gonna have to have food to eat, a place to stay and money for tuition...at the very least. If you have parents willing to help you reach your goal....it may totally suck, but you might consider moving back in with the folks for a while, where you can hopefully live and eat for free :D So that takes care of bare necessity #1 (food and shelter) As far as tuition, if you have good credit, it might be worth the accumulation of loans, both federal and/or private, that you (hopefully) will not have to pay off until you have finished your schooling through medical school. If you have bad credit and/or have defaulted on some past student loans, then you can enter a rehabilitation program to fix that for a year (paying 12 monthly installments) and after that period of time, they will allow you to defer again, if you will be enrolled in school. They'll also allow you to take federal/private loans - but probably with a co-borrowers signature). So then, that takes care of necessity #2 - tuition...as long as you are willing to accumulate some loans.

So basically, it all depends on HOW BAD YOU REALLY WANT IT! Anything, and I DO MEAN ANYTHING, can be done if you're willing to pay the price. And its up for you to decide if its worth it in the final stretch. Hope this helps.....peace
 
By the way, what I wrote above is not just random blabberings...it's actually something I have been through, so I'm speaking from experience. In fact, it was for that very reason ("academic stamina") that I chose to do a postbacc fulltime, instead of keeping a very very good job at a biopharmaceutical company where I was paid very well. They even paid for certain classes I wanted to take....but obviously it was only part-time and I could only take 2 classes per year (~$4000/yr). But at that rate, it would take me a century to increase my gpa or even fulfill lacking pre-med requirements. Plus, EVEN IF I got all A's on every class I took, the adcomms would still have doubt (due to my previous academic record) that I could do the same excellent performance taking a full courseload. So, I guess it really depends on your situation as well. But it NEVER hurts (actually I'm pretty sure it helps quite a bit) to show the adcomms that you are serious about what you want to do, and you can handle whatever their 1st year classes may throw your way.

Now, like I said in the above post, not everybody may have the financial luxury of moving in with the folks (though some may not consider that a luxury at all) :p but any situation you are in can be tweaked to make it work for your goal. If you have a spouse, perhaps he/she can continue working and possibly support you (at least food and shelter) while you do your postbacc. If you have neither parents or a spouse to rely on, then you have to get YOURSELF in a position where you can take loans to support your needs while you go to school. This could mean serious penny-pinching to pay off your credit card debts, not incurring any unnecessary debt in the present, like buying a new car or spending money on expensive clothes, or even just cutting back that ridiculously prices starbucks coffee every morning. Once you get yourself out of debt, then you REALLY can take out the loans needed to go to school full-time. And though it may take some time, if you know there is nothing else in this world more worthwhile then becoming a physician/dentist/whatever..... then you owe it to yourself (and the banks:p ) to give it everything you've got! As one of my old college buddies (who's now a 4th yr med student) once said to me, "Just BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING It!"
 
Awesome. Thanks!

So, are you in med school now? Or just aiming for it with a laser-like precision and steely determination, like me? :D
 
Originally posted by Anbessa
this is really the important point here....that you show the adcomm you are able to handle a full courseload. Otherwise, you are making their job more difficult by making them predict or guess whether you will be able to handle it, if you have not shown it to them on your transcript.
Click to expand...

Hey,

I think that's a very valid point that I didn't occur to me before. I did part-time post-bac classes on my own at the local community college (a very good school in L.A.) after graduating with a BA in Sociology. I worked part time for some of it, and for some of it I cut my hours way down, volunteered and took around 10 units at a time. I don't think even science majors take a full load of science classes, don't they usually take 2 and the others are other pre-reqs in arts/humanities? I really felt that I needed to spend extra time with the material since it was so new to me and I didn't want to f*ck up my GPA by taking too much on.
Anyway I did ok, I took my MCAT, I applied, I've got two interviews coming up....
should I prepare for them to say "no" based on this? I was hoping that having turned around 180 and gone from humanities to hard science and completely devoting my life to this would show the adcomm how dedicated I am.

Any advice welcome, and to the OP, either option has benefits, I personally did my own thing and loved it! BELIEVE!
 
That's great that it worked out for you. Obviously the places that gave you interviews have confidence that you can handle the full courseload, so now for your upcoming interviews, make sure that you emphasize making your NAME and FACE stick out to them in some particular way. The interview, my friends, is not the place to prove or convince the adcomm that you "can handle" med school or that you "have the grades" . You have already passed that test/step, so its a waste of time to re-emphasize those things. After all, everybody else who will be interviewing will most likely (unless the adcomm has made some rare error in judgement) be able to "handle" medschool work and have good grades. More importantly, the interview is your opportunity to shine....make yourself stand out from everybody else with some very specific things you have done that are unique. If you havent done anything that automatically sticks out at the top of your head as you're reading this.......you better FIND SOMETHING quick...especially as your interviews are fast approaching. The two common misconceptions about interviews are that 1. you have to summarize/re-emphasize certain points about your credentials, or that 2. you don't have to do much at all, since you've already gotten to this step in the process. They both are terribly FALSE impressions and most people who have the credentials, but not the savvy sadly fade away during the interview process cause they do one or the other, without finding a way to make themselves unique. I can't really say anything further than that, except if you're wondering what qualifies as "unique", then find some med students and ask them how they made themselves unique during the interview. It could vary from a wide range of things, from talking about experience overseas in the Peace Corps, or just random things that are in contrast to what people might think of you stereotypically. For example, how many Asian applicants, can say they've gone on a medical mission....to....Africa? I don't know, it's all dependent on who you are and what your "normal life" may be seen as, but you've got to do something that makes them say, "hmmm....that's kinda interesting/different/unique" when they hear you stress it, perhaps in your essay at first, but most definitely in the inteview.
 
kjharris--

If evening classes are important to you I can definitely recommend Towson. I did my postbac there and was able to get all my courses in the evening except for the introductory bio. The advising is good and you have no trouble getting into the classes you need. The price is reasonable too--unlike programs like Goucher & Hopkins, you're not paying special post-bac tuition---you just take the classes you need & pay by the credit like any other student. I had outstanding profs at Towson, especially in Organic (if you do go to Towson, be sure to take Dr. Discordia) and physics.

I've been accepted to UMd, and the admissions folks there told me that as long as you have shown you can do the work, there's no need to do your post-bac at a "big name" expensive program like Goucher/Hopkins.

good luck wherever you decide to go!
 
Hey everyone,

One thing I don't think anyone has suggested yet is talking with an admissions advisor at a med school. That's what I did. I was an ex-history major with no science background.

She told me everything I needed to do to be competetive for that school- she even gave me a list of courses that would be accepted for the pre-reqs from my local state university and the Community College in my town. So it took the guess work out of the whole process. She was essentially my Post-Bacc advisor!

I'm applying there now so I hope to add my success story to the 'success story' post!
Good Luck everyone!

*Soleil*
 
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