Rejection from a Post-Bac Program

[Mr. Adventure]

Hey party people! Was wondering if there were any cats out there who have been rejected from a Post-Bac Pre-Health program and why. Don't worry, if you tell, I'll keep it on the low (I'm applying to the U Penn, Bryn Mawyr Pre Health programs, and I'm trying to get an idea of how competitive admission is...)

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[eccles1214]

I was rejected from one post-bacc program and given a "warning" by another. So I'm taking premed classes at a state college before reapplying.

The post-bacc that rejected me: They said that there were a lot of qualified candidates and that I did not make the cut: despite the fact that I have a 3.4 GPA, a decade of straight through health care volunteer work (all with underserved populations), a decade of paid health work. Perhaps I'm too old.

The other post-bacc warned me that I could attend their program, but that I am probably wasting my money (they are a private school). I guess they feel I won't get into an MS.

So, I'm doing it on my own. And getting A's. I know it's an uphill battle, but I'm have just begun to fight. . . and loving every minute of it! I have no hard feelings . . .

Hey party people! Was wondering if there were any cats out there who have been rejected from a Post-Bac Pre-Health program and why. Don't worry, if you tell, I'll keep it on the low (I'm applying to the U Penn, Bryn Mawyr Pre Health programs, and I'm trying to get an idea of how competitive admission is...)

 

[housecleaning]

The other post-bacc warned me that I could attend their program, but that I am probably wasting my money (they are a private school). I guess they feel I won't get into an MS.

yikes. that certainly wouldn't give one a warm & fuzzy feeling. sounds like a good school to avoid. why don't you post which school it was so that other applicants are "warned" not to waste their money?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

yikes. that certainly wouldn't give one a warm & fuzzy feeling. sounds like a good school to avoid. why don't you post which school it was so that other applicants are "warned" not to waste their money?

No doubt! Please do tell which college has such a bad attitude towards their applicants. My question is why would a Post-Bac program turn you away if you have an acceptable GPA with volunteer work and test scores to back you up? Is it solely because there are so many competitive applicants in the pool?

For instance, if I have a 3.5 G.P.A., a year of volunteer work in the E.R., good GRE scores and am also a prior Marine Corps Officer, would I be struggling to even get an interview at U Penn?

 

[sidewalkman]

I got rejected from the Penn post-bacc program, but my GPA was well below a 3.0. I got the generic 1-page rejection. You should be fine for Penn's program; they're not really that stringent so long as you have decent numbers. Make sure to submit your good GRE. As for Bryn Mawr, you have as good a chance as anyone, but people with good stats will get rejected for a whole host of reasons. You never know unless you apply.

 

[Trismegistus4]

For instance, if I have a 3.5 G.P.A., a year of volunteer work in the E.R., good GRE scores and am also a prior Marine Corps Officer, would I be struggling to even get an interview at U Penn?

I had a 3.1 GPA, a year of volunteer work in the ER, good GRE scores, and no Marine Corps background, and I was accepted to Penn.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey party people! Was wondering if there were any cats out there who have been rejected from a Post-Bac Pre-Health program and why. Don't worry, if you tell, I'll keep it on the low (I'm applying to the U Penn, Bryn Mawyr Pre Health programs, and I'm trying to get an idea of how competitive admission is...)

Quite competitive. Lots of people get rejected from the formal postbac programs -- Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Tufts and the like. For marketing reasons, those schools tend to worry about their own ability to place a very high percentage (>90%) of their postbac students into medical school, and so they "cherry pick" the applicants they think will be the easiest sell. Thus the applicants with the lower GPAs or other potential hurdles to admission usually don't survive their admissions process cuts. A lot of these students still go on to take postbac courses at less formal places, do well, and make it into med school though, so if you are in that position, don't take these rejections too much to heart.

 

[sendwich]

Quite competitive. Lots of people get rejected from the formal postbac programs -- Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Tufts and the like. For marketing reasons, those schools tend to worry about their own ability to place a very high percentage (>90%) of their postbac students into medical school, and so they "cherry pick" the applicants they think will be the easiest sell. Thus the applicants with the lower GPAs or other potential hurdles to admission usually don't survive their admissions process cuts. A lot of these students still go on to take postbac courses at less formal places, do well, and make it into med school though, so if you are in that position, don't take these rejections too much to heart.

i dont know if you're also asking about smp programs. my stats were ~2.7ug, 3.7 post-bac, 26O on MCAT and i got rejected from loma linda, loyola, and tulane. these aren't as well known as the bu/georgetown/drexel programs but they really seem to want people with high MCATs and are more picky (they accept only a small group of people vs the other schools who accept close to 100)

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll continue gunning for the U Penn Pre-Health program. I have prepared myself to be absolutely devistated and question my own self worth if I do not get in But seriously, folks. THANKS!

 

[Febrifuge]

yikes. that certainly wouldn't give one a warm & fuzzy feeling. sounds like a good school to avoid. why don't you post which school it was so that other applicants are "warned" not to waste their money?

I have to disagree, as someone who's presently 6 weeks into a one-year postbac.

If my PD didn't believe I'd have a decent shot at med school (assuming of course that I do at least reasonably well here) I would rather not have been admitted. Likewise, if I start slipping or fail to improve or otherwise give the PD reason to think I'm not going to come out of postbac looking good, I want to hear about it far in advance of a stack of crappy grades.

A school that would tell a prospective applicant they may not have a good shot needs to deliver that message in a respectful and appropriate way, but the honesty part is something I actually think is pretty commendable. Like it or not, we're volunteering to be thrown into a selection process that is cutthroat and sometimes downright insane. I prefer all the early warning there is. I don't want warm fuzzies from my program, and it would make me nervous to get too many of them.

If they were simply rude, then yeah, screw 'em.

 

[jintonic5]

I have to disagree, as someone who's presently 6 weeks into a one-year postbac.

If my PD didn't believe I'd have a decent shot at med school (assuming of course that I do at least reasonably well here) I would rather not have been admitted. Likewise, if I start slipping or fail to improve or otherwise give the PD reason to think I'm not going to come out of postbac looking good, I want to hear about it far in advance of a stack of crappy grades.

A school that would tell a prospective applicant they may not have a good shot needs to deliver that message in a respectful and appropriate way, but the honesty part is something I actually think is pretty commendable. Like it or not, we're volunteering to be thrown into a selection process that is cutthroat and sometimes downright insane. I prefer all the early warning there is. I don't want warm fuzzies from my program, and it would make me nervous to get too many of them.

If they were simply rude, then yeah, screw 'em.

i agree-- one of my biggest fears is to go into a post bacc program, and end up in a worse situation than i am in already. nightmare of my life.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I don't want warm fuzzies from my program, and it would make me nervous to get too many of them.

Mr. Adventure likes warm fuzzies from hot adcom ladies...

 

[housecleaning]

A school that would tell a prospective applicant they may not have a good shot needs to deliver that message in a respectful and appropriate way, but the honesty part is something I actually think is pretty commendable.

which is why the rejection letter was created. if a program is making people "apply" then it should reject those that don't make the cut. if they allow students to attend who are unlikely to gain admission to med school, then they are being deceptive to those who were "accepted" and diluting the quality of the program as those acceptees.

which one was it?