How is this program for someone who has graduated with a degree in the sciences but had a lower GPA (3.3 to 3.5ish)?
I have heard bad things about it. Expensive, no value for money. Post bac students very much an 'afterthought' with lack of official access to facilities available to undergrads, rude assistants in the office etc etc.
Just sent in my application two days ago. I've heard great things from another student in a similar position to me. We did not feel we were cared for or taught well at our undergrad institution and he couldn't speak more highly of this program and the people in charge of it. Does anyone know what their acceptance/admission criteria are?
I just started the program this summer. Taking my bio sequence now, chem/physics in the fall. I'm happy to answer any questions people may have, although like I said, I'm a new student. But here's what I can provide:
As far as admissions are concerned, I'm not really sure how competitive it is. I had a 3.7 as an undergraduate, put a lot of thought into my personal statement and got some pretty good recommendation letters. I have an entrepreneurship/management/finance degree. Science & medicine is my passion, but realized that later (hence why i'm a postbac lol). I was accepted without any sort of interview.
I don't think it's extremely competitive, but i'm not sure that's such a bad thing. As others have said, the opportunities are there for the taking, but it's up to the student to take advantage. There isn't much handholding (at least not yet) or telling you what you should be doing. However, everyone seems to be approachable and willing to help if you ask. Top medical schools seem to be obtainable, but I can't really speak much on that yet.
The students in my current bio2 class seem like intelligent people and the class isn't easy. Granted, it's a summer course, so the acceleration may be making it more difficult. Both our professor and lab professor are pretty remarkable people and have impressive backgrounds--so they're definitely qualified, and i'm excited about future courses. Our professor teaches it in more "medicine-y" type of way--focusing more on the material that'll be more present/applicable on the MCAT and in our future careers, and also by providing lots of clinical and pathological examples. Basically, they know why we are there, what we want to learn, and what we need to learn. For example, we spent waaay more time learning about prokaryotes and bacterial strains than we did vascular plants and zoology. Our lab portion in Bio II is 4 weeks, 2 or which are strictly dissections (so I guess that's good).
Overall, I think it'll be good. Barnes Jewish is right down the street, and I've had plenty of opportunities to shadow remarkable physicians, all of which seem very accommodating towards WashU students. I get 3-4 emails a week from my advisor with different work-study or research lab opportunities. There's a welcome lunch/meet-and-greet in 3 weeks with the staff and new students. The majority of the classes are small, and they're almost all post-bac students, so I think that's another plus. I'll be going through my courses with the same group of people, so I hope to make some good friends. I'm not sure if the prestige from the Washington University name will carry over into applications, but it certainly can't hurt.
Saint Louis isn't bad. It's not great, but there's plenty to do. Cost of living is cheap. The cost of the program isn't, but it was a good $15,000 less than others. I think it made sense for me because I had ZERO science courses in college, so I need to start from scratch. For others it may be different.
Anyway, that's all i have. Feel free to message if you have any other questions.
Hi! I'm currently interested in the enhancement program. Can you provide any feedback or your experiences of it thus far?Thanks for your thoughts! I'll be a student in the enhancement track in a few weeks.
How did you go about getting your shadowing opportunities?
Thanks for your thoughts! I'll be a student in the enhancement track in a few weeks.
How did you go about getting your shadowing opportunities?
Anecdotal but a girl I know said 4 or 5 people in her class went to Case, and I know of one guy who did the program and went to Case.Does anyone know about the successes of the linkages?
Anecdotal but a girl I know said 4 or 5 people in her class went to Case, and I know of one guy who did the program and went to Case.
Thanks! How big was the class? How was your experiences for the program either positive or negative?
Sorry !Do you think you would attend?I wasn't in the program, she told me this a few months ago.
Sorry !Do you think you would attend?