My name is Veronika, and I’m currently 25. I’m starting the long process of completing prereqs, and I’m trying to figure out the most efficient way. I do already have a BA in Women’s Studies and Arabic as my original career path was in social work. My first 3 years I had a 3.7 cGPA, but it fell to a 3.4 for cGPA after my senior year after deciding to take Chem 111 for my science requirement and basically stopped showing up slightly due to difficulty but a lot more with immaturity/senioritis and ended up taking a marine bio class instead over the summer which I got a B in but I still got an F in Chem. Fast forward, I’ve been in healthcare for several years now, but I have basically no science credits since my BA didn’t really require any. Outside of the marine bio class, I have a gen bio credit that I also got a B in. I’m now trying to plan my path through the prereqs, and I’m considering just getting a 2nd Bachelor’s in Biology as the major requires most of the classes that I need. Since I already have a BA, it would take me about 2 years, where I am worried planning my own path will take longer if I take classes in the wrong order or miss when classes are offered. I also considered a postbac program, but the only one offered for premed is offered about 2 hours away and only accepts about 20 applicants a year, and I don’t want to wait around to get into a postbac program when I can start tackling the prereqs a lot sooner. Long story short, does anyone have any insight on planning yourself how you take the prereqs or would it be more efficient to go back for a BS?
From my understanding you can do a DIY postbacc at the your alma-matter or any other college institution of your liking just as long as they offer the appropriate courses. It is a lot like going for a second degree, however you would not be taking all of the extra classes that are required for the degree, just the pre-reqs needed for medical school.
For example, many biology degrees require you to take courses like zoology, botany and cell biology. While those courses would serve you well in medical school, they are not required before matriculation and are not considered pre-reqs. Those same biology degrees also require you to take courses Biology, Chemistry I and II, Organic Chemistry I and II and Physics I and II which are pre-reqs for medical school. Many medical schools also require Psychology, Sociology and Biochemistry but some do not.
It would be best to research the schools you are interested in and write down their course requirements. Then, from there you can format and schedule your own DIY postbacc program. It could potentially save you some time and money in the long run.
If I have mislead the OP, please correct me someone
How long is the post-bacc program that you’re looking at? Some are only a year, so starting a two-year DIY post-bacc or second bachelor’s now might not actually get you to your goal any faster, even though you’d be starting sooner. It sounds like you don’t need significant GPA repair, so the number of courses required for a second bachelor’s may be overkill.
But to your original question, here are some considerations. Cost: second bachelor’s may be cheaper, depending on how many classes you need. Do the math to see how it shakes out for you and your specific school. I need pretty much all the classes, so the cost for me to go DIY would be at least $18k plus books. This is for the bare minimum of courses. Getting a second bachelor’s would cost me $17,828 plus books for two years of school, and I could take nearly double the classes. Financing: You probably can’t finance individual courses. You can probably get loans for a second bachelor’s and may be able to get scholarships. Registration priority: You’re not going to get it in a DIY program. With a second bachelor’s, you’ll probably be classified as a senior (this is how my school does it, anyway), and you’ll get priority in registration. Time: DIY could take longer if you can’t get registered for your courses. Second bachelor’s could take longer if you end up taking more courses than needed.
I think those are good points! Though I do already have my BA, I am still looking at about 2.5 years realistically for all the required prereqs that I am missing. The post bac program that is nearby is only a year but it requires that you haven’t taken any prereqs (especially gen chem before you start). It is too late to apply this year, so I would have to wait a year while taking no classes before I could even start that program so I would much rather just start something else. I am also very interested in the university’S Neuroscience BS, and that is the field of medicine I am very interested in at this point so I think many of the additional classes would be beneficial as they are those upper 300/400 level classes that med schools recommend on top of being very interesting. I think it would take an additional year to do a 2nd Bachelors so it really comes down to whether that aren’t required coursework is really worth it since (currently) my GPA is decent and if I do well on the MCAT am looking okay academically. I shadow both MDs and DOs at my hospital, and I am more interested in applying to DO schools with this experience as well…thanks for the insight everyone!
