Hi. I was just thinking... didn't most of us prove we could carry a full course load with our BS? I had as many as 17 hours at a time then, in solid classes (I'm an EE).
That only works if you did well in your BS, which many of us didn't. Nothing in my ugrad GPA would convince an adcom that I could handle medical school. For those with mediocre to poor original GPAs, it is probably more important to try and take a full course load for at least one quarter/semester if possible. If you can't take a full load, then you do the best you can with what you've got to work with.
Emergency! nailed it. Adcoms want evidence that you can put your face in front of the fire hydrant torrent without it being blasted away. They don’t want to see you fail anymore than you don’t. They also don’t want to see much, if any, attrition from a matriculated class. Each student represents an investment in time and lab space, and a loss of revenue from one less body in a lecture-hall seat.
Not all Special Master’s Programs have linkages to medical schools. You have to investigate the linkages they do have. As far as GeorgeTown they have two programs, a SMP and a GEMS (Gtown experimental studies program).
However I will say that you have to check the fine print because acceptance to the medical school is not guaranteed. It isn’t guaranteed at Gtown nor at Barry. I would be cautious to fall hook line and sinker to the stats they present about how many SMP students get accepted to medical school.
Barry University in Florida claims ~94% of their students are accepted to medical school. However thier definition of medical school includes chiropractic, podiatry, physical therapy…and caribbean medical schools. So it’s a situation of buyer beware.
I have no knowledge of Nova’s program. However having called and visited a few I will say that you really need to ask the right questions and realize that you might be better off doing your own version of a postbacc.
If you already have a degree, there is no reason that you really have to major in anything. You can enroll as a regular undergrad student or as a continuing ed/non-degree seeking student to take your pre-med classes. At some institutions, you may need to enroll as a degree-seeking student and declare a pre-med major or something similar in order to be able to enroll in the necessary courses, but I don’t think this is true at the majority of institutions.
Everyone has to take two years of chemistry, a year of physics and a year of biology. There is some flexibility in what biology courses you can take. Also - it’s not a bad idea to take a few upper level science courses of your choosing. Biochemistry, micro/cell biology, genetics, anatomy & physiology etc are all good options that will help you out in med school on top of strengthening your application.
Formal post-bacc programs vary widely, as crooz pointed out, not only in whether or not they gain you automatic acceptance into a medical school, but in terms of what is required to be admitted to them. Many of the programs require that you have already taken the pre-reqs and then the post-bacc program consists of upper level science or med school level classses. Some programs are designed for non-science majors to pick up their med school pre-reqs.
You definitely need to have a list of questions about a program before applying and/or committing to it. And absolutely take any stats they give about their med school admissions rate with a grain of salt. Many programs figure their admission rate from the number of bodies left in the program after they have done an intense weed out NOT from the number who they originally admitted to the program.
Not at all. You can go premed that’s not a problem. What I’m saying is if you don’t apply, or don’t get accepted to a formal postbacc you can take the courses required. Amy posted on what to take and recommendations past the minimum.
I just know based on my conversation with a few premed advisors at schools and a couple postbacc advisors that they will make it sound you won’t get into medical school if you don’t go thru a postbacc. That’s not true. There are things postbaccs do such as a committee letter that help an applicant but these things don’t hinder a non postbacc applicant…at least that’s what I’ve been told and hoping for.
According to the students at NSU, they kick some local butt on rotations (side by side with MD students from the area) and place well in residencies.
Students from NSU claiming that students from NSU kick butt on rotations isn't exactly credible.
Quote my whole post, please, I said it was hearsay. Was that worth a whole reply?
As for the full load thing, NSU was very receptive to me, and I didn't take a full load for most of my post bacc. As others have said, it is the whole package that matters. All other things are just considerations.
hilseb,
It wasn't that serious. We err on the side of lightheartedness here. Please don't take my replies as some kind of attack, especially not from forum regulars who have no life thanks to no classes this summer... I'm not here to make enemies nor degrade anyone. It's all in good fun.
I will have 2 associate degrees…not the BS yet just trying to figure out the best way from here. I know first and foremost i need to go into an area where my GPA can shine. Then you see the med schools where 84% of the incoming class majored in the sciences(univ of mo 2006)…most likely due to speed of finishing and prereqs.
I definitely appreciate the info about the WEEDING out.
I will have 2 associate degrees....not the BS yet just trying to figure out the best way from here. I know first and foremost i need to go into an area where my GPA can shine. Then you see the med schools where 84% of the incoming class majored in the sciences(univ of mo 2006)...most likely due to speed of finishing and prereqs.
I definitely appreciate the info about the WEEDING out.
Heather,
There are a couple of reasons why you see so many science majors in med school classes. One, as you pointed out, is because it is quicker to get a degree in the sciences where most of your pre-reqs count towards your degree. A second reason is that people interested in medicine tend to be more interested in the sciences. There is no innate bias on the part of med schools to accept more science majors - the numbers can be attributed to the fact that more science majors apply to medical school. In fact, most non-science majors have a better acceptance rate to medical school than science majors.
So - what do YOU need to do? You need to look for a four year university and get a BS. I suggest that you first pick an institution to do that at based on factors such as accessibility, affordability, quality of instruction, etc. After you have decided where you will finish your degree, then you can worry about picking a major. What major you pick is entirely up to you. An advisor at the university MAY be helpful. You need to sit down and look which of your associates courses count towards your bachelor's, various degree requirements, and the like. The shortest path is probably going to be to major in a science related field - biology, chemistry, the like. However, if you are in no hurry, major in whatever you like and complete the pre-reqs and as many upper level courses as your schedule will allow without taking forever to graduate.
Since you don't yet have a bachelor's, you aren't yet at the point of needing to consider post-bacc or special master's programs. Those usually come into consideration if you don't gain acceptance to medical school or aren't eligible to apply to med school after your four year degree.
There are things postbaccs do such as a committee letter that help an applicant but these things don't hinder a non postbacc applicant.......at least that's what I've been told and hoping for.
UNCG's postbacc doesn't even get you a committee letter. Here, it is really just a "tag" for your advisor's print-out when you have to register for classes. For instance, my "pre-med" tag got me assigned to a Biology faculty person who looked at the list of classes I wanted to take and who said, "Looks good." Scaring up LOR is completely up to me, and I'm pretty okay with that.
I can see how a committee letter might help factor out the random "Dr. X who acts like everyone's best buddy but secretly would love nothing more than to torpedo my medical school admission" guy. Man, I hate that guy!
Well at Maryland we have a committe letter. It’s not even a postbacc just offers evening courses. However you have to have an undergrad degree to take these classes. The school gives us access to all the same help, letters, guidance…that the daytime students have. It’s actually a great deal.
Nothing in my ugrad GPA would convince an adcom that I could handle medical school. For those with mediocre to poor original GPAs, it is probably more important to try and take a full course load for at least one quarter/semester if possible. If you can't take a full load, then you do the best you can with what you've got to work with. 
when you say make your own version of a postbac would you recommend staying away from the premed major as well??
