Well, I have done the research…and it looks like no Post Bacc for me this year. Since a lot of the funding I will need has to come from supplemental loans, and due to my recent divorce and the leftover carnage from it, my credit score and rating is essentially Doo-doo…I do not qualify for supplemental loans. No supplementals - no post bacc. The last thing I want to do is apply, get accepted, and then say “Oops, my bad, I can’t afford it” and have to turn down a slot. The new plan is to get hooked up with a credit repair company - work on it for a year, fix some things, bring up my score, and apply next fall. Sad, and I ain’t gettin any younger!!! But it seems this is the way it has to be…Oh well - fall back and punt!!
The alternative is to take classes on your own. You wouldn’t be alone.
I agree with InHisWill. Post bac have many advantages but they are costly and you also have to apply.
Taking classes on your own would allow you to get started now, and take more time to pay off your classes if you can.
Remember that Med School is costly as well, and you will end up with a substantial amount of loans. So I think sometimes a postbac is a good idea, but not every time.
In any event, best of luck.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat and as an oldpremed, you ALWAYS have to be aware of those “life events” can TEMPORARILY delay your plans.
Please note the emphasis on the word temporarily.
I must concur with my fellow journeymen. While Postbacc programs certainly offer a nice and neat package, a DIY approach will cost you a whole lot less, and you can forgo some of the administrative hang-ups that accompany the pre-wrapped, postbacc programs.
The only reason I was going the post bacc route was that if I am working full time and taking pre-reqs while I work, it will take me four (or five) years to complete my pre reqs… Really did not want to put off taking my MCAT until I was 56!!! Also, as a National Health Service Corps member, my previous student debt is fully and completely PAID OFF. I will ONLY be paying for post bacc and med school. As an incredibly UNDERPAID social worker, who was completely FLEECED by my ex husband, I do not have savings, retirement, home equity,investments or any other assets to fall back on. I live paycheck to paycheck and JUST make my bills in the very modest lifestyle I currently live. Paying out of pocket at the local university, even for part time classes, does not look feasible in my current budget. At this point, it is post bacc and borrow, or not go at all. Unlike many, I DO NOT have fear of debt. I have been in, and out, and in, and out, and in, and out of debt my entire adult life. There is no debtor’s prison, and I can’t take it with me when I go…For me, to pursue this dream, just means going in debt - again. With the wonderful experiences I have had as an NHSC member, I am sure the corps would have me back, if I went that way. Debt doesn’t scare me, or sway me. I really feel at this point that I would rather run with the big dogs than stay on the porch. Even if I do not apply until next year, it is still two years sooner than if I go DIY. And at 51, believe me, I am FULLY aware that I ain’t gettin’ no younger!! So DIY and pay for courses with money I don’t have and put it all off 4 more years? Or Post Bacc, with loans, and take the MCAT in 2016? In my mind, it just seems to be pretty self evident…
Well, yes, since you put it like that, it does seem to be a no-brainer. Obviously, it is difficult to determine what the best course of action to take might be personally, let alone for someone else. Situations are as various as there are people I suppose.
Sounds like a good plan.
- VickiV Said:
So DIY and pay for courses with money I don't have and put it all off 4 more years? Or Post Bacc, with loans, and take the MCAT in 2016? In my mind, it just seems to be pretty self evident.....
Or perhaps consider a combo of BOTH?
If you can't get the loan for whatever reason, the post-bacc is off the table if I read your comment right. But your dream doesn't have to be if your willing to be flexible.
As an OPM, I haven't found the "either, or" proposition to be good one because too many other variables tend to factor into the equation.
But like I said before, maybe I'm missing something. If the "either this or that or nothing at all" is what works for you, then I guess you have to work with that.
I just find that thought process extremely limiting for a goal like medical school.