Help for a career change!

Hi everybody,


I’m quite new to the forum, and was hoping that maybe you can help me in making some clear choices for my future.


I graduated from Rutgers 4 years ago with a very low GPA (2.7 I believe). I majored in Computer Science and Economics and currently work in the financial field, so considering a medical school (dental to be specific) is a completely different career path for me.


A couple things I am hoping that you can answer for me.


First, would I be able to get into many of the post bacc programs with my GPA?


I am currently considering post bacc at Rutgers, but they seem to offer a certification program for individuals with undergrad gpa of 3.0 or higher. For my case, since that won’t be the case, is it important to go somewhere that offers the certification?


And would it be better for me to go to a post bacc program, or just a graduate program?


Finally, any recommendations for schools? I live very close to NYC, so if there are some good schools you can recommend in both NJ and NYC that would be great.


I know these are A LOT of questions. But I’m truly confused when it comes to this topic at the moment, and hopefully you can shed some light into all this for me. Thanks!

Welcome to OPM . While we generally focus on medical schools here, I imagine that a lot of the advice will be relevant to your dental pursuits as well.


Definitely browse the forums for some older posts, especially those about the ups and downs of informal post-baccs. The formal post-baccs (as you describe at Rutgers) do have some nice perks: they may have connections with med schools, they definitely offer advising, and they’re likely more geared towards your needs. OTOH, they are more pricey, and some have GPA requirements which many of us do not meet.


For my path, I’m quite glad that I did an “informal” post-bacc. I signed on at the local (inexpensive) university as a second-bachelor’s seeker. This allowed me to take all of the classes I need (and being a degree-seeking student gave me good enough priority in class registration), have access to the pre-med advisement office, and not go broke (well, any more broke than I already am…).


Look into some threads here about different paths, and please feel free to ask more questions if you have em. G’luck!