Hi everyone. I’ll just echo what I’ve read from the last two “newbies” and say that it was incredible to find this site after spending a lot of time contemplating if this is the right thing to do.
I am currently a teacher and am looking to start with some review classes this summer to try to get the brain back into student mode. Then hopefully this fall I’ll begin with the pre-med required courses.
Does anyone have any advice as far as going back to a 4 year and just getting the prereq courses versus doing some other type of program? I have seen a lot of people referencing post-bacc programs. I think I’m missing something.
Thanks to the owners of this site and to those who created it. I’m looking forward to getting to know many of you!
Larry
Welcome aboard! As I see it, if your undergrad grades are good and if you want to keep working while you’re in school AND the university near you has evening classes, taking a course or two at a time is a great way to go. You’re going to rack up enough debt in med school without going full time to school now.
On the other hand, if time is of the essence, or if you have lower undergrad grades to overcome, or want the support and formality of a formal post-bacc program, they’re worth looking at.
This is my two-second synopsis, and worth about the time I’ve put into it, but it can get you started thinking about this. I’m a librarian, and I took my first course working around my schedule. I cut back to 80% in July and took a summer chemistry course (two afternoons of lab), took 1st semester O-chem and biology in the fall, and am taking just 2nd semester o-chem with its TWO mornings of lab right now. I’ll take physics and biology in the fall, and finish off physics and take the MCAT next spring.
This means I can keep some money rolling in while I’m doing this, and at 40, I want to minimize the debt I’ll graduate with. It may take me a year longer than a formal post-bacc, but I’m not burning any bridges behind me, either. I’m sure you’ll hear soon from people who did different things, or did the same things for different reasons. Happy reading!
Welcome, Larry. For more information about post-bacc programs, check out this link. It’s the listing from AAMC (American Association of Medical Colleges) and while I haven’t played with this site in a long time, it looks like it’s pretty complete. Good luck!
Larry,
The other two summed up things very nicely. I’m confident you can find the answers to your questions here. OPM is full of great people! 
Kathy
Hi Larry,
Welcome to OPM! I’m one of the newbies and just wanted to say welcome and good luck with your pre-reqs and getting into medical school. See ya on the board!
Thanks to everyone for the support! WOW! All this support and I haven’t even done anything yet. 
Best of luck to all those in their spring semester coursework.
Hi Larry and welcome aboard! I read on another post that you are in Rochester, well I will probably be going there (not 100% sure yet though but almost) to start medical school. Any tips on how to handle the freezing cold? BTW we are in balmy TN right now…
Goretex!
You’ll love Rochester. Great small city with lots to offer, and of course there’s that thing referred to by many as “the Mayo.” The cold–heck it’s nothing–we’re in the southern part of the state. It has been getting up to a balmy 10-15 degrees above zero for about a week–gotta love those warm spells!
Best of luck to you.
Larry
However, the week before it was 22 below zero in the middle of the day… It was so cold that the plastic snaps on my backback broke off completely when I tried to open them. And the door to the gas tank on my car wouldn’t open either, because metal doesn’t like to bend when it’s that frigid.
Welcome to Minnesota, everyone! Hey, it’ll warm up soon.
Sorry–I think I may have gone a little too far with that last post! 
I know there are people reading who might be considering moving here… Hey, it’s a nice state! And Larry’s right that it’s been quite warm this week.
-andrea
“You bet!” I love Minnesota. Don’t forget to talk about the great summers, especially the mosquitoes!
I’m a bit afraid of the Minnesota winters, though a couple of Minnesota dancing friends REALLY want me to go to school there. One of them is probably composing my application essays in her head right now.
Milwaukee winters are fine. But I’m only happy down to single digits below zero. The coldest temperature I’ve biked to work in is 10 below and i didn’t know it was that cold until I got there. It was just cold enough that the off switch on my helmet light won’t work and I have to unplug the thing.
Okay wait, even if your car is inside a car garage you still cannot start it and the gas tank door will not open? agghhhh OMG what am I thinking of? oh well but I do love Mayo…
as someone who grew up in michigan with it’s “lake affect” weather and subzero temps, I can tell you that when it gets cold, everything stops. Just make sure that you have a sound car with an awesome heater and you’ll do fine. I dread going back to the cold. I’ve become a big wimp since I moved westward 
Bring a Toyota–they’ll run anywhere! Even if it gets to be 30 or 40 below zero they start up with no problems. 
Here was my week–Monday, no school (yippee–oh wait, I’m a teacher not a student, I didn’t just say that) so instead I spent 3 hours blowing and shoveling snow. Tuesday and Wednesday, a balmy 15-20 degrees-gotta love those days! Thursday more snow. Friday get home from school at 7:00 p.m. and yep, you guessed it, 2 hours of blowing and shoveling. Oh wait, I forgot to say I got stuck in the parking lot at McDonald’s (wife had the Toyota, I got the Ford—grrrrr) in the morning, and nearly didn’t leave the school because I got stuck in that parking lot, too (the kids just laughed–where’s the love??) But yesterday was beautiful and right now I’m looking out my patio window onto my deck and there’s about 2 feet of beautiful powder and everything is so bright from the reflection of the sun. Honestly, I don’t know how you could beat Minnesota for weather. Sure we have the extremes (50 below, 102 above), but I think that’s why we appreciate the beauty in all of it. OK, that’s enough of that. Time to shovel again.
Welcome Larry!