Hello,
This question might have already been asked, but I haven’t been able to find a sufficient answer so here it goes:
I graduated from Fordham with my BA in Philosophy and English in 2009 with a 3.65 (while working at a law firm 20 hours a week).
I am living in Manhattan and interested in taking pre-reqs for medical school, but I have no idea where to take them. Hunter College is the least expensive, only several hundred dollars per credit - But will any medical school take me seriously with pre-reqs from a city school?
I can’t afford the tuition at a private university while living in manhattan and already have significant debt from undergrad.
Has anyone else dealt with post-bacc pre-reqs in the metro area? Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated.
The Hunter college post-bacc program is fine for taking pre-reqs as is Hunter itself. I would tend to stay away from the community colleges in the CUNY system but the 4 yr colleges are generally fine.
Your other options in the NYC metro area are NYU and Columbia which are significantly more expensive. I don’t know anything about the CCNY program but since Hunter is close and comparable it seems the logical choice.
- nypremed Said:
Yes, they will. Hunter has a highly regarded programs and, surprisingly, Baruch has an high success with premeds getting accepted in their regular UG. Outside of Manhattan (yes, New York City exist outside of Manhattan) Queens College and Brooklyn College have good success.
And of course, CCNY itself does pretty good boasting 9 Nobel Laureates who did their undergrad work there.
Besides the cost at NYU and Columbia the intra-program competition is brutal. My perception is that doing well in perhaps a less prestigious program is both easier to accomplish and impresses an adcom more than a mediocre performance at a more prestigious institition
I’m a post-bacc at Hunter. The post-baccs in the cohort prior to mine are interviewing at UVa, Tufts, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, etc. etc. plus all the other nontrad-friendly schools people have mentioned. There are post-baccs from Hunter that I personally know or know of who have been accepted at/are students at Cornell, Columbia, UVa, Einstein, Downstate, Buffalo, Tulane.
Pre-post-bacc experience varies of course…but I don’t have any fears that med schools (esp east coast) don’t know of or don’t respect Hunter.
I am at Columbia and kind of wish I had gone to Hunter. I was impatient and Columbia gave me longer to get application together. I do love going there, and feel that it is excellent practice for med school. We all study the same material wherever we go, but since at Columbia, almost everyone came into the program with a high GPA, and ALL classes are graded on a curve, many excellent students get so-so grades because, with a bell curve, some folks have got to get Ds, Cs and Bs in the class. So the exams tend to be insanely hard, and getting an A is vastly different that was getting an A at my previous school (where I did take science courses). I have been told that admissions people are aware of this, but many people take a hit on their GPA at Columbia as I have. I am still not sure that it was worth it.
On the other hand, I think due to the competition, I am studying harder than I ever have, and am finally figuring out how to get As. And the biology at Columbia is incredible (again, ferociously difficult, but really well-taught).
If you are confident about your abilities, one thing Columbia has is a linkage program. I think NYU has that, too. So you could avoid a gap year.
Another thing to think about is that it is (almost) impossible to work and take three classes a semester - at least in our program. I started off doing that and quit my job (I worked full time and went to school full time as an undergrad and as a grad student, and did very well). Anyone else I knew in the program who was working in the program quit their jobs, too. Not sure if the same goes for the courseload at other schools, but it is an important thing to think about.
So, just wanted to give you a perspective of someone who opted for Columbia, and still isn’t 100 percent convinced it was worth it.
I also want to qualify all these statements about how hard it is with a big question mark. I have no idea how challenging the courses are at Hunter. I am pretty sure it is no cake walk, and, for all I know, it could be harder than Columbia. I can only compare it to what I know from my own undergrad, and what people say…but we don’t really know. Although I do think the curve, and the fact that you are competing daily for grades with people who are used to straight As might make it a more challenging environment.
Just thought I’d put my two cents in as a Columbia Postbac student who has been satisfied with her experience…
I agree with what was said about the classes being difficult and the students being very intelligent coming into the program. I also agree that a) medical schools understand the intensity of the Columbia Postbac Program and take it into account, and b) currently studying for the MCATs, I’m very glad I went to Columbia. It is a really difficult test, and I think pushing myself to understand the material as completely as my extremely smart peers did is what has given me the head start in terms of preparation for this daunting exam.
I really do feel a sense of community here, and my advisor is awesome. Feel free to PM me if anyone has more questions!
Can we still PM you about the program?