Is a post baccalaureate program right for you?
1. You are a nontraditional applicant or career changer trying to get into medicine 2. You need to raise your grades or lack pre-reqs required to apply to medical school (ie you are in need of an academic record enhancer program)
4. You are an economically or educationally disadvantaged student In general, a post baccalaureate program is designed to help you strengthen your academic credentials and improve your chances of getting into med school. Some programs are very structured and have many resources to help students get into medical school. For example, certain programs have relationships with particular medical schools that help students get into that particular medical school (ie Georgetown's SMP postbacc program). The nice thing about doing such a post bacc is you get a lot of support, but the downside is that these programs are very costly and do not guarantee you a spot in medical school. Where can I do a Post Bacc Program? An alternative to doing a postbacc is to take upper division classes at a four-year institution to work on pre-reqs or your GPA. You will enroll as an extension student and the school will list you as a postbac student. The nice thing is that tuition cost is very reasonable compared to formal program. The downside is that you are on your own. Some schools have pre-health counselors to guide you, some don’t. You can do a postbac through extension programs or state schools. For example, if you are from California, you can do a postbac through California State Universities. This is what I did. I actually did a postbac at SFSU (San Francisco State University). It was through an informal program, where there is no structure, but I have the freedom to take any biology classes, as long as I could get in. There are formal programs, however, where you can get a certificate when you finish, but they are pricey. In the end, it’s up to you. In the end, you should know that doing a post bacc will average the grades you get in the postbac program with your undergraduate GPA. In other words, admissions committee will look at the overall and science GPA, which includes your undergraduate GPA and postbac GPA. At the same time, there will be a separate postbac GPA for the admissions committee to look at, but when they consider your GPA and compare it to other applicants, they will average your undergraduate and postbac GPA.
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