I am about to enter my junior year at UNC Chapel Hill and am having a hard time deciding which path I should take. My original plan was to major in Biology and take a very typical route to medical school, but that was derailed when I overloaded myself freshman year and didn’t preform well in intro chemistry and some other courses. I decided to switch my major to Global Health with a concentration in Africa, which I thought I was well suited for because I am heavily involved with medical relief organizations focused on African countries.
Though I think it was a good choice to switch my major and bring up my GPA by doing so, I am not sure of whether or not I should take the remaining pre-med chemistry and physics courses at my school. I was really put off by the Chem department and even the most diligent students I know have had difficulty with Orgo. With so much on my plate right now, I have really been considering a postbac. I feel like if I focused on my remaining requirements over the course of a year I could do really well and be ready to apply for medical school with a solid sciences GPA to overshadow my less than impressive UNC GPA. Then again, I have heard from many people that postbacs are a waste of time unless they’re graduate level and you’re getting a degree out of it.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
How many pre-med classes are you missing? What’s your current GP and what’s your current sGPA.
There are 2 (3 if count SMPs) types of post-baccs. Each has their own purpose.
If you are missing most of your pre-reqs, there are special career-changer post-bacc programs. NOTE: Many career-changer post-bacc have strict restrictions on the number of science pre-reqs taken prior to enrollment. If you have gen chem + bio finished, you may not qualify.
The second type of post bacc is a GPA enhancer–which has as its purpose to improve an potential med school applicant’s sGPA by taking either a number of upper level sciences (principally in bio & chem) or earning a non-thesis based master’s. There seems to be very little benefit for med school applicants in earning master’s unless they have an undergrad science degree and have exhausted all possible undergrad science classes. When you apply for med school, undergrad and grad GPAs are calculated and listed separately. Many med schools do not consider grad GPAs when initially reviewing applicants unless the applicant has attended a very special type of grad program called a Special Master’s Program (SMP).
A SMP is graduate program that includes the classes that make up the first year of med school. It’s basically an audition for med school.
AMCAS has a searchable database of post-bacc programs here: https://students-residents.aamc.org/postbacc/
Ochem is hard for everyone and it is hard everywhere. At a post-bacc you won't be taking just ochem. You'll be taking orgo, physics, biochem or other advanced bio, and perhaps a math class all at the same time. You'll also be doing MCAT prep and engaging in various ECs. You'll be very busy. It's not like you'll spend 100% of your time just studying for ochem.
The choice of whether to finish your pre-reqs at UNC or at a post-bacc is strictly up to you, but if you are looking for a "kinder, gentler ochem" at a post-bacc, you probably aren't going to find it.