Good evening everyone! I am not sure if this post is in the right forum so I apologize if it is not. Here is my question:
I am helping a family member of mine do some research on med school. Quick background on her: graduated with Child & Youth Development degree in 2013. GPA is somewhere between 3.0-3.5 (I think). She regrets getting that degree and now wants to take the necessary steps to complete math/science classes to get into medical school.
Is the best course of action to try to get into a post-baccalaureate pre-med program? She wants to just take a couple of classes at a time and not commit to getting another degree and has applied to a school just to start taking classes but I’m not sure that is her best option, as medical schools are selective and a more structured approach might be better for her chances.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
“couple of classes”
premed is not a major
If she wants to go to med school, she has to take the following:
two semesters of biology with laboratory (up to four semesters at some schools)
• two semesters of inorganic chemistry with laboratory
• two semesters of organic chemistry with laboratory
• two semesters of math, at least one in calculus
• two semesters of physics with laboratory
• two semesters of English and/or writing
Thank you for your response. I know pre-med is not a major and that she needs all of those classes but my main question is should she try to get into a post-bac program or, try to get into the best school possible and basically re-do undergrad (if that makes any sense). She was looking at doing a class here and there but I think it will take too long and ultimately not look as good on a medical school application but I am not too familiar with that. I went to school for political science and sports business and took a whopping two sciences.
She should apply to post graduate medical programs and definitely she needs to attend fulltime for 18 monts in order to demonstrate commitment… but with her college GPA her odds of admissions to med school are remote. (She’d have needed 3.6-3.8, especially with that major).
Instead, she could concentrate on pre-health classes and look into Physician’s Assistant programs. Faster than med school, well paid, and a growing Health field.
Your family member is a college graduate (~24/25 years old). Why are you doing medical school research for her? It is best that she create an account on this CC, ask her own questions and provide accurate information, instead of guesses (GPA = 3.0 - 3.5???). A critical piece of information is how “comfortable” is she with the sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math/Calculus/Statistics) and did she do any science courses in high school/college? Why medicine, versus other healthcare avenues.
My recommendation would be to start out taking one or two pre-med classes (Bio and/or General Chemistry+Lab) to test the waters. If she passes these courses with an A, then she could commit to a post graduate medical program full time. Diving into a full time post-baccalaureate pre-med program (giving up her FT job/no income, etc.) might not be a viable option IMHO.
I would suggest that she first take Bio and Gen Chem at her local CC and see how she does. Her original major was a rather “light” one, yet your guess of her GPA is not encouraging. Doubtful that she’d do well in those first two classes.
Taking those two classes will be a test of her capabilities. If she aces them with A’s, then fine, find a post-bacc or create one at the CC. But, to launch into an expensive program or 2nd degree now would be foolish. In any case, she certainly does NOT need to “re-do” undergrad.
^I assume she’d be attending a post-BA program, where students with an undergrad degree take classes for 12 or 18 months in order to complete the premed core. It’s not a degree-program.
However, I agree. She should take General Chemistry and General Biology (or their Honors version) at a local community college: if she gets an A, she can look into the post-BA med programs. Otherwise, she’ll need to look for other programs in the health fields (there are lots of them.)