<p>I tried posting this on the pre-med board and received no replies. I hope you don't mind if I ask it here even though it doesn't quite fit the topic of this board. There seem to be many knowledgeable people here. </p>
<p>Someone I know did not get into med school and is now looking for options, particularly post-bac programs.</p>
<p>Graduated from Syracuse in biology/pre-med last May but has not been offered admittance to a medical school (MD) or osteopath school (DO). He got a couple of interviews but no offers. Now he is looking for other options while he is working in a lab at the U of Rochester Medical Center.</p>
<p>He got a 26 on the MCATS. Bio=10, verbal=9, physical sciences = 7.
He had a 3.3 undergrad gpa but he had a 3.5 in his last 3 years after he switched from English to bio. Lots of research experience. Took all the right courses but took the easier physics sequence. Did fine in all sciences (B and A grades). Took biochem, micro, and molecular bio.</p>
<p>He remains committed to a medical career, preferably MD family med. Caucasian male very committed to helping underpriviledged. He has no other drawbacks to his application that I can see. He has a broad education and interests/talent in music. Excellent writer. Not much volunteerism because he was always in research labs. Won the undergrad research award for the Bio Dept.</p>
<p>What are his options? Would you recommend a post-bacc that offers a masters degree or certificate or just courses? Are there any programs that would be a good fit for him? Which are the best programs for strengthening credentials? He is considering for post-bac SUNY Buffalo, Dartmouth, Tulane, Georgetown, Boston U, Loyola of Chicago, Drexel, Easten Virginia Med College.</p>
<p>The first step should be to work with the resources he had at Syracuse.</p>
<p>According to the page at <a href="http://students.syr.edu/depts/careerservices/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://students.syr.edu/depts/careerservices/index.html</a> he can call and talk to a career counseler.They say "sometimes it just helps to discuss one's situation with a trained and experienced counselor. The Center's staff of career consultants are ready to play this role. In-person appointments are welcomed for those who live close enough to Syracuse, and telephone appointments can be scheduled for those residing beyond the Syracuse area; call 315-443-3616 to arrange either conversation. "</p>
<p>Not only that, but according to the page at <a href="http://hpap.syr.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://hpap.syr.edu/</a> "The Health Professions Advisory Program (HPAP) in The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, advises, counsels and provides resources for students and graduates of all Syracuse University schools and colleges" so it sounds like they can still help him out.</p>
<p>So my recommendation would be to take advantage of the resources he is fortunate to have as a Syracuse graduate.</p>
<p>Not to be too obvious but foreign med schools are an option as well as staying in medicine but not an MD. The nursing field has great opportunities...particularly nurse anesthetists.</p>
<p>Goucher College in Maryland has a year long post bac pre-med program that is supposed to be pretty good. Apparently they have an exchange program with Johns Hopkins so you can also take a few pre-med classes there if necessary. I do know that Goucher has a good bio. program and does a good job of getting its undergrads into med schools.</p>
<p>From my understanding, the classic post-bac programs are primarily intended for students with a bachelor's degree who discover they have an interest in medicine but do not have the required undergrad science courses. At Goucher, for example, "The Program is designed for men and women who have completed a bachelor's degree at an accredited college or university and who have a favorable academic record, but who lack the majority of science courses needed for entrance into medical school."</p>
<p>I think the friend of the OP really needs to take advantage of the resources in terms of counseling/advice available at Syracuse. If the OP is advising this person, this should be the first issue to understand. Why turn to strangers on a web forum when expert advice is available just for the asking? Right on their health careers page, they say " For students graduating with a major in biology, bioengineering, or even chemistry, it is unlikely that taking a few more courses in the same field will enhance the academic record. Such students probably should enroll in a standard M.S. program in science." See <a href="http://hpap.syr.edu/pblist.htm%5B/url%5D">http://hpap.syr.edu/pblist.htm</a></p>
<p>At the very minimum, he needs to get that MCAT score up. 26 is very non-competitive. Since his GPA is low, he'll need to get a much-higher MCAT score, say 34 at the minimum. A post-bad isn't going to erase a 26.</p>
<p>As it turns out, he has been in contact with Syracuse health careers advising and plans to make a follow-up appointment with them. Many of the places he applied continue interviewing through April or May but he thinks he would have been invited for an interview by now.</p>
<p>The Goucher plan was one he had not heard of and thought it would be great, especially because girl-friend is in grad school in nearby DC, but the advisor at SU suggested a masters program. The SU website does have a lot. </p>
<p>Thank you very much MikeMac, Oldman, and Carolyn. If anyone has any more insights or suggestions I will pass them along.</p>
<p>By the way, my friend says the pre-med advising at Syracuse was great and that they continue to be available for support. He said the bio program was excellent and gave him many opportunities. He does admit that he climbed the lampposts on Marshall Street a few times...like after the NCAA basketball championship. </p>