Postbac Pre-med Programs.

Hello everyone. I wanted to .

I have taken a beginners chemistry course in which I got a D, but I was very depressed during this time when I was starting college (it was my first semester). I took a semester off and came back feeling new and ready to focus on school. However, I then enrolled in a beginners biology course but I got a C, however it was an online course. Online courses are the worst I came to find and I will never take another again. I have taken many courses outside of the science field and have gotten A’s and I have a high GPA. I am reconsidering pre-med as I originally planned to do when I began college. I am taking a biology course and I have a lab, but I registered late for a biology class since I didn’t know I would need it to transfer to another school. The lab instructor is incredibly rude and not nice. She get’s noticeably angry and speakings in an angry condescending tone all the time. She seems to hate just being a teacher! I think I might finish the course with a B but I am aiming for the A. With my history of not having gotten off to a great start, should I just say goodbye to my pre-med aspirations? I was thinking of taking a postbac pre-med program to focus solely on the pre-med reqs after graduating. Please help me, I appreciate any advice :slight_smile:

Ignore, the “I wanted to.” Sorry :slight_smile:

  1. online science classes are not accepted as fulfilling pre-reqs for medical schools admission. (With a few specific exceptions at a few particular schools.)

  2. you are required to report all grades earned. If you repeat class, you must report both grades even if your college takes the original grade off your transcript. All grades–original and repeated-- will be included when computing your GPA and sGPA.

  3. if you are unhappy with your biology class and aren’t going to earn a strong grade (B+ or better), it would probably be better if you withdrew. Your sGPA is already in a very bad place. Every grade below an A is going to only make it worse.

  4. the fact that you have so far made such a poor showing in your science classes is not an encouraging sign that you could be successful in a post-bacc program. Post-baccs are very intense. You will be taking 3-4 science and math classes each semester, together with the required labs. Labs in particular can be quite time consuming. Additionally, you will not just be studying for your classes. You will be engaging in pre-med ECs–shadowing, clinical volunteering, community service and, depending on the post-bacc you chose, doing laboratory research-- and prepping for the MCAT at the same time.

So, given that, be honest with yourself. Are you the kind of person who thrives on challenges and intense academics? Are you good at time management and keeping a half dozen balls in the air? If you are, then maybe a post bacc will work out for you. Just realize that even the best post-baccs come with no guarantee that you’ll get a medical school acceptance. You could just as easily end up in the same place you are now, but with many thousands of dollars additional debt.

But first, before you start investigating post-baccs, you need to figure why you have not done well in your science classes. Are you missing a strong science/math background? Appropriate study skills? Time management skills? Do you have mental health issues (depression, anxiety)? If you have deficits, you need to fix them BEFORE you start a post-bacc or you won’t be successful.

I ask because I’ll let you in on a secret–there are angry, crappy teachers everywhere. Even in med school. You need to be able to self-teach yourself even the most complex and difficult material to be a successful science student. You have to teach you; you cannot rely on any given teacher to teach you.

And one more consideration: Can you afford the $$$$$$$ price tag of a formal post-bacc? Programs can cost into $60K+ range.

You don’t need to respond in public to any of the questions I’ve raised, but you do need to think deeply and seriously about them.