Before I start this off I’d like to mention that I am an incoming freshman for Fall 2015, I e-mailed a pre-med adviser and am waiting to hear back about making an appointment.
A few things about SJSU… the 4-year graduation rate is 7.9%. Everything is impacted. It is known for being very depersonalized, I’ve heard that students are basically treated as a number as they go through the system. Don’t ask why I picked SJSU, it’s beside the point.
What do med schools think of students who graduate in over 4 years, even if there is nothing they could do about it? (impacted courses and low max unit limit)
I want to major in Psychology, but if I switch to a major with science-heavy courses, it may increase my chances of graduating on time. Any thoughts on whether I should do that or not?
I’ve heard that med schools frown on transfers. Is this true? I don’t want to transfer but it’s an option and may help me graduate on time.
Post-bac pre-med: Better option than undergrad for 5 years? Also, a question about post-bac. I am confused as to whether it makes up for pre-med courses completely or if it is a ‘refresher’ of sorts, to be taken after doing poorly in undergraduate pre-med courses.
Taking CC courses over the summer: I’ll definitely be doing this for least some classes, most likely GEs because I assume that med schools want pre-med courses to be taken at the four-year school. Is this generally frowned upon by med schools? What’s the lowdown on taking CC courses during undergrad?
(My dad put the idea in my head that I have to graduate in 4 years and I might be stressing a little too much over it. I intend to do my best to graduate “on time” but if it that’s not going to happen, well let’s just say I need to re-wire my stubborn little brain to accept that.)
Thanks in advance for any sincere comments and advice!
They won’t care if you take 4 years or 5 years so long as you have completed your graduation requirements BEFORE it’s time to matriculate. If you feel you need to explain why it took you 5 years to graduate, there’s a place on your secondaries to do so. (But explaining is usually unnecessary and the reasons often obvious to readers of your app. D1 took 5 years because she transferred from a school that used quarters to a school that used semesters and she lost a lot of credits that she then needed to make up in order to graduate. Not a single med school interviewer asked her about it.)
Your call. Majors aren’t a factor in med school admissions. Do what’s best for you.
Not true unless you have 3 ,4, 5 or more transfers, then you start looking like a flake or a person who is chronically unhappy.
Post baccs are expensive. Both in terms of price and opportunity cost. If you know now you want to go to med school, why not take your pre-reqs while you’re in college? It’s the least expensive and fastest route.
There are 2 types of post-baccs: One for career changers who don’t have their pre-reqs completed; the other is a grade-enhancing post-bacc which is structured program (often a master’s degree in bio) to improve the GPAs of individuals with lower than ideal GPAs/sGPAs.
Taking GEs in summer school at a CC is fine. But don’t take your sciences there. It will appear that you’re trying to duck hard classes/teachers/competition by avoiding your home school’s classes for sciences. This will be especially true if you’re not a science major and will only take limited number of science classes anyway.
The best thing is to create a competitive application and get accepted on first attempt as opposed to having to reapply. If that takes 5 years, so be it.