As of late, I’ve gotten a few questions about the differences between a post bac program and special masters programs (SMP) and under which conditions should a student consider pursuing one of these options.
Let’s start with some definitions first.
Who are post bac and SMP programs for?
These programs are for students who have completed their undergraduate and, in some cases, a graduate degree program, and are in need of one or more of the following:
What are my options?
Depending on your circumstances, you may choose to do a career-change post bac, a record-enhancer post bac, or an SMP. A subset of the post bac programs that you may have heard of is the so-called, do-it-yourself or DIY post bac.
The career-changer post bac is for those folks who have not completed all of the pre-med requirements. They may have completed an undergraduate degree in social work for example and after some time in the work force, they have decided that they would like to apply to medical school. Students attending these programs will complete the standard medical school pre requisite courses. Some of these programs may have a linkage with a medical school where you can gain admissions if you complete the program with a specified GPA and MCAT score. Others may offer a chance at a guaranteed medical school interview.
Individuals who are seeking to pursue a record-enhancer post bac, are in need of increasing their GPA to enhance their undergraduate record. These students have usually completed all of the pre med courses but maybe their overall and/or science GPA is on the low side. These students may retake some of their pre requisite courses, though it is usually advised to take upper division courses as opposed to retaking courses that you have already passed, even if you passed the course with a C. Some of these programs may have a linkage with a medical school where you can gain admissions if you complete the program with a specified GPA and MCAT score. Others may offer a chance at a guaranteed medical school interview.
DIY post bac programs are not a formal sub-set of post bac programs. Some students, whether they are career-changers or record enhancers, do not have the finances or time in their schedules for a formal post bac program. Thus, they may enroll as a non-degree seeking student at their local community college and/or university and take classes that they need as they are able to afford and have time to take them. This is the most affordable option for many students but since you may not have access to formal academic and/or pre-health advising, the onus will be on the student to ensure that they are taking the appropriate classes to meet their goals.
Finally, we come to SMP’s or special master’s programs. These are master’s programs that are frequently closely affiliated with a medical school. Some SMP programs require students complete a few medical school classes while others may have students take up to a full year of medical school courses. Still other SMP programs may have classes that are closely modeled after medical school classes while other SMP programs may be made up of traditional graduate school courses or a mix of traditional graduate school and medical school classes. These programs can range from nine months to two full years in length and some come with what is called a “linkage”, that is, if you finish the SMP with a certain GPA and/or MCAT score, you will be guaranteed a seat in its affiliated medical school. Other programs will only guarantee you an interview if you pass some GPA and/or MCAT threshold and finally, some programs do not guarantee you anything but a master’s degree upon completion.
What benefits can I gain from attending one of these programs?
Aside from the ability to enhance your academic record and/or the chance to link directly into a medical school or earn a guaranteed medical school interview, many of the post bac and SMP programs offer the following:
This is not an all-inclusive list of the services that post bac’s and SMP’s offer and it should be noted that some programs may only offer a few of these services, some may offer all of them, and some may offer none. Thus, it is important to consider what you need in a program and then carefully research the programs that are available.
How do I know if I need to attend a post bac or an SMP?
This is a tough question to answer because medical school admissions is not a one-size-fits-all affair. I have seen students with what would be considered low GPAs and mediocre MCAT scores gain admissions and other students with stellar grades and MCATs be denied even a secondary application. This highlights the point that you really need to have a well-rounded application, to include grades and MCAT scores.
If you have less than 140 undergraduate credits and less than a 3.2 overall and/or science GPA, then a post bac program may be beneficial to you. The reason why I say less than 140 undergraduate credits is because eventually, you can accumulate so many undergraduate credits that taking more undergraduate courses in a post bac program will not help your GPA move much. Thus, if you applied to medical school, your GPA may still not meet a particular schools screening cut off’s even if you performed well in post bac.
If you have a GPA between a 2.5 and 3.0 and have 120ish credits, you may need to do a post bac AND an SMP. This is not a guaranteed situation mind you. Much will depend on what your MCAT score is and what type of application strategy you use when you are applying to medical school but I have friends who had to do some undergraduate record enhancement followed by an SMP because they were unsuccessful in gaining admissions to medical school after completing a post bac. My point in mentioning this is that one shouldn’t look at these programs as a quick fix. Depending on YOUR individual situation regarding what your academic record and/or extracurricular record is lacking, you may have to do some extra work.
If you have a 2.75 and up (there are some SMPs who will admit students with as low as a 2.75 GPA) and have taken all of the medical school pre req courses, then an SMP may be in your future. Some SMPs also require an MCAT, GRE, or some other health professions test score for admissions. The thing to note about an SMP is that these programs are really a last stop. In my opinion, if you finish an SMP with less than a 3.5 GPA and/or come out with less than a 504 or so MCAT, you have probably wasted your money. I say probably because there is always a chance that someone may admit you to their medical school but I’ve heard my wife on admissions calls with her admissions committee and they tend to heavily question those students who finish SMP with less than stellar grades and/or an MCAT of less than a 504 or so. These students rarely gain admissions to my wife’s medical school and my guess is that many other medical schools will be similar in this regard. I have several friends who finished SMPs with a 3.0 – 3.2 overall GPA and earned MCATs in the 489-500 range who ended up having to attend international medical schools. Make sure that if you choose this route that you are prepared to hit the ground running and are going to fix whatever errors you may have in your study skills so that the SMP doesn’t end up representing a death blow to your aspirations of gaining admissions to medical school.
Funding. How will I pay for post bac and SMP programs?
Because most post bac programs are certificate granting, most will require the use of a private bank loan. I say most because I am not aware of any programs that will allow the use of federal financial aid but I could very well be mistaken in this regard. My advice would be to contact the financial aid office at the school that you would be interested in completing your post bac at, and ask them if you would be eligible for federal loans and/or institutional aid. If you have to use private loans, just be aware that these will be based on having a qualifying credit score. If you do a DIY post bac, you will be paying out of pocket for your studies. Finally, SMP’s, because they are graduate programs, will allow you to use federal and private student loans. A few programs may offer scholarships, but on the whole, you will have to utilize loans to cover your school expenses. Keep in mind that post bac and SMP programs can be EXPENSIVE. For example, the Georgetown University SMP in Physiology, can easily run you up to 80K or more after you factor in tuition, supplies, transportation, and cost of living. Loans have to be repaid so if you don’t get into medical school, you could easily have a very expensive certificate and/or masters degree that doesn’t do a lot for you to help get a job. Also, every dime that you take for a post bac and/or SMP is money that you do not get to use towards medical school. Thus, make sure that you are aware of what your loan limits are and where you stand in relation to them before making a decision to attend a post bac and/or SMP. I have friends who were “super undergrads”, meaning, they accumulated 180+ credits in undergrad, went to post bac and/or an expensive SMP and then ended up with no subsidized or unsubsidized federal loan eligibility. One guy I know who ended up in the Caribbean actually ran out of his Grad Plus loan eligibility because he taken so many undergrad hours and had gone to an SMP that costs around 100K. The medical school that he attended in the Caribbean was around 67K yearly so he rapidly ran out of money and had to come home in his 4th year… Don’t let that be your story.
List of post bac and SMP resources. This is not an all-inclusive list. Google will be your best friend.
