Session 49 In this week's episode, Ryan gives his take on whether you should do a masters program prior to taking a postbac program and he also sheds some light to the confusion around undergrad, postbac, and graduate GPAs. If you haven’t yet, register at OldPreMeds.org so you can post your first question right here on the podcast. OldPreMeds Question of the Week: The poster is a true nontraditional student who didn't want to go to medicine until after graduating college. They decided to pursue a medical career after graduating from a public university with very good standing but didn't do so well with their freshmen and junior year where and ended up graduating with a 2.8 GPA with English, Sociology, Psychology, and Calc1 prereq in 2015. Since then, they've been working full time and part time. Now she has decided to pursue medicine, got her CPR card, and looking into applying to postbac programs but not sure whether they have the academic potential to apply to postbac programs. Some have said that instead of going straight to a postbac premed program, they should instead get their master's degree and along with good postbac GPA overall, they should then apply to a postbac premed program, then medical school. Do you need to do a Masters to get into a postbac program? Here are the insights from Ryan: On your applications, your GPA is broken down in a couple different ways: Undergrad GPA Postbac GPA - while listed separately, is counted as an undergrad GPA Graduate GPA If you get a Master’s GPA, that's only affecting your graduate GPA, and not your postbac GPA or your undergrad GPA. A postbac doesn't necessarily have to be a postbac-specific program, but any undergrad classes that you were taking after you get your degree. Ryan recommends: Unless you really want a masters in whatever you're planning on studying, a masters degree for the sake of boosting your GPA for medical schools or postbac programs is a waste of time. This poster's GPA might not be competitive enough for formal postbac programs so he/she will have to look around and use the AAMC postbac database and look for the Career Changer Postbac Programs and reach out to them. Here are your possible options: You can take the prereqs as a non degree-seeking undergrad student (so this would be a DIY postbac and this would be your postbac GPA) at a four-year university The only differences between a formal postbac and a do-it-yourself postbac are the level of support and the cost. Formal postbacs are more expensive because they are like mini-universities within a university which have separate advising setup specifically for postbac programs (Also included are shadowing experiences, clinical experiences. MCAT prep, etc.) However, there is no difference between getting 4.0 in a formal postbac and getting a 4.0 in a DIY postbac program as a non degree seeking student on your applications. Either of both will be your postbac GPA which will be factored into your undergrad GPA. Major takeaway from this episode: Do well as a non degree seeking student. Do well in a formal postbac. But the master's degree is a waste of time. Links and Other Resources: AAMC postbac database - Career Changer Postbac Programs www.oldpremeds.org