Post-Bacc Application Advice

From my Interview Trail (New York)

I'll be starting my Post-Bacc program in August 2020. I'm so grateful and excited to finally start on this path! In the meantime, I wanted to share my application experience so you sort of know what to expect if you're thinking of applying for the upcoming cycle. As for my background, I applied to about 7 post-bacc programs including Johns Hopkins, Goucher, Bryn Mawr, George Washington, Columbia, UPenn, and UCSD. I was accepted to 5 out of the 7 programs! Here are my two cents on the application process.

1. Apply Early
One of the best pieces of advice that I can give anyone is to apply early. Most programs admit on a rolling basis, which means that admissions committees don't necessarily wait until the deadline for interviews/acceptances. They admit on a continuing basis. Even though they might have a deadline of March, please don't wait to apply until March. By that time, they will have most of their spots already filled with students and it will become extremely competitive for someone to get that last spot.

2. Call Each Program
You don't have to call. You can email/message them but find a way to reach out to the programs you're interested in. Discuss your career path and what you're trying to seek out of that program. They will give you the information you need to decide if it's the right program for you. I remember calling different programs to ask if they had any RNs in their program or if they were okay with accepting students who had taken some of the pre-med pre-requisites. Some programs were very open to that idea and others were very blunt to state that they purely wanted true career changers with no previous classes. And that's totally okay! It's better to know this information up front rather than finding out after spending that money on applications and your sanity while waiting.

3. Prepare Yourself Financially 
Applying to these programs is VERY expensive. It almost gives you a taste of what it'll be like to apply to medical school(s). Here are all the things you can expect to spend your money on: sending transcripts from every high school and college to each program, your SAT/ACT/MCAT/GRE scores (if applicable), PostBacCAS (if applying through this service), each program's own sub-application cost, traveling for interviews, etc. I spent about $800 on the applications/transcripts and then dropped $1,000+ on traveling. I will admit that the traveling part could have cost less but I chose this time to travel for leisure as well as interviews so that's why the price is a bit higher. But, you get my point. It's expensive so prepare yourself for it!

Taken from the window of the waiting room - just a few minutes before my interview (Maryland)

4. Prepare for Interviews
Start preparing for interviews even before you hit that submit button and wait in agony to hear something back. It's better to be prepared and have the opportunity than to have that opportunity without being prepared. I remember being on StudentDoctorNetwork (I know...) and just looking through pages of information on each program and the type of questions they asked during interviews. I read Dr. Gray's Premed Playbook on Medical School Interviews like my life depended on it. I made a list of all the questions I expected them to ask and wrote bullet points of everything I wanted to discuss. Then, I just practiced my answers over and over again. I had my application memorized as well as my why because every single program started with the why. You're a nurse. You have a great career and make good money. Why are you now making that change to becoming a physician? Boom. That's your cue to answer them. Sure, they'll throw curveball questions at you like, "If you could be any shape, what would it be?" but just take a deep breath, think about it and answer. Pause and think always before rumbling on for a few minutes before finally admitting that you've lost your train of thought. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. More than anything, be yourself and remember that the interviewers are human too. Laugh, be honest and share your passion with them!

5. Keep Yourself Busy 
It's so easy to get hung up on the wait after you submit your applications. I remember sitting in silence and staring at my screen after I had hit submit and spent a portion of my savings. I constantly thought about getting rejected from every single program I had applied to. But even then, I'd tell myself that I'll just improve my application, gain more experience and apply again. The thoughts would still creep up but I moved on with my life. I didn't hear anything back for 2-3 weeks. Until then, I continued going to work, traveling, spending time with family and volunteering. I remember being asked about what I had been doing since I applied during my interviews and this way I had something to share besides "Oh, impatiently waiting for your response while binge-watching Friends for the 6th time and eating junk food." No matter what happens, remember you're a bad-ass and you got this!