Hilary Alvarez

 At Dartmouth College, Hilary Alvarez majored in philosophy. Her particular interest was applied ethics, especially bioethics. Toward the end of her undergraduate career, she set her sights on medical school.

What drew her to Mount Holyoke College’s postbaccalaureate program was the flexibility it offered. “Some of the other programs that I looked at were concerned about me taking ‘too much’ science my senior year of college, before I started the postbac. Mount Holyoke, on the other hand, was happy to have me come for just the one year of extra courses that I needed,” says Alvarez.

Another feature that attracted her was Mount Holyoke’s small class size. “I felt like I’d often let myself fade into the background in courses at Dartmouth, and thought that small classes would keep me from doing that again.”

Alvarez credits the preparation she received in the postbaccalaureate program with enabling her to receive a full scholarship to the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota, where she’s now a third-year medical student.  What made the biggest difference, she says, was “the faculty’s support and excellent teaching.”

She also valued the program’s willingness to work with her on a schedule tailored to her needs. “For example, when I decided that I wanted to apply to Mayo and discovered that biochemistry was a required course, I was allowed to jump into the second course in a sequence without taking the first,” she recalls.

These days, Alvarez is hoping to return to New England and work as a family practice physician.  “I can’t recommend the MHC program highly enough,” she says. “I enjoyed living on campus, working with the medical emergency response team, and exploring the Pioneer Valley. The on-campus MCAT course run by Kaplan was small and extremely well-taught. My postbac year was an amazing experience.”