Nontrad Faq

[nontrad314]

This thread is intended to contain discussion concerning FAQ for nontraditional students.

Below is the current version of the FAQ, which is assembled from various discussions.

The current version is now broken down into sections for clarity.

[Doctor Bagel]

great idea!

i've got a question to add from a female perspective --

q. i'm non-trad and interested in having children. what are my options for having children during medical school or residencies?

a. some schools allow you to take five years to graduate, giving you time to have a child. many students seem to opt to have children between the second and third year. also, some residency programs are flexible regarding this. anyone want to add to this answer before the faq becomes official? my answer is not the most informative.

[nontrad314]

Hi exlawgrrl,

I added your Q. It's no. 11 now.

I'm not sure if this will ever become 'official', but we'll see.

In the mean time, people should just keep adding the questions that they have and then someone (me or anyone else) can just stick them on as we go.

How's that sound?

[mamadoc]

I'm actually in fairly violent disagreement with the answer about when to have kids. The only way that "between second and third year" is a good choice is if you ARE able to hold off an entire year before starting third year. But if you're not factoring in an extra year, at the conclusion of second year you need to study for Step I, and then you go into clinical rotations. Neither of those is a baby-friendly setting.

My answer would be:

People have figured out lots of ways to have babies while in med school and / or residency. Popular times in med school include between first and second year (when you often have a summer break), and during fourth year when you usually have more discretionary time. Residency programs have systems in place to deal with maternity leave and so pretty much every imaginable work arrangement has been done during residency. There's no one right way to do it.

[Mackchops]

I think a question about having kids can be left out of a FAQ because there isn't one common answer that everyone on this board will agree with. An FAQ is intended to weed out some of the most common and, for lack of a better word, "stupid" questions. Starting a family and having kids is a decision that is very dependent on one individual's situation. Besides, we have to have something to leave out there for discussion!!

Also, remember that non-trads aren't all pre-meds. I'm pre-dent and I know there are pharm, vet, etc. out there as well. Don't want to make this board a lesson on PR, but I would still like to feel as though I'm part of the in-crowd.

My $2.00 (darn inflation)

-Mack

[nontrad314]

Yikes! Violent controversy. Yikes!

I must admit I never foresaw violent controversy.

Well. As it stands we have 2 votes against (mamadoc and Mackchops), one vote for (exlawgrrl) and 1 neutral (although I've met some 3rd and 4th years that were pregnant).

In any event, the resolution is given as follows:

UNLESS otherwise stated, the question concerning FAMILY PLANNING will HEREBY be relegated to the thread 'Family Planning' (which I am about to post).

On achieved CONSENSUS of that thread (fingers crossed 'cause consensus doesn't happen every day) the Q11 / A11 concerning FAMILY PLANNING will return to the FAQ.

Cool? Not Cool?
------------------------------------
Mackchop.

Thanks for your input. Well said. Excellent points concerning the scope of the FAQs. I second the motion to include FAQs concerning other nontrad flavors.

------------------------------------

Everyone else (and I mean everyone),

I know ALL of you had questions when you got started and ALL of you learned some of those answers. Thus, I think it would be great if we could bring some of that in.

[Doctor Bagel]

yeah, my answer might totally be wrong -- in fact, i haven't researched the issue because i'm not planning on having kids any time in the near future. i still think it's an important question to ask. perhaps we can include answers for all different specialties or maybe links to various sites like mommd and the dental and other specialty equivalents.

it would also be interesting to compile a list of medical and other allied health schols that have a daycare.

[Doctor Bagel]

other good questions about be about standardized test prep because a lot of us nontrads took prerequisites many years ago. for example ...

q. are test preparation classes worth the money? which one is the best?

a. many students, nontrads included, are able to do very well on tests like the mcat, dat, gre through independent study. however, many other nontrads have reported positive results from taking special test preparation classes. princeton review is known for placing lots of focus on the scientific aspects of the tests, while kaplan is known more for emphasizing test taking skills. both have excellent resources.

another nontrad issue is how to deal with the "why change, why now" questions that supposedly hit us in all our interviews. for that, i think it's probably useful to post a link to the recent discussion about this on the board.

[nontrad314]

great input. thanks. let's keep this going. get a few more and then we'll add them in.

more to follow

[Law2Doc]

Originally Posted by nontrad314

great input. thanks. let's keep this going. get a few more and then we'll add them in.

more to follow

I'm not sure that in your question #4 that you want to suggest community college courses will be regarded by adcoms on par with the more formal postbac programs - it's fine if that's your only option, but I wouldn't list the things you did as equally good options. You also may want to clarify the retaking MCATs to suggest obtaining a score within a few points of that listed in the MSAR for the desired target schools, or if one's score is significantly unballanced (eg. 7, 14, 7).
The other most frequently asked question seems to be - what schools are amenable to older applicants. I personally think all take a few, but others on this board have more specific suggestions.
Good first draft though!

[megboo]

Originally Posted by amk25a

Plus, some schools don't even accept community college courses as satisfying their entry requirements (Boston U SOM for one).

Some schools do (California schools, Illinois schools)... maybe making a list as people check them out would be a good idea. I personally contacted the Illinois schools and they all said yes.

[nontrad314]

1. added q0 + q13 regarding motivation re exlawgrll why me why now

2. added q12 regarding prep courses re exlawgrrl

3. moded q4 regarding CCs + added q4a re Law2Doc + amk25a + megboo

4. added q14 regarding nontrad friendly schools

5. i removed dental / vet med references. I'm sorry about this, but at the end of the day I can't support it: A. I know little to about these programs, B. wording of questions become specific to respective programs which implies organizing by sections which implies independent FAQs.---- it's just too much work. I invite others to proceed in analogy.

[nontrad314]

Wording changes to q4, q5, q7, q11, q14

[DrHans]

Originally Posted by nontrad314

UNLESS otherwise stated, the question concerning FAMILY PLANNING will HEREBY be relegated to the thread 'Family Planning' (which I am about to post).

On achieved CONSENSUS of that thread (fingers crossed 'cause consensus doesn't happen every day) the Q11 / A11 concerning FAMILY PLANNING will return to the FAQ.

Cool? Not Cool?

I think its an important consideration when one enters into a difficult decision. Many of us considered our families, correct? I think this is an important discussion for all especially the female majority of non-trads.

[nontrad314]

Originally Posted by DrHans

I think its an important consideration when one enters into a difficult decision. Many of us considered our families, correct? I think this is an important discussion for all especially the female majority of non-trads.

Hi DrHans

Thanks for the post. It strikes me as quite familiar. Something I can't quite put my finger on...

In any event, I concur with both: A. I think it is indeed an important consideration when one enters a difficult decision, B. Many of us considered our families. I know I did (and continue to) to a very great degree.

<<Again, there is something oddly familiar here....something that I can't quite put my finger on>>

But again, yes I concur.

nt314

[QofQuimica]

Originally Posted by exlawgrrl

other good questions about be about standardized test prep because a lot of us nontrads took prerequisites many years ago. for example ...

q. are test preparation classes worth the money? which one is the best?

a. many students, nontrads included, are able to do very well on tests like the mcat, dat, gre through independent study. however, many other nontrads have reported positive results from taking special test preparation classes. princeton review is known for placing lots of focus on the scientific aspects of the tests, while kaplan is known more for emphasizing test taking skills. both have excellent resources.

another nontrad issue is how to deal with the "why change, why now" questions that supposedly hit us in all our interviews. for that, i think it's probably useful to post a link to the recent discussion about this on the board.

I would like to add the following to this post (sorry that it's kind of long ):

All pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, and pre-pharmacy students who are studying for their standardized exams are invited to browse the MCAT Study Questions Q & A subforum. This subforum has a series of threads that are a study resource for pre-health students, and there are also threads for students to ask science and test strategy questions. You should start by reading the General MCAT FAQs thread, where we have posted about the test prep course issue among other things. Most of us who answer questions in the subforum are non-trads, and we are happy to help fellow non-trads who are studying for these exams.
Any non-trads who have questions about how best to prepare for their pre-health exams are invited to PM QofQuimica if you don't feel comfortable posting your questions publically in the subforum.

[nontrad314]

Q

Many thanks. I've added your post as Q12 over the previous version.

Let me know if the wording needs changing.

nt314

[QofQuimica]

Originally Posted by nontrad314

Q

Many thanks. I've added your post as Q12 over the previous version.

Let me know if the wording needs changing.

nt314

Nope, I think it's great, unless you don't like that I used a different tense ("we") than you did for the rest of the Qs and As? You can just change my paragraph to third person instead of first if that bothers you.

[QofQuimica]

Another suggested FAQ:

Q: I don't have access to a pre-med advisor, and I need some help to figure out how to make my application competitive for admission to medical school. Where do I start?

A: Call all of your state schools, and schedule an appointment to meet with the admissions dean at one or more of them. Bring copies of all of your transcripts, your MCAT scores if you have them, and a CV listing your activities, employment history, and awards. Leave your ego at home. Ask this person what you can do to improve your application and your chances for admission. You will get relevant personal feedback, you will gain a valuable contact at that school, and you will be given a very frank and specific set of criteria detailing what they are looking for in their successful applicants. Then you can come up with a specific plan to improve your application based on their assessment of your shortcomings.

[QofQuimica]

One more tidbit that some people may not know about that might help them:

Q: Who can I ask to help me with writing my personal statement (PS) for medical school?

A: Most if not all medical schools have a diversity office charged with helping minority, female, and non-traditional applicants who are applying to medical school. You should contact your state schools and find out whether they offer PS advice or workshops through the diversity office. You can also ask other SDN members to read and critique your PS.

And another question that is a biggie for non-trads:

Q: I have been out of college for several years. What do I do about getting letters of recommendation (LORs) from science or non-science professors?

A: If you are a graduate or post-bac student, you should ask your current professors to write LORs for you. If you have been working full-time and have not taken classes for several years, you will probably be allowed to substitute employment letters for at least some of your academic LORs, but the schools may still insist that you take some refresher coursework and solicit letters from those professors. Other potential sources of LORs for non-trads include volunteer coordinators, physicians whom you have shadowed, or researchers for whom you have volunteered. Contact the individual schools for more information about appropriate sources of LORs.

More about LORs:

Q: How do I go about sending LORs to medical schools if I do not have access to a pre-medical committee?

A: One option is to use an electronic LOR clearinghouse like Interfolio. Your recommenders send their letters directly to Interfolio, and you can then forward the letters electronically or by postal service to as many schools as you wish. Alternatively, you can ask your recommenders to send individual letters to each school where you complete a secondary. If you plan to apply to a large number of schools, however, this may be a major imposition on your recommenders.

[megboo]

Originally Posted by QofQuimica

One more tidbit that some people may not know about that might help them:

Q: Who can I ask to help me with writing my personal statement (PS) for medical school?

A: Most if not all medical schools have a diversity office charged with helping minority, female, and non-traditional applicants who are applying to medical school. You should contact your state schools and find out whether they offer PS advice or workshops through the diversity office. You can also ask other SDN members to read and critique your PS.

And another question that is a biggie for non-trads:

Q: I have been out of college for several years. What do I do about getting letters of recommendation (LORs) from science or non-science professors?

A: If you are a graduate or post-bac student, you should ask your current professors to write LORs for you. If you have been working full-time and have not taken classes for several years, you will probably be allowed to substitute employment letters for at least some of your academic LORs, but the schools may still insist that you take some refresher coursework and solicit letters from those professors. Other potential sources of LORs for non-trads include volunteer coordinators, physicians whom you have shadowed, or researchers for whom you have volunteered. Contact the individual schools for more information about appropriate sources of LORs.

More about LORs:

Q: How do I go about sending LORs to medical schools if I do not have access to a pre-medical committee?

A: One option is to use an electronic LOR clearinghouse like Interfolio. Your recommenders send their letters directly to Interfolio, and you can then forward the letters electronically or by postal service to as many schools as you wish. Alternatively, you can ask your recommenders to send individual letters to each school where you complete a secondary. If you plan to apply to a large number of schools, however, this may be a major imposition on your recommenders.

Suggestion for the second one: Always provide your LOR writers with addressed, stamped envelopes, so all they have to do is put the letter in them and seal and either take it to their office for mail pickup or the nearest post office box. It makes things much easier on them. Also, if there are a lot of universities to send them to, organizing with manila envlopes isn't a bad idea either.

[nontrad314]

1. added q15, q16, q17

2. character limit of main post is saturated; so subsequent submissions will be included below.

[QofQuimica]

If I may make a suggestion (I don't mean to take over your thread ), you could start a new thread (njbmd, any chance you'd be willing to stick it?) where you break up the FAQs into several separate posts based on subtopic. For example, have one FAQ post for people who have just decided to go to medical school but have yet to begin the process, one for people who are currently taking post-bac classes and studying for their pre-health exams, and one for people who are actually in the process of applying. You could also have another post for questions about life issues for non-trads (like the one about family planning). In the meantime, we could continue making suggestions for more FAQs here on this thread. This would keep the actual reference thread less cluttered.

P.S. Will you add one about pre-application meetings with the admissions director? I really think that would be tremendously helpful for a lot of nontrads.

[Sundarban1]

Dude, you're confusing the hell out of me. What's up with seven threads for the same questions?

[nontrad314]

Originally Posted by Sundarban1

Dude, you're confusing the hell out of me. What's up with seven threads for the same questions?

Yes...it's a hack. Yes, there is thread proliferation. Yes. There is an end in site.

<<Original post is obsolete due to merging threads >>

[QofQuimica]

Originally Posted by nontrad314

At some point Q should have something to say about all this.

HIH

Probably one working non-trad FAQ thread is sufficient. I would suggest merging the working nontrad FAQ thread with your original nontrad FAQ thread. Unfortunately, I can't help you organize your threads, because I don't have moderating powers in this forum. One of the non-trad forum mods like njbmd or the smods and admins *can* help you, if you can convince one of them to sign on to your project.

Your Current Nontrad FAQ thread looks great to me. I am going to add a post in the General Questions thread of the MCAT Study Question subforum for non-trads, and I will link it to your Current Nontrad FAQ post. Thanks a lot for compiling this resource.

[njbmd]

Hi there,
All FAQ threads are now merged. Please do not start duplicate threads on the same topic as they can be deleted as a violation of TOS or confusing to posters who really want to contribute. If you are unsure, do a thread search for your topic.
njbmd

[nontrad314]

njbmd

Thanks for the clarifications.

[almost_there]

Suggestion for addendum to A0:
3. Lay out a realistic timeline for yourself. There's typically about 2 full years of classes to prepare for the MCAT, which you'll need to take at least a year (and typically a year and a half) before you will enter medical school, meaning that for a full-time student with no prior background, it'll be AT LEAST 7 years before finishing medical school. Add 3-5 years in residency training. And think about the strains you will place on family/friends/relationships along the way. It's a long and arduous road, and that's why motivation and understanding the reality of what you are getting into is so important.

Q0: I am 25+ yrs old and considering a career in medicine, what are some important considerations regarding my intention to pursue Medical school ?
A0: You should: 1. Carefully self-appraise your motivation for a new career, and 2. Investigate the realities of your intended career through consultation / shadowing and other exposures that address the pragmatics of your intention. Admissions Deans at SOMs, health professions counselors at universities, SOM students, practicing physicians are each worth consulting. Literature concerning the pragmatics of a career in medicine are available through AAMC.

[nontrad314]

almost_there

great input. let's get some more before we put them all together.

some related ideas are whether or not we want to create sections and subsections etc. or just keep going with the flow?

Let's talk about this folks! What are some ideas?

I know you all have a lot of ideas in general. So let's hear them. No?

Thanks

More to follow,

nt314

[QofQuimica]

Originally Posted by nontrad314

almost_there

great input. let's get some more before we put them all together.

some related ideas are whether or not we want to create sections and subsections etc. or just keep going with the flow?

Let's talk about this folks! What are some ideas?

I know you all have a lot of ideas in general. So let's hear them. No?

Thanks

More to follow,

nt314

FYI, I linked this thread to the MCAT subforum. My personal feeling is that having separate posts with FAQs based on topic would work better than having FAQs haphazardly stuck everywhere, but if I'm sure there are lots of other methods of organization that would work fine too. If you want some more ideas, you can take a look at how I organized the subforum (i.e., with TOCs and links to each post), but that is probably overkill for this purpose b/c you won't have nearly as many posts in this thread as those threads have.

[nontrad314]

Originally Posted by QofQuimica

FYI, I linked this thread to the MCAT subforum. My personal feeling is that having separate posts with FAQs based on topic would work better than having FAQs haphazardly stuck everywhere, but if I'm sure there are lots of other methods of organization that would work fine too. If you want some more ideas, you can take a look at how I organized the subforum (i.e., with TOCs and links to each post), but that is probably overkill for this purpose b/c you won't have nearly as many posts in this thread as those threads have.

Hi Q, Other readers, and moderators

Thanks for the input: I agree that as it stands now things are 'Just haphazardly stuck everywhere'. It's not an optimal way of doing things; e.g., you can't read it.

Which, I agree, is a really poor way of doing things (as you know I proposed a solution but parties disagreed with it for whatever reason).

In any event, let's fix this.

A. In order to clean things up, how is is that you have the ability to edit other people's posts in the MCAT subforum?

B. Just as you can edit 'Shrikes' posts, is there a way that I can give you editor authority to the original post?

C. Assuming there is a clean version of the FAQ somewhere, where does the working space go if not in another thread; e.g., how is one supposed to produce a clean version if there is not a working version somewhere else?

nt314

p.s. I've been pretty busy the last couple days but have meant to return to this issue in due time. Thanks for speeding up this process.

[QofQuimica]

Originally Posted by nontrad314

A. In order to clean things up, how is is that you have the ability to edit other people's posts in the MCAT subforum?

B. Just as you can edit 'Shrikes' posts, is there a way that I can give you editor authority to the original post?

C. Assuming there is a clean version of the FAQ somewhere, where does the working space go if not in another thread; e.g., how is one supposed to produce a clean version if there is not a working version somewhere else?

A. Sorry, I guess I did not explain this very well before. Users on SDN only have the ability to edit their own posts, not other people's and not threads. However, each forum has one or more moderators who do have these abilities. Since I am a volunteer advisor (like a mod) for the MCAT subforum, I can edit posts and threads in there. I cannot do it in here, however; in this forum I am a regular user just like you.

B. No, mods are selected by the SDN administrators, so you as a user cannot delegate mod powers to me.

C. We have a few options here. One is that you can ask njbmd to allow you to have two threads in here: a temporary working thread that she will delete later after some set amount of time when you have completed the permanent thread, and the permanent thread that only you will post in. Another is that you can set up a single FAQ thread temporarily in the MCAT subforum, and there I can edit it for you however you wish. When you have completed it, I can then move it back to this forum. Once I have moved it back in here, I won't be able to edit it any more, but as long as it is in the subforum I can.

[nontrad314]

Hi Q

Thanks for the insights and your help. Since so many people have contributed, I would really like to get this off the ground and would really like to create a clean version.

It sounds to me as if we need to contact njbmd and lobby for multiple threads. I'll PM njbmd.

More to follow

nt314

ps. I am very impressed by what you've done over at the MCAT FAQ. That's exactly the sort of thing that I would like to see over here.

[nontrad314]

Q

Would you like moderate this nontrad Faq in the same way that you moderate the MCAT? I think you would do a great job.

By whatever means you came to moderator privilege for the MCAT thread, if you would like to do the same for this thread I would endorse that effort a 100%.

Along the those lines I would continue contributing questions and answers etc, but would no longer have the first 17 questions etc.

Just a thought. Let me know

nt314

[QofQuimica]

Hi nt,

Thanks for your kind words about the subforum; it is quite a bit of work, but I think it is coming along well. As you can see, there are several regular contributors who write the posts, and we've been working on setting it up for three months now. You were asking earlier about having a wiki-SDN, and I think that our subforum is the closest thing to being wiki.

I didn't mean to suggest that I should take over your thread for you; I think you're doing a great job, and you came up with a great idea. What I meant was that you could look at how I had set up the threads in the subforum so that you could get some ideas about how you might want to set up your own thread. Here is my suggestion for one way that you could set up for your thread. You could have five posts in it to start, and then break them up further if needed. (If you post all five of the posts, you'll be able to edit them whenever you want.)

• Post 1: Intro paragraph to non-trad FAQs, link to the working FAQs thread, TOC if you want one (but I don't think it's necessary), FAQs about general non-trad life issues that don't fit into the other categories (ex. having a family)
• Post 2: FAQs about determining whether medicine (pharmacy, optometry, dentistry) is the right career for you (ex. shadowing, volunteering, meeting with admissions dean)
• Post 3: FAQs about taking pre-reqs (ex. when to take, where to take)
• Post 4: FAQs about studying for pre-health exams (ex. when to take, how to study, link to the subforum from this post)
• Post 5: FAQs about the application process (ex. LORs, interviews, etc.)

Then what you would do is add each FAQ and its answer to the appropriate post. What do you think?

[nontrad314]

Yeah, I think that's the way to go.

For now I am a little busy as I said. But I'll get to this pretty soon.

more to follow.

[nontrad314]

I'm waiting for some feeback from njbmd concerning creating and sticking an official version.

Until then, I'll implement here Q's 5 section proposal as a proof of principle.

[nontrad314]

FAQ's for nontraditional students; composed by nontraditional students.

Please feel free to contribute questions / concerns.
-------------------------------------------
Q: I am 25+ yrs and I have a general question. What are some good resources for finding answers?
A: SDN SEARCH and SDN FAQ are both resources worth attention.

Contents

I: FAQ for nontraditionals approaching Health Sciences
II: FAQ about nontraditionals taking prereqs
III: FAQ about nontraditionals studying for pre-health exams
IV: FAQ about nontraditionals approaching the application process

[nontrad314]

Q: I am 25+ yrs old and considering a career in medicine, what are some important considerations regarding my intention to pursue Medical school ?

A: You should: 1. Carefully self-appraise your motivation for a new career, and 2. Investigate the realities of your intended career through consultation / shadowing and other exposures that address the pragmatics of your intention. Admissions Deans at SOMs, health professions counselors at universities, SOM students, practicing physicians are each worth consulting. Literature concerning the pragmatics of a career in medicine are available through AAMC.

Note that timelines are an important issue. Approximately 1-2 full years of courses are required for the MCAT. Many suggest the MCAT should be written 1-1.5 years before matriculating. Approximately 6 -7 years are then required between the decision to pursue medicine and finishing medical school. Graduate medical education / residency training requires an additional 3-5 years or more. A clear motivation and understanding of these requirements is important for their significant effects on finances, family, health etc.


Q: I am 25+ yrs old, does this make me too old to consider Medical school ?
A: Not in terms of age being a selection factor. Schools universally do not select on the basis of age. Matriculant's ages range up to 50+. However, pragmatic realities concerning finances, family, personal health etc do vary with age and should be considered by prospective applicants.

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant. Should I pursue a DO or an MD?
A: You should investigate all your opportunities to the extent that you can. Both the pre osteopathic and pre allopathic forums contain extended discussions.

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant interested in obtaining volunteer experience. What are some suggestions?

A: Volunteer services are typically available at almost all hospitals. Information concerning ranges of duties, shifts, durations, commitments, departments, degree of patient interaction etc will be available from the volunteer services coordinator. Other opportunities for volunteer experience include the RedCross, Habitat for Humanity, etc.

Q: I would like to know some more about 'shadowing'.

A: The Area Health Education Center (AHEC)/Health Education Training Center (HETC) in your area may have information concerning shadowing opportunities. Also, many area hospitals and clinics welcome shadows; although this is not universally true.

Q: I'm nontraditional applicant and would like to know some more about starting / raising a family in relation to medical school. Is there general consensus about this sort of thing?

A: The general consensus seems to be that what works well for one need not work well for another. Instead, it would seem that people have been starting and raising families throughout medical education and are expected to continue doing so. Search SDN for further discussions.

[nontrad314]

Q: I am a professional person considering medical school. Is there a way for me to fit pre med courses in with my schedule?
A: Options include: 1. Post bacc programs, 2. 'Continuing education' courses at large Universities and typically offered as evening courses for professionals with 'regular business hours' , 3. Community college courses.

Q: Are post bacc community college courses universally accepted at schools?
A: No. Different schools have different criteria concerning the BCPM courses; including completion at community colleges. If in doubt, contact the school in question and confirm their position.

[nontrad314]

Q: I'm studying for a pre-health exam. What's a good resource for doing so and are there any 'good samaritans' around for 'discreet' PM inquiries?

1: All pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, and pre-pharmacy students who are studying for their standardized exams are invited to browse the MCAT STUDY QUESTIONS Q & A Subforum , which has a series of threads for pre-health students and threads for students to ask science and test strategy questions. You should start by reading the GENERAL MCAT FAQ thread, where we have posted about the the test prep course issue among other things. Most of us who answer questions in the subforum are non-trads, and we are happy to help fellow non-trads who are studying for these exams.

2. Any non-trads who have questions about how best to prepare for their pre-health exams are invited to PM QofQuimica if you don't feel comfortable posting your questions publically in the subforum.

Q: I took the MCAT before and don't like the outcome, should I retake?
A: If there is a significant reason, then you should consider retaking. Significant reasons include: completion of required course work, illness or anomaly on the first test day, or significantly different preparation. Different schools treat composite MCAT scores in different ways. When in doubt, contact your respective school.

[nontrad314]

Q: I'm a nontraditional applicant with a professional career. I am considering medical school. Is there a resource where I can find general information concerning the application process?
A: AAMC web page contains a variety of resources. Also, the MSAR material (available at various libraries, premed advisors offices and directly from the AAMC) is 'highly recommended for all prospective applicants'. The document includes various data concerning applicant pools and individual schools.

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant with many transcripts from many programs including Ugrad, Post Bacc, and Grad courses. How are GPA's computed by AMCAS?

A: AMCAS computes GPAs for each of Fresh, So, Jun, Sen, PostBacc, Cumulative Ugrad and Grad and for each of BCPM, AO, and TOTAL (BCPM + AO).

Q: Are AMCAS post bacc GPAs within BCPM AO and TOTAL broken down by their year of completion?
A: No. AMCAS collects all posbacc courses within their respective areas (BCPM / AO) and reports their respective averages; e.g., Postbacc BCPM GPA is one number, Postbacc AO GPA is one number, and Postbacc TOTAL GPA is one number

Q: Are AMCAS Grad GPAs within BCPM AO and TOTAL broken down by their year of completion?

A: No. AMCAS collects all graduate courses within their respective areas (BCPM / AO) and reports their respective averages; e.g., grad BCPM GPA is one number, grad AO GPA is one number, and grad TOTAL GPA is one number

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant looking to expand my connections and gain general feedback. Who can I ask to help me with writing my personal statement (PS) for medical school?

A: Most if not all medical schools have a diversity office charged with helping minority, female, and non-traditional applicants who are applying to medical school. You should contact your state schools and find out whether they offer PS advice or workshops through the diversity office. You can also ask other SDN members to read and critique your PS.

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant and have been out of college for several years. What do I do about getting letters of recommendation (LORs) from science or non-science professors?

A: If you are a graduate or post-bac student, ask your current professors to write LORs. If you have been working full-time with no classes for several years, you may be allowed to substitute employment letters. However, some schools may require refresher coursework and letters from those professors. Other potential sources of LORs for non-trads include volunteer coordinators, physicians whom you have shadowed, or researchers for whom you have volunteered. Contact the individual schools for more information about appropriate sources of LORs.

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant without access to premedical advising and coordination services. How do I coordinate sending LORs to medical schools?

A: One option is to use an electronic LOR clearinghouse like Interfolio : Recommenders submit letters directly to Interfolio, and you then forward the letters electronically or by postal service to respective schools. Alternately, ask recommenders to send individual letters to each school where you complete a secondary. If you apply to a large number of schools this may be problematic. It is highly recommended to follow standards rules of professional etiquette in these matters; e.g., Always provide your LOR writers with addressed, stamped envelopes etc.

Q: I am a nontraditional applicant without access to a pre-med advisor, and I need some help to figure out how to make my application competitive for admission to medical school. Where do I start?

A: Call all of your state schools, and schedule an appointment to meet with the admissions dean at one or more of them. Bring copies of all of your transcripts, your MCAT scores if you have them, and a CV listing your activities, employment history, and awards. Leave your ego at home. Ask this person what you can do to improve your application and your chances for admission. You will get relevant personal feedback, you will gain a valuable contact at that school, and you will be given a very frank and specific set of criteria detailing what they are looking for in their successful applicants. Then you can come up with a specific plan to improve your application based on their assessment of your shortcomings.

Q: Are there special factors that admissions committees consider for nontraditional students?

A: The motivation for the career switch of a nontraditional applicant is a factor unique to nontraditional students. Consequently, it can be of common interest to admission committees.

Q: Are there schools 'known' for having interest in 'nontraditional students'?
A: 25+ candidates are universally welcome to apply to all schools.

[nontrad314]

Hope this helps and I hope people will continue submitting.

Thanks for all the help so far.

nt314

[nontrad314]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry about all the confusion with the 2 threads pointing at each other. Confusion really wasn't my intention. Creating a clear FAQ for nontraditional students was my intention.

If someone would like to take over the above FAQ, please feel free to do so. Just copy all of the questions off the respective sections and post them where you like. Maybe Q or someone else who has contributed would like to do this. If so I would be more than willing to continue submitting questions.

In any event, I think that what appears now is representative and or at least proof of principle. Since there are no more submissions I'm throwing in the towel on the project.

Best regards

nontrad314