2018 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

[_leo08]

I think I'm in at my top pick, Univ of Washington - also my only interview. I'm on the waitlist in the top 10 - and their recent history shows them pulling 25-45 applicants from the waitlist each year. I'm so excited!!!

YES! SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!

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[Laterthansooner]

I think I'm in at my top pick, Univ of Washington - also my only interview. I'm on the waitlist in the top 10 - and their recent history shows them pulling 25-45 applicants from the waitlist each year. I'm so excited!!!

Great news! I’ve been waiting to hear the good news! Keep us posted!

 

[ADSigMel]

Have you picked up Robbins and Coltran or similar? I was much more worried until I read a few chapters - there's a lot of content to cover but its not any more difficult than o-chem or biochem.

omg are you pre-studying?

I read House of God, and even it wasn’t fluffy enough for me. I have no intention of even CONTEMPLATING reading anything not mind-rotting between now and July. Lol

 

[jungdoc]

Anyone else contemplating when to inform their boss that they are going back to school? Some jaws are about to drop.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Anyone else contemplating when to inform their boss that they are going back to school? Some jaws are about to drop.

Nah my co got me balloons and flowers as I got into various programs! They knew I was doing postbac classes, and gave me 7 weeks unpaid leave to study for the MCAT. I feel very grateful for their support!

 

[jazzmetal]

Hey everyone! What's the latest? Who's waiting? Who's getting ready to move? How many more success stories do we have?

 

[mavric1298]

For me, I have been juggling a busy, full-time tech startup workload with being a part-time premed student (for 4 years!), squeezing in homework and test studying nights, weekends, mornings. Was exhausting!
Being "just" a full-time med student feels like an incoming relief. Fewer things to juggle! An opportunity to focus on just one thing! Yes, I think it will be intense, but I feel like if I treat it like a full-time job, it will be manageable.
Show up, do my work, carve out some time for myself and my partner, call it a day. Rinse, lather, repeat for five years (for me).

As someone who came from working a > full time salary job, while taking classes full time, and everything else premed requires - I felt this same way about what I thought it would be like to be in medical school. I'll have to say, and this likely depends on your program a bit, but it doesn't feel nearly as good as you think it will. You'll likely end up having a ton of commitments outsides class, and full days of studying are actually much more exhausting then you would imagine, and it's much more than a full time job. Not to burst any bubbles, but realistically it's not like I thought it would be (I'm going from a 8-9 hour work day + 2 or 3 undergrad classes + volunteering etc). If anything I feel pulled in equally or more directions than before. Don't get me wrong, I love med school even for all its drawbacks and stress, but it's not like suddenly you're doing "just one thing". Keep in mind, you have to go through another whole application process that is much like being a premed again. You have to get research, you have to have experiences, most people still volunteer, there are committees and different administrative things you will get involved with, student interest groups, and, on top of all that, you'll be drinking from a firehose for a lot more hours than a full time job. Hell, I have trouble even keeping my life together at times (sh|t, I forgot to pay this or that bill again? or you should see my apartment right now - its the week before our micro exam so my life has consisted of being on campus for 16+ hours a day - so it looks like I'm an 18 year old college student again that doesn't know how to do dishes or how to work the washing machine).

But, you'll be in med school. Which is ridiculously awesome.

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I decided on Mayo and am trying to sell my house to get ready to move! I keep having nightmares about having to defer to next year because my house won’t sell.. haha

 

[jazzmetal]

I decided on Mayo

Awesome, congratulations!!!
Best wishes for a fast sale on the house!

 

[DBC03]

I decided on Mayo and am trying to sell my house to get ready to move! I keep having nightmares about having to defer to next year because my house won’t sell.. haha

This was my fear right up until getting a contract on our house this week. We came up with this crazy plan of me subletting from someone doing a Sub-internship while my husband stayed at his job for a bit longer. That still might be the case since my school starts so soon.

Good luck! There are many different ways to make it work, and just the fact that you’ve gotten this far tells me you’ll find some creative way to go regardless!


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[sss1219]

This was my fear right up until getting a contract on our house this week. We came up with this crazy plan of me subletting from someone doing a Sub-internship while my husband stayed at his job for a bit longer. That still might be the case since my school starts so soon.

Good luck! There are many different ways to make it work, and just the fact that you’ve gotten this far tells me you’ll find some creative way to go regardless!


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Where did you decide to attend? Still holding out for NYU or did the Gainesville love win out?

 

[DBC03]

Where did you decide to attend? Still holding out for NYU or did the Gainesville love win out?

Oddly enough, Wake Forest came through with a scholarship just in the past few weeks, so we are making plans to move to NC! I’m still on the list at NYU, but I’m not sure what will happen with that - I’m not sure I will do well in NYC. And I’m having a difficult time finishing my withdrawal letters. My goal is to finalize them by Monday and then call the two schools I have to withdraw from before I send the emails (as the deans of admission have been personally in touch, so I think I should do that). We are really excited to move and I really love the school! But turning down my other schools is still hard.


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[jazzmetal]

Wake Forest came through with a scholarship

Sweet! Congrats!

 

[GliaLimitans]

I haven't been super active in this thread, but everything ended up working out for me, despite my low undergrad GPA! I ended up with 4 IIs -> 1 post-II R, 1 WL, 1 pending, 1 acceptance (at my top choice)! This was a much longer and more stressful process than I ever anticipated it to be, but I am so so grateful to be here. Now I just have to finish up my dissertation!

 

[willow84]

I withdrew from all but one school on Friday. It's super official now. I'm a bundle of nerves and excitement for August!

 

[DBC03]

Sweet! Congrats!

Imposters syndrome has set in BIG TIME at this point.


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[Immunorunner]

I decided on Mayo and am trying to sell my house to get ready to move! I keep having nightmares about having to defer to next year because my house won’t sell.. haha

I decided on Mayo AZ as well, but don't have to worry about selling a house (thanks to the ~830,000 dollar average home in my area this was never really an option).

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I decided on Mayo AZ as well, but don't have to worry about selling a house (thanks to the ~830,000 dollar average home in my area this was never really an option).

At least house prices in Scottsdale are so affordable! wait..

 

[FutureSurgical]

I would love to know if there are any lurkers here that took the MCAT while working full-time? I got a mediocre score on my first test while working a horrible job with odd hours (>60 hours/week starting at 4 a.m.) Now that I have my dream job doing medical research while volunteering in an ER (nothing crazy; 1x a week late at night on a weekend so it doesn't interfere with anything), I want to take a crack at the MCAT again. I'm in no rush to get the test done and am willing to wait to apply to medical school until I have EVERY duck in order (GPA, good MCAT, solid volunteer hours, etc.) So if I need to push my test date 'til the fall of this year, I am willing to.

My situation doesn't allow me to work part-time or not at all. If I could, I would have not worked that horrible odd-job in the first place and had been dedicated to the MCAT to where I was scoring at least +1 above SD of what score I wanted (509.) I do know of the concern of taking too long to study, causing me to lose retention of content I studied in the beginning and more in the middle. However long it takes, though, I'm willing to do it.

 

[libertyyne]

I would love to know if there are any lurkers here that took the MCAT while working full-time? I got a mediocre score on my first test while working a horrible job with odd hours (>60 hours/week starting at 4 a.m.) Now that I have my dream job doing medical research while volunteering in an ER (nothing crazy; 1x a week late at night on a weekend so it doesn't interfere with anything), I want to take a crack at the MCAT again. I'm in no rush to get the test done and am willing to wait to apply to medical school until I have EVERY duck in order (GPA, good MCAT, solid volunteer hours, etc.) So if I need to push my test date 'til the fall of this year, I am willing to.

My situation doesn't allow me to work part-time or not at all. If I could, I would have not worked that horrible odd-job in the first place and had been dedicated to the MCAT to where I was scoring at least +1 above SD of what score I wanted (509.) I do know of the concern of taking too long to study, causing me to lose retention of content I studied in the beginning and more in the middle. However long it takes, though, I'm willing to do it.

I worked 50 hours a week. while studying for the MCAT, I took a total of a week off to prepare. Nights and weekends were not fun for those~ 6 months. I studied for a total of 500~ hours and got a decent score. You should not take the mcat if you arent fully prepared for the mcat.
What was you score?
You are in a deeper hole since many schools average MCATs.

 

[extramilemed]

I would love to know if there are any lurkers here that took the MCAT while working full-time? I got a mediocre score on my first test while working a horrible job with odd hours (>60 hours/week starting at 4 a.m.) Now that I have my dream job doing medical research while volunteering in an ER (nothing crazy; 1x a week late at night on a weekend so it doesn't interfere with anything), I want to take a crack at the MCAT again. I'm in no rush to get the test done and am willing to wait to apply to medical school until I have EVERY duck in order (GPA, good MCAT, solid volunteer hours, etc.) So if I need to push my test date 'til the fall of this year, I am willing to.

My situation doesn't allow me to work part-time or not at all. If I could, I would have not worked that horrible odd-job in the first place and had been dedicated to the MCAT to where I was scoring at least +1 above SD of what score I wanted (509.) I do know of the concern of taking too long to study, causing me to lose retention of content I studied in the beginning and more in the middle. However long it takes, though, I'm willing to do it.

I was working 40 hr/wk plus 15 hrs at a part-time job. I set one day (Saturday) a week to devote to my studies by taking a practice exam, and the rest were just late nights and powering through. I did it over four months (May to September). Feel free to PM me for more specifics.

 

[humblethinker]

I would love to know if there are any lurkers here that took the MCAT while working full-time? I got a mediocre score on my first test while working a horrible job with odd hours (>60 hours/week starting at 4 a.m.) Now that I have my dream job doing medical research while volunteering in an ER (nothing crazy; 1x a week late at night on a weekend so it doesn't interfere with anything), I want to take a crack at the MCAT again. I'm in no rush to get the test done and am willing to wait to apply to medical school until I have EVERY duck in order (GPA, good MCAT, solid volunteer hours, etc.) So if I need to push my test date 'til the fall of this year, I am willing to.

My situation doesn't allow me to work part-time or not at all. If I could, I would have not worked that horrible odd-job in the first place and had been dedicated to the MCAT to where I was scoring at least +1 above SD of what score I wanted (509.) I do know of the concern of taking too long to study, causing me to lose retention of content I studied in the beginning and more in the middle. However long it takes, though, I'm willing to do it.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend what you are considering. I attribute my reluctance to stop working 60+ hours a week to much of the reason why it took me so long to get admitted (although I would not have had it any other way because I have learned so much during this process). It is really hard to truly understand, but when you are working a lot, you become fatigued beyond what you actually are aware of consciously because your body forms maladaptive regular patterns that are extremely difficult to bring to consciousness. Your brain cannot function at optimal capacity and your ability to retain without interference is highly diminished. Through a ton of reflection, I realized I needed to find a way to decrease my working hours and invest in the test....after multiple years of fighting that off, I gave it a chance and increased my score double digit points by doing it. Feel free to PM me for more details or if you have questions...but again, I highly recommend finding a way to take time off or significantly reduce your work hours and devote yourself to the test. Lastly, ask yourself this.....is your current work situation hindering your ability to achieve your long term goals? If the answer is yes, find a way to reallocate your priorities and devote your energy on daily tasks to those that are congruent with meeting your long term goals. Where this is a true will, there is always a way. You got this!

 

[FutureSurgical]

Based on my experience, I would not recommend what you are considering. I attribute my reluctance to stop working 60+ hours a week to much of the reason why it took me so long to get admitted (although I would not have had it any other way because I have learned so much during this process). It is really hard to truly understand, but when you are working a lot, you become fatigued beyond what you actually are aware of consciously because your body forms maladaptive regular patterns that are extremely difficult to bring to consciousness. Your brain cannot function at optimal capacity and your ability to retain without interference is highly diminished. Through a ton of reflection, I realized I needed to find a way to decrease my working hours and invest in the test....after multiple years of fighting that off, I gave it a chance and increased my score double digit points by doing it. Feel free to PM me for more details or if you have questions...but again, I highly recommend finding a way to take time off or significantly reduce your work hours and devote yourself to the test. Lastly, ask yourself this.....is your current work situation hindering your ability to achieve your long term goals? If the answer is yes, find a way to reallocate your priorities and devote your energy on daily tasks to those that are congruent with meeting your long term goals. Where this is a true will, there is always a way. You got this!

My post didn't get across what I wanted to lol.

My original job a year ago had me at 60+ hours a week, working at 4 a.m. That was truly horrible and it bled into many facets of my life outside of work. Thank God though, I was able to find a stable, 8-5 job working only 40 hours a week with amazing benefits doing medical research. I have free weekends and so much more free time than I thought I could have. Especially during evenings and weekends, I have the time to study and do practice tests.

 

[NaomiM]

@FutureSurgical Just a long time non-trad lurker chiming in... My MCAT experience was pretty much the same as @humblethinker 's. I was working over 60 hours a week, in two very demanding jobs with terrible hours, doing a DIY postbacc, and carving out time for extracurriculars and family, and my MCAT score was terrible. So I dropped everything but the one job (to keep me alive lol) and focused on the MCAT for 3.5 months. My score jumped, I got into an SMP on the basis of it (despite my terrible, terrible GPA) and now I'm sitting on a II and hoping that I'll have an acceptance in a week or two.

So the moral here is: yes you can work full-time but everything else must go? I studied after work (since my job didn't allow me to study during the workday) for about 5 hours a day. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I woke up around 5 and studied until noon. Then I had the rest of the day free. I rinsed and repeated from January til April. It worked but it was torture. Good luck!!

 

[Whatwethinkwebecome]

Can we get shout outs to schools that seemed non-trad friendly?

 

[FutureSurgical]

Based on my experience, I would not recommend what you are considering. I attribute my reluctance to stop working 60+ hours a week to much of the reason why it took me so long to get admitted (although I would not have had it any other way because I have learned so much during this process). It is really hard to truly understand, but when you are working a lot, you become fatigued beyond what you actually are aware of consciously because your body forms maladaptive regular patterns that are extremely difficult to bring to consciousness. Your brain cannot function at optimal capacity and your ability to retain without interference is highly diminished. Through a ton of reflection, I realized I needed to find a way to decrease my working hours and invest in the test....after multiple years of fighting that off, I gave it a chance and increased my score double digit points by doing it. Feel free to PM me for more details or if you have questions...but again, I highly recommend finding a way to take time off or significantly reduce your work hours and devote yourself to the test. Lastly, ask yourself this.....is your current work situation hindering your ability to achieve your long term goals? If the answer is yes, find a way to reallocate your priorities and devote your energy on daily tasks to those that are congruent with meeting your long term goals. Where this is a true will, there is always a way. You got this!

Also, I can't PM you my questions lol.

@FutureSurgical Just a long time non-trad lurker chiming in... My MCAT experience was pretty much the same as @humblethinker 's. I was working over 60 hours a week, in two very demanding jobs with terrible hours, doing a DIY postbacc, and carving out time for extracurriculars and family, and my MCAT score was terrible. So I dropped everything but the one job (to keep me alive lol) and focused on the MCAT for 3.5 months. My score jumped, I got into an SMP on the basis of it (despite my terrible, terrible GPA) and now I'm sitting on a II and hoping that I'll have an acceptance in a week or two.

So the moral here is: yes you can work full-time but everything else must go? I studied after work (since my job didn't allow me to study during the workday) for about 5 hours a day. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I woke up around 5 and studied until noon. Then I had the rest of the day free. I rinsed and repeated from January til April. It worked but it was torture. Good luck!!

I'm in a situation where I can't drop to part-time or leave this job, for many reasons. Working FT (only 40 hours/week now lol) is my only option; which is fine with me, I'm willing to put in the work and time to get a proper score this time around. I have a giant uphill battle that I know will be harder, seeing my circumstances. But, as Eric Thomas said, "you're already in pain. Get something from it. On the other side of pain is success." That's what I live by at least.

 

[humblethinker]

Can we get shout outs to schools that seemed non-trad friendly?

I'm giving you a shout out for your username, good stuff and very true!

 

[libertyyne]

Can we get shout outs to schools that seemed non-trad friendly?

i think if you read this thread you will find that most if not all schools are non-trad friendly, provided you have the numbers. If you are asking for schools that allow you to have maintain a home life during the first two years, your best bet is in going to schools which do not have mandatory attendance and are hands off.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend what you are considering. I attribute my reluctance to stop working 60+ hours a week to much of the reason why it took me so long to get admitted (although I would not have had it any other way because I have learned so much during this process). It is really hard to truly understand, but when you are working a lot, you become fatigued beyond what you actually are aware of consciously because your body forms maladaptive regular patterns that are extremely difficult to bring to consciousness. Your brain cannot function at optimal capacity and your ability to retain without interference is highly diminished. Through a ton of reflection, I realized I needed to find a way to decrease my working hours and invest in the test....after multiple years of fighting that off, I gave it a chance and increased my score double digit points by doing it. Feel free to PM me for more details or if you have questions...but again, I highly recommend finding a way to take time off or significantly reduce your work hours and devote yourself to the test. Lastly, ask yourself this.....is your current work situation hindering your ability to achieve your long term goals? If the answer is yes, find a way to reallocate your priorities and devote your energy on daily tasks to those that are congruent with meeting your long term goals. Where this is a true will, there is always a way. You got this!

IMO I think this is something that is person dependent. If you are organized and willing to put in the effort studying after 50 hour work week is possible and will yeild good results. On the flip side is you could be unemployed and dedicate 3 months and still not be able to score well if you havent put in the effort. The MCAT is a fair exam, difficult, but fair. Putting in the time will put a good chunk of people in MD score ranges and a larger chunk of people within DO school ranges. Medical training down the road does not halt when you have to take boards and work as an attending, or when you have to take shelves and spend long hours in MS3. Even in medical school with mandatory class attendance you are putting in 30-40 hours in class room / mandatory activity/lab/ commute times so you still have to study when you get home.

 

[catlady87]

I looked on MSAR to find schools which had accepted a good number of students 30+ in the last cycle to suss out which schools had a track record of taking non-trads. That being said, the school most enthusiastic about me this cycle ended up being one which skews very young ...

 

[Skiiiiiing]

I looked on MSAR to find schools which had accepted a good number of students 30+ in the last cycle to suss out which schools had a track record of taking non-trads. That being said, the school most enthusiastic about me this cycle ended up being one which skews very young ...

Its hard to predict - and how the interview goes probably trumps institutional preference for nontrads.

 

[Skiiiiiing]

Can we get shout outs to schools that seemed non-trad friendly?

Most of them are. Some very much so, most of them weigh it positively.

We should probably make a list of schools which are decidedly not non-trad friendly, because there are some that aren't worth applying to as a nontrad.

 

[DBC03]

I heard a podcast interview with Baylor, and they came out against non-trads. It seemed that they *might* consider someone who comes from a specific post-bac program, but the gist of the interview was that they feel that students who have been out of school for a few years cannot handle the curriculum. They did, however, accept one person over the age of 30, so you never know...

 

[libertyyne]

I heard a podcast interview with Baylor, and they came out against non-trads. It seemed that they *might* consider someone who comes from a specific post-bac program, but the gist of the interview was that they feel that students who have been out of school for a few years cannot handle the curriculum. They did, however, accept one person over the age of 30, so you never know...

thats interesting , but their curriculum is different. I will say this every one has difficult in medical school or lies about it. It is soo easy to skip a day and be behind for the rest of the unit. If you have the stats to make it in, you have the ability to make it through most curricula.

 

[esob]

I heard a podcast interview with Baylor, and they came out against non-trads. It seemed that they *might* consider someone who comes from a specific post-bac program, but the gist of the interview was that they feel that students who have been out of school for a few years cannot handle the curriculum. They did, however, accept one person over the age of 30, so you never know...

I can see that point if someone has been out of school for a few years in the workforce just doing everyday stuff and no longer actively involved in academics. That said, I think most non-trads who are applying are actively completing schooling at the same time, so not only are they handling the coursework but also handling adulting and jobs at the same time. But hey, that's their prerogative I guess.

 

[Skiiiiiing]

I heard a podcast interview with Baylor, and they came out against non-trads. It seemed that they *might* consider someone who comes from a specific post-bac program, but the gist of the interview was that they feel that students who have been out of school for a few years cannot handle the curriculum. They did, however, accept one person over the age of 30, so you never know...

I have heard the same re Baylor. I don't think any of the nontrads here interviewed at Baylor did they? We have 3-4 high-stat Texans from memory.

 

[catlady87]

I have a non-trad friend (29 y/o) who interviewed at Baylor this year, OOS. Waitlisted I believe.

 

[DBC03]

I have a non-trad friend (29 y/o) who interviewed at Baylor this year, OOS. Waitlisted I believe.

Do you know if that person had a recent post-bac? Must have been impressive! My biggest mistake was listening to that podcast - twice - then applying right after. But 36 is different from 29, I suppose... And my grades just weren't up to par. And I didn't realize the extent of the TX resident requirement.

 

[@Hazel-rah]

Can we get shout outs to schools that seemed non-trad friendly?

Just a few from my personal observations (allo): Wake Forest, OHSU, U.Washington, U.Michigan, Marshall, USUHS, Dartmouth, Rush, Tulane, Mayo

 

[catlady87]

Do you know if that person had a recent post-bac? Must have been impressive! My biggest mistake was listening to that podcast - twice - then applying right after. But 36 is different from 29, I suppose... And my grades just weren't up to par. And I didn't realize the extent of the TX resident requirement.

Yes, small, formal, 1 year career changer post-bac. Definitely did well and got a good MCAT score, and lives in a state neighboring Texas. Don't know anything about undergrad grades.

You were probably out of school more than twice as many years as she was, if you think about it. Sometimes I wonder if some of these "younger" schools don't want a couple of career changers just to diversify their class, even if it's not a population they're really recruiting. I wonder if I'm not the token old person at the med school I've chosen as their class skews so young.

As far as you and Baylor, their loss though, for sure! And you'll be paying less tuition than in TX anyway.

 

[willow84]

I heard a podcast interview with Baylor, and they came out against non-trads. It seemed that they *might* consider someone who comes from a specific post-bac program, but the gist of the interview was that they feel that students who have been out of school for a few years cannot handle the curriculum. They did, however, accept one person over the age of 30, so you never know...

This is essentially what one interviewer (not at Baylor, different school) said to me a few times. I finally got tired of repeating myself and said, "Listen, I just completed a post-back with a 4.0. The same pre-reqs every one else took. I also took the same MCAT and did well enough to be sitting here. I'm unclear what the issue is."

Anyway, add UF to the list that is very friendly to non-trads. The Dean of Admissions has said it many, many times.

 

[DBC03]

I'll second what willow84 said - the dean of admissions at UF talked with a few of us at second look and stated that he is actively trying to recruit non-trads there. They accept very few OOS applicants, so this is helpful mainly for FL residents. UCF seems to like non-trads as well, and is accepting more and more OOS applicants, so you can add them to the list. I also felt that Hofstra values life experience, so I'll add them as well.

So adding to @Hazel-rah: Wake Forest, OHSU, U.Washington, U.Michigan, Marshall, USUHS (must matriculate by age 36) (don't ask how I know), Dartmouth, Rush, Tulane, Mayo, UF, UCF, Hofstra

Can anyone comment on Miami? I know they periodically have students over the age of 40 there, so they seem relatively open to non-traditional students, but I don't get the sense that they actively try to recruit them

 

[MercMutt]

First - congrats to @ChopinLiszt @DBC03 @willow84 and @Immunorunner on making that big decision! They are all great schools. Best wishes on your journey.

Hey everyone! What's the latest? Who's waiting? Who's getting ready to move? How many more success stories do we have?

I'm still playing the waiting game at my top-pick (Univ of Washington). I'm in the top 10 of the alternate list, and there has finally been a little bit of movement, so I'm hoping to have a legit spot by the med school commit date next week.

Regarding non-trad friendly schools - I'm going to second @@Hazel-rah re: U of Washington - they've been really encouraging & supportive to me and I'm an ultra non-trad. They def are looking for a diverse group of future docs.

Of the schools I applied to, the one I found most dismissive of my atypical nature is Ohio State. Oh well - their loss

 

[jazzmetal]

I'm still playing the waiting game at my top-pick (Univ of Washington). I'm in the top 10 of the alternate list, and there has finally been a little bit of movement, so I'm hoping to have a legit spot by the med school commit date next week.

Hey, that sounds really promising! Fingers crossed for you that April 30-May 1 will bring you good news. UW would be an amazing place to spend the next four years.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Just a few from my personal observations (allo): Wake Forest, OHSU, U.Washington, U.Michigan, Marshall, USUHS, Dartmouth, Rush, Tulane, Mayo

Good list. Brown LOVES non-trads too from what I have heard. And of course most DO schools like non-trads

 

[tiramisucheese]

I'll second what willow84 said - the dean of admissions at UF talked with a few of us at second look and stated that he is actively trying to recruit non-trads there. They accept very few OOS applicants, so this is helpful mainly for FL residents. UCF seems to like non-trads as well, and is accepting more and more OOS applicants, so you can add them to the list. I also felt that Hofstra values life experience, so I'll add them as well.

So adding to @Hazel-rah: Wake Forest, OHSU, U.Washington, U.Michigan, Marshall, USUHS (must matriculate by age 36) (don't ask how I know), Dartmouth, Rush, Tulane, Mayo, UF, UCF, Hofstra

Can anyone comment on Miami? I know they periodically have students over the age of 40 there, so they seem relatively open to non-traditional students, but I don't get the sense that they actively try to recruit them

I'm pretty sure Quinnipiac should be added to the list too! I didn't hear from them, but I get the feeling that they love their New England non-trads.

 

[jungdoc]

I don't have access to the actual adcomm numbers, so this is partially speculative, but I got a very good non-trad friendly vibe from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. They had a special non-trad visitation day for non-trad applicants only, gave us a tour of the campus, and talked specifically about some of the questions that non-traditional students have. They even set up a Q&A/lunch with non-traditional medical students in their first and second years. It was pretty encouraging.

Your interviews are always a bit different depending on who you get, but I found my interviewers were extremely interested in my background and seemed to think my outside experience was a huge plus for my application.

I don't insert this as a brag, but UAMS also offered me a modest scholarship, which -- to be honest -- I kind of assumed non-traditional students would not normally receive the benefit of being awarded.

Long story short, I think UAMS is pretty non-trad friendly in the application process. More of a barrier is showing that you have ties to Arkansas if you aren't a resident of the state like me.

 

[physgal]

Just curious if anyone else is getting anxious about starting. I was excited and recently I have started super nervous

 

[extramilemed]

Just curious if anyone else is getting anxious about starting. I was excited and recently I have started super nervous

I won't lie, going to second look and seeing some of the straight-through crowd that are just gearing up for the same old has made me super nervous that (1) I won't fit in and (2) I have a massive adjustment to make. Granted I've only been out for 3 years, but I have done zero classwork in those years outside of MCAT study.

 

[SpartanDOnoharm]

Just curious if anyone else is getting anxious about starting. I was excited and recently I have started super nervous

I am very nervous. Not about the classes, but the fact that I'm leaving a cushy six figure job and going to become broke really fast. Moving costs are also looking a lot higher than I anticipated which is making me even more anxious.

 

[physgal]

I won't lie, going to second look and seeing some of the straight-through crowd that are just gearing up for the same old has made me super nervous that (1) I won't fit in and (2) I have a massive adjustment to make. Granted I've only been out for 3 years, but I have done zero classwork in those years outside of MCAT study.

I am very nervous. Not about the classes, but the fact that I'm leaving a cushy six figure job and going to become broke really fast. Moving costs are also looking a lot higher than I anticipated which is making me even more anxious.

I feel like I am going to be neurotic until I get through the first exam.