Engineer transitioning to medical?

[catagon87]

Hi all,

I'm a non traditional prospective med school student.

I started college not too serious about school in 2006. I maintained around a 2.0 at my community college, and transferred to a university as an Engineering student not really knowing what I was doing. I failed out my first semester, got put on academic suspension. I went back, talked to a counselor and she gave me a strategy for getting back on track. She said that they did not take my Community College grades into account and that I could potentially drop three grades from my GPA / Transcript. I managed to get a 4.0 that semester and bumped my GPA up a lot. I maintained a 3.6 GPA overall, but a 3.75 major GPA and graduated Magna Cum Laude while working at odd jobs, school jobs, and a consistent job as a clerk.
Will Medical School reviewers look at my shortcomings as a young adult, or will my later accomplishments be their focus?
Is a 3.6 GPA overall GPA too low? I'm currently a professional software developer with a B.S. in Computer Engineering.
I don't have the biology required for going to Med School and I just wanted to also check what the best way to "catch up" is? I am a very focused and driven individual who can learn things pretty well.
Is 29 too old to be looking into med school?

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[eteshoe]

Welcome to the challenge known as nontrad application. Also 29 is not too old for med school (though you most likely won't matriculate until you're 31-32) - the prevailing trend is that a lot of applicants incoming these days are not coming straight out of UG. Your growth will be reviewed as a whole - so your shortcomings will not prevent you from getting into med school (though you may need to apply wide to get in).

You'll need to take all the necessary prereqs (most likely in a DIY fashion since you don't sound like you took any bio/chem classes). A 3.6 is not too low, though you will have to write a compelling PS on why you want to switch. You will need to get clinical experience (volunteering, ED scribe, EMT, hospice, etc) and shadow physicians. Make sure that you can get strong LORs (you may have to work on short term research projects with a prof at your institute) - so try to do as well as you academically can on your bio, chem, ochem, biochem, etc classes. You will have to do well on your MCAT (try not to take it more than 2 times).

 

[Eccesignum]

Unless you're in Texas, your counselor is incorrect. When you apply you must report every college-level course you've ever taken, including those at community colleges. Your cGPA is a combination of everything, not just your most recent grades. How much weight, exactly, schools will put on those most recent grades versus the entire picture is school-dependent. You'll need to do your homework on different schools and cast a wide net.

The above poster said the rest of what I was about to type, so I won't rehash it

 

[austintr]

It's good that you turned things around so effectively, so good job! Medical schools will definitely see the issues you've had in the past, but if you have a good turnaround and are able to articulate your reasons for gaining success well, you should be OK there...especially since engineering is no joke. I would start on your prereqs and make sure you do as well in them as possible. Definitely shadow a physician or two and see if medicine is truly something you want to pursue. Basically, the older you get, the more certain you need to be that you have the drive to spend ten+ years in school/training, because economically and family wise, it becomes much more difficult.

One thing I would also recommend is looking into DO schools and see if they would be a good fit. DO schools have a different grade replacement policy than MD schools, and generally reward reinvention/upward trends/life experience to a greater degree. I personally know a few engineers that have gone into medicine, and it's not that uncommon. Lastly, 29 isn't too old to start looking at medicine, since nontraditional students are becoming increasingly more common and the average age for medical students is slowly climbing (up to around ~25 for DO schools). Many schools have a handful of students in their 30's and 40's in each class, and occasionally a 50-60 year old will graduate. It's not too late if you truly want it

TL;DR: make sure medicine is for you and that you can't see yourself doing anything else. Then, knock the prereqs out of the park, look into the MCAT, get some extracurriculars/volunteering, and get the show on the road. It's a long, hard road, and you won't see much progress overnight. Good luck!

 

[italiancowgirl]

There are 2 non-trad engineers who are in my class, and I had an upward grade trend not too dissimilar to yours. You can do it, stay focused and motivated, and take it one step at a time! The above posters did an excellent job at explaining everything, and the only thing I will add is that you can look on Aamcas without submitting it, which helped me look at how I got to explain myself and what information they would want. Take time to know what is going to be expected from you, these forums have some great explanations as well. Go get clinic time and really know before you dive in though! Good luck!!