Tips for applying to tier 1 med schools?

[aurevoir0711]

I am a 26 year old male (soon to be 27) working as a full-time professional currently. I realize that many bright people apply to med school, so my profile might be lackluster due to non pre-med background and not preparing for med school early. However, I am committed to become a physician after a life changing trauma I went through quite recently. I wanted some advice to make my candidacy strong by the time I apply for class of 2018.

To give you more about my background, I obtained Bachelor's and Master's degrees in mechanical engineering from top 5 engineering school. My undergrad GPA was 3.93 and grad GPA was 3.54. I also published a research paper related to motion control as a third author while I was in undergrad, but I have not done any research in regards to medicine or science.

I just began preparing for med school, so I have not done much yet. I have looked at many posts about post-bac programs, 2015 MCAT change, and different med schools I want to apply for. I would love to sign up for pre-med focused post-bac programs, but I am trying to save as much as possible for the upcoming debt in med school. Since I have not taken several science classes like biology and org chem, but already planned out class schedule at a state school. Also, I just bought a Kaplan book for MCAT and will be signing up for volunteer/shadowing opportunities available on the weekends.

I see a lot of pre-med students doing research, but honestly, with my full-time job, I do not think I can pile research on top of "basic requirements" for med school. At the same time, I heard that med school cut some slack for non-traditional applicants for research. Is this true? Getting into a state medical school is my top choice, but I would love to stretch myself to aim for tier 1 schools. Assuming that I do well on MCAT (gah format change this year), what are the other possible ways to strengthen my profile? What kind of EC should I be thinking about? Since the thread got a little long, I have summarized the questions below.


1. Since my undergrad GPA was decent, I am going to take pre-req classes at state school instead of going to structured pre-med post-bac programs. Is this a bad idea if I want to aim for tier 1 schools (NYU, Columbia, Baylor, Emory, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago)?
2. What are some EC's I can do to strengthen my profile?
3. Is research not so important for non-traditional (especially career transitioning) applicant?
4. As a non-traditional applicant, is it possible for me to get into tier 1 med schools? I am trying to challenge myself so that I learn more in the process of applying.

I would sincerely appreciate your feedback. Thank you so much.

PS: Tier 1 was based on Smart Ranking from http://medical-schools.startclass.com/
Do not take it personally please.

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[Goro]

Calling @LizzyM !!!!

 

[LizzyM]

1. Since my undergrad GPA was decent, I am going to take pre-req classes at state school instead of going to structured pre-med post-bac programs. Is this a bad idea if I want to aim for tier 1 schools (NYU, Columbia, Baylor, Emory, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago)?

A structured post-bac program will give you a structure LOR written by someone who is well known at med schools. It will give you access to volunteer & research opportunities that you will not get in an informal post-bac at your state school. You get what you pay for but if quitting your job and, essentially, taking 5-6 years to do the post-bac plus med school is not in the cards, you do what you have to do.

2. What are some EC's I can do to strengthen my profile?

Do what you want to do. Do you like serving others? Find a service organization that can use you for an average of 2 hours/wk. The fact that you've held a real job for several years is the biggest EC you have going for you but some indication that you are willing to serve others is a priority at some schools.

3. Is research not so important for non-traditional (especially career transitioning) applicant?

A little research is always good, particularly if you are shooting for schools that pride themselves in their research productivity. Some non-trads have found success even with a little chart review study done with a physician mentor. One guy did a study using publicly available data looking at career trajectories of athletes that had undergone a specific treatment of a common sports injury. Talk with a doc you know who may have an unanswered question that you can help with by providing the manpower to dig out the data and analyze it.

4. As a non-traditional applicant, is it possible for me to get into tier 1 med schools? I am trying to challenge myself so that I learn more in the process of applying.

Yes, it is possible. @Willy38 did it this year. Others have gone before you. Take Biology and O-chem this year while preparing for the MCAT and get some clinical exposure to see if this is really a good fit for you. As a career changer, there will be some concern about how you have come to this decision and the need to assure that you aren't making a poor decision given that you've already pursued one career that turned out not to be what you wanted to do for the rest of your life.
Taking 2 years to get your ducks in a row sounds like a very reasonable time line.

 

[Willy38]

At a revisit event I recently attended (one of the top tier schools you mentioned) there were a ton of non trads. I would say taking 1-2 years off is almost normal now and many have been out of undergrad for longer.

Just make sure your activities support your reasons for pursuing medicine and you should be fine.

Best of luck!

 

[aurevoir0711]

Thank you @Goro , @LizzyM , @Willy38 , and @gonnif for your kind responses. I feel a lot more hopeful now. I am going to visit a few campuses to set my goals, then work my way up. I will give everything I got to make this community proud.

 

[Law2Doc]

First, unlike colleges there aren't really "tiers" in med school. There is really no accepted Barrons guide that breaks them up as such. Most of us regard med school pedigree based on the US News & World Reports annual "Research" ranking. Programs that generate a lot of NIH money tend to attract bigger name faculty and invest in more infrastructure, which is used as a proxy for "better", regardless of whether any of these benefits are even seen at the med student level. As such, having some research under your belt along with your top numerical stats and clinical exposure is actually very important -- research heavy schools prize research oriented students. Not a Necessity but it helps. But I think it's premature to talk about med school rankings before you've gotten an MCAT score -- if you do your best and come away with a 29 that's going to open to a very different set of doors than if you get a 37. That being said, if you get into a US allo school that's generally a decent launch pad for any specialty. Going to Harvard might be helpful for some academic paths, but if your goal is eg to become a well paid and regarded orthopod, a well regarded state school won't cripple your efforts. So don't get too hung up on "top" this and "top" that. Figure out where you want to go and take the best avenue to get there. A state school where you are happy and incur less debt often ends up being the Better option than a top program where you struggle and incur lots of debt.

 

[QofQuimica]

I was a 30-year-old nontrad who applied with a PhD and a 43 on the MCAT. Yes, the research oriented med schools were very interested. I was accepted to several of them with full scholarships.

That being said, L2D gave good advice. Attending one of these big name schools is neither necessary nor sufficient to ensure a successful medical career, and where you do residency matters much more than where you go to med school. Where you do residency depends heavily on how you do on your boards/clinical rotations, which in turn depend heavily on your own personal efforts, not on your med school. So to make a long story short, you should work on scoring as well as possible on the mcat, assemble the most competitive app you can muster, and work hard once you get to med school. Getting that acceptance is only the beginning, not the end, of your quest.

 

[aurevoir0711]

I was a 30-year-old nontrad who applied with a PhD and a 43 on the MCAT. Yes, the research oriented med schools were very interested. I was accepted to several of them with full scholarships.

If you don't mind, could you share which degree your phD was in?

 

[QofQuimica]

Pharmaceutical chemistry.