@chocolate23 29 isn't even old! At one of my interviews, there was a guy in his 50s there. His daughter had just finished medical school, and he thought it looked like fun. I don't know if that was his answer when asked why medicine (I hope not), but the point is that age doesn't matter. You might feel a bit older than some of your more immature classmates, but that says more about them than you. Also, sometimes life experience is an asset. My last roommate was just out of college and was so useless in the adult world that it was kind of adorable. There are lots of premeds in the lab I'd been working in that were kind of the same. Being on such a specific path from such a young age meant they didn't have much general life experience, and from having worked with them quite a lot, I don't think there's any way it won't come out in their interviews. There are times as a non-traditional applicant that I wish more people going into medicine had a few years out of college to figure their stuff out. Maybe people would be more well rounded going in?
Anyway, I'm in at a DO school! Tulane was my goal, and I went in thinking I'd be extremely competitive there (I'm a Tulane alum with a great GPA from a very demanding grad school program (I wish I'd been on here before I signed up for that program, or had decent undergrad advising... As
@gyngyn has pointed out, getting a master's isn't always a great move...) with great ECs and even better LORs from people within the medical school), but it really doesn't look like it's going to happen for me. Because I love the school (and the city) so much, there are parts of me that have been tempted to reapply, but I won't be doing so. It was my only allopathic interview (which should tell you all you need to know about my undergrad work), and passing up an American med school spot is just plain foolish in that sort of situation. When I quit my job (research), my PI was less than complimentary of DO programs (he told me several times to reapply because being a "real doctor" at 40 is better than being a DO at 30). Anyway, if Tulane calls, I'll abandon my seat, and whoever gets off the waitlist can have it. And the apartment that I already signed a lease for. And the furniture that I bought.
To quickly touch on the application process, I really appreciate all of you. The laid back, supportive atmosphere here has been a godsend during this whole mess. You've put up with my nonsense (even badly photoshopped pictures), and given me hope that when I finally get into the field, it will be filled with people like you, rather than with entitled, socially inept people (
@NeuroticPremedGuy your old roommate is the sort I'm talking about), academic elitists, and the sort of people you wouldn't call for a second date. If even half of the people getting in have y'all's mentalities, medicine is heading great places
Reading all of that, it sounds like I'm giving up on SDN. I'm not. Not even close. In fact, I'm learning how to make gifs....