I've wanted to be Dr since I was 4- I'm 35. Listened to too many naysayers telling me I would never get it, that good moms can't be a physician and as a military wife it wouldn't happen. Oh and I grew up with an estranged alcholic father who killed himself in 2002, disabled mom with brain damage and mental health issues who I parented. Then had kids and my middle son ended up being taken away from me for almost 2yrs for unexplained bone fractures(8-10 of them and one in foster care). Won our case and got our sons home and then found out he was autistic and later schizophrenic (childhood onset).
First of all, congratulations! Let's get you some coaching help. I would omit pretty much everything in this paragraph as they hear it constantly and rather than discuss how bad you've wanted it you would do better to discuss what you've done to get here. From my experiences telling stories is nice but at the end of the day they're more interested in why you felt this call rather than how you've always felt it.
I've fought like many others to claw my way from a welfare kid with no dad to finishing college with an ill child and moving around all the time (hubby active duty army 18yrs) on my own. Medicine was my savior through all of this, I've had a passion for it my whole life and the more experience I gained (Air Force, civilian army med assistance and appointment clerk, referrals management, to VA as an executive assistant to director of surgery and then back to patient transporter) the more I LOVE it. There is nothing more I love after my family and god than medicine 🙂
Demonstrate that through your stories and what you have to show from them. I grew up in an Air Force family as well, and I feel as if it gave me a great understanding of people because I met so many.
The people, the complexity, the smells (except poop and vomit). I would do this 100% for free if I could.
Altruism is great (because I would do it for free if I could as well) but I would not tell them this in such a way.
I would trade nothing in my life- all if these obstacles have refined me into the person I have become with a perspective about human life many never achieve. Sounds corny, and I know most people look at me funny but I absolutely 1000% with all me being know I am meant to be a physician.
This right here is a great perspective (other than the perspective many never achieve part). I felt the same way and said it during my interview and the interviewer loved it and agreed with it. To really get a grasp on where you're going, you need to be comfortable with where you came from.
Most women I saw at the interview were dressed rather conservative. Some had hair down, some had it in a bun. If you have long hair I'd say wear it up. Otherwise, down is fine. Really it's more about looking professional and being comfortable.
What questions besides my low MCAT and kids should I be prepped for?
That depends on how low your MCAT was. KU looks at your highest scores from multiple tests and they care more about your sciences than they do about your verbal.
They will definitely ask you the stock questions, but they want unique answers (Why medicine, why KU, etc). You, like myself (I'm 32), will get questions as to what you've been up to. How have you prepared for this? Where do you see yourself? Why medicine now? Basically, how together do you have things? If you see medicine as a form of stability, it probably won't resonate well. They're not looking for people who found the missing link and without medicine they feel incomplete. It might make it sound more like you're searching for what completes you. They're looking instead for people who have found that calling and are pursuing it out of sincere passion and desire to sacrifice their time and intellect for the good of others.
You also have to take into account that no amount of preparing will help you answer some questions. It all comes from reasoning your way through and showing them you can demonstrate an ability to think and reason in difficult situations.
Best of luck to you in your interview. I'm hoping to hear the same - acceptance or post-bacc, but if I get a straight rejection I'm going to try again and try harder.
