2020 Non-Trad Applicants Progress Thread

Started by etp123
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
TwoHighways said:
I second what nli53 had to say. Focus on getting through all of the prerequisites and don’t underestimate the MCAT. If you really want to see where you stand, take a 3rd party full length. I imagine it will sober any sense of taking that test before completing the prerequisite coursework.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much!
 
RedROSE said:
Hey guys, I am considering applying to MD/DO schools during the next application cycle. I have been working as an inpatient pharmacist for the last 7 years. All of my prereqs are more than 10 years old. Was anybody in a similar situation? Do I need to retake those classes? Or will MCAT be sufficient to start application process? My undergrad (chem major) and grad school gpa~3.7. Please advise.
Congrats to those who got accepted! Good luck on interviews! And thank you for this thread.
Click to expand...

Also a hospital pharmacists here, graduated with my pharm.D in 2010. I did not retake any classes. Every school will vary. I applied to schools in Texas and they accepted the classes I had taken back in 2004! I applied this cycle, interviewed at 2 schools and got 1 acceptance. Make sure you call up your schools of interest before you start retaking any classes. PM me if you have any questions.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
penicillinman said:
Also a hospital pharmacists here, graduated with my pharm.D in 2010. I did not retake any classes. Every school will vary. I applied to schools in Texas and they accepted the classes I had taken back in 2004! I applied this cycle, interviewed at 2 schools and got 1 acceptance. Make sure you call up your schools of interest before you start retaking any classes. PM me if you have any questions.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for replying to my post. I will start with calling individual schools. Congrats on your acceptance!
 
Rayau9 said:
I appreciate your help! Thank you so much! I completely understand, you are just trying to guide me. I recently just changed my mind from business to biology major, so that's why I haven't taken the pre med requisites that people usually take early on. To answer your questions, I am currently in my second year of community college and I have taken bio 1, pre cal, and human a & p 1. This Spring will be my second semester of my second year at community college. I agree with the MCAT part, but I still want to try, idk if that sounds foolish or not because I will make sure I study hard for it.

I have 60 shadowing hours with a Psychiatrist, Oncologist, Family practice physician, and a Pediatrician.
In paid experience: I have worked as a dental clinic manager where I did everything from scheduling to seating patients in rooms and creating treatment plans for them and presenting it to them. I have worked at a home health care company but that wasn't much patient experience but I was speaking to them on the phone about it and I was creating their evaluation report. I am also starting to scribe in the ER for a reputable hospital.

Non Paid: I have volunteered at Atria Senior living center, Memorial Hermann, and another low cost community medical clinic.

Non Clinical: I volunteer at my religious church as a safety volunteer. I volunteered for a marathon yearly, I taught kids in a religious school and I was in management for that as well. Also, I participated in ICERV - a youth volunteering tea, that helped during Harvey and helps the less fortunate.
I live in Texas and I want to stay in state.

I am starting research this upcoming Spring.
Click to expand...
I didn't see your previous posts, - I apologize if this is out of context, - but I wanted to say something. I ended up starting medical school 3 years later than I initially planned to due to various circumstances. At the moment I thought that it was the end of the world, and I was heartbroken every time I pushed it. But now I realized that waiting made me more qualified, and gave me a chance to get a few experiences that I never thought I would have otherwise. I feel stronger and more focused now because of them. So, sometimes pushing for another year so that you can get a better MCAT score, or more research, or whatever else you need to strengthen, is actually the best thing that you can do.
 
M&L said:
I didn't see your previous posts, - I apologize if this is out of context, - but I wanted to say something. I ended up starting medical school 3 years later than I initially planned to due to various circumstances. At the moment I thought that it was the end of the world, and I was heartbroken every time I pushed it. But now I realized that waiting made me more qualified, and gave me a chance to get a few experiences that I never thought I would have otherwise. I feel stronger and more focused now because of them. So, sometimes pushing for another year so that you can get a better MCAT score, or more research, or whatever else you need to strengthen, is actually the best thing that you can do.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the help!!!
 
M&L said:
I didn't see your previous posts, - I apologize if this is out of context, - but I wanted to say something. I ended up starting medical school 3 years later than I initially planned to due to various circumstances. At the moment I thought that it was the end of the world, and I was heartbroken every time I pushed it. But now I realized that waiting made me more qualified, and gave me a chance to get a few experiences that I never thought I would have otherwise. I feel stronger and more focused now because of them. So, sometimes pushing for another year so that you can get a better MCAT score, or more research, or whatever else you need to strengthen, is actually the best thing that you can do.
Click to expand...
I was in a similar boat. I had originally planned to do everything a year earlier but pushed it a year because of how much time the pre-reqs took and for financial reasons. And I think that it ended up being for the best and wasn't a big deal. : )
 
I am excited to be starting Medical School alongside you non traditionals and future non-traditionals. I felt kind of out of place at my interviews with seeing just how crazy young some of the applicants seemed. I am grateful for the life experiences that I have had up until this point and knowing you guys are there alongside me lets me know that I am not alone. :happy:
 
DO_or_Die said:
I am excited to be starting Medical School alongside you non traditionals and future non-traditionals. I felt kind of out of place at my interviews with seeing just how crazy young some of the applicants seemed. I am grateful for the life experiences that I have had up until this point and knowing you guys are there alongside me lets me know that I am not alone. :happy:
Click to expand...

Same here! I’m in my late 20’s and it is always so great to see other non traditional students. I just got my first acceptance and can’t wait! Even though I could have been a resident by now, I am glad that I have experienced all of these other things in life and believe that I will be a better student and physician because of it!
 
Non trad, third decade of life, humanities background, working fulltime in a very unrelated field that has funded my journey to this point over the past 3 1/2 years. Complete mid-september due to a mcat retake. LM 66/67. So far 1 pre-II R and 1 pre-II hold. I am going to see how things play out as the year comes to a close, and if things are looking bleak, start looking into getting a clinical job and rev up to do re apply if necessary. Happy to hear of so much success from my fellow applicants!
 
PreDPTnovice said:
Non trad, third decade of life, humanities background, working fulltime in a very unrelated field that has funded my journey to this point over the past 3 1/2 years. Complete mid-september due to a mcat retake. LM 66/67. So far 1 pre-II R and 1 pre-II hold. I am going to see how things play out as the year comes to a close, and if things are looking bleak, start looking into getting a clinical job and rev up to do re apply if necessary. Happy to hear of so much success from my fellow applicants!
Click to expand...

Stats are similar tp yours and response has been about the same unfortunately. Keep your head up theres still time.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I just want to encourage my fellow nontrads. I got so much help from all these nontrad forums, and I'm so thankful to all of you who have inspired and encouraged me. I applied as a non-science PhD, military veteran, in my 30's, and married with a kid. MCAT is 510 and sGPA/cGPA (from a decade ago) is 3.5. I was restricted to applying to schools in just one small area (7 schools total) as I had to prioritize being near to extended family. This whole process was difficult, challenging, and I wanted to give up many times. But I kept pushing through though. And I just got accepted into a T10 MD program!
 
dr.cooper.42 said:
I just want to encourage my fellow nontrads. I got so much help from all these nontrad forums, and I'm so thankful to all of you who have inspired and encouraged me. I applied as a non-science PhD, military veteran, in my 30's, and married with a kid. MCAT is 510 and sGPA/cGPA (from a decade ago) is 3.5. I was restricted to applying to schools in just one small area (7 schools total) as I had to prioritize being near to extended family. This whole process was difficult, challenging, and I wanted to give up many times. But I kept pushing through though. And I just got accepted into a T10 MD program!
Click to expand...
Congratulations! Love to see it.
 
stayathomemom said:
Tonight I'm preparing to apply to some research assistant jobs up on the hill. Making a resume after over a decade out of the workforce suuuuuuuuuucks. Any tips?
Click to expand...

A well designed resume with a comprehensive skills section will get you a lot of responses across different fields.

I went from scribe to data analyst and clinical programmer with quite a bit of ease with a well crafted resume (no prior experience outside of some personal projects using different technologies).

Indeed has been the highest yield for responses. LinkedIn was mostly spam/scams in my opinion. I don’t know if this is area specific.

When making a resume, keep an easy to copy/paste plain text version. Youll thank me later when you have to fill out company specific sites etc.
 
Accepted at my state school. Very excited about starting this new chapter. My kids are really excited too which makes it even more fun.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Glad to see many successful storied here. 33 y/o nurse practitioner with family here, thankful and humble to start the journey with you all this year.

Applied to 33 schools, 24 MDs and 6 DOs
Interview Invite- 18 (12 from MD and 6 DO)
Accepted- 3, canceled the rest of the interviews
 
82Scout said:
Fairly successful cycle.

Applied to 21 schools all MD
10 pre II R’s
11 II’s (attended 9)
Post II: 2 A, 6 WL (withdrew from 2), 1 pending

have faith I was told to only apply DO and maybe some low tier MD
Click to expand...

Same here. I was told to delay a year, but ended up interviewing at my top choice school (a T10), as well as others that I would be extremely happy to attend. It just shows how unpredictable this process can be.

For anyone who reads this and is applying in a later cycle, my biggest piece of advice: cast a wide net. I applied to 35 schools, including a very wide range of competitiveness.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
hey everyone. Just looking in here, wanted to see how everyone is doing. I am a current M1, non-traditional. I just wanted to say that at this point last year I had zero acceptances...… 2 weeks later I had 3 acceptances, and 2 WLs. Ended up going to my top choice off the waitlist.

I know it is hard to wait, especially when you are on a waitlist, but just hang in there!!!!
 
22 II, 17 attended
5 acceptances, 5 waitlists, 3 post-interview rejections, and still waiting to hear from the other 4

InfectiousLaughter said:
For anyone who reads this and is applying in a later cycle, my biggest piece of advice: cast a wide net. I applied to 35 schools, including a very wide range of competitiveness.
Click to expand...

I'll echo this advice. I'm grateful for how my cycle turned out, but I cast a very large net with 40 applications.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PapayaJambalaya said:
20 II, 17 attended
5 acceptances, 5 waitlists, 3 post-interview rejections, and still waiting to hear from the other 4



I'll echo this advice. I'm grateful for how my cycle turned out, but I cast a very large net with 40 applications. I interviewed at 6 of the top 10s and it looks like I'll only end up getting into one of them.
Click to expand...
Yeah I applied to 35 schools as well , because my application was unusual , and my advisors suggested to go wide . I know ppl who applied to only 5 schools and got into almost all of them , but for majority of ppl it’s too scary, too high of a risk
 
I think it depends on your personal situation honestly. I only applied to two schools and was comfortable with that decision. I knew where I wanted to be and made sure I prepared myself for the possibility of having to reassess if I didn’t get accepted.

I guess I’m saying don’t feel pressured to spend the money if you don’t feel the need. I ended up accepted at both schools and had a chance to stay close to home which was important to me. Financially and personally it made sense for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’ve had one interview but withdrew afterwards. I am 110% still happy about that decision. But that was at the university where both my parents attended med school and I have had 14 rejections. Still waiting to hear back from 12 more.

Knowing that the chances are slim, I’m not sure what to do for the coming year. I don’t know if I should reapply immediately or wait.

I believe the reason is that I have much more non-clinical hours compared to clinical. I am five years out of school (Econ degree) and have worked two different professional full time jobs. Neither are clinical. However, I have clinical volunteer hours equivalent to someone who was premed in undergrad or took a gap year. I’m just wondering if my non clinical stuff overshadows that because there’s so much of it. My letters of recc were great and my undergrad GPA was mediocre but my MCAT and post bacc GPA were strong.

I am a teacher and love my job - especially its relevance to primary care - but I don’t have time to do more clinical stuff because I work 60hrs a week plus evening and weekend events for the school. My boyfriend also graduates from law school in June and has no idea where he wants to work. I don’t know if I want to move and switch jobs.

Disappointed with the app cycle outcome, and also frustrated because my life is so up in the air

Still happy for everyone else on this thread! As a teacher I am excited for everyone who gets to continue their education
 
tommymomo24 said:
I’ve had one interview but withdrew afterwards. I am 110% still happy about that decision. But that was at the university where both my parents attended med school and I have had 14 rejections. Still waiting to hear back from 12 more.

Knowing that the chances are slim, I’m not sure what to do for the coming year. I don’t know if I should reapply immediately or wait.

I believe the reason is that I have much more non-clinical hours compared to clinical. I am five years out of school (Econ degree) and have worked two different professional full time jobs. Neither are clinical. However, I have clinical volunteer hours equivalent to someone who was premed in undergrad or took a gap year. I’m just wondering if my non clinical stuff overshadows that because there’s so much of it. My letters of recc were great and my undergrad GPA was mediocre but my MCAT and post bacc GPA were strong.

I am a teacher and love my job - especially its relevance to primary care - but I don’t have time to do more clinical stuff because I work 60hrs a week plus evening and weekend events for the school. My boyfriend also graduates from law school in June and has no idea where he wants to work. I don’t know if I want to move and switch jobs.

Disappointed with the app cycle outcome, and also frustrated because my life is so up in the air

Still happy for everyone else on this thread! As a teacher I am excited for everyone who gets to continue their education
Click to expand...

Did you apply DO? What’s the story with the school that interviewed you?
 
TwoHighways said:
Did you apply DO? What’s the story with the school that interviewed you?
Click to expand...

I didn’t! I was told I was a really competitive applicant by a family friend who does med school admissions consulting. She’s not sure what went wrong, but thinks it may be the ratio of clinical to non-clinical hours

I have absolutely no hesitations when it comes to DO but I also did not see any programs I was interested in based on curriculum

I will PM you if you want to hear about the withdrawal, let me know
 
tommymomo24 said:
I didn’t! I was told I was a really competitive applicant by a family friend who does med school admissions consulting. She’s not sure what went wrong, but thinks it may be the ratio of clinical to non-clinical hours

I have absolutely no hesitations when it comes to DO but I also did not see any programs I was interested in based on curriculum

I will PM you if you want to hear about the withdrawal, let me know
Click to expand...

You had mentioned primary care which is why I asked about applying DO. The only reason I didn’t apply DO myself (other than the two DO programs that utilized the TMDSAS app) was because I was too lazy to fill out a separate application and a strong desire to remain in state, but it all worked out for me this cycle thankfully.

I’m intrigued about your interview story now, even moreso now that you’ve stated you aren’t comfortable making it public. Send me that PM
 
Last edited:
tommymomo24 said:
I didn’t! I was told I was a really competitive applicant by a family friend who does med school admissions consulting. She’s not sure what went wrong, but thinks it may be the ratio of clinical to non-clinical hours

I have absolutely no hesitations when it comes to DO but I also did not see any programs I was interested in based on curriculum

I will PM you if you want to hear about the withdrawal, let me know
Click to expand...

I was in the workforce for 15 years or so, then did some hospital volunteering and a few months of clinical work near the end. My nonclinical to clinical ratio is probably 30:1 and it has not hurt so far. That said, more recent clinical experience is helpful.
 
TwoHighways said:
You had mentioned primary care which is why I asked. The only reason I didn’t apply DO (other than the two DO programs that utilized the TMDSAS app) was because I was too lazy to fill out a separate application, but it all worked out for me this cycle thankfully.
Click to expand...

Yes primary care is my number one interest although I’m pretty curious about other specialities and open to all. I’m glad it worked out for you!!


TwoHighways said:
You had mentioned primary care which is why I asked about applying DO. The only reason I didn’t apply DO myself (other than the two DO programs that utilized the TMDSAS app) was because I was too lazy to fill out a separate application and a strong desire to remain in state, but it all worked out for me this cycle thankfully.

I’m intrigued about your interview story now, even moreso now that you’ve stated you aren’t comfortable making it public. Send me that PM
Click to expand...
rdyotz said:
I was in the workforce for 15 years or so, then did some hospital volunteering and a few months of clinical work near the end. My nonclinical to clinical ratio is probably 30:1 and it has not hurt so far. That said, more recent clinical experience is helpful.
Click to expand...

Interesting! Thanks so much for that comment. Because of my full time teaching job, my last clinical experience was 2017. I was just looking at a rural health program for this summer that combines education and clinical volunteering. Maybe I’ll go for it!
 
tommymomo24 said:
I didn’t! I was told I was a really competitive applicant by a family friend who does med school admissions consulting. She’s not sure what went wrong, but thinks it may be the ratio of clinical to non-clinical hours

I have absolutely no hesitations when it comes to DO but I also did not see any programs I was interested in based on curriculum

I will PM you if you want to hear about the withdrawal, let me know
Click to expand...

This is simply my experience, so take this for what it is worth, but my experience has not been that high ratio of non-clinical to clinical hours has been problematic. I have similarly been a teacher since 2012 and have had difficulty acquiring a significant number of clinical hours relative to the enormous number of hours I’ve accumulated in education through my full time work. That being said, I’ve been lucky enough to receive 7 interviews from schools in 3 states despite unimpressive grades from undergrad (3.2X, albeit buffered by strong mcat and postbacc performance). For what it’s worth, schools have definitely asked me about how I have confirmed my commitment to medicine through clinical exposure, but none have seemed concerned about the ratio of non-clinical to clinical.

I say this only so that if you do need to apply again, you can consider other aspects of your application that might be improve able in the meantime (which could include exploring additional clinical work of course), without viewing your non-clinical work as a disadvantage. I’ve found my interviewers to really appreciate when I’ve leaned into my educational experience and talked about how much exposure it had given me to working with people different from myself in situations where they felt vulnerable. Don’t shy away from that meaningful experience!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
InfectiousLaughter said:
This is simply my experience, so take this for what it is worth, but my experience has not been that high ratio of non-clinical to clinical hours has been problematic. I have similarly been a teacher since 2012 and have had difficulty acquiring a significant number of clinical hours relative to the enormous number of hours I’ve accumulated in education through my full time work. That being said, I’ve been lucky enough to receive 7 interviews from schools in 3 states despite unimpressive grades from undergrad (3.2X, albeit buffered by strong mcat and postbacc performance). For what it’s worth, schools have definitely asked me about how I have confirmed my commitment to medicine through clinical exposure, but none have seemed concerned about the ratio of non-clinical to clinical.

I say this only so that if you do need to apply again, you can consider other aspects of your application that might be improve able in the meantime (which could include exploring additional clinical work of course), without viewing your non-clinical work as a disadvantage. I’ve found my interviewers to really appreciate when I’ve leaned into my educational experience and talked about how much exposure it had given me to working with people different from myself in situations where they felt vulnerable. Don’t shy away from that meaningful experience!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

thank you so much!! I’m happy they appreciate your experience, it’s so true that it is extremely relevant to medicine. I will have to do a detailed review of my application to pinpoint where I can improve.. hopefully can get some help from some physician / med school connections I have.

Don’t know if you have acceptances, but assuming you must, so good luck in school!
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Ultimax said:
Glad to see many successful storied here. 33 y/o nurse practitioner with family here, thankful and humble to start the journey with you all this year.

Applied to 33 schools, 24 MDs and 6 DOs
Interview Invite- 18 (12 from MD and 6 DO)
Accepted- 3, canceled the rest of the interviews
Click to expand...
If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats? I'm similar to you in age and I have a son, so I was also wondering if you got accepted to your state school or will you be moving and bringing your family along? I'm just very concerned about that part and I was looking for advice! Thanks!
 
RNtoMD86 said:
If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats? I'm similar to you in age and I have a son, so I was also wondering if you got accepted to your state school or will you be moving and bringing your family along? I'm just very concerned about that part and I was looking for advice! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Good luck!!
 
Ultimax said:
Glad to see many successful storied here. 33 y/o nurse practitioner with family here, thankful and humble to start the journey with you all this year.

Applied to 33 schools, 24 MDs and 6 DOs
Interview Invite- 18 (12 from MD and 6 DO)
Accepted- 3, canceled the rest of the interviews
Click to expand...
33 applications? I did 18 and felt like ramming my head through a wall by the end, congrats on your successes! Your background as an NP is an asset, they would have been stupid to not take you.
 
DO_or_Die said:
33 applications? I did 18 and felt like ramming my head through a wall by the end, congrats on your successes! Your background as an NP is an asset, they would have been stupid to not take you.
Click to expand...

We just did a zoom session with MS4's yesterday that had recently matched and they applied to between 50-100 programs for residency, so apparently the med school application process is meant to be a warm-up session for residency apps 😀
 
Also finishing up a successful application cycle. I appreciate the help of everyone on this subforum over the years. It's been a long time coming!
Submitted a lot of secondaries, got 6 interview invites, which translated into 5 acceptances and 1 waitlist. So excited to be on the other side of this hurdle after years of waiting and wondering whether it would be possible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

med2be25
Biochem Online as a Non Trad
Replies
1
Views
327
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
M
Fifth Year Senior, Non-Trad, No Clinical Experience, No Non-Clinical Volunteering, No Research & Barely any Shadowing
Replies
3
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
C
Secondaries help for non-trad reapplicant - how to not be repetitive??
Replies
2
Views
952
cf3119
C
D
Being non-trad is so bitter sweet
Replies
3
Views
3K
Wamuu
Wamuu
C
WAMC - Take 2 (14 years later and now a non-trad / career changer)
Replies
20
Views
3K
A224B
A