39 y/o Immigrant, Single Parent, Engineer Turned Pre-Med/Dental/Pharm – Seeking Guidance

[deleted1215541]

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Non-Traditional Applicant – Seeking Guidance for Med/Dental
What do you see me as far as probability of getting into either Med, Dental?

• Age: 39 years old
• Academic Background:
  
  • B.S. in Industrial Engineering (GPA: 2.81)
  • B.S. in Bioengineering (Community College GPA: 3.7; University GPA: 2.827)
  • M.S. in Biomedical Engineering (Graduated with GPA: 3.7)

• MCAT Score: 504
• Professional Experience:
  
  • 10+ years across manufacturing, automotive, and high-tech industries
  • Roles include: Quality Control, Product Designer, and currently Research Lab Scientist
• Research Experience:
  
  • 2 years in academic research (no publications yet)
• Clinical Exposure:
  
  • 200+ hours of shadowing in both medical and dental settings
• Volunteer Work:
  
  • Extensive community service focused on helping immigrants with housing, employment, and job training
  • Provided free tutoring for students both within and outside the university
  • Assisted elderly individuals in accessing medical care and appointments
• Personal Background:
  
  • Come from a family of physicians (parents and siblings)
  • Single father to an 8-year-old; have raised him while completing both U.S. bachelor’s and master’s degrees
  • Immigrant with a challenging life journey, returned to school in my late 30s while working full-time and supporting my family
• Goal: Open to Medical School, Dental School, or Pharmacy School — seeking honest feedback on competitiveness, next steps, and how best to frame my story

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

I hate questioning people's motivation for medicine, but I'll say with your background and you being open to all of medical, dental and pharmacy school, you should re-evaluate your goals. I'm sure you have amazing motivations, but it's gonna be hard. I can only speak to the medical route, but if I were you I would not consider medicine. At 39 and as a single dad, spend time with your kid and do something that balances purpose and family.

You will probably have a hard time getting into MD schools with the GPA and MCAT (unless you are URM and/or have an amazing lifestory), so it'd only be DO schools. I believe those give out fewer scholarships and financial aid, so it will be costly. Maybe Dental or pharmacy might be a more reasonable route.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

You can't want medical, dental, or pharmacy school. Pick one and go hard on it.

 

[deleted1215541]

You can't want medical, dental, or pharmacy school. Pick one and go hard on it.

Thank you but it was a general question. I want to work in healthcare industry and despite your perception, medical, dental , and pharmacy are very similar fields doing different things.
So instead of questioning my motivation , please stick to the topic and help me if you can. I just want to know about the likely hood of my getting accepted into one of those programs.
I heard SDN is a harsh place to ask these questions but I didn't know it starts right off the bat!

 

[deleted1215541]

I hate questioning people's motivation for medicine, but I'll say with your background and you being open to all of medical, dental and pharmacy school, you should re-evaluate your goals. I'm sure you have amazing motivations, but it's gonna be hard. I can only speak to the medical route, but if I were you I would not consider medicine. At 39 and as a single dad, spend time with your kid and do something that balances purpose and family.

You will probably have a hard time getting into MD schools with the GPA and MCAT (unless you are URM and/or have an amazing lifestory), so it'd only be DO schools. I believe those give out fewer scholarships and financial aid, so it will be costly. Maybe Dental or pharmacy might be a more reasonable route.

I am not single dad,
I am happily married and have a 7 year old boy.
Please do not question my motivation! despite what you think, Medical , dental and Pharmacy are similar fields! there are many people out there who even switched to MD after working as a DDS!
I am open to all because I am interested in all three! GOAL is for 20 year old boy and for me is more of chances and future!
I am not URM but definitely overcome things in my life that a normal American would only see that in their nightmares.
So do you think I would have a chance for DO schools? how likely is my chance and do you think admission would consider my age as a negative factor?

** I gave those states to chatGPT to organize it for some reason ChatGPT put Single Parent there out of nowhere!! and now I cannot edit it! No I am not single dad lol

 

[Stuaccount]

Your age won’t matter and won’t keep you out of anywhere save a handful of schools. But your gpa and mcat matter and those will keep you out of most MD schools. Don’t know about DO but from what I read, you likely have a chance there. But you will need to learn to accept honest feedback. The comments you got so far are the kinds of questions you may very well get at an interview and your responses here would get you a quick R. So consider it free practice.

 

[deleted1215541]

Your age won’t matter and won’t keep you out of anywhere save a handful of schools. But your gpa and mcat matter and those will keep you out of most MD schools. Don’t know about DO but from what I read, you likely have a chance there. But you will need to learn to accept honest feedback. The comments you got so far are the kinds of questions you may very well get at an interview and your responses here would get you a quick R. So consider it free practice.

Thank you but I believe it is a bit late for me to learn! I am already 39 and definitely older than most people here including those two students and you! I am asking about academic feedback not a feedback about my choice!
Spending more time with my kids or why I like all three fields ,.. are feedbacks?!
I read a few comments in this forum and apparently people are dying to tell somebody to seek another profession!
Thank you for your feedback but when somebody ask for guidance, it is referring to his academic stats not motivation or family management!
Either way , thank you for your honest feedback

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

Thank you but I believe it is a bit late for me to learn! I am already 39 and definitely older than most people here including those two students and you! I am asking about academic feedback not a feedback about my choice!
Spending more time with my kids or why I like all three fields ,.. are feedbacks?!
I read a few comments in this forum and apparently people are dying to tell somebody to seek another profession!
Thank you for your feedback but when somebody ask for guidance, it is referring to his academic stats not motivation or family management!
Either way , thank you for your honest feedback

I’m assuming the students you are referring to are the commenters. It is quite bold to assume that everyone on here is a student lol. You are on a non traditional sub forum, we have a lot of old timers on here. Did you ever think that people could be giving you non academic advice from a point of experience?

I don’t like to divulge personal information about myself, but I am far from a student, much less a young student. Do you think that if I had entered medical school as an older non trad (albeit not as old), you should listen to my non academic advice? Not only so, do you think I don’t know about people who are closer to your age when entering med school and how they regret it?

Everyone thinks they’re special and can defy the odds.

The reason im skeptical of you is that you mentioned medical, dental, and pharm. then you say they’re similar, and that some people go from dds back to medical school. That example should tell you how differently they are since they were not able to find what they were looking for in dentistry.

Lastly, you come here WITH and mcat and ask about medical, dental, and pharm, and do not know about the mcat ranges for md vs do. I’m pretty sure dental schools use a different admissions test.

You come off as someone who has not done a lot of research, and come with a ChatGPT generated post without editing. Then you push back with a “trust me, I don’t care about your advice I just want you to tell me my chances” your chances depend on more than scores, they will question your motivation since the education system will invest a lot in training someone for maybe 10-15 years of clinical practice.

 

[deleted1215541]

If everyone here is around my age, so why are you questioning my motivation if you’re younger than why you’re still questioning my motivation, I’m confused!
Plus, I was seeking academic advice and guidance not life advice. I do not think I want to get your opinion about life from SDN
I probably go to a therapist in case I was doubting about my life and my goals!

I’m not sure what’s wrong with sdn and I have been referred by a friend to sdn as he told me, it’s a horse place and everybody is dying to give you this sentence “ go, and look for another profession”

I use ChatGPT to make my stats more organized since English is my second language and I want to be more clear about it

I was planning only for medical school that’s why I took MCAT, however after not performing very well on MCAT I start thinking of dental school or even pharma!

I have two engineering degrees a master degree those required more than a decade of education so please stop giving me advice about life and focus on what I have asked you

If you cannot help, just don’t
If you think all people will regret getting into medical school at 39 then that’s your opinion I know a lot of people who had a similar experience who has no regret

I know you’re not even close to my age, but let me give you a piece of advice. You will be 50 or 60 one day with or without chasing your dreams you can be a 60 year old who achieved his dreams or regret it for life

 

[deleted1215541]

This is going to be my last post here
Apparently, people were right about SDN
I’m not seeking life advice yet looking for academic guidance
If anyone has an opinion about the likelihood of me getting into medical or dental with stats, please share your comments
If you think there is a program out there that I can go and improve my status, please share it with me

Please stay away if you meet the following mindset
If you think 39 is too old
If you think all people getting into medical school will regret after all
If you think just somebody is interested in both medical and dental doesn’t know what he wants

Again, I’m seeking academic advice from those who have similar experiences or no proper pathway

Please keep your opinion about life for yourself. I’m not seeking therapy here and I don’t think my relationship with my kid has anything to do with the medical school or even YOU!

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

If you want academic advice, your uGPA sucks and your MCAT is mediocre. Your chances of MD are low, your chances of DO are medium based off those two stats alone. You didn't quantify your volunteer hours or describe anything clinical beyond some shadowing, so overall your chances of a clinical career would be low if you applied today.

You should probably do an organized post-bacc or SMP program with a MCAT prep course if you're serious about medical school.

You need to improve your portfolio quite a bit to apply, and to get through the application process you need to articulate your reasons why much better than you have here. I'm also a former engineer, it doesn't get you much if any "extra credit." You're signing up for a 7+ year career pathway at a minimum at a later age, you need to be sure you want to do it if you can only spend 20 years in practice before retirement anyway.

- a M1 in my early 30s

 

[deleted1215541]

If you want academic advice, your uGPA sucks and your MCAT is mediocre. Your chances of MD are low, your chances of DO are medium based off those two stats alone. You didn't quantify your volunteer hours or describe anything clinical beyond some shadowing, so overall your chances of a clinical career would be low if you applied today.

You should probably do an organized post-bacc or SMP program with a MCAT prep course if you're serious about medical school.

You need to improve your portfolio quite a bit to apply, and to get through the application process you need to articulate your reasons why much better than you have here. I'm also a former engineer, it doesn't get you much if any "extra credit." You're signing up for a 7+ year career pathway at a minimum at a later age, you need to be sure you want to do it if you can only spend 20 years in practice before retirement anyway.

- a M1 in my early 30s

Thank you
That was an advice I was looking for! ACADEMIC ADVICE!
Yes my GPA is sucks because I had full time job and kids all the way through my education.
Do you have any idea about UQ-Ochsner MD Program and a Dental school in the US?
I am going to take DAT in a month. Considering my given MCAT score, I might land a bit better on DAT.

*Side note: as I told you, I can pick up the age by the tone of your writing how old you are! when somebody tell a 39 years old to seek another profession, or why you put dental and medical together, I smell the youth and inexperience! When you get older, you would encounter the bitter fact that NEVER IS TOO LATE TO CHASE YOUR DREAMS! You will be 50 one day, with or without medical degree.

Thanks anyway

 

[Stuaccount]

Okay.

For the record, you asked the following originally.

What do you see me as far as probability of getting into either Med, Dental?

instead of:

I am asking about academic feedback not a feedback about my choice!

The answer to your original question encompasses more than academics, especially when academics are subpar, as yours are for MD.

One of the things that will decide your chances is interviewers’ evaluation of you, including how teachable you are, your motivations and your ability to play nice with others. And you will get sensitive questions that will push your buttons.

So the following may not fly as medical school will insist on teaching you a lot of soft skills. I humbly recommend rethinking the current approach.

Thank you but I believe it is a bit late for me to learn

 

[deleted1215541]

Okay.

For the record, you asked the following originally.


instead of:


The answer to your original question encompasses more than academics, especially when academics are subpar, as yours are for MD.

One of the things that will decide your chances is interviewers’ evaluation of you, including how teachable you are, your motivations and your ability to play nice with others. And you will get sensitive questions that will push your buttons.

So the following may not fly as medical school will insist on teaching you a lot of soft skills. I humbly recommend rethinking the current approach.

Life is more than medical school.
I asked for academic advice based on my stats!
I do not need life advice and whether going to medical school is right or wrong!
As person with two engineering degrees and 15 years working in the industry and being a father tought me enough to know how to approach intrviewes and university instructors!

Thanks anyway

 

[deleted1215541]

Thanks everyone for useless comments and all questioning my motivation rather than giving me constructive feedback!
Thank you for all of you in your 20s trying to give a 39 years old dad life advice!
Thanks again
Will delete my account , as my friends said, SDN is a wrong place seeking advice! people are here for different reason!

 

[wysdoc]

This thread is being closed to further commentary

Creating a profile with ChatGPT that bore no resembance to your actual facts, then arguing with each person who commented, makes this discussion helpful to none