Advice Needed for non traditional student considering going to med school

[OpheliasWings]

Hi everyone, I was reading over the posts and have to say I was surprised to see soo many people in the same boat as me. I am 29, married, and we have a 1 1/2 year old daughter. I started back to school after several years and I've been pointing myself in the direction of doing pediatric nursing, however I've begun to question whether I'm cut out to actually go into medical school. I've had the same questions as many of you regarding age, family, and the have a totally lost my mind thinking about medical school!? However, I think that I could do it. My husband is behind me 100% and it feels like the right decision.
The big questions I have is what do you get your bachelors in? I've read that the majority of people go into Bio or Chem, however I have an interest in Psychology and considered maybe child psychology since I want to go into Pediatrics. Any suggestions? Do the schools look at your undergrad major or just your grades?
Also, any suggestions on where to get an undergrad degree in Houston, TX? I am currently attending the community college getting my pre reqs, however I think if I am serious about going into med school I will need to start looking into the best and most affordable universities.
Also do any of you have suggestions on what med schools to look at as well?

Thanks for your time! Sorry for being long winded!

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[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Welcome!

My two cents.. Undergrad doesn't really matter, but it may make sense to go for at least a science related minor that will accommodate your premed classes. My major & minor were nowhere near science related at all; a pretty high GPA is much more important than the major selected.

Comm college for premed classes? Some med schools frown on this or won't accept students who have premed classes at a comm college, many (or most?) don't necessarily look too negatively on this, however.

Texas' got some great, inexpensive med schools if you're instate; you've got a definite advantage over any out of stater on those!

Suggest you wait to decide which med schools to apply to until you're a bit further along; your competitiveness is a key component of which schools you should apply to; your competitiveness will largely be based on grades & mcat scores that are not yet available, good luck

 

[2010houston]

Hi Ophelia,
The schools don't seem to care so much about your major - just your grades - so do whatever's most interesting to you, and that's probably where you'll get the best grades The big two undergrad options in Houston are Rice and UH....also HBU, UHCL, and I'm sure some others too. For med schools, Houston's actually great because Baylor, UT-Houston, and UTMB are all in town (or in Galveston), and Baylor's supercompetitive while the UTs are a bit easier to get into (not that it's ever easy). So you have a lot of options! You're in a good city
Feel free to message me if you want, i'm in Houston too and have been looking at this for years....

 

[OpheliasWings]

Hi guys, thanks soo much for your great posts, I really appreciate it. Well my ultimate game plan is to figure out the under grad area that I am wanting to get into and to get my bachelors at one of the larger universities here. I actually just started a summer math course last week and my teacher is a med student at the UT southwestern campus in Dallas. He said he got a double major in bio/chem from U of H. So I'm been speaking with him as well about it.
I am an artist so I definitly lean more towards the humanaties and psychology based areas, since I have an interest in them I can see getting my undergrad in one of those. He even told me it may help you to stand out since most people applying to med school end up going into bio or chem because of the science component and also the pre reqs are courses you're taking already.
The reason I'm going to Lone Star currently is because it's close by, and I have been interested in going into nursing so I am doing pre reqs, and it's cheaper than the big universities. Also they have bridge programs for several of the schools that you can get your pre reqs done at Lone Star then finish out at U of H or some of the other schools. So I don't know if they look at just the fact that you'd have a degree from a large university or whether they look at you taking every course at the university, don't know if that makes sense.
I currently have a 4.0 gpa, which I'm really proud of . Keeping my grades up with a 1 year old running around is an accomplishment in my book. I have definitly been looking at UT for their nursing degree and I'm really happy that they have a great med program as well. From what I've read it's a great school. My math teacher told me you're best off applying to every school you can in Texas to give yourself a competetive edge.
I have thought about out of state schools, but it just doesn't make sense being an in state resident already to apply to an out of state school where you have less of a chance to get in and would be paying even more money to go, so I'm going to stick with applying here in Texas.
I'll drop you a line 2010Houston, thanks for the post!

Have a great day!

 

[Krisss17]

Hi everyone, I was reading over the posts and have to say I was surprised to see soo many people in the same boat as me. I am 29, married, and we have a 1 1/2 year old daughter. I started back to school after several years and I've been pointing myself in the direction of doing pediatric nursing, however I've begun to question whether I'm cut out to actually go into medical school. I've had the same questions as many of you regarding age, family, and the have a totally lost my mind thinking about medical school!? However, I think that I could do it. My husband is behind me 100% and it feels like the right decision.
The big questions I have is what do you get your bachelors in? I've read that the majority of people go into Bio or Chem, however I have an interest in Psychology and considered maybe child psychology since I want to go into Pediatrics. Any suggestions? Do the schools look at your undergrad major or just your grades?
Also, any suggestions on where to get an undergrad degree in Houston, TX? I am currently attending the community college getting my pre reqs, however I think if I am serious about going into med school I will need to start looking into the best and most affordable universities.
Also do any of you have suggestions on what med schools to look at as well?

Thanks for your time! Sorry for being long winded!

Major in what you are interested in. If Bio or chem interests you, go for that. If psych interests you go for that. You'll find you are more motivated if an area of study really interests you and it will show in your grades. Yes, many will major in bio/chem, but they are usually traditional students that are of the "premed" mindsets. Some will do really well, but many may not and find themselves coming back as nontrads trying to fix a bad science GPA.

Being a Texas resident, you'll have a number of schools you can apply to that are more friendly towards its own residents. Just do well in your prereqs, keep a competitive cumulative GPA and do well on the MCAT, and I'm sure you will find success.

 

[OpheliasWings]

Thanks for the post. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I'm taking summer courses before the fall semester starts so I've had a lot of work to get done. I got some infor for U of H so I'm looking into them for the under grad and I'm probably going to do something that interests me like everyone has suggested, that way I know I'll have a great gpa and if need be I can minor in bio since you need the bio classes for the pre reqs.
Does anyone know if the pre reqs are typically the same for all of the schools?

Thanks!

Sonseria