age discrimination...how to get past it?

[natureboy]

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It seems that the average age at my state school, OHSU is very high: 26. Is it possible that they are breaking the rules by discriminating against younger groups? I will be only 21 when I apply. This is still 2-3 yrs younger than the national average. Does that mean I would have to do *many* extra stuff to even look attracted much less accepted? What is the special stuff that med schools look for in older applicants that younger applicants don't have? Is there any way of improving my chances?

 

[tBw]

Medical schools will assess you on where you are in your life, your level of maturity and your preparedness, investigation of and suitability for medicine. If you present yourself as having come to a mature decision to enter medicine, based on actual clinical exposure whether work or volunteer, and have the academic credentials to back it up, I very much doubt your school is going to pass you by because you are 21. There will be many 21 year olds at that school - you don't get a '26 average' by having everyone 26 and older!

 

[paramed2premed]

Whoa, I thought age discrimination worked against older folks. This is reminiscent of the URM debate.

Sample future post: "Older applicants have it way too easy. The have all this experience, maturity, and have an articulate philosophy on the nature of their motivation. It's not fair! I think people who come straight out of 4 years of chemistry classes deserve to be doctors more than folks who have been distracted by the so-called 'real world.' "

Sample Future Response: "If my knees didn't hurt so much, I would kick your a$$."

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by paramed2premed

Sample Future Response: "If my knees didn't hurt so much, I would kick your a$$."

...how did you know it's my knees that bother me rather than my hip! 😉

 

[Ernham]

You could spend a couple years popping zits and wackin pud.

 

[FREE MCAT ?]

Can't you just picture it?

"Why do older patients visit OUM (older underrepresented minorities) physicians. Older patients need to be reeducated so they do not segregate against the majority of younger physicians. This study clearly shows.... older patients are racists"

" Abolish Affirmative action for older applicante 😡"


Anyway, that felt good

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by paramed2premed
Sample Future Response: "If my knees didn't hurt so much, I would kick your a$$."

I can think of a few virtual asse$ I'd like to kick

 

[TexasRose]

Hey!😡 My knees are fine! It's just that constant whining sound in my ears... Oh, maybe that's my kids again...🙄

I love that some of you young whipper-snappers could be threatened by us nontrads!

T

 

[Chronotropic]

How do you get past it?

Grow up, literally.

 

[noswadnworb]

like the average GPA / average MCAT issue that comes up in every other thread, you can't judge yourself as an applicant based on the average profile of a particular school. we keep tying to fit a particular mold, when in reality it's those that stand out against a monotonous background that are probably the most competitive applicants.

also... keep in mind that it only requires a couple of 35 or 40 year old students to pull the average age of a class (with 106 people in it) up.

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by noswadnworb

also... keep in mind that it only requires a couple of 35 or 40 year old students to pull the average age of a class (with 106 people in it) up.

not really true...

104 students at 22 years old = 2288
+ 2 x 40 years old = +80

2288 + 80 = 2368

2368/106 = average age of 22.3 years old.

 

[noswadnworb]

touche...

obivously i didn't take the time to do the math...

in conclusion, you should entirely ignore my post

 

[tBw]

infact,

if we have m 40 year olds and n 22 years olds for a total class of 106, and the average age were 26

then

m + n = 106
(40m + 22n)/106 = 26

=> 40m + 22n = 26 x (m + n)
=> 14m = 4n

putting back into the original equation

m + n = 106 => 4n/14 + n = 106

or n = 82
=> m = 24

so for a class of 106 you would need 24 40 year olds to bring the average down to 26 if the rest were all 22. Obviously not all are going to be 22, but then far from 24 40 year olds are going to be present too. A 26 year old average implies therefore that the population is not shifted by 'a couple 35 or 40 year olds' 😉

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by noswadnworb
touche...

obivously i didn't take the time to do the math...

in conclusion, you should entirely ignore my post

sorry...

the physics major in me jumped out for a mo there 😉

 

[Jillianrae]

Hey natureboy, I don't know how seriously to take the thread, but if you are really concerned about the average age, don't be. I was only 20 when I started applying to medical school (I just turned 21). I have been accepted and will be attending medical school in the fall. Just be prepared to answer some questions about how your life experiences have prepared you to be a physician. One school I interview at actually asked me how I would respond to someone who told me I didn't have enough life experience to be a competent physician.

Another note, University of Washington had a first year this year who was only 19. (He graduated from college at 17 and got his law degree before applying to medical school.) Not typical, but it does happen.

 

[tugo]

Originally posted by paramed2premed
Whoa, I thought age discrimination worked against older folks. This is reminiscent of the URM debate.

Sample future post: "Older applicants have it way too easy. The have all this experience, maturity, and have an articulate philosophy on the nature of their motivation. It's not fair! I think people who come straight out of 4 years of chemistry classes deserve to be doctors more than folks who have been distracted by the so-called 'real world.' "

Sample Future Response: "If my knees didn't hurt so much, I would kick your a$$."

ROTFLOL!!! yes, it's my knees...and my ankles and, and....

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Originally posted by natureboy
It seems that the average age at my state school, OHSU is very high: 26.

My understanding is that this is average for most medical schools.

You will make more friends if you don't describe age 26 as being "very high" for a med student.

 

[NYGirl12]

Relax...If it will make you feel better, I will be barely 20 when I start applying for med school...and to think with that age, I already took a year off between high school and college...the more i think about it, the more it makes me feel that i made the right decision to take a year off, cause if I didn't I would be only like 18-19 when I apply... 😱