Am I Nontraditional?

[FloridaGirl24]

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Hi all! I'm new to SDN and a first-time poster. 🙂

I just graduated back in May, my bachelors degree isn't science related and I'm 24. The only science classes I took in undergrad were an intro-chemistry course and Bio I.

I'm wondering if I'd be considered nontraditional?

If so, would it be smarter to do a post-bac or complete my pre-reqs/higher level sciences on my own at a community college?

 

[Mad Jack]

Nontraditional ain't a checkbox. It's up to you to decide whether you're a nontrad or not. So far as which way to do your courses, what is your current GPA and what is your goal? Are you shooting for top schools or any school? Any specialty you envision yourself doing way down the road? There's a lot of factors that go into which path to take.

 

[FloridaGirl24]

GPA: 3.35. I had a bad semester sophomore year (life stuff) and dropped from a 3.6 to a 2.9 and spent the rest of my undergrad years doing really well to pull it up. It's mediocre at best, but it was all I could do. I want to do an M.D. program, but I'm not looking to go to a top school. Plus i'm planning to cast a wide net when I eventually do apply.

 

[Mad Jack]

So I'm guessing you're a URM due to your picture. Factoring that with your overall GPA, I'd do my best to take the courses at a university instead of a CC. Whether you prefer to do it as a post-bac or not is up to you- I wouldn't recommend a formal postbac unless it was a linked program that gave you a guarantee of an interview if you meet certain performance standards. Upside to a lot of postbacs is that you'll be able to complete everything in one year instead of two- most schools won't let you take Orgo until you've taken the chem sequence, so if you do a DYI postbac, you're probably looking at two years.

 

[heartsink]

In a similar boat as OP. Im 24 and I got a BA in psych and decided last year to change from grad school to medicine, so i started from scratch winter of this year at my state school with a DIY postbac. I'm also working 25-27 hours every weekend while I take two classes / 2 labs a quarter.

I'll be 26 when I apply and 27 when I (hopefully) matriculate; i'd say thats mildly nontrad but not significantly so. Likewise, I'm not shooting for the top, I just want to make it into an MD school and I think that's very realistic as long as I'm able to keep moving forward and not let myself get bogged down.

MD definitely is not out of your reach if you do well in your prereqs and MCAT. Starting at 3.3 you have little room for B's, but if you are URM you do have some wiggle room on that 3.4-3.5 threshold. I agree with Mad Jack - take the pre reqs at a University if possible.

 

[FloridaGirl24]

As a black female, I'm definitely URM. Thank you both for your input. I had a feeling that completing my courses at a university would be better, but everyone has been telling me a cc would be fine, so I was feeling a little confused/pressured. Glad to know I should go with my gut! 🙂

 

[QofQuimica]

Are you a FL resident looking to stay in FL? If so, I agree with the others that you should take your prereqs at one of the state universities. I know they call our CC's "colleges" now because they offer a few BS degrees, but the issue with CC's from an adcom's perspective is their lack of selectivity. You are a person with something to prove in terms of your academics, so it would be to your advantage to attend a more selective school that has admissions requirements. Academically, the most competitive candidate will be the person who makes straight As in the most rigorous courses and course load available. However, keep in mind that the most important thing is that you need to make straight As (or as close to it as possible) from here on out, especially since you have a limited science background. So don't overdo it in terms of number of courses, honors courses, etc. if it means your GPA is going to suffer.

Also, make sure you are getting clinical experience and volunteering of some kind; all of the FL schools prefer applicants with significant activities in these areas. It is best to shadow/volunteer for a few hours/week over a period of 1-2 years than to do short bursts with nothing in between. You may be able to get some of these experiences through your school's premed club, at your local med school's hospital affiliate, free clinics, nursing homes, hospices, etc.

 

[FloridaGirl24]

Are you a FL resident looking to stay in FL? If so, I agree with the others that you should take your prereqs at one of the state universities. I know they call our CC's "colleges" now because they offer a few BS degrees, but the issue with CC's from an adcom's perspective is their lack of selectivity. You are a person with something to prove in terms of your academics, so it would be to your advantage to attend a more selective school that has admissions requirements. Academically, the most competitive candidate will be the person who makes straight As in the most rigorous courses and course load available. However, keep in mind that the most important thing is that you need to make straight As (or as close to it as possible) from here on out, especially since you have a limited science background. So don't overdo it in terms of number of courses, honors courses, etc. if it means your GPA is going to suffer.

Also, make sure you are getting clinical experience and volunteering of some kind; all of the FL schools prefer applicants with significant activities in these areas. It is best to shadow/volunteer for a few hours/week over a period of 1-2 years than to do short bursts with nothing in between. You may be able to get some of these experiences through your school's premed club, at your local med school's hospital affiliate, free clinics, nursing homes, hospices, etc.

I'm a FL resident, but I'm moving to Boston in a few weeks for a paid volunteer position that I applied for. It's a year long contract, so it's too late to back out of it. I'm not looking to stay in FL, but there are 4 schools here that I'm interested in, as well as other out of state schools. Since I won't have time for pre-reqs this year, I'm planning to start getting EC hours. I used to live in Boston so I have a lot of family/family friends with good contacts that could help with shadowing/volunteering. This time next year, however, whether I end up staying in Boston or not, I'll be taking my courses and studying hard to get straight A's. Would you consider taking 3 courses at once to be too much in addition to part-time work and volunteering and/or shadowing?

 

[QofQuimica]

I'm a FL resident, but I'm moving to Boston in a few weeks for a paid volunteer position that I applied for. It's a year long contract, so it's too late to back out of it. I'm not looking to stay in FL, but there are 4 schools here that I'm interested in, as well as other out of state schools. Since I won't have time for pre-reqs this year, I'm planning to start getting EC hours. I used to live in Boston so I have a lot of family/family friends with good contacts that could help with shadowing/volunteering. This time next year, however, whether I end up staying in Boston or not, I'll be taking my courses and studying hard to get straight A's. Would you consider taking 3 courses at once to be too much in addition to part-time work and volunteering and/or shadowing?

Take as many classes as you can manage while still pulling straight As. It's fine to go work in Boston for a year, but you should seriously consider keeping your FL residency. You'll have much better odds applying as a FL resident than as a MA resident, assuming MA will even allow you to be a resident for med school purposes.

 

[lovelybones]

Hi Florida Girl,

What schools in Boston are you considering? How would the out of state schools work?
And how soon are you planning to start...this fall?

I'm starting in September and I don't know I feel inclined to go for 3 courses while working part time and volunteering myself, we'll see 🙂

 

[FloridaGirl24]

I think you can manage 3 classes along with work and volunteering. As long as you manage your time well and make sure to really study so you don't fall behind in your grades. It's totally doable. When I start doing my classes in the fall, I plan to take at least 2, if not 3 at a time.

I have a list of schools that I'm interested in applying to (in addition to the 4 in FL), but that list is drastically changing as I look further into factors such as faculty, teaching style, their residency programs, 3rd year rotations that are offered, the type of research being conducted, location, price, the school's overall mission, and my own interests (which could very easily change) regarding specialization.

So the short answer is that I don't really have any schools in Boston that I'm interested in applying to, as of yet. But when I do apply, I plan to cast a wide net. I was told by a few different sources that applicants tend to go for 15 schools on average. I may do 20 just to be safe, depending on how my prerequisite courses/ec/MCAT scores end up going.

More than anything I would love to start my classes this fall, but I've already committed to a full-time paid volunteer position, plus I'm going to be applying for a job in addition to that. I'm aiming for straight A's on my prereqs so I want to set myself up for success, so this year, unfortunately is out. If I'm lucky, I'll at least take Gen Chem I in the spring and then kick it into high gear in the fall.

My game plan for now though, is to find a hospital/clinic to volunteer at or a physician to shadow (ideally one that works in one of the areas I'm interested in), plus get a job related to health in some way. I have a TON of family/family friends up there with connections in the medical field, so I'm hoping that one of those options will pan out as far as work goes.

Sorry for the novel! I was an English major, so overwriting happens all the time! 🙂

 

[FloridaGirl24]

Take as many classes as you can manage while still pulling straight As. It's fine to go work in Boston for a year, but you should seriously consider keeping your FL residency. You'll have much better odds applying as a FL resident than as a MA resident, assuming MA will even allow you to be a resident for med school purposes.

I'm definitely planning to keep my residency, if that's at all possible. Especially since FL will have the greatest number of schools that I apply to.

 

[lovelybones]

Oooooh we totally misunderstood each other. I thought you had 4 post bac pre med schools you're interested in applying to in Boston and that's why I didn't understand the out of state thing.

 

[QofQuimica]

My game plan for now though, is to find a hospital/clinic to volunteer at or a physician to shadow (ideally one that works in one of the areas I'm interested in), plus get a job related to health in some way. I have a TON of family/family friends up there with connections in the medical field, so I'm hoping that one of those options will pan out as far as work goes.

Sounds like you've got a good plan. Should be plenty of hospital volunteering opportunities in Boston. Feel free to PM if you're still looking for shadowing/volunteering opportunities when you get back to FL, and I may be able to help you.

 

[Dfbsny67]

Yes, but you're definitely a more "traditional" non-traditional applicant ;D

 

[beingandfluffyness]

I graduated in May as well! I just applied for a Pre-health post-bacc program at UF, so I'm crossing my fingers on that; in the meantime I'm on the research lab hunt.
Best of luck to you!
-B&F

 

[FloridaGirl24]

Yes, but you're definitely a more "traditional" non-traditional applicant ;D

That's what I was afraid of to be honest. It's a bit intimidating being compared to undergrads who have spent 4 consecutive years working towards medical school. I feel like I might not measure up. :/

 

[FloridaGirl24]

I graduated in May as well! I just applied for a Pre-health post-bacc program at UF, so I'm crossing my fingers on that; in the meantime I'm on the research lab hunt.
Best of luck to you!
-B&F

That's awesome! Crossing my fingers for you! UF is a great school. Good luck to you too! 🙂

 

[beingandfluffyness]

I made it into the post-bacc program (good to note that UF does not accept post-baccs except under programs like this one which is disappointing).
Here we gooooo