Applying at age 19

[thaipham89]

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I'm going to finish my degree by the end of my junior year. My GPA is a 3.85, but I'm planning on applying without physics 1 or 2. I'm 19, and I'm from Texas. I'm gonna take my MCAT and apply this summer. What are my chances of getting into any school? Will they judge me harshly since I'm 19 and a non-minority? This "assuming" my MCAT is good...yes assuming. No smart comments. Thanks.

 

[starfishprime]

I'm planning on applying without physics 1 or 2.

a) Your education is not complete, oh young one.
b) Physics is a prerequisite at many medical schools, yes?

 

[thaipham89]

I thought you had to finish physics prior to matriculation, which is true.

 

[Brendizzle]

Actually - I know Baylor does not require Physics as a pre-req. I think it depends on where you'll be applying...

 

[Conky]

I'm going to finish my degree by the end of my junior year. My GPA is a 3.85, but I'm planning on applying without physics 1 or 2. I'm 19, and I'm from Texas. I'm gonna take my MCAT and apply this summer. What are my chances of getting into any school? Will they judge me harshly since I'm 19 and a non-minority? This "assuming" my MCAT is good...yes assuming. No smart comments. Thanks.

You don't need to finish pre reqs to apply, you just need to take them at some point. I know a girl who taught herself bio and orgo before taking them, took the MCAT, and then applied that summer. She was accepted that fall to Columbia P&S and yale. All she had to do then was just finish up those pre reqs.

That said, she was older than 19... make sure you have some good ec's.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I'm not a big fan of the "other people have done it, so you can too" brand of advice. Taking the MCAT without any physics is a bad, bad call. Don't do that if you can avoid it. You might get discriminated against a little bit due to your age, but if you can demonstrate maturity in your essays and interviews, it won't be an issue.

 

[bleedblue]

they'll hit u hard during interviews on the maturity question, so be prepared to deal with that

 

[premed21]

I don't understand why people will question you about your maturity. I mean if anything, they should commend your maturity for staying focussed and getting a strong gpa/graduating early etc.

Rather than many other students who partied and enjoyed their earlier years of college, you chose the mature path and stayed focussed on your goal right? So why should they be concerned about your maturity.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Regardless of the maturity question (which, regardless of whether we think it's fair or not, will still be a question in the minds of the adcoms), I agree that taking the MCAT without having had physics seems like a very bad idea; you might be able to pull a "decent" score, but with a 3.85 GPA, I bet if you prepared properly for the MCAT that you could get a truly rockstar MCAT that would open doors to just about any school in the country for you. Also, if you've been focussing so much on your studies, I have to wonder how your clinical experience is looking, as it doesn't matter how high your stats are if you've got zero clinical experience (though I know this is a bit of an assumption that your experience is a bit low).

 

[BigD311]

Youre 19, what clinical experience have you had?

Many people 21-22+ years old have had 3-7 years of patient contact and plenty of experiences to allude back to which explain their passion for medicine.

How do you know medicine is for you at such a young age, doogie?

Most states require you to be at least 18 to be an EMT and many hands on volunteer programs also require you to be 18. I am sure there are hospital volunteer programs for those who are younger, but that just makes you push wheelchairs around. It is a very superficial clinical experience in my opinion...if it even counts.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Youre 19, what clinical experience have you had?

Many people 21-22+ years old have had 3-7 years of patient contact and plenty of experiences to allude back to which explain their passion for medicine.

How do you know medicine is for you at such a young age, doogie?

Most states require you to be at least 18 to be an EMT and many hands on volunteer programs also require you to be 18. I am sure there are hospital volunteer programs for those who are younger, but that just makes you push wheelchairs around. It is a very superficial clinical experience in my opinion...if it even counts.

As long as there's a patient in that wheelchair... of course it counts. As LizzyM famously says, if you're close enough to smell a patient, it's clinical experience.

If you at least have some of that OP, then you're probably doing OK; but if not, you might do well to wait to apply for a year so that you can get the clinical experience you need.

 

[Spiker]

I dont know how do you make a good attempt at MCAT without taking physics. Maybe baylor doesnt require physics but your gpa is only average and without physics I dont think u can even make a average MCAT score. Why would baylor accept you when there are tons of other people with good MCAT and better gpa? That being said i think all other TX school require physics. OOS without even a complete education is like impossible...

 

[UVAbme2009]

Youre 19, what clinical experience have you had?

Many people 21-22+ years old have had 3-7 years of patient contact and plenty of experiences to allude back to which explain their passion for medicine.

How do you know medicine is for you at such a young age, doogie?

His age is irrelevant to how well he knows he wants to do this. I had one year of clinical experience when I applied, and I've done just fine. You don't need three years of experience to tell you you're making the right decision. And let's be real, just about everyone at this stage doesn't fully understand what lies ahead.

What is important is that you have experiences you can speak upon - stuff that means something to you. If you have that, you'll be fine.

 

[image187]

I can't stand pre-meds sometimes. Dont ever let anyone tell you you're too young to achieve your dreams. years and years of clinical experience is necessary yet they accept 17 year olds into 7-year combined degree programs every year? Age is not synonymous with maturity. People are just jealous you may undermine their egos by going to med school earlier than them. Best of luck to you man

 

[CanHasNaps]

It is worth mentioning that it takes a lot of emotional maturity and - goodness help me - ego strength to make it through medical school. Not only are the classes difficult and demanding, most people have to learn how to interact, on this incredibly personal level, with people that they have never met before. Sometimes that is very difficult to manage, depending on your life experiences. Not to say that at 19 you are not capable of succeeding in medical school, but there is a reason why the average age of a first year class is closer to 23.

 

[BigD311]

I don't doubt anyone's capabilities. If he wants to apply, no one is going to stop that.

uvabme, youre assuming he has these experiences. My comment was made to see if he actually does have any of these experiences.

And yes, I am aware of LizzyM's famous quote about clinical experience. However, I think if pushing wheelchairs around is all someone has, then how do they really know this is for them? Ok, so they like talking to people...great, why not be a PR rep? Like helping people? Ok, be a firefighter, EMT, or a police officer.

In my personal experience, in four years as an EMT and a total of seven in EMS...only a fraction of it made me want to be a doctor. The rest of that time basically made me realize that I DONT want to be a FF, PO or an EMT. It was all my other experiences that made me want medicine. I think the biggest mistake premeds make is to establish a laundry list of "clinical experiences" and at the end of the day, they can't really express what they got out of any of them. What was the point? To fill in spots on an application?? Sure it does this, but it will catch up to you...if not through your essays, then probably during your interview.

Why medicine...if you can answer that, then in my opinion I think the time is right. I don't see a need to rush anything to make sure you aren't going to have a change of heart during your third year of med school.

I could care less about his age. All I was getting at was the difficulty that one would probably encounter as a 19 yr old looking for some solid clinical experience. If he found it, then thats great. Good luck applying!

And the premed comment was uncalled for...I don't believe anyone here is looking to push this guy away from med school. If anything, they are looking to ensure that he is on solid ground and that he isn't jumping the gun. Let's face it, we are ALL eager to get to med school and become a doctor but we can all admit that timing is EVERYTHING.

Best of luck to you, Thaipham. In short, if you do apply, your age will probably be brought up at some point. I am 21 and my prehealth advisor asks EVERYONE why we don't want to take some time off and continue to mature. If you have a good answer to that question, then go for it!

 

[drareg]

dude, i would want you to be my doctor ... but def get your hands on some clinical at least before your interviews