Applying to DO Schools at Age 30

[JR1182]

Hi all - I would love to gain some of your input on what you guys think of my current situation. I'm 29 yrs old, and would really like to go to med school. But my background is so far off from the medical field and I have a pretty low GPA - not sure if I'd even be considered! Here's my background:

2.98 undergrad GPA from big 10 school
3.2 GPA masters in human resources GPA from Ivy league school

1 semester of TAship at my Masters institution
1.5 yrs of work experience in HR at Fortune 100
2 yrs of work experience in Big 4 consulting firm.

I'm looking to start a Post-Bacc to get in my pre med courses (I plan on raising my gpa). During my 2 year post bacc career, I plan on getting in some clinical experience.

Do you guys think I have a shot, given my previous career track and my grades??
Any input would be very helpful!

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[MaxillofacialMN]

Hi all - I would love to gain some of your input on what you guys think of my current situation. I'm 29 yrs old, and would really like to go to med school. But my background is so far off from the medical field and I have a pretty low GPA - not sure if I'd even be considered! Here's my background:

2.98 undergrad GPA from big 10 school
3.2 GPA masters in human resources GPA from Ivy league school

1 semester of TAship at my Masters institution
1.5 yrs of work experience in HR at Fortune 100
2 yrs of work experience in Big 4 consulting firm.

I'm looking to start a Post-Bacc to get in my pre med courses (I plan on raising my gpa). During my 2 year post bacc career, I plan on getting in some clinical experience.

Do you guys think I have a shot, given my previous career track and my grades??
Any input would be very helpful!

If you haven't taken any prerequisites for medical school yet, then I think you have a chance. Make sure you get straight A's in all the classes and do well on the MCAT and you'll be fine.

 

[IAmTheCheese]

Yes, I would say you have a chance. My GPA from my first college was the same as yours, and I got accepted at five DO schools.

Realistically, you will need to spend a couple years taking the pre-reqs before you can apply to medical school. You will also need to spend at least 3-4 months studying for the MCAT, shadow a DO and get a letter from him or her, and volunteer in both a clinical setting (i..e hospital, doctor's office, hospice, etc), as well as do some non-clinical community service. Leadership and Research are also helpful, but not as essential as the volunteering and clinical experience.

Make sure you get a decent GPA in your post-bacc and kick ass on the MCAT. I suggest following SN2ed's schedule, preferably the four-month version if you are working or going to school at the time, which it sounds like you probably will be. Make sure to take 5-10 practice tests before the real thing, and make sure you consistently score 30+ on the practice tests.

Of course, you must make sure you know what you are getting into. It would likely be at least two years before you can even apply to med school, and another year before you would actually start, and that's assuming you get accepted your first application cycle. After that, it's four years of med school, and three to six years or residency, plus an optional fellowship if you want to specialize. This means you'll likely be busting your ass until you're at least 40 before you actually become an attending physician and start making real money, and even then you're still expected to work relatively long hours.

So, yes, it's possible, just make sure this is really what you want to do before you commit yourself to a career in medicine.

 

[MedPR]

I think the low GPA in your graduate work will hold you back a bit.. Hopefully you haven't taken any pre-reqs yet though.

 

[milosavljevic]

During my 2 year post bacc career, I plan on getting in some clinical experience.

If you plan on being a full-time student in a post-bacc program, many of the post-bacc advisors I have spoken with do not recommend any activities outside of school (this includes jobs, volunteer work, clinical or research experiences, etc.). I'm sure some people can handle it, but I learned the hard way that it is necessary (at least for me) to put school first and make sure you can do well before adding anything else.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

It is always worth a shot... Not sure if they will care about the masters, it's in HR... I got in with low stats, and I'm 35

 

[EyeHeart]

If you haven't taken any prerequisites for medical school yet, then I think you have a chance. Make sure you get straight A's in all the classes and do well on the MCAT and you'll be fine.

I completely agree

 

[shaggybill]

As a fellow 30 y/o premed, I would spend the rest of this summer getting some clinical exposure, such as shadowing or volunteering. This would help you understand for sure what you're getting yourself into before you even start on the post-bacc. Also, go ahead and sign up for classes for the fall. If you like what you see over the summer, and are sure you want to spend the next decade dedicating your heart, mind, and soul to this endeavor, start your classes in the fall.

Will you be working during your post-bacc? Full time? Part time?

 

[tenndoc]

need to ace your prereqs and mcat. the masters gpa is low as is your ugpa but if you do exceptional in your sciences, you could spin it as a science career is better for you. you do know this will be a long, hard process that will cost lots of $$$$$ and time. if you want to do it, you'll have to be 100% committed or else you wont get past the admissions stage.

 

[JR1182]

Thanks guys - this was helpful. I have not taken a single pre-req yet, so yes, I'm hoping if I ace all of them, that would say a lot about my interest/seriousness in the sciences. And I agree with all of you that I need to consider the time/money that will go into this before I completely committ. Especially with a wife and 2 yr old. My wife is a CPA and would probably be working throughout this process - and she is extremely supportive of whatever decision I make, which helps a lot. The suggestion of doing some shadowing before I committ is a great one and something that I would probably take on.

Would I have an edge considering I have been in the business field and have additional maturity in having seen/experienced the outside world? I would expect the maturity factor to be important for someone going thru the rigors of med school.

 

[JR1182]

By the way I would most likely not be working during my post-bacc. How many hours of clinical exposure/community service do med school committees typically want to see before applying? Would it be that hard to take 2 courses per semester while doing a about 15 hours of volunteering per week?

 

[MakesSense]

Hi all - I would love to gain some of your input on what you guys think of my current situation. I'm 29 yrs old, and would really like to go to med school. But my background is so far off from the medical field and I have a pretty low GPA - not sure if I'd even be considered! Here's my background:

2.98 undergrad GPA from big 10 school
3.2 GPA masters in human resources GPA from Ivy league school

1 semester of TAship at my Masters institution
1.5 yrs of work experience in HR at Fortune 100
2 yrs of work experience in Big 4 consulting firm.

I'm looking to start a Post-Bacc to get in my pre med courses (I plan on raising my gpa). During my 2 year post bacc career, I plan on getting in some clinical experience.

Do you guys think I have a shot, given my previous career track and my grades??
Any input would be very helpful!

After working as a chemist for over 20+ years & getting laid off at the beginning of this recession, I had the crazy idea to go to med school at the age of 50! I am now 53 and have just completed my first year of med school.

You have a shot but be prepared to do what it takes to be accepted.

 

[Goro]

No. Actually, I see it as a detriment right now, given you have NO experience with Medicine.

Would I have an edge considering I have been in the business field

yes...our older students are always doing better in many areas.
and have additional maturity in having seen/experienced the outside world?

 

[CopToEM]

You certainly have a chance and many schools will appreciate your diverse background. As has been said, it is absolutely vital that you destroy your pre-requisites and MCAT. If you don't, does that mean your chances are shot? No, they're just lower. You're already swimming upstream a little so proving yourself in those arenas will help tremendously.

I don't think a $20,000 post-bacc is necessary but consider me old fashioned I suppose. If you can take the same pre-med classes at a small university and throw in a couple of science electives that interest you for 15% of the cost of a post-bacc why not do that? Trust me, medical school isn't cheap. Our first year loan at DCOM is $67,000 and by using the 3-for-1 rule (you pay back roughly $3 for every $1 you borrow) you can quickly see how that $20,000 is a big deal.

Of course, if you're going to a more affordable post-bacc then that point is null and void.

Anyone can be a doctor if I can. It's a marathon - not a race. Take your classes seriously, devote yourself to them, and start the rest of your life!

 

[BNHWC2009]

By the way I would most likely not be working during my post-bacc. How many hours of clinical exposure/community service do med school committees typically want to see before applying? Would it be that hard to take 2 courses per semester while doing a about 15 hours of volunteering per week?

One admissions counselor I talked to (this was an MD school though, not DO) said they would like to see approximately 400 hours in a clinical setting. Where are you thinking of volunteering? If you do 15 hrs/week you could have 400 hrs in about 6 months. The admissions counselor also told me they look at commitment (length of exposure) when evaluating your clinical hours (i.e. it would be better to stretch out your hrs over a year or more).

 

[CopToEM]

One admissions counselor I talked to (this was an MD school though, not DO) said they would like to see approximately 400 hours in a clinical setting. Where are you thinking of volunteering? If you do 15 hrs/week you could have 400 hrs in about 6 months. The admissions counselor also told me they look at commitment (length of exposure) when evaluating your clinical hours (i.e. it would be better to stretch out your hrs over a year or more).

That's the highest number I've ever seen given for anticipated clinical volunteer hours. The SDN 'golden number' tends to be 100+/- for best results although most schools will tell you there's no anticipation on their part - just do what you feel is adequate to be able to grasp what you're getting yourself into. That's the bottom line.

This volunteer hours thing isn't a right of passage, necessarily, but an unwritten requirement. You're about to pursue a career for the next 7-12 years and it's going to cost you upwards of $200,000 or more to do so once it's all said and done. They just want to make sure you know what you're actually in for.