Hi, I am curious about women who were professionals, who decided to stay at home for a few years who have successfully been accepted.
1. How did u guys make yourself stand out?
2. Did u get any research experience?
3. were your stats (GPA and MCAT) above average?
4. What did u do differently than the average non traditional applicant?
5. Was being stay at home mom an issue during interview?
6. Did u get into MD/ DO?
7. Does it hurt your application if you have gaps in work history?
Between undergrad and medschool there were six to seven years; I was a stay-at-home parent that entire time. I did work occasionally. For example, we moved from GA to an island in Alaska two years before I applied to medical school, and I worked as a secondary math teacher for a little while when we were up there; I also worked briefly as the city clerk.
1. In my opinion, I had two major things going for me. One was the Alaskan adventure. Moving to Alaska just for the heck of it is an unusual thing for someone to do. Then when I was there, the little town where we lived paid for me to train and be certified as an EMT. I was a volunteer EMT for the last eight months we lived there and I saw and did some unusual things. In Alaska, they are short of medical professionals. It didn't matter that I was the most junior of EMTs, or that I was only an EMT-B. I might be the first one on scene of an accident, or the only one. I had to make decisions, and take care of critical patients, often with no one there to rely on for guidance. The first time I drove the ambulance, there were several feet of ice and snow--and the nearest clinic was forty miles away. I had no choice, I had to be the one to drive because the patient was criticial and the more experienced EMT was needed in the back. So I climbed up into the driver's seat and drove. I think I wrote about that in my personal statemet--inching along the side of a mountain, rock face on my left, ice beneath the wheels, nothing but empty space on my right as there was a sheer drop of thousands of feet on the other side. You learn a lot very quickly under those circumstances--it's very fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. These stories and experiences made for good fodder in terms of my application.
The other thing that helped my application was my writing. While being a stay-at-home parent I continued to write. I wrote freelance for magazines and literary journals, and while up in Alaska I wrote for the newspaper, and I had a modest publication list. I'm sure some interviewers and adcoms couldn't have cared less but I think for others it made a difference.
2. No research, I am just not very interested. When asked about this during interviews, I was honest and said I had little interest in conducting research.
3. My GPA was 3.64. I took the MCAT twice and one of those times I scored a 29, and the other time I managed to score above 30. Nothing stellar.
4. I don't know that I did anything terribly differently as a non-trad, but I feel like I had an advantage over trads in that I was very comfortable and confident interviewing, and I had a longer list of accomplishments...but I was still relatively young and thus a good investment for those worried about the number of working years non-trads versus traditional applicants have. (I think some of my interviewers assumed I was a traditional applicant; one asked about my sister who was in a master's program at the time and when I told him about her he said, "Oh, so that's your older sister." Until I said I was married with children, he didn't realize I was a non-trad.) I applied as a traditional when I was 22, and was less successful. I was offered a spot at my state school, but was rejected by the more competitive programs, even the one that accepted me the second go round.
5. I don't know that my having been a stay-at-home mother was ever mentioned during interviewers. It didn't interest the interviewers as much as the year in Alaska, being an EMT, writing for magazines, etc. Most interviewers did ask about the number of children and their ages.
6. Both, I chose to attend MD.
7. I don't know if I did not receive interview offers because of my work history gaps. But I did interview at four schools, and at those schools the interviewers never focused on gaps in my work history. No one ever asked, "Why did you not work between 2003 and blablabla"...I don't even know if they really noticed or cared. I had continued to write during that time, and if asked I would have said that I was working as a freelance writer while staying home with the children.
Good luck!
