Are you really non-traditional?

[mk04447]

How old are you?

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[yugo2113]

.

 

[Zelda840]

34. Dropped out of high school at 16 & got my GED, started undergrad at 31.

 

[WaterPog]

39y/o
Single dad of 2 (live with me full time since '03)
GED at 18
15 years in electronics manufacturing
3 years running my own auto performance shop
started UG at 36

 

[Captain Sisko]

I'll be 31 when I matriculate this summer. Got the bug at 28.

 

[compstomper]

I just turned 29 two weeks ago. Got onto the premed track at 24, and I'm starting school (MD) next summer

 

[dudeliness]

I'll bite. I'm 29 and just finished my first semester of med school. Plus I have a wife, a daughter, and another on the way.

 

[prettyNURSEtoMD]

27 year old single mom to a 4 year old boy Bachelors in Nursing, and a degree in liberal arts.

 

[theseeker4]

I will be 31 in Feb, in my second year of med school. Worked for 4 years as a chemist before starting med school, have a house, a wife, and a soon to be three year old son.

 

[mk04447]

This makes me feel a little better, I'm 38. I've been seeing 22 and 23 year olds posting things as non-trad.

 

[iceman55]

This makes me feel a little better, I'm 38. I've been seeing 22 and 23 year olds posting things as non-trad.

Haha guess I just dodged that bullet.

Am 24, starting med school next fall. Worked and got a masters after UG.

 

[QofQuimica]

Finishing residency at 39. Was 31 when I started med school.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

This makes me feel a little better, I'm 38. I've been seeing 22 and 23 year olds posting things as non-trad.

You'll love med school. There are lots of other 30+ yo students to make you feel better.

 

[Dylasa]

45. I start in 2014!

 

[Eccesignum]

33. Will be 35 when I apply, if things stay on track.

 

[jla1985]

28. Went to a top-tier public university out of high school then left school, worked a bunch of odd jobs, and had a son (now 5). Completed BA as a single mom 7.5 years after starting, finished ScM earlier this year, and will be in med school somewhere this upcoming fall, perhaps even as an MD/PhD candidate.

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

30. Always wanted to do medicine, but my undergrad GPA suffered severely due to a now-resolved health problem. I have been doing damage control ever since. I have applied four times, have worked for the last 7 years, and did a post-bacc while working full-time. This year is finally my year. I have two MD acceptances so far!

I do feel that taking one year between undergrad in med school is no longer "non-traditional". Among the people I spoke to at my interviews, I'd say more than half took a year off for research or work.

 

[MedWonk]

29. Started post-bacc at 26. Was a public school teacher in a foreign country before then. Will be just shy of 30 when I start med school.

 

[monkeyfeet]

Started post-bac at 32. Will be 36 when I start med school next year.

 

[Do Something]

Starting med school next year at 40.

 

[lunalight]

30. Just finished my first semester of med school. Went back to finish my degree at 25. (Wow, it doesn't feel like it was that long ago!)

 

[deleted480308]

College dropout at 20, married with kids, been doing construction for years...matriculate at 34

 

[vc7777]

Started med school at 34. 38 now in my fourth year.

I caution you that there's much more to being a nontrad than age - do please don't judge people on here solely based on their youthfulness. I think ejw5075 would agree, for example, as a young mother.

 

[futuredoc331]

Just turned 26 and finished my first semester (bio I, chem I, and physics I) of pre-med courses. Started and stopped undergrad about 5x, been in two different branches of the military (went basic training both times), and I'm married with one 21 month old and a baby on the way.

I should be 29 when I start med school.

 

[AkGrown84]

Turning 30 in February, married just after I turned 18 (just after my first year of undergrad), had my oldest son 2 years later, divorced when he was 3. Went back to school, met my husband, got married, graduated with my BA while 9 pregnant with my second son, started an informal post-bac for my prereqs, peppered it with two more pregnancies and kiddos, and started studying for the MCAT while 8 months pregnant with my youngest. I've been a stay-at-home mom/student/ER scribe/volunteer/jack-of-all trades for years, and was just accepted to medical school class of 2018!Crazy, crazy ride thus far!

 

[TravelingRunner]

32, married with three kids. I'll be 36 when I start med school, if all things work out. I'm lucky because my kids and husband are really supportive.

 

[sazerac]

43, as a second year medical student. When I graduate in 2016 I will be married with 2 or 3 kids.

It's been a wild and thoroughly enjoyable ride so far. I can't wait to see what comes next.

 

[EMDO2018]

I guess I'm slightly non trad, I'm 25 will be starting med school at 26.

 

[DE15C]

41, will be 42 when I matriculate. Failed out of college freshman year, became a firefighter/paramedic, been doing that for 18 years. Married with 2 kids and accepted class of 2018!

 

[Escape_Goat]

33, married, father of two. Expelled from undergrad at 21. Finished BA at 26 in psychology at different school. BS in biology at 30; MA in biology at 32. Starting med school next fall.

 

[Mad Jack]

Currently 28, will be starting med school at 29. I'm a high school dropout that was basically homeless for a few years, after which I got a GED and went to community college to become a respiratory therapist. I sort of fell in love with medicine, and decided to go back to get my bachelors degree and hopefully make it into medical school. Worked full time through all of it, ended up married, then divorced, and nearly married again, all while attending college yet I somehow managed to keep my grades from imploding. I travelled and saw a lot of the world when I had the time, made a lot of friends, loved, lost, etc. It's weird meeting residents on the job that have gone straight from high school to undergrad to med school to residency. They're often the same age as me and yet many haven't lived much of a life at all up to this point, and most come from pretty well off backgrounds, so I kind of have trouble relating to them.

I wouldn't say age makes a nontraditional student, but it certainly helps. Those extra years give you the experiences and perspective that make going back to medical school an entirely different endeavor than it is for a person going straight through the undergrad>med school pipeline. You've seen the world, lived in it. You know what you are sacrificing by going back. And many of you have worked in the medical field and also have a very good idea what you are getting yourselves into. To the pipeline kids, the sacrifice of medicine is more of an idea based on other ideas and assumptions. They have an idea of what the real world is like, what being an adult is like, what dating and working a job and all of the other things they will be missing out on are, but they haven't lived them. This makes the sacrifice and investment in medical school no less great, but entirely different in nature.

 

[JOAMON]

44, will be 46 when I start med school (if all goes well). Married with kids.

 

[sindadel]

36, married with three kids. I was 32 when I started. I worked for ten years in software.

 

[TXKnight]

I'll be 40 when I start next Aug. Married, father of three. Worked for 4 years after hs, graduated from college at 26 while working throughout. Diff a bunch of research in college and a bit after, did other really odd jobs, later settled in public health. Passion for medicine never faded, went back for post bacc, mcat and acceptance.

 

[vagabondrunning]

I'm 26 now, and I will be 27 when I matriculate to medical school (MD) July, 2014. I'm currently a seminary student .

 

[mommy2three]

39
Married three kids

4th year medical student

 

[Legally Insane]

I am 54 and am an MSIII with plans of graduating in May of 2014 on an accelerated track. I spent 25+ years practicing law and raising three sons. Do not let anyone tell you that you are too old to achieve your dreams. So long as you have passion and determination, you can do it.

 

[Chickrunner]

Legally Insane, you just made my day.

36, finishing my last semester of pre-reqs and applying this year. Single mom, living with my own mom, who was the one who supported my dream (even though I thought I was probably too old to pursue it...).

 

[MedSpeech]

I am 54 and am an MSIII with plans of graduating in May of 2014 on an accelerated track. I spent 25+ years practicing law and raising three sons. Do not let anyone tell you that you are too old to achieve your dreams. So long as you have passion and determination, you can do it.

First person I have seen close to my situ, 44 w. 2 years of post bac (I have no sci courses) ahead and 4 (considering dental tho) I'm a speech path w/ a Masters in public health as well as MS in speech. Would be early 50 s when I finish and still not fully decided yet...

 

[DrCharlemagne]

I will turn 29 as I begin MS1. Graduated, worked for two years, post-bac, worked for two more years, applied twice, now accepted. I am literally counting the days until I start...

 

[DreamingDoc]

26, but I think the fact that I'm a divorced single mother makes me more of a non-traditional student than my age.

 

[vc7777]

26, but I think the fact that I'm a divorced single mother makes me more of a non-traditional student than my age.

How old is/are your kid(s)?

 

[DreamingDoc]

How old is/are your kid(s)?

I have one child who is 7 years old.

 

[vc7777]

I have one child who is 7 years old.

Welcome! Like I said before:

I caution you that there's much more to being a nontrad than age - do please don't judge people on here solely based on their youthfulness. I think ejw5075 would agree, for example, as a young mother.

 

[jessanddanny]

36. I have 3 kids ages 7, 10 and 11. 4th year of undergrad. Taking the MCAT in April. Definitely non-traditional.

 

[MDOnlyWillDo]

39, single mom of an 11 year old, hoping to start med school at 40. Graduated UG at 24, had a career in research, and started building my application since '08 while still working FT. I'm now in a SMP, praying for that elusive acceptance. I am so happy to see other "old" pre-meds.

 

[Beandog]

I'll celebrate my 29th birthday in my first week of medical school.

Started school at 23, got the bachelors at 26, another 2 years of postbac and applying.

Having watched my friends graduate and only then begin my journey made me feel waaay behind for a few years.

 

[xfiretampa]

31 next month-started premed journey when I was 26

 

[LingoLaine]

Started med school at age 41.

 

[vc7777]

Started med school at age 41.

How's medical school treating you?