Do I have a chance?

[Adonis Iraheta]

Hello I’m 27 years old. Currently in community college for social work. I come from a rough childhood and poverty. I tried going to college after high school. But had a baby, my brother had cancer and COVID hit later in 2020. I amassed 9 Ws. 2 in 2016 right after high school. 3 in 2017 (dealing with child) and 2020 (COVID hit, got laid off ñ, and went on mission with military service for COVID relief.) all those Ws I had really good grades. I really like school. I decided to go back to school in 2023. I have gotten all As and expect to continue to do so. I currently am a police officer full-time and go to school full time. I am very determined and although it’s hard I am very detailed in how I schedule my life to get the grades I am getting. Will these 9 Ws affect my med application. Considering (hypotheticallly) that I maintain a very good gpa and a good mcat score?

Also since social work is a non-science degree I am thinking of doing a pre med associate after I finish my MSW to complete my prerequisites. Will that have a negative impact on my application?

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A Physician’s Nontraditional Path from Law Enforcement to Medical School [Episode 363]

Emergency physician Dr. Joe Bardinelli, was a police officer for six years before deciding to enter med school. Find out how and why he went from cop to doc.

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Former NYPD officer becoming doctor, all despite a learning disability

At 45, Christian Saffran is the oldest person to ever get into the MD/PH.D. program at Weill-Cornell Medicine.

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Archive

I'm thinking of becoming a police officer.

Hey y'all, for starters I wanted to be a cop before I even thought about medical school. I ended up going the medicine route (EMT, pre-med) after a life event that made me love medicine. I'm posting this in the non-trad side so older people can give their POV or if they have gone this route. I...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[gyngyn]

Also since social work is a non-science degree I am thinking of doing a pre med associate after I finish my MSW to complete my prerequisites. Will that have a negative impact on my application?

You don't actually need another degree if you have a bachelor's. You only need the classes that are either required by your state public schools and/or are useful for the MCAT. If the degree makes it easier to get the classes you need, it is fine.
Your MSW grades are averaged in at DO schools. They will have little effect for MD.

 

[Goro]

Hello I’m 27 years old. Currently in community college for social work. I come from a rough childhood and poverty. I tried going to college after high school. But had a baby, my brother had cancer and COVID hit later in 2020. I amassed 9 Ws. 2 in 2016 right after high school. 3 in 2017 (dealing with child) and 2020 (COVID hit, got laid off ñ, and went on mission with military service for COVID relief.) all those Ws I had really good grades. I really like school. I decided to go back to school in 2023. I have gotten all As and expect to continue to do so. I currently am a police officer full-time and go to school full time. I am very determined and although it’s hard I am very detailed in how I schedule my life to get the grades I am getting. Will these 9 Ws affect my med application.

Not at all! And many thanks for your service

Also since social work is a non-science degree I am thinking of doing a pre med associate after I finish my MSW to complete my prerequisites. Will that have a negative impact on my application?

Nope. Adcoms don't care about your major; only that you do well.
Read this while you're at it:
Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

 

[VelmaBoots]

I realize not all schools / situations are the same. But don’t let those Ws deter you from applying to med school. I had roughly 15 Ws (😳) on my transcript including 5 FIWs that I had to go back and get academic forgiveness for / retake. I’m very nontrad (in my 40s) and made mistakes - 2/3rds of the Ws were from my first 2-3 years of college while I was figuring out what to do in life. I had a handful more a few years later when I dropped out of a semester due to an unexpected life event. After that I got back on track and continued with a masters and then the DIY postbacc for med school. I had a lot of anxiety about all those Ws when I was applying but they didn’t come up once in any of my interviews!

 

[Novalis88]

I realize not all schools / situations are the same. But don’t let those Ws deter you from applying to med school. I had roughly 15 Ws (😳) on my transcript including 5 FIWs that I had to go back and get academic forgiveness for / retake. I’m very nontrad (in my 40s) and made mistakes - 2/3rds of the Ws were from my first 2-3 years of college while I was figuring out what to do in life. I had a handful more a few years later when I dropped out of a semester due to an unexpected life event. After that I got back on track and continued with a masters and then the DIY postbacc for med school. I had a lot of anxiety about all those Ws when I was applying but they didn’t come up once in any of my interviews!

Oh lord, your story gives me hope. How did your application cycle go? Are you still a premed or have you gotten in somewhere? Wishing you the best either way! Thanks!

 

[VelmaBoots]

Oh lord, your story gives me hope. How did your application cycle go? Are you still a premed or have you gotten in somewhere? Wishing you the best either way! Thanks!

I applied to 1 school (1 of my in-state MD schools) and got II and an A. I start in July!

 

[Novalis88]

I applied to 1 school (1 of my in-state MD schools) and got II and an A. I start in July!

oh my god, one acceptance from one application is a 100%. That's insane. Congrats!

 

[VelmaBoots]

oh my god, one acceptance from one application is a 100%. That's insane. Congrats!

Thank you! I have a family and really didn’t want to leave the state so I was so grateful that it worked out this way!!