Do med school consider applicant's age?

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platanus

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I'm a bme major and thnking of getting a phD.
Although I love my major, Im also interested in applying to med school.
Would it be too late for me to apply to med schools after I get a phD?
Do med school give disadvantage to applicants with higher ages?
I think I will get a phD when I'm 27.

So, what do you think??

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I'm a bme major and thnking of getting a phD.
Although I love my major, Im also interested in applying to med school.
Would it be too late for me to apply to med schools after I get a phD?
Do med school give disadvantage to applicants with higher ages?
I think I will get a phD when I'm 27.

So, what do you think??

I think you should be applying to MD/PhD. That way, you'll come out with no debt.

And to your original question, I don't think you'll be at a significant disadvantage if you're going to be 27. A lot of my classmates are >= that age. Of course, most med students are around 22-23 when they enter med school. One thing to consider is the older you get, the harder it is for you to remember all the material.
 
Med schools do consider age, but it varies from school to school whether they're looking for people straight out of college, or people with a little bit more experience. As far as getting a Ph.D. goes, if you think you can make it into an M.D./Ph.D. program it would make your life a lot simpler (and your medical education much cheaper...)
 
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I would say that most schools are age-neutral. If you're applying with a PhD, many would consider this a plus. Applying at age 25-30 is fairly common, and the oldest med student I've ever heard of was 65.
 
One thing to consider is the older you get, the harder it is for you to remember all the material.

Probably not really true unless you are talking about senior citizen age applicants.

OP, you should check the nontrad board and will see there are many folks in their 30s, 40s and beyond embarking on med school. At 27, you won't even be close to the oldest person in your class at most (if not all, by then) med schools.
 
Probably not really true unless you are talking about senior citizen age applicants.

OP, you should check the nontrad board and will see there are many folks in their 30s, 40s and beyond embarking on med school. At 27, you won't even be close to the oldest person in your class at most (if not all, by then) med schools.
L2D, I see you here on the oddest hours. its 430am here EST. Guess this is the time when I see the med school crazies come out of the woodwork from studying and whatnot :D :laugh:
 
I would say that most schools are age-neutral. If you're applying with a PhD, many would consider this a plus. Applying at age 25-30 is fairly common, and the oldest med student I've ever heard of was 65.

Some would say it's harder to apply when you're too young, simply because there is a bias that you don't have enough "life experience" when you're under 20.

Of course, I personally think that's BS - I have a pre-law friend, 3.9-4.0 GPA in 3rd year university, execs on clubs, societies, fluent in 4 languages, volunteer with various organizations. Oh, and she's born in '89.

But of course, medical school application is all about jumping through hoops right? :rolleyes:
 
Of course, I personally think that's BS - I have a pre-law friend, 3.9-4.0 GPA in 3rd year university, execs on clubs, societies, fluent in 4 languages, volunteer with various organizations. Oh, and she's born in '89.

But of course, medical school application is all about jumping through hoops right? :rolleyes:

I think you are missing the point -- the whole maturity/life experience thing has nothing to do with academic accomplishments. So your friend is quite accomplished, but if she were interested in medicine, adcoms might still take pause. Maturity is frequently gained partly from having been on the planet longer and developing emotionally such that you will be able to deal with death, disease and other heavy subjects. While some teens are quite mature, on average they aren't, which is why some med schools shy away from the younger applicants. This is only a partly academic-related endeavor, and so a 4.0 does not mean you are ready for med school.

Life experience comes from things you do during life, apart from school. Someone 5 years older who has worked, perhaps had a family, and managed various responsibilities is going to be perceived as more mature, and is able to bring something very different to the table, than someone with a 4.0, lots of languages, and head of every on campus club. Med schools seem to be embracing this notion, and the number of nontrads in med school has slowly crept upwards the last couple of decades.
 
I think you are missing the point -- the whole maturity/life experience thing has nothing to do with academic accomplishments. So your friend is quite accomplished, but if she were interested in medicine, adcoms might still take pause. Maturity is frequently gained partly from having been on the planet longer and developing emotionally such that you will be able to deal with death, disease and other heavy subjects. While some teens are quite mature, on average they aren't, which is why some med schools shy away from the younger applicants. This is only a partly academic-related endeavor, and so a 4.0 does not mean you are ready for med school.

Life experience comes from things you do during life, apart from school. Someone 5 years older who has worked, perhaps had a family, and managed various responsibilities is going to be perceived as more mature, and is able to bring something very different to the table, than someone with a 4.0, lots of languages, and head of every on campus club. Med schools seem to be embracing this notion, and the number of nontrads in med school has slowly crept upwards the last couple of decades.


i agree with what you mean by maturity. but I think it's total BS when medschools say that working, having a family, managing responsibilities, or any other real world experience will better prepare a student to deal with death, disease, and other heavy subjects (i'm assuming ethical issues here, right?). I mean, how does responsibility equate to better preparation for death and disease? it can also be argued that fighting in a war or being a terrorist can help prepare a student to deal with death and dying.
 
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