Do Nontraditional Applicants have an Advantage/Disadvantage?

[sarahss]

Are there any advantages or disadvantages for being a nontraditional applicant? I'm a psych major and will probably be taking 1 gap year after graduation. Does that make me nontraditional?

So during my gap year, would I have to get significant medical/research experience instead of doing something like Americorps?

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[deleted307836]

Taking a gap year doesn't make you "nontraditional." As the word is used in medical school admissions it usually implies a career change of some sort or someone appreciably older than most college grads (late-twenties on up). Gap years are pretty common (and a good thing IMO).

For your gap year you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as it's something meaningful. Americorps would be great and you don't necessarily have to supplement that with other volunteering if you've done enough of that in college (though it wouldn't hurt if you can). Research is good to have on your resume but not necessarily a dealbreaker if you don't.

 

[sarahss]

Taking a gap year doesn't make you "nontraditional."

oh i read in a book that being a non-science major + taking time off after graduation = nontrad. it could be wrong though

 

[mauberley]

Are there any advantages or disadvantages for being a nontraditional applicant? I'm a psych major and will probably be taking 1 gap year after graduation. Does that make me nontraditional?

So during my gap year, would I have to get significant medical/research experience instead of doing something like Americorps?

In the spectrum of applicants, you're not incredibly non-traditional, but the saying in the NT forum is that if you think you're non-traditional, you are. As CityLights implied, the average applicant's age has been trending upward as gap years become more and more common.

That having been said, simply being non-traditional does not confer advantages or disadvantages. The advantages typically thought of include a greater maturity (on average) because the typical non-traditional applicant is years removed from undergrad, has worked in another field before pursuing medicine, is raising a family, etc. Disadvantages generally come from the same set of circumstances: not having the same access to resources and support that an acknowledged undergrad pre-med has. As far as your application goes, there's no "non-traditional" checkbox that automatically helps or hinders it. You're still measured using the same criteria everyone else is measured by.

 

[NightGod]

oh i read in a book that being a non-science major + taking time off after graduation = nontrad. it could be wrong though

These days a non-science background and taking a gap year is getting to be more and more the norm. IMHO until you need a second hand (or more) to count the number of years since you graduated you most likely still fall under the traditional heading. The mean on matriculating students is hovering right around 25-26 yo.

 

[StudyShy]

These days a non-science background and taking a gap year is getting to be more and more the norm. IMHO until you need a second hand (or more) to count the number of years since you graduated you most likely still fall under the traditional heading. The mean on matriculating students is hovering right around 25-26 yo.

That makes me feel less old. lol

Advantages: sometimes tons more ECs to list.

Disadvantages: sometimes children and other financial duties.

I would not really consider the OP to be THAT nontraditional.

 

[KLycos]

Being non-trad greatly increases your chances. For instance, Penn accepts about 75% non-trad according to the adcom that spoke at our new-hire orientation meeting at Penn Med. Well, as long as you do something actually worthwhile during the time off. I'm researching full time at Penn, taking classes at Penn for free after work, and getting into activities like cycling and running teams. So yea, combined with my 31Q and 3.6cgpa I'd say being non-trad has definitely added a lot to my app that I couldn't have accomplished just during college.

 

[lexington]

.

 

[Dr Love]

Being non-trad greatly increases your chances. For instance, Penn accepts about 75% non-trad according to the adcom that spoke at our new-hire orientation meeting at Penn Med. Well, as long as you do something actually worthwhile during the time off. I'm researching full time at Penn, taking classes at Penn for free after work, and getting into activities like cycling and running teams. So yea, combined with my 31Q and 3.6cgpa I'd say being non-trad has definitely added a lot to my app that I couldn't have accomplished just during college.

1. No way any medical school accepts 75% non-trad, unless they define nontraditional as people with MCAT scores over 45 and GPAs over 4.0.

2. You need to specify Penn State or U Penn. I assume Penn state, since U Penn people don't want to be ambigious about which Penn they go to.

3. OP is not non-traditional, he is just taking a gap year.

 

[Dr Love]

These days a non-science background and taking a gap year is getting to be more and more the norm. IMHO until you need a second hand (or more) to count the number of years since you graduated you most likely still fall under the traditional heading. The mean on matriculating students is hovering right around 25-26 yo.

Exactly.

 

[KLycos]

1. No way any medical school accepts 75% non-trad, unless they define nontraditional as people with MCAT scores over 45 and GPAs over 4.0.

2. You need to specify Penn State or U Penn. I assume Penn state, since U Penn people don't want to be ambigious about which Penn they go to.

3. OP is not non-traditional, he is just taking a gap year.

1. Well non-trad according to the adcom at Penn=anyone not applying during their junior year of college
2. Penn=University of Pennsylvania
3. taking a gap year or 2 is non-trad according to Penn

 

[Medicine4Bruhs]

I think the "75%" number comes from the percentage in the entering med school class that were not college seniors during the application cycle (not straight out of college).

Also, non-traditional applicants generally do have a slight advantage. They are likely more mature and responsible than undergraduates. They are more likely to get a pass on lower GPAs than traditional students. However, being out of school for some time, non-trads often have to show some recent positive academic history. I also surmise that accepted non-trads have MCATs on the higher end of the entering class and do better in interviews.

Most importantly, non-trads have to show a strong commitment to medicine, either through their previous profession, through their science classes, and most definitely through their recent volunteering/shadowing. If they are willing to switch careers later in life, adcoms want to be sure that the switch to medicine is gonna be permanent. I hope any non-trads reading this do well to harp on the compelling reasons they have to switch professions in their essays.

As was mentioned earlier, the difference between a traditional student and a non-traditional student is more of a spectrum than a hard-and-fast rule. Technically, the OP is a non-trad, but I doubt adcoms endow the OP with the slight advantages normally bestowed upon this group of students. Address this point in your essays if you feel strongly about it.

 

[Dr Love]

1. Well non-trad according to the adcom at Penn=anyone not applying during their junior year of college
2. Penn=University of Pennsylvania
3. taking a gap year or 2 is non-trad according to Penn

It was probably that 75% of their admission offers go to non-trads, rather than non-trads having a 75% admissions rate (which is what I understood from you). That would not be surprising at all, given that most applicants are "non-traditional" according to U Penn.

In conclusion, U Penn sucks. I am not surprised at all that they have this loose definition of non-traditional, just as they are using a very loose definition when they call themselves a "top" medical school.

 

[Medicine4Bruhs]

It was probably that 75% of their admission offers go to non-trads, rather than non-trads having a 75% admissions rate (which is what I understood from you). That would not be surprising at all, given that most applicants are "non-traditional" according to U Penn.

In conclusion, U Penn sucks. I am not surprised at all that they have this loose definition of non-traditional, just as they are using a very loose definition when they call themselves a "top" medical school.

UPenn was nice enough to take the liberty to define themselves as part of the "big three" medical schools in the United States. That's kinda like frats arguing who among them are top tier. UPenn did get a nice gift recently though.

 

[KLycos]

It was probably that 75% of their admission offers go to non-trads, rather than non-trads having a 75% admissions rate (which is what I understood from you). That would not be surprising at all, given that most applicants are "non-traditional" according to U Penn.

In conclusion, U Penn sucks. I am not surprised at all that they have this loose definition of non-traditional, just as they are using a very loose definition when they call themselves a "top" medical school.

It's not just Penn that calls themselves a top medical school, its kinda everyone sorry =[

 

[doctorshateher]

I wouldn't say that being a non-trad automatically means a person will be viewed as more experienced, mature, etc. It's just that more time = more opportunities to be involved in more significant things.

Non-trads who don't have life experiences/activities that make them more competitive aren't more competitive simply because of their age.

Also, I wouldn't consider OP a non-trad. I'm taking a gap year as well and while it has given me an opportunity to strengthen areas of my app, it isn't the same as the perspective of having a family or having worked full time for a while in another industry.

 

[Dr Love]

UPenn was nice enough to take the liberty to define themselves as part of the "big three" medical schools in the United States. That's kinda like frats arguing who among them are top tier. UPenn did get a nice gift recently though.

Funny thing is no one ever heard of the "big three" before U Penn invented that phrase. I'm pretty sure everyone heard of Harvard and Hopkins though.

 

[JESSFALLING]

oh i read in a book that being a non-science major + taking time off after graduation = nontrad. it could be wrong though

It makes you unique ... but not, non-traditional

 

[sapalee]

I think of non-trad as originally going to school for something else and working in a career field other than medicine for a substantial period of time before coming to the realization that you want to do medicine. Just my thoughts when I hear the phrase.

 

[sapalee]

I think of non-trad as originally going to school for something else and working in a career field other than medicine for a substantial period of time before coming to the realization that you want to do medicine. Just my thoughts when I hear the phrase.

and I've been told that my non-trad situation puts me at an advantage, as long as I have the current grades to back it up.

 

[LizzyM]

Interestingly, if you look at Chart 10-M on page 63 of the most recent MSAR, you'll see that the best odds of being admitted to medical school are for those age 21-23 with the very best odds (>50%) for those age 22. Above or below that age, >50% are not accepted.

 

[sarahss]

Interestingly, if you look at Chart 10-M on page 63 of the most recent MSAR, you'll see that the best odds of being admitted to medical school are for those age 21-23 with the very best odds (>50%) for those age 22. Above or below that age, >50% are not accepted.

Do adcoms look at an applicant's age when they're deciding if to admit them or not? or is that just a coincidence?

 

[ash914]

Do adcoms look at an applicant's age when they're deciding if to admit them or not? or is that just a coincidence?

Well, a typical 22 year old is applying after their senior year with a gap year. I'm sure it would have to do with more experiences, another years' worth of grades, and the kind of people applying at that age rather than earlier or later more than just their age.

 

[Dr Love]

It makes you unique ... but not, non-traditional

This statement makes no sense.

 

[LizzyM]

Do adcoms look at an applicant's age when they're deciding if to admit them or not? or is that just a coincidence?

I think that age is correlated with the factors that make those appliants most desirable to adcoms but not a factor itself.

We don't look at age -- except perhaps at the extremes. That said AAMC reported that the youngest & oldest in the 2010 admission group were 17 and 57.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Interestingly, if you look at Chart 10-M on page 63 of the most recent MSAR, you'll see that the best odds of being admitted to medical school are for those age 21-23 with the very best odds (>50%) for those age 22. Above or below that age, >50% are not accepted.

I would need more information to make up my mind on this. Are the average GPA and MCAT about the same? Does being 25-30 have better chances than say 40 or 50? It's too vague without this being clarified.

 

[RookTookIt]

We don't look at age -- except perhaps at the extremes. That said AAMC reported that the youngest & oldest in the 2010 admission group were 17 and 57.

Woah!

 

[LizzyM]

I would need more information to make up my mind on this. Are the average GPA and MCAT about the same? Does being 25-30 have better chances than say 40 or 50? It's too vague without this being clarified.

The number of applicants ages 40+ are so small that the line graph just shows a skinny tail with two lines that are indistinguishable (accepted and unaccepted). I suspect that what happens is that on average the 22 year old applicants have everything going for them, MCAT, gpa, experience, etc. They are also the largest group numerically. Once they are admitted at 22 they are out of the pool. Those 23 and older include reapplicants as well as people who came to medicine after remediation of poor record and career changers. These applicants on average may not have applications as strong as the 22 year olds.