Do young med students accept the older non-traditional students?

[BlackPower2012]

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I am in my 40s and am have spent a lifetime dreaming about being a doctor. I am finally ready to apply this fall. I have been sittng next to mostly young, traditional pre-meds for the past year as I finished my pre-reqs. Although most people tell me I look like I am in my 30s, I am clearly still older than the average pre-med and wondered what these younger students thought of seeing an older person in the mix. For all of you older students already in med school and residency: have you been readily accepted by the younger students? Ever deal with any snide comments about taking up a med school seat?

You may be in a tough situation if you do not approach this correctly. If you try to be the mature one who has lived life and thinks that you know more to life than these young bucks-you will not be accepted. Also, if you try to re-live your 20's with these young guys, they may think that you are trying to be too cool. So it really depends on many things. Just be yourself and they will either choose to befriend you or not, all in all, you still will have your MD within the next couple of years, Lord willing.

 

[4paw]

I really hope that the passages from the MCAT are easier to understand than this post.

lol yes - because they break them up into readable paragraphs, slightly more logical flow (i.e. intro sentence, etc.) i was considering going back and breaking them up into smaller, readable chunks... i think i will 🙂 for future readers.... but in terms of ideologies - there's every stripe in the verbal. i loved it. you will too! tastes good with milk!

 

[4paw]

You may be in a tough situation if you do not approach this correctly. If you try to be the mature one who has lived life and thinks that you know more to life than these young bucks-you will not be accepted. Also, if you try to re-live your 20's with these young guys, they may think that you are trying to be too cool. So it really depends on many things. Just be yourself and they will either choose to befriend you or not, all in all, you still will have your MD within the next couple of years, Lord willing.

well said.

 

[sieve]

a judgment is more about the individual who is doing the judging than you.

exactly. Anyone making snide remarks has their own issues. All you can do is treat everyone equally and have a positive attitude. If you are truly being friendly and helpful, snubbing is much more about the person making remarks than anything else. I would try to let it roll off my back.

 

[teddybear]

Who gives a damn what people think about you if you're pursuing a goal? You mean you're in your 40s and you still worry about what people think of you?? Goddam, man, get a grip. At your age you're supposed to be beyond that ****. Water off a duck's back, boy.

 

[teddybear]

Sorry, guys. This one just really gets me. Look, man. You've got the courage to do something in your 40s most people wouldn't even dream of. You need to be going in there with an attitude like you're the baddest son of a bitch that ever lived. So to speak.

 

[take the shot]

do you consider graduating from college with a non-science major and no science classes, running one's own business for four years, and then taking a post-bacc while surviving cancer a "traditional" route to medical school?

i'm a "younger" non-trad just as there are "older" non-trads. i try to help out a lot around the non-trad forum and i'd appreciate if you kept your ageism private.

I have enjoyed reading all the responses to this thread. One of the main points, I think, is that people tend to be accepted if they don't push their own strong views on anyone else. By the way, I don't think age is relevant in determining if someone is a nontraditional; clearly, the experiences someone has may make them feel they can identify themselves with those who are typically defined this way. If you can't accept this, please tell me you are going into an area of medicine where you won't be judging patients (like radiology or pathology).

When I was in my early 20s, I was (in retrospect) one of the least mature, irresponsible people I know; hence, why I am now applying to med school in my 40s. I sit in class now, very focused on my goal, scoring at the top of the class, and watch as some of the younger students complain about the professors, the unfair grading scale, and stay up all night before the test and learn all the chapters in classes like physics and organic. I just smile to myself because I was exactly like that when I was an undergrad. So being in my 40s gives me a unique perspective and tolerance of how people deal with school. I actually admire those in their 20s who have the dedication that I never had at that age...oh, if only it had been, I would be spending these beautiful summer nights playing instead of the day after day grueling hours of studying for the MCAT. 😎

 

[take the shot]

Sorry, guys. This one just really gets me. Look, man. You've got the courage to do something in your 40s most people wouldn't even dream of. You need to be going in there with an attitude like you're the baddest son of a bitch that ever lived. So to speak.

Your response cracked me up! I surely don't pay much attention to what others think about my choice to go after med school and, trust me, I have heard it all: Are you crazy?...Why would you give up the good life?...You're way too old to deal with residency...I would never do med school again in my 40s if I had to do it over....you know how old you'll be when it's over?...you should be getting ready to relax and travel, etc....To everyone, my response is the same: I only felt half alive until I went after med school, my dream of the past 15 years. I held off for so many reasons related to my daughter, family, finances, etc...the ones offering "helpful advice" aren't the ones dealing with the pain of not having the career I always wanted. So I pretty much let comments roll off my back. I asked this question mostly cause I was curious and because of comments I read in other threads about "older students taking the place of my friend who didn't get in".

 

[Lacheln]

Your response cracked me up! I surely don't pay much attention to what others think about my choice to go after med school and, trust me, I have heard it all: Are you crazy?...Why would you give up the good life?...You're way too old to deal with residency...I would never do med school again in my 40s if I had to do it over....you know how old you'll be when it's over?...you should be getting ready to relax and travel, etc....To everyone, my response is the same: I only felt half alive until I went after med school, my dream of the past 15 years. I held off for so many reasons related to my daughter, family, finances, etc...the ones offering "helpful advice" aren't the ones dealing with the pain of not having the career I always wanted. So I pretty much let comments roll off my back. I asked this question mostly cause I was curious and because of comments I read in other threads about "older students taking the place of my friend who didn't get in".

There is always going to be someone bitching about some perceived injustice. Ooooh, that old guy took my friend's spot. Ooooh, that URM took my friend's spot. Oooooh, that legacy jerk took my friend's spot. Ooooh, that incredibly sexy breeak took my ugly friend's spot. 😀 I'm with you on letting the comments roll off of your (sexy) back.

 

[take the shot]

There is always going to be someone bitching about some perceived injustice. Ooooh, that old guy took my friend's spot. Ooooh, that URM took my friend's spot. Oooooh, that legacy jerk took my friend's spot. Ooooh, that incredibly sexy breeak took my ugly friend's spot. 😀 I'm with you on letting the comments roll off of your (sexy) back.

There are some great people on this forum!!

Just one question for you: how in the heck did you score a 12 on verbal? I am just soooo much more comfortable with the science, but I just keep practicing every day. Any recs?

 

[Lacheln]

There are some great people on this forum!!

Just one question for you: how in the heck did you score a 12 on verbal? I am just soooo much more comfortable with the science, but I just keep practicing every day. Any recs?

I have always done well on verbal sections, and didn't study for that part. I read a lot, mostly non-fiction. I've tutored students quite a bit and that is always my main recommendation for people who have trouble with reading comprehension - start reading, a lot. It takes time to make an impact, but it's a skill that will serve you well far beyond the test. That said, practicing specifically for the test will help in the short term.

• Read all of the questions before you read the passage, so that you know what they will be looking for.

• Highlight the thesis of the introduction and the evidence in each supporting paragraph so that you can pick out the main point of the passage.

• If you can, especially if you are a slow reader and can't skim very well, try to highlight bits that are relevant to the questions as you go along, but only do this if you can do it without losing the overall thread of the passage.

• In the tougher passages the questions mostly require you to bring together information from throughout the passage, so you need to make sure you get the whole picture, don't sacrifice that.

• In the case of any vocabulary you are not sure of use the context to see if there are subtle cues as to what direction to take without knowing exactly what it means.

• Remember the passages are not knowledge based - what you need to answer the question is in the passage, so don't waste time forming an opinion about what it says.

• And finally, do a lot of these practice passages, as many as you can stomach. They don't all have to be from the MCAT, the basic skills are the same across the reading sections of various tests.

Go forth and conquer. And please, other people chime in, I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this question. None of the rules are unbreakable, different things are helpful to different people.

 

[gman33]

There is always going to be someone bitching about some perceived injustice. Ooooh, that old guy took my friend's spot. Ooooh, that URM took my friend's spot. Oooooh, that legacy jerk took my friend's spot. Ooooh, that incredibly sexy breeak took my ugly friend's spot. 😀 I'm with you on letting the comments roll off of your (sexy) back.

How about a picture so this can be verified!

 

[Lacheln]

How about a picture so this can be verified!

What, the kid in a cage isn't doing it for you?! 😛

 

[gman33]

What, the kid in a cage isn't doing it for you?! 😛

If it was, I would have been caught by the child welfare screeing you need to fill out for med school. 😱

 

[Lacheln]

If it was, I would have been caught by the child welfare screeing you need to fill out for med school. 😱

There's a child welfare screening? Uh OH!

 

[sexyman]

Edit: nevermind

 

[teddybear]

You mean you actually call yourself sexyman?? Are you ****tin me??? Are you really sexy??? I gotta know.

 

[Wombat Jones]

You mean you actually call yourself sexyman?? Are you ****tin me??? Are you really sexy??? I gotta know.

I think it's a fitting name--as long as it's paired with the American Psycho avatar...