Extreme reinvention

[BMRMike]

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[OneTwoThreeFour]

When someone has spent that much time out of school where they end up largely depends more on their accomplishments outside the classroom. A 3.5 won't hold back someone from the top programs assuming she has a long track record of service to her community. Nobody can really "expect" to get into a top-20 school, though. She can certainly hope for it and will likely get interviews if she has everything you say she does.
This is also a fruitless exercise without actually knowing what her MCAT is. It is easy to say 515, much harder to get one. A better school list can be provided once that number is finalized.

 

[Catalystik]

When someone has spent that much time out of school where they end up largely depends more on their accomplishments outside the classroom. A 3.5 won't hold back someone from the top programs assuming she has a long track record of service to her community.

I would add that strong evidence of leadership would be something else top schools would like to see, as they aim to train "future leaders in medicine."

 

[BMRMike]

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[LizzyM]

Schools usually want letters from people who can address the applicant's academic chops, as well as their soft skills: leadership, teamwork, perserverance, resilliance, etc. If a hospital director has worked closely with her, then that might be a useful letter. If they have only a passing acquaintance (have sat in the same meetings) it is less likely that the letter will be helpful.

I think that the recent academic work, work experience and life experience will come together to make this person a very compelling applicant.

 

[BMRMike]

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[Goro]

I'm asking regarding someone who isn't me. This person went to college and dropped out after the first year with terrible GPA (53/120 gpa points but luckily no science classes). They then proceed to work for almost 10 years before going back to school. Now they are getting a 4.0 GPA, letters of recs from every prof + committee, substitute teacher, volunteer + research at prestigious medical school's hospital. URM woman. By my estimation their GPA at grad time would be ~3.5 cGPA ~4.0 sGPA. No MCAT yet but good test taker and I would say ~515 or more.

My question is what are they looking at in terms of schools with this hypothetical result (things can always happen but knock on wood). How much does the 3.5 over all hold them back? I had a suggestion that they take an easy non-science double major so they could boost up their cGPA without jeopardizing sGPA but that only takes them to a 3.6.

I am assuming with the app they get into a medical school "easily". But are they looking at top 20?

Nobody gets into medical school easily. That's is 100% on the individual. I would say that your person is on track to be competitive, but without an MCAT score, it's impossible to advise any further.

There are a few Really Top Schools that reward reinvention, like Dartmouth, Columbia Duke, BU, Case, UCSF, Pitt, Mayo (and NYU with a whopping MCAT). But others probably have such a surplus of candidates that didn't have to reinvent themselves that they can afford to ignore reinventors.

 

[BMRMike]

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[LizzyM]

Nobody gets into medical school easily. That's is 100% on the individual. I would say that your person is on track to be competitive, but without an MCAT score, it's impossible to advise any further.

There are a few Really Top Schools that reward reinvention, like Dartmouth, Columbia Duke, BU, Case, UCSF, Pitt, Mayo (and NYU with a whopping MCAT). But others probably have such a surplus of candidates that didn't have to reinvent themselves that they can afford to ignore reinventors.

URM reinventors don't get ignored anywhere. Rare and often highly valued by adcoms if the numbers add up.