Full-time job, applying to med school, not sure what to do!

[BlinkyCat]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if any one out there worked a full-time job and applied to medical school at the same time. I was recently offered a full-time job at a real estate firm. I desperately need the money to help out my family and to pay for medical school applications, but this job is completely unrelated to medicine and will take up all my time. I just need money and the pay is decent.

My first question is, is it possible to go through applications and interviews while holding down full-time job? Do interviews happen on weekends?

Secondly, would medical school think I don't want to be a doctor because I work at a real estate firm and not at a lab. (btw, I tried very hard to get a 0-little pay job as a research assistant and nobody showed me any love especially with my finance degree)

Thirdly, I still have to take orgo lab and initially I had planned to take it ths summer. Would you guys think I can take it in the summer right before I matriculate (if i get in somewhere?)

Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I really appreciate it. Oh, also I want to thank everybody for being so helpful. I'm so relieved to have found nice, helpful people.

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[Law2Doc]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if any one out there worked a full-time job and applied to medical school at the same time. I was recently offered a full-time job at a real estate firm. I desperately need the money to help out my family and to pay for medical school applications, but this job is completely unrelated to medicine and will take up all my time. I just need money and the pay is decent.

My first question is, is it possible to go through applications and interviews while holding down full-time job? Do interviews happen on weekends?

Secondly, would medical school think I don't want to be a doctor because I work at a real estate firm and not at a lab. (btw, I tried very hard to get a 0-little pay job as a research assistant and nobody showed me any love especially with my finance degree)

Thirdly, I still have to take orgo lab and initially I had planned to take it ths summer. Would you guys think I can take it in the summer right before I matriculate (if i get in somewhere?)

Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I really appreciate it. Oh, also I want to thank everybody for being so helpful. I'm so relieved to have found nice, helpful people.

To answer a couple of your questions: Interviews are rarely on weekends, so you should expect to miss work when you need to attend one. Secondly, with a real estate job and a finance degree, you are going to need something health care related on your resume to show that you are committed to medicine. You also will need some form of clinical experience -- can be volunteering, shadowing or the like, to show that you know what medicine is all about. I would think you could pick up the orgo lab before you matriculate, but that will be less of a med school acceptance issue and more a matter of finding a school that lets you take it without the affiliated course. Hope this helps.

 

[boobah16]

In response to the full time job question, I worked full time this past year while applying; and most likely will be doing it again this coming year while re-applying🙂
Anyways, I dont think it obstructs the applying process at all. You just have to be upfront with the company that you are working for from the beginning. For instance, make sure they know you might have to take off days in order to attend interviews (I havent heard of many schools that offer weekend interviews). I think you will only encounter a problem here if your job does not allow you to take vacation in the first year, otherwise you should be fine. The only other scheduling issue would be how to finish AMCAS and all those secondary essays, and to deal with this, you will just have to dedicate your nights and/or weekends to applying. Most adcoms realize you cant apply without money, and you cant get money without a job!
Good luck to you and hopefully someone else can give you insight to the rest of your questions.

 

[Mary2009]

I have also worked full time while applying this year, exactly for the same reason. I needed the money to pay for my rent and application expenses and a research job (not that I could find one anyways) just wouldn't cut it in the pay department. But, I was very upfront about the med school thing as soon as they hired me. I used every single one of my vacation days for the first six months for interviews which is doable if they let you (absolutely no weekend interviews are available of course). My job is also in a completely unrelated field, which I have tried to justify to the adcoms and explain what skills I have developed, etc. I'm still not in...but I can feel it, I'm hoping a waitlist pulls through soon!

Good luck with everything in the coming year.

 

[LizzyM]

Interviews are (almost) always weekdays.

Adcoms aren't oblivious to an applicant's need for a paying job. You will be quizzed a little more about "why medicine" and you should be prepared to answer.

However, you may never be asked the question if you are applying without having taken organic. Frankly, if I were looking at your application

Finance degree + working in real estate + hasn't taken organic = no interview

You just don't come across as a serious applicant. Apply after you have taken organic and get a volunteer gig that puts you in contact with the sick and/or dying (hospice might work).

 

[BlinkyCat]

I see... I took organic chemistry I and II, but I didn't take the lab that went with it because my advisor said I can push it off. It didn't work in my schedule. Was she wrong? I didn't know not taking organic lab yet would hurt me...

 

[bioteacher]

I have seen provisional clauses on applications which state that all required classes must be completed before matriculating to the school. I don't think any school is willing to trust that you will pass this required course in the summer before matriculating. Often students say on their applications that they will be taking a required course the following year, but I haven't heard of the next summer. Besides, you need a full year or OChem lab, can you make that up in a summer?

I have been a full time teacher and father to daughters. I have a ton of side jobs and I applied to a ridiculous 47 medical schools and sent out 35 secondaries. I only had one interview so I didn't lose many days. I'm waitlisted. Fun Huh.

You left out a lot of background info: GPA, MCAT, Volunteering so it is hard to say what adcoms would think about you. All kinds of majors get into medical schools, but you have to have stellar grades in the prereq's and a lot of volunteering to show an interest in science and medicine with your major.

 

[drwlo]

My friend is taking the lab right now and she got into 5 med schools. I dont know what kind of salary you need but I worked full time as a med secretary while I applied. I actually work a second job on top of that to help pay for interviews. I was stressed out and sleep deprived but I dont have credit card debt so I'm happy.

 

[nicholonious]

My first question is, is it possible to go through applications and interviews while holding down full-time job? Do interviews happen on weekends?

Sure, you can do both. Interview happen throughout the week.

Secondly, would medical school think I don't want to be a doctor because I work at a real estate firm and not at a lab. (btw, I tried very hard to get a 0-little pay job as a research assistant and nobody showed me any love especially with my finance degree)


Well, they might bring it up, but it shouldn't hurt you. Med schools DO like it when you do something that pertains to health/medicine/research. RA's don't make much, just the sad truth today (Education has little rewards financially.)

Thirdly, I still have to take orgo lab and initially I had planned to take it ths summer. Would you guys think I can take it in the summer right before I matriculate (if i get in somewhere?)

Well, I wouldn't risk it. When you apply you are supposed to have completed all of your pre-reqs for med school.

 

[Reckoning]

If you have enough vacation time, you dont HAVE to tell your employer what you are doing with your time. If I had been totally up front with my employer it is likely that they would have sent me packing. I played by the vacation rules and did my job well, then I told them after my first acceptence. They were cool about it but with a family to support it was too risky at the time.

As others have said you are going to need to go the distance to tell adcoms know you are a) serious and b) know what you are getting into. I say go ahead and apply, but take some night classes in orgo/bio and volunteer like it is your job. If all else looks good (GPA, MCAT) you should be good to go. This will not be easy. But if you want it it is worth it. It was for me!

 

[LizzyM]

BlinkyCat, I misread your original post. I thought you hadn't taken the Organic classes, not labs.

You still need an excellent BPCM and MCATs and some ECs that are related to medicine to counteract your non-medicine related undergrad major & job.

 

[jclarke]

I was working full time during this application season, but I've been working at my current job for almost two years. My boss knew I was applying to medical school and never gave me grief about taking off for interviews. That being said, i suggest scheduling interviews on a Monday or Friday.

Secondly, I've been working in the legal field for six years, with only volunteer work as my relation to the health professions, including one summer research program. Be prepared to answer everything the previous posters said, including "why medicine now and not real estate?"

lastly, are you prepared to take organic lab and do well in it over the summer while working full-time? orgo lab's a pain in the ass-not really difficult, just extremely tedious.

In other words, you can do it, just be prepared!

 

[BlinkyCat]

If i work a full-time job, it would conflict with organic lab with the time overlapping. I've volunteer at a hospital before and I've had other non-health related community service activities like tutoring inner city kids, play music to raise money for the homeless, etc. I guess now I'm wondering how much volunteering do I need to balance out my major which seems to be such a liability?

I definitely don't want to work a job if it will screw my chances up for med school because that is what I sincerely want very badly....

so...my overall gpa is 3.55 (i think) and my science gpa is 3.56 (i think counting the C i got taking college class in high school) I just took the MCAT but I've been getting 32-38 on practice tests....so I'm assuming I'm going to get around 33 or 32...or 31...
I went to penn... Is my finance major going to hurt me? What should I do now to prevent that?

 

[ASDIC]

organic lab is a prereq to med school admissions, so u must defer to it. if you can schedule ur job around this class, that would be a good idea.

about how much volunteer experience: schools look at what u learned about ur volunteer activities rather than how much time u spent. Therefore if you are able to effectively explain your activities, get a very good LOR and write really good about ur activities on the AMCAS, then ur volunteering shud be enuf if ur time repressed.

Your GPA is excellent from Penn and if ur applying with a finance major it would be good to apply to the MD/MBA programs at medical schools.

U will need to wait on the mcat to make any other decisions.

 

[Law2Doc]

If i work a full-time job, it would conflict with organic lab with the time overlapping. I've volunteer at a hospital before and I've had other non-health related community service activities like tutoring inner city kids, play music to raise money for the homeless, etc. I guess now I'm wondering how much volunteering do I need to balance out my major which seems to be such a liability?

I actually do think, from my own experience (anecdotal, I admit), that med schools do expect a higher level of volunteering and medically related clinical experience from someone already out of school and working and who was not a science major undergrad than from someone still in school - to prove they are truly committed to medicine and that their career path is well thought out. It's simply more convincing to adcoms to say you want to be a physician if you are still in college working toward that goal or doing something healthcare related, than if you are off doing something non-health related (and a non-science major to boot), and so you will have a bit harder sell and need to show your health focus in a number of activities. I recommend lining up some sort of regular weekend or evening gig at the local hospital (volunteering or shadowing, or both). Something you can talk about CURRENTLY doing in interviews will come across much better than saying you have volunteered in a hospital sometime in the past...

 

[bigdan]

I agree with litt in the post above.

I think you'll get a lot of answers and confidence if you get your boss on board asap. I worked full time and was lucky enough to get my boss on track with my plan. I worked extra hours to make up for my Orgo Lab time, and set up a plan for the interview days.

In addition, you may wanna get your ducks in a row before spending any money or energy...although I hope this isn't the case, if you get a 19 on the MCAT, you will likely not need to worry about tons of interview time.

As for what you're doing, I'd just be sincere and passionate about something. If you learned lots and love a certain hobby, let it show. You do have a skill set (assumedly) that many ugrads-to-medschool-direct students don't have. Let it show.

Good luck.

dc

 

[BlinkyCat]

Hi Everyone, thanks for all the helpful advice. I'm going to be upfront with my boss, and let her know what my plans are. If she's not too flexible, then I rather spend that time volunteering, which would be what I wanted to do and really enjoy if money wasn't such an issue. 🙂

So, I was wondering, do you guys think I should kind of play down the fact that I have business related activities in the past like maybe not list it or list it but not write so much about it?

 

[v j]

make sure you check with the schools because some of the stuff people are writing is incorrect.
as far as i know (and this is the case with every texas school and stanford too i think) you don't need the pre-req's when you apply, just before you matriculate. when i applied i hadn't taken any biology or organic chem classes (or labs). i was pretty nervous about interviews but i got plenty of them and i got into my second choice.

since you don't have the pre-reqs done you need to do really well on the mcat and have a good gpa and all that stuff, but don't worry too much about not having them on your application.

and don't worry too much about not having medical experience. obviously it's a very good thing, but sometimes you can't work it out. i couldn't either and it wasn't a showstopper for me.

what people said about being up front with your boss seems right on. good luck!

 

[samenewme]

Hi Everyone, thanks for all the helpful advice. I'm going to be upfront with my boss, and let her know what my plans are. If she's not too flexible, then I rather spend that time volunteering, which would be what I wanted to do and really enjoy if money wasn't such an issue. 🙂

So, I was wondering, do you guys think I should kind of play down the fact that I have business related activities in the past like maybe not list it or list it but not write so much about it?

List it but don't write much about it. Do find a way in your personal statement to reconcile your major with your new calling. If you have very little volunteering so far, I'd wait a year before applying, to be honest. Go ahead and work, make some money, volunteer, and get your application all polished.

If you're going to be working in residential real estate, most of your work will be on weekends anyway, so the occasional weekday off for interviews shouldn't be a big deal, really. Saturdays and Sundays are the big open house days, and also the big days to do cold calling to for sale by owner houses to try to pick up new clients.