Graduating Early and Applying for Medical School

[trevagandalf]

Ok, so I'm graduating in 2 years because I came into college with a ton of AP credits and tested out of a ton of classes. I'm getting a Biology BA this May with Spanish and Chemistry minors, I go to Case Western and I applied to 15 schools (I'm a Texas resident). My stats are the following:
Lots of ECs including lots of clinical/surgical experience but not research experience.
3.84 GPA (that's bound to go down after this semester)
31P on my MCATs (11V/10P/10B)
I've gotten 5 interviews at Texas so far, but no offers and 1 rejection of Northwestern. Do I have any chances? I've heard that Medical Schools look down on people that don't have 4 years of college and are too young (I'm 19 and I'll be 20 in september). Honestly, what are my chances? According to my pre-med advisor, I'm screwed...

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[MedvacMoney]

Ok, so I'm graduating in 2 years because I came into college with a ton of AP credits and tested out of a ton of classes. I'm getting a Biology BA this May with Spanish and Chemistry minors, I go to Case Western and I applied to 15 schools (I'm a Texas resident). My stats are the following:
Lots of ECs including lots of clinical/surgical experience but not research experience.
3.84 GPA (that's bound to go down after this semester)
31P on my MCATs (11V/10P/10B)
I've gotten 5 interviews at Texas so far, but no offers and 1 rejection of Northwestern. Do I have any chances? I've heard that Medical Schools look down on people that don't have 4 years of college and are too young (I'm 19 and I'll be 20 in september). Honestly, what are my chances? According to my pre-med advisor, I'm screwed...

it will be hard...every intervew i am at asks about it. (i graduated in 1.5 yrs) and very young. i even have a baby face which makes it worse!

 

[szhao]

it will be hard...every intervew i am at asks about it. (i graduated in 1.5 yrs) and very young. i even have a baby face which makes it worse!

*takes a picture and awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, so that is why u traded your burret

lol back to the OP, haha i liked my college experience, i so dragged it out with tons of majors and tons of fun, but if you just want to get ahead with your life, apparently mr. baby face had great luck

 

[Law2Doc]

Ok, so I'm graduating in 2 years because I came into college with a ton of AP credits and tested out of a ton of classes. I'm getting a Biology BA this May with Spanish and Chemistry minors, I go to Case Western and I applied to 15 schools (I'm a Texas resident). My stats are the following:
Lots of ECs including lots of clinical/surgical experience but not research experience.
3.84 GPA (that's bound to go down after this semester)
31P on my MCATs (11V/10P/10B)
I've gotten 5 interviews at Texas so far, but no offers and 1 rejection of Northwestern. Do I have any chances? I've heard that Medical Schools look down on people that don't have 4 years of college and are too young (I'm 19 and I'll be 20 in september). Honestly, what are my chances? According to my pre-med advisor, I'm screwed...

Med schools are sometimes hesitant to accept young applicants as maturity is a huge factor in admissions, and frequently (but not always), the longer you are on the planet the more mature you are. Someone who rushes through college without experiencing it and doesn't expose themselves to other career options and interests also may be at a disadvantage, as med schools want people to have broadened their horizons and made themselves well rounded. That being said, having 5 interviews out of 15 is not too bad a track record. If you don't get in, the bright side is you can get a job researching at a lab for a year, maybe pick up a graduate degree, and still get in at an age younger than the class average.

 

[trevagandalf]

God, I haven't even thought about a plan B yet!

 

[FLsurf05]

I had tons of dual enrollment credit coming into college. I could have graduated in two years, but I just took extra classes and made it take four years to finish because I liked college, and I didn't want to start med school so young. I was asked about it in one of my interviews, and my interviewer said that they don't like to take people who are so young. He said patients didn't take those people seriously, but I don't think that is the real reason. Most patients probably can't tell the difference between a 20 year old and a 22 year old. But I don't know.

Anyway, that sucks because it looks like you have really good stats and ECs. I wouldn't give up hope yet; you've had interviews that could turn into acceptances, but I guess you might want to think of a plan B. Being really young means you could take a couple of years and do something else (a masters, traveling, working, peace corps, whatever), and you'll still be the same age as everyone else when you end up starting med school.

Hopefully, you'll get in this year, but if you don't, you can think of something fun/rewarding to do.

 

[Falco2525]

Ok, so I'm graduating in 2 years because I came into college with a ton of AP credits and tested out of a ton of classes. I'm getting a Biology BA this May with Spanish and Chemistry minors, I go to Case Western and I applied to 15 schools (I'm a Texas resident). My stats are the following:
Lots of ECs including lots of clinical/surgical experience but not research experience.
3.84 GPA (that's bound to go down after this semester)
31P on my MCATs (11V/10P/10B)
I've gotten 5 interviews at Texas so far, but no offers and 1 rejection of Northwestern. Do I have any chances? I've heard that Medical Schools look down on people that don't have 4 years of college and are too young (I'm 19 and I'll be 20 in september). Honestly, what are my chances? According to my pre-med advisor, I'm screwed...

As the other have said admitting someone with only 2 years of college is sometimes tough; however, I think you have a very solid chance of matching somewhere in Texas this year...I would almost put money on you getting in somewhere in Texas...it will depend how your interviews went and if you came across as mature or not...

 

[Catalystik]

Do I have any chances? I've heard that Medical Schools look down on people that don't have 4 years of college and are too young (I'm 19 and I'll be 20 in september). Honestly, what are my chances? According to my pre-med advisor, I'm screwed...

All medical school admission committees do not have the same philosophy. An ex-adcom member physician I work with told me his medical school felt that early graduation was a sign of good time-management skills, and a mature committment to a defined goal. Stay hopeful. You do have a chance.

 

[trevagandalf]

All medical school admission committees do not have the same philosophy. An ex-adcom member physician I work with told me his medical school felt that early graduation was a sign of good time-management skills, and a mature committment to a defined goal. Stay hopeful. You do have a chance.

wow, what was his med school? Maybe, I should apply there if I don't get in this year!

 

[Law2Doc]

An ex-adcom member physician I work with told me his medical school felt that early graduation was a sign of good time-management skills, and a mature committment to a defined goal.

Considering that the number of nontrad admittees increases each year, and the fact that the average age has gradually crept upward, not down over the years, I suspect this is a minority opinion. Also there are a variety of changing trends in med school (partly driven by the demands of an aging patient base) and so an ex-adcom may be out of the loop of current thinking. A lot of the BS-MD programs and other routes of younger admittees have been discontinued in the last decade due to such trends.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Ok, so I'm graduating in 2 years because I came into college with a ton of AP credits and tested out of a ton of classes. I'm getting a Biology BA this May with Spanish and Chemistry minors, I go to Case Western and I applied to 15 schools (I'm a Texas resident). My stats are the following:

Did you make sure they will take your AP credit?

I've gotten 5 interviews at Texas so far, but no offers and 1 rejection of Northwestern. Do I have any chances? I've heard that Medical Schools look down on people that don't have 4 years of college and are too young (I'm 19 and I'll be 20 in september). Honestly, what are my chances? According to my pre-med advisor, I'm screwed...

You should be able to match into one of the Texas schools. Also how do you think your interviews went? It's hard to tell what they're thinking but I'm asking more on the lines of your own performance - you may have come off too much as a kid.

I would be concerned too if an applicant wasn't even in his 20s when he's matriculating. If you have any more interviews, be very careful of how you come across. I'd say a good balance of humility and confidence are probably the things you might be lacking if you aren't mature.

As for a plan B, I'd really suggest getting into a good nurturing research lab. I'm in one now and I love it. Perhaps a little too much...

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

Stupid lag...

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

The maturity thing is usually the main issue, especially when you think about what happens when you enter medical school - there are no more summer vacations, or any real vacations, really, for the next four years of medical school, 3-5 years of internship, and probably like 1-2 years of being an attending. Also the hours you need to work are insane and in residency not conducive to having much of a social life (medical school, of course, they were semi-insane, but the misery tended to make medical students bond ). Take your time in college - I didn't need the book-learning so much, but I definitely grew a lot personally. Or at least take a little time to do something else - travel, new studies, etc. You may not be so young the next time you get the chance!

P.S. There's always deferring an acceptance

 

[Law2Doc]

P.S. There's always deferring an acceptance

Not really -- most schools actually don't grant these as a matter of right.