I give up

[marleybfour]

I am 40 years old.

I have been taking the pre-reqs and dreaming about an acceptance to medical school for the last 6 years.

I have a Master's degree in Psychology and an A.S in nursing of which I work full-time as a critical care RN.

I have an excellent GPA.

I cannot shake the MCAT. I did badly in April and suspect I did the same today.

I am too old to continue pumping time, energy and money into something that just isn't going to happen.

The point to this is...............I am depressed. I have given up. I am too old to continue. I am not going to apply. It is just more money wasted.

I wish the rest of you all the luck and good fortune in the world. I admire all of you "young people" that knew what you wanted and went after it. Your parents should be very proud. I wish I had your drive and ambition 20 years ago instead of screwing around with boys and extra-curricular activities!

My only advice would be....when you become a doctor, make sure you treat the nurses well! They might save your butt some day. Good luck to you all.

Marley

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[Street Philosopher]

Marleybfour,

I wish you the best in whatever you pursue. I don't mean to give you any more false hope after 6 years already, but hopefully your MCAT score will be better than you expect, in which case you still have time to apply.

In any case, thanks for the kind words. Good luck.

 

[ocean11]

Marley, don't give up, if becoming a doctor is your dream than keep pursuing it! 40 is NOT old and April is NOT that far away. At least try one more time to crack the MCAT. It's all about practice. Have you considered Osteopathic medicine or caribbean schools?
You must have courage down this path, with determination you will make a great doctor.

Keep the Faith

 

[lady bug]

Osteopathic schools can be very lenient on mcat scores....especially if you have a good gpa. I think it would be a good option for you to consider. I have some friends that got in with pretty low mcat (like low 20s).

 

[WISC-ite]

The Florida Osteopathic school at Nova is really good. I know what you are going through as the MCAT sucks monkey ass, but there is nothing we can all do about it.

Please keep the chin up and go to Nova.

WISC-ite

 

[calbears84]

hey marleybfour...if you've gone through all the pre-req courses and the mcat twice...you might as well try your luck and apply. iz like running a mile in a track meet. yeah...you might be in last place but if you've already ran 3 labs around the track...you might as well finish the last lab. the fact is...you don't lose until you cross teh finish line...i understand that the application process is very expensive...but money can be re-earned...it takes only one or two paycheck to re-earn the money you put down for your dream!!!

i ain't tryin to persuade you...all i wanna do is to tell you what i think. if you think putting down one or two paycheck is not worth a chance at your dream...i respect your decision. i sincerely wish you happiness in whatever you pursue.

 

[Focus]

Originally posted by calbears84
hey marleybfour...if you've gone through all the pre-req courses and the mcat twice...you might as well try your luck and apply. iz like running a mile in a track meet. yeah...you might be in last place but if you've already ran 3 labs around the track...you might as well finish the last lab. the fact is...you don't lose until you cross teh finish line...i understand that the application process is very expensive...but money can be re-earned...it takes only one or two paycheck to re-earn the money you put down for your dream!!!

i ain't tryin to persuade you...all i wanna do is to tell you what i think. if you think putting down one or two paycheck is not worth a chance at your dream...i respect your decision. i sincerely wish you happiness in whatever you pursue.

Ditto.

- Focus

 

[OsteoMed02]

While it is true that osteopathic medical schools do not require you to have double digits on every section of the MCAT, I do not believe that applying to osteopathic programs should be a last resort or should be looked upon as subpar. After all, the admissions committee members are looking for individuals who want to further the philosophy of osteopathy and who contribute to their community. If you are not strong in extracurricular activities and you have no clinical experience with a D.O., it's unlikely that you'll get in.

The average MCAT score was a 9 for the MSUCOM Class of 2005 and the average GPA was a 3.53 In my opinion, those are hardly "last resort" statistics. The people who are there are there because they believe in osteopathy, not because they couldn't perform well on the MCAT. What does that test prove anyway? People have aced their boards and did terribly on the MCAT.

Go with whatever your heart desires and keep pressing onward and upward. If you are meant to become a physician you will do so. Let the admission committee see your passion...sometimes that is just as important. Best of luck!

Julia

 

[Blitzkrieg]

contrary to what some think, it is *ok* to see osteopathic schools as a "back up"..their stats are lower than allopathic schools, and with your experience, you should be a good candidate. However..you need to consider:

1) your age. You wont be able to pay off med school debt until @ least your mid 50's..is this worth it?
2) your family...are they in a position to where you can devote massive amounts of time and energy into a new career field?

The decision is yours. Weight the pros and cons, and go get em!

 

[judoka]

Not everyone can or should be a doctor. All of us have dreams, but not all of them come true. You have to learn to be happy with what you've got. Being 40 and with a family is too much to go to medical school, i feel. If you are very well off you have the freedom to pursue it, but otherwise why put yourself and your family through the ringer. I know this isn't a very positive post, but realism needs to set in at some point.

 

[efex101]

Okay I have to say something here, what does 40 have to do with it? whom is to say that a 20 something year old will stay in medicine after he/she incurred the debt? we just never know how many years someone will practice regardless of their age. Possibly a 40 year old could practice until their seventies that is 30 years, and a 25 year old could become burned out and only practice for 15 years. You really never know. Yes you do have to be realistic and decide if this is a path you need to embark upon but do not base it solely on age (not implying that anyone here did). There is a female surgeon that just got accepted to her general surgery residency and she will probably further specialize and guess what? she is 50 years old. So age really should have nothing to do with it. Just because she did not do too hot on this MCAT does not mean that she will not do well on another sitting. Many folks have to retake the MCAT...

 

[judoka]

Look, if the MCAT is a struggle for you the first time, and the second time, it's always going to be a struggle. No matter what anyone says about the SAT's, once you study for it and practice some, your score becomes consistent. Same thing with the MCAT. I know of people who've become doctors later in life, but they usually were single or did not have children and were well off. You think it's easy for adults to get educated? They have all kinds of **** to worry about. When you're 20 you have the support of everyone, but when your 40 it's just you and your spouse. I guess at this point i feel the benefit is not worth the cost, regardless if she was getting into medical school. And the fact is she probably will not unless she gets at least over 24. Why prolong it? I know kids who kept trying to get into an Ivy from high school, hten they tried to transfer, but at some point you just have to deal with what you've been dealt. We're young; we have time, energy, and freedom. That allows us to be amazing. If I was getting bad scores on the MCAT, i'd have to settle. If she really wants to do it, she should go to the carribean. But who can put their family through that?

 

[marleybfour]

Thanks for all the support and honest applies.

I had in fact already applied to Nova prior to yesterday's MCAT's. The secondary is sitting on my desk and I will go ahead and complete it. Nova is actually my first choice because it means that I do not have to move. My husband is willing to move if necessary, but he has gotten his dream job recently and I don't want to be in the position to choose my dream over his or vice-versa. I don't care nor really believe in the difference between the MD or DO philosophy. As a nurse that works with both physicians, I have yet to see them argue over their "philosphies." Their practices are identical.

I think as an older person there are some additional hurdles that we have to take into consideration during this process. While manyof you will be completing your medical degree with $100,000 - $200,000 in student loans...I on the other hand am walking into the program with that kind of debt already. ( mortgage, car payments...etc.) Complicating the financial picture is that fact that I am the primary bread earner in my family and my loss of income would be quite substantial. My goal if I was to be accepted was to be a primary physican and practice in a rural area with the agreement that my loans would be paid off. I have "heard" of some programs in the Broward District that offer this.

I will not take the MCAT again. I will continue the application process to Nova. If I am pleasantly surprised with my scores I will apply to a few MD programs. That is it.

Judoka, I agree that at some point it is time to stop and no I will not put my husband through the caribbean. That is just too much to ask.

 

[Toejam]

Take heart and don't give up, Marley

I've got you beat. I'm going to be 41 in a couple of months, been dreaming of being a doctor for 18 years, couldn't wait and accepted a slot in podiatry school and I'm STILL in the hunt!

Think about it. I've been gearing towards medical school since 1984, worked either full or part-time in college and taking my science pre-reqs and didn't even have everything put together until 1993. By that time, my GPA was just average and my hopes were fading. I applied to about 60 MD and DO schools and, as an afterthought, applied to all 7 podiatry schools. I never heard from any of the MD or DO schools, which was seriously disheartening and, as a act of self-consolation, I took the 1st podiatry school offer that was thrown at me. The only mistake that I made was that I didn't investigate the profession thorougly enough and now realize that it falls short of my original goal. Besides that, I now have a lot of practical and didactic experience, which will help my cause. Unfortunately, it cost me 150k, but I'm looking at it like I went to Harvard as an undergrad (I actually went to UCLA in the 80's and was able to pay for everything by waiting tables). That's my rationale. I'm in debt, but I still want to be a physician and nothing's going to stop me.

I invested the same amount of money as you and more. I can't even begin to tell you the sacrifices I've made since the early 80's and I'm still not dissuaded. I took the MCAT (for the 2nd time) last April and didn't do very well (23S). It was one point less than the first time I took it in 1993. I still might be able to get into a DO school with my extensive background in medicine, but I don't know. I took that miserable test again yesterday and it was about twice as difficult as the one in April. It was beyond the pale. I can't imagine doing any better than a 23, but I'm not going to worry about it. I am never, ever, ever going to stop trying. My biggest fear in life is being too old and tired to still achieve my most cherished dreams. If I'm a physician for only one week it would be worth it to me. I'm doing all of this for me and nobody else.

DO NOT GIVE UP! You'll be bitter for the rest of your life. Like some other posters said, DO schools are smart enough to look beyond the numbers and want to have a diverse medical school body (this is opposed to the rhetoric that we hear from the allopathic schools who might say that they want diversity, but seem to always stick to the numbers).

 

[marleybfour]

Thanks Toejam,

Are you applying to NOVA?

I actually felt like one of the "youngsters" yesterday. There was a man at LEAST 70 years old taking the MCAT. We wondered what he was doing it for so we asked. He is trying to get into medical school. That floored me, but what the hell. More power to him.

 

[Toejam]

No problem, Marley

I'm only applying to Western because I have a home in Los Angeles with my fiance'.

70 years old!!!! I think that's awesome! Frankly, I see myself practicing way beyond normal retirement age. I wish I had the ability to apply to schools other than California since it's so incredibly competitive out here.

I can understand the finances. I'm in a very similar situation. My fiance' is an attorney and makes very good money, but she feels uncomfortable about my returning to school and incurring more costs. I'm still trying to figure it out. For me, I'm bound and determined to follow through. Being a podiatrist is close, but it isn't what I set out to do. Somehow, we'll both get in as long as we don't give up.