I really need some advice...

[Dr Turtle]

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let me tell you little bit of my story... as of today i'm 26 years old, i already have a mechanical engineering degree. but after my graduation ,unfortunately i got leukemia. during the time that i spent in hospitals, i realized that i don't want to be engineer anymore. i want to have direct connection with people, i want to be really help then and to be a doctor is the most effective way of it.
luckily i won green card and moved to new york/america in august 2009. currently i'm taking esl classes in a community college to improve my english.

my situation is, i really want to apple for medical schools but my university gpa is 3.1 and it's not even from this country. i am really looking to start everything from the beginning. here is the questions;
1-where should i start, i'm already in a community college, should i continue in here with taking a couple of science classes? or should i transfer as soon as possible to brooklyn college?
2-is my age really a problem? when i finish my second college probably i'm gonna be 30-31. do i have a chance to get acceptance from medical school? do they think i'm so old for that?
i will have more questions later 🙂
thanks for answers...

 

[wristbandMD]

There are plenty of non-traditional students that get accepted to medical school. I recommend reading "Getting Into Medical School" by Sanford Brown. It caters mostly to non-traditional applicants and seems as though it would be very helpful in your situation.

As far as whether or not to attend a community college, I would suggest visiting an adviser at your cc or at the college you are considering attending. They will likely be able to give you better advice than most people on SDN.

 

[Catalystik]

SDN has a forum dedicated to the applicant on nontraditional age where you can read the experiences of others in your shoes with foreign bachelor degrees and the necessary path to become competitive for US med schools. See: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=110

Important to remember is that every grade you earn at an accredited US college is going to be included in your application GPA, so get As.

Master English first and don't worry about science classes just yet.

 

[chman]

SDN has a forum dedicated to the applicant on nontraditional age where you can read the experiences of others in your shoes with foreign bachelor degrees and the necessary path to become competitive for US med schools. See: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=110

Important to remember is that every grade you earn at an accredited US college is going to be included in your application GPA, so get As.

Master English first and don't worry about science classes just yet.

The bold is very important. Don't slack off in the ESL classes because they will count!

I think your first step would be to contact some medical schools and see what they say about your degree and its validity. Juts get a general idea. For instance; if 8/10 schools say they will accept your degree, then perhaps you don't need to get a bachelors degree here in the US. If it ends up being that 2/10 say they would accept it, it is probably a good idea to obtain a bachelors degree here before applying.

If you end up applying with your current degree, you will need to check the pre-reqs and which ones you need to take.

I think community college is a good place to start, and I highly recommend taking wristband's advice and talking to an advisor there because the logistics (details) of your situation are pretty complicated when compared to the average applicant.

Regardless of what it takes, if this is your dream you should do what it takes! It will be a lot of work, perhaps more than many of us, but if it is worth it to you you should go for it.

Oh, also, you should check in to DO schools. Especially if you end up applying with your current degree, DO schools will probably be your best bet.

Good Luck

 

[Dr Turtle]

thanks for your kind advices, especially for the link. it's good to know that there are plenty of people in my situation. i don't feel old now 🙂

it looks like i have to start from the beginning, since my grades are around average (3.1). what kind of major would you recommend that covers most of the prerequisites?

thanks again for your time.

 

[chman]

thanks for your kind advices, especially for the link. it's good to know that there are plenty of people in my situation. i don't feel old now 🙂

it looks like i have to start from the beginning, since my grades are around average (3.1). what kind of major would you recommend that covers most of the prerequisites?

thanks again for your time.

It really doesn't matter what you major in as long as you get all the pre-reqs done with good grades in them, as well as your other classes of course. I don't know if you know this, but med -schools here divide GPA in to two categories; science GPA and the GPA from all your other courses.