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IslandBoy

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Greetings everyone!

I am a 45 yr old who will be returning to undergraduate school this next year in order to finish up my degree. I took a leave from school for about 7 years after having some issues with depression. Although I was never hospitalized, I DID pile up some incompletes which have since reverted to F's. So, I've got some "cleaning up" to do on my transcript.

I am hoping to apply to medical school for the 2009/2010 academic year, which will make me almost 47 yrs old at that time. (Yikes! Where did the time go? 😱)

My assets (I hope they are, anyway):

1. I did clinical research in neurology for 1.5 years about 9 years ago at a university hospital.

2. I did laboratory research for 2 years at a medical school about 4 years ago and co-authored 2 journal articles.

My liabilities:

1. My age (?)

2. My long absence from school. This is undoubtedly something I'll have to address and I am concerned that this will seriously damage any chances of getting into medical school.

3. Since I have no idea what my GPA will be when I finally finish my undergraduate degree, it's hard for me to comment on this. However, let's assume it's about a 3.4 or 3.5

4. A lack of extracurricular activities that emphasize my interest in medicine. This is something I hope to address in the next year and a half.

My questions:

1. Do you think that my long absence from school (7 years) will be severely detrimental to my chances of getting into a medical school? If any of you have had similar circumstances, how did you address this with medical school admissions?

2. As far as demonstrating my interest in medicine, I am concerned that my lack of any extracurricular activities directly related to medicine will hurt me. Is this something that can be addressed in the final 1.5 years before applying to medical schools or will the medical schools view this as ineffective?

3. What other suggestions might you have in order to improve my chances of getting into a medical program? Are the research experiences I had 4 years ago (and previous to that) worth mentioning to medical schools, or would they likely consider these experiences to have taken place too long ago to have any relevance?

4. I've had a very strong desire to attend medical school for many years now and I really hope to accomplish this goal. Given my background (including my difficulties), do you think that medical school is an attainable goal?

Thank you very much for reading my posting. Any suggestions or assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and happy holidays!
 
How much coursework do you have left to complete your prereqs? I just want to double check your timeline. Next year (2008) you finish up your degree and prereqs. So then in summer of 2009 you would be applying for matriculation in fall 2010, right?

Your clinical and lab research experience combined with publications is great. Regardless of whether it was a few years ago or not, that's definitely something you should include on your list of ECs. Not many people applying for med school have publications; it is a coveted thing among many.

It may be worthwhile to consider starting some medically-oriented extracurriculars just to show that your interest has never gone away and continues. But, what have you been doing in the meantime in addition to the research? What jobs most recently have you held? If you've continued to work in a healthcare setting, then this may not be as important...

Virtually every nontrad has a gap of nonschooling time between undergraduate and going back to complete their coursework. This isn't something that is detrimental so long as you were working or doing something during those years and not merely sitting at home watching TV.

Regarding the depression, there are people that have had to withdraw from a semester for a variety of reasons. I would suggest you do a search on the forums for depression to see how others have dealt with it and previous suggestions.

As for the GPA, I would get a copy of your transcripts up to now and compute your total GPA and BCPM GPA (biology, chem, physics, and math classes) to see where you currently stand and to give you a better idea of your goals and chances.

Definitely continue to skim these boards; there's a lot of useful information on here!
 
Try to figure out your current gpa, and then project what you need to get in the 3.5 range (both science and overall). If you have more than a few F's, it's hard to get this up. You pretty much need a full-year of coursework at 4.0 to make up for each F and maitain a 3.5 GPA.

I'd figure out what you realistically will need to do, before doing too much work. You may need a few years of coursework before you are ready to apply. Think about whether you want to put in that time.

Now, if you decide you do, then by all means go for it. You may want to think about DO schools as well. You can retake those classes with a F, and they won't count in your GPA.
 
Try to figure out your current gpa, and then project what you need to get in the 3.5 range (both science and overall). If you have more than a few F's, it's hard to get this up. You pretty much need a full-year of coursework at 4.0 to make up for each F and maitain a 3.5 GPA.

I'd figure out what you realistically will need to do, before doing too much work. You may need a few years of coursework before you are ready to apply. Think about whether you want to put in that time.

Now, if you decide you do, then by all means go for it. You may want to think about DO schools as well. You can retake those classes with a F, and they won't count in your GPA.


Gman said it best-I honestly think that a DO is your most realistic shot. Recovering a GPA from 1 F is considerable, a "few" would be nearly impossible, and AMCAS considers all grades ever. DO schools will actually replace the old grade with the newest grade so if you completely restart all the pre-reqs then you realistically can get the 3.5+ which is very competitive for DO schools. Furthermore, DO schools traditionally have older students.
 
How much coursework do you have left to complete your prereqs? I just want to double check your timeline. Next year (2008) you finish up your degree and prereqs. So then in summer of 2009 you would be applying for matriculation in fall 2010, right?

Agree with this -- OP, based on what you've written you won't be applying for a 2009 start, if that was what you were suggesting. Depending on how much current coursework you are going to need to pick up (for a lot of schools you need to have some current science work), you probably have to plan on a realistic start date a year or two later than this.
 
Thanks for all of your insight. It is greatly appreciated. I have a couple of follow-up questions, if you don't mind.

First, it seems that my GPA is my biggest stumbling block, yes? If I am able to get my GPA up to a more respectable level (3.0 - 3.5 range) and if I am able to do some medically related extracurriculars (a tall order, I realize), would my past still come back to haunt me, or will these improvements be seen in a favorable light?

Second, does the university that one attends for undergraduate school count for anything, or could the medical schools care less? Would attending a top tier university (an Ivy League university, for example) been seen in a favorable light? Is a GPA of 3.5 considered the same coming from any university, or is more consideration given to those coming from a very competitive undergraduate school?

Regarding just when I will be applying for medical school, if it takes me 2 additional years to get things in order before applying, then I am willing to take this time. I would like to enter the application process with my best foot forward.

Thanks again for all of your help and suggestions!
 
if you can get your GPA up to a competitive range with at least 2 years of SOLID coursework, then the age/past shouldn't be too big of an obstacle. i'd like to think you can use your past as an advantage. you are more experienced and wiser than the average twenty-something applicant. you can turn your mistakes into opportunities in this case. showcase how your past will make you a good doctor. still, there's going to be some tough interview questions concerning your age and your past so be prepared.

the undergraduate school does not matter much. there's some degree of debate on this, but for the most part, as long as it's "reputable."

also, DO medical schools tend to accept/attract more non-traditional applicants than MD medical schools. you may want to look into this.
 
UG school doesn't matter much, as long as it's 4 year school. It might matter a little if you are applying to a "top" med school. Don't believe anyone who says a 3.5 and an Ivy is better than a 3.7 at your state school.

If you can get your GPA up by showing good recent trends, your past shouldn't hurt too much.

Get a volunteer position at a local hospital. If you can do this for the next 2 years while you are doing coursework, that will be plenty of experience.

Most of all focus on getting your GPA up and prepare really well for the MCAT. Those will be your 2 biggest obstacles towards getting in.
 
also, DO medical schools tend to accept/attract more non-traditional applicants than MD medical schools.

I'm pretty sure this is not an accurate statement. A lot of nontrads do find DO programs more accepting of experience over numbers, and as a percentage, nontrads make up a larger chunk of their class in osteo than allo. But I believe that, as a whole, the lions share of nontrads are attending allo schools. Which you would expect considering there are 5 times more US allo schools than osteo.
 
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