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- Dec 18, 2007
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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!
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!