Is AGE an issue for acceptance?

[Amrazzz]

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I'll be 20 by the time I graduate from my university, granted we transition from quarters to semesters. I'm doing the normal 4 year BS in Biology, not some fancy pants finish in two years route. (Graduated from high school when I was 16 - turned 17 a week later).

I've had issues with scholarships and early admissions programs due to my age (i've got good grades and activities). In the end I hope my age won't be a deciding factor for admission?

 

[Longshanks]

If you have a competitive application your age shouldn't matter. Age discrimination is illegal anyhow. The only disadvantage you may have with a young age is a lack of non-academic experience, which hopefully as a competitive applicant you have gained in some meaningful way. But that may only come up in answering interview questions. Being twenty will not be a deciding factor. The deciding factor will be the entirety of your application.

 

[Ischemic]

One way your young age could come into play is to question your actual motivation for medicine. Adcoms want people passionate about medicine and who have a personal reason/experience that they can draw from for that. Think about little kids running around saying I want to be X,Y,Z... anyone actually take them seriously since they know these kids haven't experienced anything yet to really drive them one way or another. As long as you have a unique reason and not "cause I want to be like House/Grey's Anatomy/generic medical drama show" you should be fine.

 

[cpants]

With the 7 year programs a lot of schools have 5-10 students who are 20 at time of matriculation. I think we even had one who was 19. It shouldn't hurt you as long as you've got the scores and the experience. That said, it might not be a bad idea to work for a year to grow up a bit, get some money for first year, and maybe get more experience in a clinical field. I think working before med school is a good idea for any student.

 

[dw2158]

With the 7 year programs a lot of schools have 5-10 students who are 20 at time of matriculation. I think we even had one who was 19. It shouldn't hurt you as long as you've got the scores and the experience. That said, it might not be a bad idea to work for a year to grow up a bit, get some money for first year, and maybe get more experience in a clinical field. I think working before med school is a good idea for any student.

couldn't agree more. i have matured so much more than i expected during my years out of college.

 

[Disinence2]

I Disagree! I graduated in 3 years and am very happy of my choice to enter medical school directly after.

If medicine is what your interested in, why delay it a year? Any amount of money you can earn during that year off is fairly inconsequential in the face of 200K + Debt especially with a degree in basic sciences.

Some schools will care, others won't. If your app is solid you won't have any problems.

 

[dw2158]

I Disagree! I graduated in 3 years and am very happy of my choice to enter medical school directly after.

If medicine is what your interested in, why delay it a year? Any amount of money you can earn during that year off is fairly inconsequential in the face of 200K + Debt especially with a degree in basic sciences.

Some schools will care, others won't. If your app is solid you won't have any problems.

yeah, that's why everyone takes time off. to make big bucks 🙄

what i did/am doing works for me. going straight through may work for others. the OP is pretty young so i was just agreeing with the suggestion of time off since it didn't appear that s/he had considered it yet.

 

[cpants]

I Disagree! I graduated in 3 years and am very happy of my choice to enter medical school directly after.

If medicine is what your interested in, why delay it a year? Any amount of money you can earn during that year off is fairly inconsequential in the face of 200K + Debt especially with a degree in basic sciences.

Some schools will care, others won't. If your app is solid you won't have any problems.

Well, you don't really know what you missed, do you? Working a 9-5 for a year was a great experience. It made me realize why I should value my career in medicine so much and it keeps me going when med school gets tough. I was able to save about 20k during that year, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it will actually count as more than double that when you consider interest on the money you would have borrowed. In other words, it was a good investment. On top of that, I gained experience in a healthcare related field and I learned a lot about how a hospital works and how ancillary staff do their jobs (things you get zero instruction on in med school).

I think increasing chances at admission is way down on the list of reasons to do this. Personal growth and saving money are the real reasons. Also, if you end up being unsuccessful during the cycle, you are already sitting in a job which you can continue (in other words you will still be able to eat) while you regroup and reapply.

 

[VTBuc]

I can't even imagine going to Medical School and not being able to go downtown for drinks after a big test.😱

 

[WorldChanger36]

OP, Don't rush things. Make damn sure you want to be in this field before you dive in. Volunteer everywhere, Children clinics low ses clinics and hospitals. Shadow as many Docs tht can stand the site of your face and take as many broad classes as possible. Be sure and It is required for a good app anyways, as was said. Slow down, my rule of thumb is if you can't sit at a bar and enjoy a nice cold beer, while talking over what med school would mean for your life, with friends, family, significant others then you should prob wait and gain experience and enjoy life. Med school is long and there is no time for fun when ( and if ) you get there. Drink life in now and while you are doing that better your app. I am 25 years old and I screwed up bcause I had no fucus in my life so now I am in post bac working four time harder trying to catch up so I can apply. You have so much time...... use it.

 

[littlealex]

Not going to be an issue especially since you did 4 years in undergrad. Did your time. Being 20 isn't going to make you any less mature than the 22 year old coming out of undergrad.

You can't drink though. Sucks for you, go get a fake.

 

[mysterychick]

I'm 20 and I got in. I'm graduating UG as a 20 year old, but I am turning 21 a few days before med school starts. If you have a strong app, they can't really deny you because of your age. At the same time, because of your age, you haven't had the same amount of time as the others to build up the same kind of application. Don't let your age of all things discourage you though. You don't have anything to lose (well except the time and money spent doing the applications). If you get in, you'll finish med school that much faster, be cleared of debt that much earlier in your life and be able to support your family earlier!

 

[extravagnat]

As long as you don't sound and act like a highschool kid..your age won't matter. I got in and I will be 21 when I start. I was never asked a question related to my age on my interview.

 

[austinap]

A year sounds like a lot right now, but when you're in your late 20's / early 30's, a couple of years age difference is meaningless. The people saying "I didn't take time off and I didn't miss it" don't know what they missed. It's a time in your life that you'll never be able to replicate later on: you're young, have a normal job, and can experience something completely unrelated to medicine if you so desire. I took a few years off to go do other things, and I would never take that back now.

That being said, your age won't directly be an issue in the application process, but your experience and motivation may be. So long as you have that worked out, you won't have an issue.

 

[mvenus929]

couldn't agree more. i have matured so much more than i expected during my years out of college.

Ditto.

I Disagree! I graduated in 3 years and am very happy of my choice to enter medical school directly after.

If medicine is what your interested in, why delay it a year? Any amount of money you can earn during that year off is fairly inconsequential in the face of 200K + Debt especially with a degree in basic sciences.

It's not about money, though money is certainly a nice additive. If I had gone straight to med school out of college, I wouldn't have been able to buy my own car (which I'm doing this week), nor would I have been able to afford a lot of experiences. I paid off all my debt, and was able to get out of the application cycle debt free because I had a full time job to help finance it. That'll be a huge burden off my shoulders once I start taking out huge amounts of loans.

I graduated in three years as well, and I got rejected from every school I applied to. Honestly, I think a big reason was because I was 19 or 20 at my interviews. I was really, really young, though if you had asked me at the time, I would've told you that I'm more mature than a lot of people 10-15 years older than me (I was a heck of a lot more mature than my stepdad, at any rate). The biggest reason I was rejected was that I didn't have experience. Perhaps someone who spent the full four years in school had enough experiences to justify going right in, but I didn't.

I spent a full year off, going to a technical school and working before applying again, and I matured a huge amount during that year. I wasn't a carefree person in college, but I was naive. Now I have experiences working with people, understanding the value of my time, etc, that people who just come out of college don't appreciate. I wouldn't change it for the world.

You don't know what you missed because you didn't take that year off. Trust me, I had the exact same mentality as you when I applied the first time. I saw no reason to put off applying another year or two, even though I was young. I thought the very idea was stupid. And then I was forced to do it anyway, and I wouldn't change the experience for the world.

So, OP, your age in and of itself won't make a difference. What will is your experiences and application as a whole. Don't underestimate the power of a year out of school, though. It can do amazing things, whether you work or travel, or even volunteer.