Is matriculating at 21/22 really an issue?

[maybefuturedoctor7]

Hi! I'm trying to prewrite secondaries and am stuck on the "tell us your life story" prompt. I skipped a grade when I was 5 so I spent all my life around people who were 2 years older than me. I was bullied for many years but also was forced to mature faster to fit in. It made me more compassionate too. I wanted to discuss how this shaped me (and of course I'll write about other things too, not just skipping a grade).

In a conversation about a different essay, an adcom member told me not to bring up my age anywhere on my application. He said it will probably only hurt me because med schools look for maturity, and putting a spotlight on my age might bias them against me.

Is this true for all med schools? For any adcom members on here, would you view this as a unique experience or a red flag? I'm more than happy to leave it out if there's any risk - I just want to get into med school on the first try.

For context, I'm graduating at 20 and taking 1 gap year. I'd matriculate at the same age as someone with 0 gap years. My top choice medical school asks this "tell us your story" question so I REALLY don't want to mess up.

Thank you so much!

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[pedneuro6894]

My opinion as an applicant is I agree with that adcom member.

Typically, admissions teams don’t really care about anything that happened prior to college. This question is designed for the reader to get a brief picture of your background and then for you to focus more on how that background makes you who you are today. Maybe include a mention of what turned you to medicine, but if you did that well in your PS, then no need to repeat unless explicitly asked. The adcom person is mostly right that by talking about when you were five, it will show your young age, and that can only hurt you.

If you feel the need to mention it, keep it brief and do it in a way that focuses on the effects now not while you were a kid. Example, “Being younger than many of my peers, blah blah blah”. This may just be me, but I would not mention getting bullied.

 

[maybefuturedoctor7]

My opinion as an applicant is I agree with that adcom member.

Typically, admissions teams don’t really care about anything that happened prior to college. This question is designed for the reader to get a brief picture of your background and then for you to focus more on how that background makes you who you are today. Maybe include a mention of what turned you to medicine, but if you did that well in your PS, then no need to repeat unless explicitly asked. The adcom person is mostly right that by talking about when you were five, it will show your young age, and that can only hurt you.

If you feel the need to mention it, keep it brief and do it in a way that focuses on the effects now not while you were a kid. Example, “Being younger than many of my peers, blah blah blah”. This may just be me, but I would not mention getting bullied.

Thank you!

 

[Doodledog]

Hi! I'm trying to prewrite secondaries and am stuck on the "tell us your life story" prompt. I skipped a grade when I was 5 so I spent all my life around people who were 2 years older than me. I was bullied for many years but also was forced to mature faster to fit in. It made me more compassionate too. I wanted to discuss how this shaped me (and of course I'll write about other things too, not just skipping a grade).

In a conversation about a different essay, an adcom member told me not to bring up my age anywhere on my application. He said it will probably only hurt me because med schools look for maturity, and putting a spotlight on my age might bias them against me.

Is this true for all med schools? For any adcom members on here, would you view this as a unique experience or a red flag? I'm more than happy to leave it out if there's any risk - I just want to get into med school on the first try.

For context, I'm graduating at 20 and taking 1 gap year. I'd matriculate at the same age as someone with 0 gap years. My top choice medical school asks this "tell us your story" question so I REALLY don't want to mess up.

Thank you so much!

You can certainly discuss the challenges you faced as a child in your essays as they are part of your life experiences. Medical schools have 21 and 22 year old students all the time, they won't pay any attention to that unless you show signs they interpret as immaturity. Also, give your dog an extra treat tonight just because they are a good dog.

 

[maybefuturedoctor7]

You can certainly discuss the challenges you faced as a child in your essays as they are part of your life experiences. Medical schools have 21 and 22 year old students all the time, they won't pay any attention to that unless you show signs they interpret as immaturity. Also, give your dog an extra treat tonight just because they are a good dog.

Thank you so much! And I unfortunately don't have a dog, so please give yours an extra treat on my behalf 🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

First, you can disclose anything about yourself: age, gender/identity, race/ethnicity, faith, socioeconomic status, or zodiac birth sign. However, answering any TMAY question (written or verbal) should require you to address your audience's curiosity about you. That means you should show you understand what professional profile you need to articulate. I promise you it's not the same as a profile for a dating website or for rushing a frat/sorority.

The reader could be a faculty member or a proxy for a patient. When doctors introduce themselves to patients, rarely (being generous) is the doctor's age part of the introduction. We expect you to introduce yourself like you would for a patient, and telling people about how you were bullied as a kid won't be the preferred answer.

Now, some schools will ask you to disclose something that you makes you cool or that you haven't yet disclosed on your application. Maybe you can consider talking about being bullied there. But I would need to see the prompts.

 

[Goro]

Hi! I'm trying to prewrite secondaries and am stuck on the "tell us your life story" prompt. I skipped or 22? Nopea grade when I was 5 so I spent all my life around people who were 2 years older than me. I was bullied for many years but also was forced to mature faster to fit in. It made me more compassionate too. I wanted to discuss how this shaped me (and of course I'll write about other things too, not just skipping a grade).

In a conversation about a different essay, an adcom member told me not to bring up my age anywhere on my application. He said it will probably only hurt me because med schools look for maturity, and putting a spotlight on my age might bias them against me.

Is this true for all med schools? For any adcom members on here, would you view this as a unique experience or a red flag? I'm more than happy to leave it out if there's any risk - I just want to get into med school on the first try.

For context, I'm graduating at 20 and taking 1 gap year. I'd matriculate at the same age as someone with 0 gap years. My top choice medical school asks this "tell us your story" question so I REALLY don't want to mess up.

Thank you so much!

21 or 22? Nope

 

[maybefuturedoctor7]

First, you can disclose anything about yourself: age, gender/identity, race/ethnicity, faith, socioeconomic status, or zodiac birth sign. However, answering any TMAY question (written or verbal) should require you to address your audience's curiosity about you. That means you should show you understand what professional profile you need to articulate. I promise you it's not the same as a profile for a dating website or for rushing a frat/sorority.

The reader could be a faculty member or a proxy for a patient. When doctors introduce themselves to patients, rarely (being generous) is the doctor's age part of the introduction. We expect you to introduce yourself like you would for a patient, and telling people about how you were bullied as a kid won't be the preferred answer.

Now, some schools will ask you to disclose something that you makes you cool or that you haven't yet disclosed on your application. Maybe you can consider talking about being bullied there. But I would need to see the prompts.

Okay thank you so much that makes sense! I will probably just avoid it altogether then, unless there's another question where I truly have absolutely nothing else to say. I was having a hard time coming up with things to say which is how I got onto this topic, but if I think hard enough there will probably be more informative things about my life that I can talk about. Thanks again!

 

[maybefuturedoctor7]

21 or 22? Nope

Thank you so much!

 

[polymerization]

I skipped a grade when I was 5 so I spent all my life around people who were 2 years older than me.

Please understand a 2 year age gap becomes less and less relevant as you get older. It's huge when you're 5, but the people reading your application will roll their eyes into oblivion if you position this as a major life disadvantage, like I just did.

Saying that you've been bullied and using that as a driving factor will only confuse your audience. So? People were mean to you so now you feel compassion for... presumably people who have been bullied in their childhoods? There is no connection to adult patients there, which is why you need to have adult experiences. As a physician, you will be squarely in the adult role, so you can't keep looking at this process from the perspective of a child and expecting readers to understand.

It might seem tough, but I really am trying to help. Maturity isn't something you just achieve, like in a video game. It's a slow, often devastating and disillusioning mindset shift. It brings gifts and new challenges, some harder than the ones you leave behind. For those that don't have it, it is very difficult to fake.

As a younger person, you have maybe 2-3 years' worth of activities you can draw upon, which probably isn't a lot. You'll have to, perhaps, be a lot more forward-focused than I think a lot of other applicants have to be. That's a real challenge. Schools can't discriminate against you based solely on age, but there are proxies, and this is one of them. They won't tell you that you're too young, they will just politely nod and tell you that you lacked fit.

It absolutely does make things harder. You will have to work harder to overcome that. Maturity is realizing that everyone has their own unique challenges, and this one is yours. You can be sour about it, or you can work on it. Only one will get you into medical school.

 

[atriablack]

Plenty of people in your class will be 22 (I was!). Handful will be 21. Not a big deal and really no reason it should come up unless YOU bring it up because others will not care.

In a conversation about a different essay, an adcom member told me not to bring up my age anywhere on my application. He said it will probably only hurt me because med schools look for maturity, and putting a spotlight on my age might bias them against me.

Like above poster, I think the point the adcom is making is not that you should hide your age, it is that couching an adversity point in being 2 years younger than your classmates will be hard to make compelling now that you are grown.

 

[maybefuturedoctor7]

Please understand a 2 year age gap becomes less and less relevant as you get older. It's huge when you're 5, but the people reading your application will roll their eyes into oblivion if you position this as a major life disadvantage, like I just did.

Saying that you've been bullied and using that as a driving factor will only confuse your audience. So? People were mean to you so now you feel compassion for... presumably people who have been bullied in their childhoods? There is no connection to adult patients there, which is why you need to have adult experiences. As a physician, you will be squarely in the adult role, so you can't keep looking at this process from the perspective of a child and expecting readers to understand.

It might seem tough, but I really am trying to help. Maturity isn't something you just achieve, like in a video game. It's a slow, often devastating and disillusioning mindset shift. It brings gifts and new challenges, some harder than the ones you leave behind. For those that don't have it, it is very difficult to fake.

As a younger person, you have maybe 2-3 years' worth of activities you can draw upon, which probably isn't a lot. You'll have to, perhaps, be a lot more forward-focused than I think a lot of other applicants have to be. That's a real challenge. Schools can't discriminate against you based solely on age, but there are proxies, and this is one of them. They won't tell you that you're too young, they will just politely nod and tell you that you lacked fit.

It absolutely does make things harder. You will have to work harder to overcome that. Maturity is realizing that everyone has their own unique challenges, and this one is yours. You can be sour about it, or you can work on it. Only one will get you into medical school.

I totally understand, thank you for your advice! I have received such mixed reviews from advisors too, some telling me it's a very compelling story and others telling me it had an impact too long ago. But I guess if anyone is rolling their eyes it's probably too risky, especially if I'm sending it to my top choice school.

Thanks again!

 

[maybefuturedoctor7]

Plenty of people in your class will be 22 (I was!). Handful will be 21. Not a big deal and really no reason it should come up unless YOU bring it up because others will not care.

Like above poster, I think the point the adcom is making is not that you should hide your age, it is that couching an adversity point in being 2 years younger than your classmates will be hard to make compelling now that you are grown.

That's a relief to hear, at least they won't throw me out as soon as they see my DOB. Thank you!!