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Do non-traditional students working full-time get any leniency regarding the number of extracurricular activities and clinical experience they need to be a strong applicant?
Leniency for non-trad ECs
- Thread starter nehuHI
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The answer to both of your questions (unfortunately) is "Not really." The med school attitude toward nontrads is that we're welcome to apply, but if we want to get in we have to compete with the 22-year-olds. So if a nontrad is short on ECs or clinical experience, they're going to lose out to someone who isn't.
As for your question about research vs. clinical experience, one won't "make up for" the other because the activities are titally different. Clinical experience involves exposure to PATIENTS, which bench research doesn't. (That's why I preferred clinical research, because it does have patient contact. In a way, it kills two birds with one stone.)
Of the two, I'd definitely say that clinical experience should take precedence. This is a mandatory part of any med school app, whereas research is hardly a requirement except at a handful of elite schools.
As for your question about research vs. clinical experience, one won't "make up for" the other because the activities are titally different. Clinical experience involves exposure to PATIENTS, which bench research doesn't. (That's why I preferred clinical research, because it does have patient contact. In a way, it kills two birds with one stone.)
Of the two, I'd definitely say that clinical experience should take precedence. This is a mandatory part of any med school app, whereas research is hardly a requirement except at a handful of elite schools.
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Agreed. Expect no lenience for anything. Nontrads already have a huge advantage in that it's easier to rack up amazing ECs and experiences and references if you've spent more years living on the planet. So don't expect any additional leniency. You still need to put up the numbers, but if you otherwise have the stats, you probably will be in good shape because 5 years of research with publications is going to beat out a few months of washing test tubes. However you still have to have CLINICAL EXPOSURE (shadowing, hospital volunteering) because the point of that is less about being a hoop to jump through and more about whether you really know what doctors do, and have really researched this path. It is expected that nontrads really put in the time to research this decision because you will be uprooting more than the typical traditional applicant coming straight from college. You need to see doctors at work, and get exposed to patient contact or else you have no frame of reference as to whether medicine is for you. Having family members in the field or "thinking" you know what doctors do doesn't count.
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If anything, a nontrad probably needs MORE clinical experience. They want to know why you are leaving your current job to go down this path. Only significant amounts of time interacting with patients can help you answer this question.
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I was pre-vet, graduated, didn't want to go to vet school and 2 years later applied to medical school. I used anything I had as EC's to apply to medical school (worked at the Vet School teaching hospital, worked at an animal hospital etc). So I basically said that was my "clinical" experience, however animal medicine is far from human! Anyway that's all I had for clinical and I got in.... so you never know.
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