Limited school options

[siliso]

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So I read that the average number of schools to which one should apply is roughly a kajillion. But in my situation, I'm really only going to be able to attend one: IU, in my home town. I have three children and a stepdaughter, and moving out of state is just basically out of the question.

On the whole I think I am likely to have a pretty strong application (still finishing prereqs, will finish this summer). I have an undergraduate GPA ~4.0, on track to keep that going as I complete prerequisites. I've always had strong performance on standardized tests, so hopefully the MCAT won't be too much of a problem, with adequate preparation of course. I have long-term, in-depth health-related volunteer and work experience. I can get glowing letters of recommendation.

On the downside, I will be ~30 at time of application, haven't done a lot of intensive resume-padding, I have kids and family obligations. My BA is in political science, and so my only real lab science classes are the ones I am taking now (bio, gen chem, physics, then organic in the summer).

So it makes me nervous to have all my eggs in one basket. What's the backup plan? Is early decision absolutely essential? It would be a tight squeeze getting an early app in, or another year...which somehow seems more urgent than it would if I were 22. Should I scrape to finance extra non-mandatory-prerequisite science classes? Just keep applying annually until they break down 😉? Has anyone else found their options limited due to "nontraditional" life circumstances and made a way through it?

I feel a little at loose ends because advising is very spotty where I am now.

 

[2008orbust]

I too only applied to one school. My kids want to stay in their school district, my wife wants to stay by her family while I am so busy with school, I have a j.o.b. here that will allow me to work now and then when I can squeeze it in.

So, Early Decision was it. Just like you said, all my eggs in one tiny basket. Held my breath and slipped into a seat with the entering class.

Your stats are better than mine were and I was older than you. It can be done.

Put together the most amazing PS ever. ROck out your interview with your hard earned maturity. Follow up with anything asked of you as FAST as you can. Get detailed letters from people who know you very very well. PRAY.

Good luck to you, James

 

[Scottish Chap]

OP: you have a very strong application - and even more so for a state school that prefers instate applicants. With a reasonable MCAT, you should be fine for IU.

A couple of things: I would de-emphasize your local obligations and geographical constraints in your AMCAS essay and interview (when you get it). Some schools may not mind, but I've known others to see it as inflexibility and a lack of commitment to medicine (not your case at all, I know). Also, age will not be an issue. Your major will not be an issue either; grades matter way more.

Good luck!

 

[moonshine2]

It is scary to put all of your eggs in one basket. I also applied early decision and it worked out for me. My spouse has a good job here, and we are close enough to family to have some help if we need it with our son.

I finished my prerequisites in early May then took the MCAT about a week later so I would know my score before I applied. I prepared my application while waiting on the scores to be released, and once I knew I would be competitive for early decision I submitted my app. For me, my backup plan involved another year. I would have called the school to find out why I was not accepted (how can I improve my app, etc). My husband and I were going to sit down with the MSAR and make a list of places we would be agreeable to moving to and I was going to apply more broadly next year.

Lucky for me, I don't have to worry about the backup. I did early decision so I would know by Oct 1. That way, if the school told me they thought I needed more advanced classes, I would have been able to enroll for Spring semester classes.

I did not mention any constraints in my AMCAS essay. But when I was asked 'why this school?' in the interview, I was honest about the location being a factor with my husbands job and family support being close. But then I also talked about other ways that I believed the school was a good fit for me.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

Does IU=Iowa University?? First, I want to echo what the previous has said don't worry about how old you will be when you get into medical school. If you can afford it I would really look into taking some upper level classes like Biochemistry, Genetics, Human Anatomy, Immunology, Endocrinology, or any other upper biology courses to prove that you can handle the work in medical school. I would recommend taking at least two upper biology courses. Plus taking upper lever biol courses always look good for adcoms and possibly increase your chances for admission.
Also, I would take tours as well as make appointments with the admissions and have them look at my application. This will let you know if your lacking anything and also show that you really want to attend this school. I'm not sure what your plans as a physician are but if your in Iowa (not too familiar with school initials) there is also a DO school in Des Moines, IA. If your not familiar with it then read up on it and maybe even try shadowing a DO doctor to see that they are the same as MDs. And yes you will be able to specialize in any field of medicine if you go the DO route.

Just my two pennies worth.🙂🙂

 

[siliso]

Sorry, I should have specified that it's Indiana University. So there's only the one accredited medical school of any kind in the state.

I think I just got a little daunted looking at the sharp drop in the curve on the age-at-admission chart in the MSAR book. It's a little ugly for people 30+.

I'd certainly be willing to take more courses, but financing would be a problem. I'm going to run out my year of non-degree prerequisite financial aid in August. I could possibly change my status to degree-seeking, but I don't really want to finish another whole bachelor's degree.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

Sorry, I should have specified that it's Indiana University. So there's only the one accredited medical school of any kind in the state.

I think I just got a little daunted looking at the sharp drop in the curve on the age-at-admission chart in the MSAR book. It's a little ugly for people 30+.

I'd certainly be willing to take more courses, but financing would be a problem. I'm going to run out my year of non-degree prerequisite financial aid in August. I could possibly change my status to degree-seeking, but I don't really want to finish another whole bachelor's degree.

Lol ok. Well I don't think getting into IU will be easy but it won't be impossible either. Do they accept only instate students or both?? Personally the MSAR is working against you and making you depress lol so through it out of the window. I would STRONGLY recommended going to the school and talk with an admissions counselor and see where you stand. Find out what they favor and what they don't favor in applicants that they look at for acceptance. Find out their acceptance rate, is it better that you apply through early decision or just applying early through regular admissions. You HAVE to be proactive and don't give up until you have an acceptance in hand ( I know easier said than done). Good Luck 🙂 When are you planning on applying??

 

[DrMidlife]

I think I just got a little daunted looking at the sharp drop in the curve on the age-at-admission chart in the MSAR book. It's a little ugly for people 30+.

That drop corresponds with the drop in 30+ applicants. It's not a bias - there just aren't that many folks over 30 who take this on. If your application is strong, then you're a strong applicant, period, regardless of age. Applying to multiple schools is the usual way to handle the risk of arbitrary excoms who discriminate on age/race/sex/etc. If you're putting all your eggs in one IU basket, you have to accept the risk of getting punted by the only excom you're presenting yourself to. That excom might not want to fight for somebody older or younger or Asian or blonde or unathletic or athletic or soft-spoken, etc...

All you can do is roll the dice and see what happens. You're in the company of a lot of folks here who've given up everything to try for this, and a lot of us got in.

Best of luck to you.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Suggestions above were very good, a thing or two to add:

If you're looking at only one school (not that that's unreasonable), there's a good chance you'll be applying more than one year for any number of reasons; check these forums for what schools look for and do what you can to strengthen those experiences. An MS1 in my state was accepted to our state school on her 3rd try, I'm on my 2nd go-around.

The advice that a crochety "advanced in years" IU admissions gentleman, director of admissions I think, gave me regarding my limited volunteer/ECs due to long hours while starting a company & parenting my kids, which limited time to do ECs -- if a politician doesn't play golf, does it matter why? Then the adcom went on to say, basically, that it didn't matter why I didn't have more solid ECs, the fact that at that time I didn't was the only thing that mattered and would cause me to be viewed less favorably than an app with stronger ECs. (note - I was an OOS app, my impression is that instate is treated differently)

this gentleman suggested a SMP (my GPA was around 3.7 at the time) to show that I could handle med school level work, so yes, I'd say the school would value additional coursework if this is reasonable to pursue - advanced bio is always good.

Keep in mind that most of us decide how much it's worth to go to med school - if there were no limits, we'd all apply to 129 US Allo schools + DO + non-US schools. But we all make a cutoff somewhere, yours seems reasonable given what's important to you.

 

[student1799]

this gentleman suggested a SMP (my GPA was around 3.7 at the time) to show that I could handle med school level work

An SMP with a 3.7 GPA? That's a pretty harsh suggestion, not to mention dangerous. (With a 3.7, you'd have a reasonable shot at a lot of schools. But if you do an SMP and don't get top grades, you can permanently ruin your chances of getting into med school.)

 

[njbmd]

So I read that the average number of schools to which one should apply is roughly a kajillion. But in my situation, I'm really only going to be able to attend one: IU, in my home town. I have three children and a stepdaughter, and moving out of state is just basically out of the question.

On the whole I think I am likely to have a pretty strong application (still finishing prereqs, will finish this summer). I have an undergraduate GPA ~4.0, on track to keep that going as I complete prerequisites. I've always had strong performance on standardized tests, so hopefully the MCAT won't be too much of a problem, with adequate preparation of course. I have long-term, in-depth health-related volunteer and work experience. I can get glowing letters of recommendation.

On the downside, I will be ~30 at time of application, haven't done a lot of intensive resume-padding, I have kids and family obligations. My BA is in political science, and so my only real lab science classes are the ones I am taking now (bio, gen chem, physics, then organic in the summer).

So it makes me nervous to have all my eggs in one basket. What's the backup plan? Is early decision absolutely essential? It would be a tight squeeze getting an early app in, or another year...which somehow seems more urgent than it would if I were 22. Should I scrape to finance extra non-mandatory-prerequisite science classes? Just keep applying annually until they break down 😉? Has anyone else found their options limited due to "nontraditional" life circumstances and made a way through it?

I feel a little at loose ends because advising is very spotty where I am now.

If you are limited to one school, you are limited to one school. It's too late this year for Early Decision (many schools are starting to drop this anyway) but it is a viable option if you know that you can only attend one school. The only problem is that most EDP applicants have to exceed the averages for their particular school which I believe that you are already aware of. If you are well above the averages in terms of uGPA and MCAT for a school,then EDP makes sense. If not, apply with the regular applicants and hope for the best because it is your competitiveness within the pool of applicants to said school that will determine whether or not you gain admission.

Another consideration is that the admission process is expensive but you have to pay the price to get the acceptance anyway. As long as you are willing to accept the fact that applying to one school only greatly decreases your chance of admission and are prepared for the fact that you may not get in, then do what you have to do.

Also keep in mind that applications to medical school are at an all-time high with more competitive applicants taking the plunge. The averages are not going down but going up. What would have gotten a person in past years into the two schools that I am working admissions for, is not going to make it this year. We are literally overloaded with extremely competitive applicants. In short, put forth the best application that you can and do what you have to do.

 

[gman33]

If you are only applying to one school, there is no reason not to apply EDP. Contact the admissions office over the summer and talk to someone about your application.

Keep up your grades and study a ton for the MCAT. You will need a good score for EDP. They might have some slightly higher cutoffs for that as well.

I applied EDP and it worked out fine for me.

 

[huatuo]

I have a similiar situation in terms of age (30+ now), but no kids. Your GPA will make you a very strong candidate. I also recommend taking the MCAT in the summer before July 1, to meet their Aug. 1 EDP deadline. You may need to study Orgo on your own, but it is really a small portion (~25%) of the biology section of the MCAT. Studying from a good science review book like the Kaplan book is enough. For the EC, clinical volunteer experience is important, which shows that you enjoy working with patients and the medical team. Finally, be sure to apply as soon as possible: I agree that Early Decision is the best choice because it will let IU know that you are committed to attending their school. That puts you in a smaller pool with less competition. If you end up becoming a regular applicant, get your application in as soon as possible, maybe even before your MCAT test, so you have a better chance of getting interviewed and accepted, since IU is on a rolling admission.