I'm currently 31, and was just admitted to the University of Michigan!
I got a degree in physics from MIT with a ~3.0 GPA in 2001. My last semester was the worst. After that, I worked on a biocomputation research project for several years (with a few publications), then briefly at a document-management software company, and then joined the Peace Corps, where I taught math and physics. While there, I was involved in several health related projects, and decided that I wanted to go to med school when I came back to the US.
I was lucky enough to have a lot of support, both financially and otherwise, from my parents. I applied to and was accepted to a good, well organized postbac program. I came back from the Peace Corps in 2009 and started my postbac, paying with a mix of savings, loans, and money that my family chipped in. While in college, I'd been a bit of a flake, lacking in direction, and didn't really care about grades. In my postbac, I was focused and knew where I was going. I solidly applied myself, and managed to get a 4.0, bringing my cumulative GPA up to 3.23 (according to the official AMCAS calculation). I've always been a good test-taker, and with a fair bit of work spent studying, managed to slam dunk the MCAT with a 42R.
I called a professor in the med school that I used to work with on my post-college biocomputation project to see if he had any advice, and he offered me a spot in his infectious diseases lab. He's been a particularly amazing mentor, advocate, and resource, and has given me lots of great advice and a phenomenal LOR.
I applied to 10 schools and got interviews at several of the very best. Strangely, the mid-level schools have shown me a lot less interview love. I've just been accepted to the University of Michigan, and am still waiting to hear post-interview results from UPenn, Mayo, and Columbia. No rejections so far. I'll edit this part as I hear from more schools.
As I see it, my biggest obstacle has been my poor undergrad grades. My second biggest weakness as an applicant has been meager clinical experience (I probably have less than 100 hours in a clinical setting).
On the plus side of the ledger, my poor college grades were at least at a highly respected school with no reputation for grade inflation, and included some tough classes (one of my letters of recommendation from undergrad is from a professor in whose class I got a B, but who I believe pointed out in his letter that it was the hardest undergrad math class at the institute). Between my postbac grades (4.0) and MCAT (42R) it's clear than I'm bright, and am applying myself in a way I didn't back in college. My LORs are stellar. I have great research experience. My Peace Corps service seems to impress, and provides a wealth of good stories to talk about.
I spent a lot of time carefully crafting my personal statement, and think that in the end it provided a good sense of who I am as a person, portrayed me as mature, thoughtful, committed to medicine, compassionate, interesting, driven, and smart. I addressed my poor college performance head on in the personal statement, and then quickly moved on to more positive ground.
Each non-traditional student's path is his own, and so there's a limit to how much my experience can inform your own plans. The main lesson I think that my case has to offer for other students is that your cumulative GPA does not need to be all that great to give you a shot at even the top schools. I see people talking about how they'd need 5 full time semesters of straight As to bring their cumulative average to a 3.5, or whatever. This is clearly not necessary, if you have enough other things in your favor. Kids with a high GPA are a dime a dozen for adcoms. Mature, thoughtful people with a wide variety of experiences are ****in' gold. I think that you do need to prove yourself to be smart and academically capable, but it's a mistake to plan on spending years on end doing that. Spend some of the extra time you save by looking past your cumulative GPA further developing your strengths as an applicant, and I think it'll work out much better for you.
Also, don't be afraid to aim high. I got an interview at Mayo, which I believe is the most selective school in the country, but still haven't heard anything from most of the mid-tier.
And finally, I want to wish you all the best of luck!
I'm at a bit of a crossroad myself and trying to determine how I should proceed, but this is very helpful.
