Mature Non Traditionals and DO Schools

[JanikeyDoc]

I am 33 years old and applying to DO schools for 2010 entry. I was wondering how schools would view my age with regards to admissions. I have been working in the financial services industry for the last ten years, I have shadowed numerous physicians, volunteered in hospitals. I also took part in community service activities that included tutoring underprivileged high school students. I was wondering if I would have issues with getting into a DO school as an older non traditional applicant.

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[ShyRem]

check out the non-trad forum for more information regarding being a non traditional applicant.

My opinion: you won't have problems at the age of 33 as long as your app is solid and you interview well.

 

[Semicolon]

I am 33 years old and applying to DO schools for 2010 entry. I was wondering how schools would view my age with regards to admissions. I have been working in the financial services industry for the last ten years, I have shadowed numerous physicians, volunteered in hospitals. I also took part in community service activities that included tutoring underprivileged high school students. I was wondering if I would have issues with getting into a DO school as an older non traditional applicant.

There are plenty of older non-trads that get into DO schools every year. Your age won't be used against you.

 

[Bleurberry]

I am 33 years old and applying to DO schools for 2010 entry. I was wondering how schools would view my age with regards to admissions. I have been working in the financial services industry for the last ten years, I have shadowed numerous physicians, volunteered in hospitals. I also took part in community service activities that included tutoring underprivileged high school students. I was wondering if I would have issues with getting into a DO school as an older non traditional applicant.

I'm 30 and they let me in, I think they generally see it as an asset if you present yourself well.

Cheers.

 

[DH78]

I'm 30 and they let me in, I think they generally see it as an asset if you present yourself well.

Here here! I like to think of myself as an "UN" trad, rather than a "NON" trad.

I'm looking forward to sharing with the rest of the class of 2013 the stories of my day, like when we had to go all the way to a "record" store to buy these things called "compact discs" if we wanted music. Or use a device called a "video cassette recorded", or VCR, to watch classics like Reality Bites, or Forrest Gump.

DO schools tend to value age and experience, so have no fear.

 

[Spooner13]

You won't have a problem. Just be prepared to explain why you are wanting to change your career path. Make it a good story, and you can actually use it to your advantage. Good luck!

 

[NontradICUdoc]

I am going to be 35 in August and I am in my second year. The schools are more interested in your ability to complete the program and your reasons for going into medicine than they are about how old you are.

 

[phillyosteo]

I will be 26 when I start and I worked in management consulting for one of the big four right after college. I applied and interviewed at both osteopathic and allopathic schools and generally found the osteopathic schools to be more interested in my work history.

I think it can be a real asset if you can explain how your work experiences will help you succeed in medical school and later as a practitioner. For example, you're already used to a more regimented schedule like students see in medical school (assuming they go to class, of course). Undergraduate has so much more free time and flexibility to do things whenever you want and I'm sure a lot of students who enter right out of college have initial difficulty adjusting to a stricter schedule. If you're in the financial services business, you're probably already used to putting in 60-80 hours a week. If you put that amount of effort into medical school, I'm sure you'll do well.

Not to mention all the practical business and financial information you already know that most doctors have to eventually figure out on their own.

 

[2000 Man]

Not an issue. I am 46 starting this Summer. I know of another guy who was 44 and a woman 50 when they started. As long as you have the numbers and do well on the interview there should be no problem.

 

[FlaMedic]

Here here. I'm starting at 34 y/o. I got the sense at the interview they kind of appreciated that I had life experiences and really knew what I wanted to do in life....

I'm sure you'll do fine. Old guys rule.

 

[Birdeee]

My husband is a first-year student doing well at age 50.

 

[Fermata]

33, comparatively, is not that old for an entering osteopathic student.

I can think of several older students within my own class.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

I am actually living near a university campus right now and I am feeling like an old man. I was wondering to those who are over 30 whats it like coming back into an academic environment from the real world?

 

[Bleurberry]

I am actually living near a university campus right now and I am feeling like an old man. I was wondering to those who are over 30 whats it like coming back into an academic environment from the real world?

It's like a vacation on crack!
I feel it's taken me some time to get the cobb webs out, and there's more room for improvement, but then again, I didn't have a very stimulating job before coming back to school (to say the least).
I love learning.

 

[EricH]

I'll be 32 a month into M1....never came up on the application trail. They were more interested in how I plan to be a parent/student

 

[pietachok]

It won't really be an issue unless you somehow make it an issue by what you write about in your essays and/or what has been written about you in your letters of recommendation.

Supposedly the "cut-off" at which you start getting really hammered with questions is 35 years old (at entry), because that is where there is a precipitous increase in the attrition rate relative to peers who are younger upon entry. So long as you have been doing something that is intellectually (and preferably academically) quite rigorous prior to your application, you shouldn't have a problem at all about your ability to adjust to and handle the workload. If you're coming straight out of an unrelated workforce, be prepared to tell them how you feel you have prepared yourself for the change in pace and to adjust back to academics and the different lifestyle, etc. You can anticipate the questions pretty easily.