Need advice: Non-trad coming from business/finance

[Peftswick]

I’ve been working in finance and accounting for the last few years and I’m trying to devise a plan to make sure I’m a competitive applicant for the next cycle. While my undergrad and masters are business related, I actually took the majority of pre-requisites in undergrad since I had considered medicine then but was unsure. Since I’ve been working in the business world I feel like I’m not being challenged and at the end of the day it’s just moving numbers around. So the thought keeps coming back up to finish my pre-reps and apply to medical school.

Can anyone tell me if this plan makes sense and maybe point out some gaps of things I should try and add in. I work FT 8-5 and since I only need a few more classes (Organic Chem and Bio depending on the school), it doesn’t make sense to me to go back to school full time. Looking to take Organic 1 Fall 2018 and organic 2 Spring 2019 and Biochem in Spring 2019 if I can find an evening class at a local college.

Current cGPA is 3.87 and sGPA is 3.6. I don’t expect it to change with 3 classes. I am hesitant to take the MCAT before organic but in the past I have done well on standardized tests.

I’ve been reaching out to local MDs to try and set up shadowing opportunities with minimal success and I’m scheduled to begin volunteering at the local hospital in the ED. I was an officer in a business fraternity for 2 years during undergrad and very active with a local church and on campus ministry group.

What other things should I be working on to bolster my application and any suggestions for getting more experience as a non-traditional and somebody that works during normal business hours. I’d be willing to use vacation time for some shadowing but my current problem is getting MDs to respond to my requests.

(Sorry if this is the wrong forum. I can move it if needed. My thought was what are my chances of getting in current state and what can I do to improve my application)

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[mk04447]

Don't take the MCAT till you've scored what you want on a few practice tests. That's the calculus, not what courses you've taken; however, probably unlikely you'll accomplish that without all the prerequisites. Otherwise squeeze in shadowing and volunteering. I wouldn't set a timeline till you're close to knocking off the MCAT.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

You bring a lot to the table as a non-trad with your work experience. I'm a med student at Mayo and have some classmates who also came from a business background. It's definitely seen as an asset. Schools will be aware that you were working full time. I think you'll be fine in terms of your activities as it sounds like you have non-clinical volunteering with your church and leadership from undergrad. The biggest thing is getting clinical experience, which it seems like you already have covered with volunteering in your hospital's ED. Hope you have some luck with finding a doctor to shadow. You don't need to have a ton of shadowing hours though. Some schools don't really care about shadowing (since it's often a passive activity) as long as you have clinical experience, but other schools do want to see it - so best to try to get in at least one shadowing experience to be safe with the schools that want it. I would primarily focus on the MCAT at this point though.