Need Advice

[eddiesolebury23]

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Hi I am a nontraditional premed student and I want to seek for some helps because I am so desperate right now. Let me start with my college journey first so you get a better picture of me.

I am a Canadian citizen currently taking my pre-req for med school at small private accredited university in riverside, I have been here year and half and this is a quarter based school so far I have completed
full sequence of g chem, g physics , o chem and bio, currently taking genetics, college writing and biochem
and will complete all of them by the end of spring quarter. Currently CGPA 3.88 science GPA 3.84, attending kaplan MCAT at the same time will take my first MCAT on late June this year.
However when I graduated from my undergrad 4 years ago, Electrical engineering of UofT, I ended up with an overall gpa 2.34 though non of the courses except calculus would match up with A&S program, according to my research. All the GPA will be accounted to my AAMC gpa calculation and since most of the courses are science related, based on this situation I will not be able to have a second chance because my overall science GPA will get me eliminated from the first screening.
I have two plausible options now, first do very well on the MCAT and take less classes ( minimum full time since I am seen as an international student in the states ) and see the outcome ( BTW what would be considered a good MCAT score ? ).
second option, take massive science classes to salvage my poor GPA but then I need to postpone the MCAT which will be very disadvantageous for me because if I delay my test I will probably miss the 2014 cycle )

Also I am doing volunteer, research ( small one ) and shadowing, if I only do the minimum ( say couple hours ) and then maximize them during the summer after the test would that be bad on my record or they just care about my total hours?

last question but not least, when I reviewed my Canadian transcript, each of my course were weighted ( for example calculus was 0.5 and overall points for that semester were 2.5 ), it really troubled me when I tried use the GPA calculator to access my GPA. Does anyone know how the Canadian grade is converted to the US system ? It doesn't show the hours or points like my US transcript.

I thank you for reading my tread, and hopefully someone can answer some of my questions....being a non trad I feel like every step I am taking is like gambling and I always treat with caution but I don't know if my hard working would be offset by my past. 🙁

 

[StraightDave]

Had around a 3.0 both cum and sgpa, Got a ~30 on mcat. Got 5 interviews and a few acceptances early on. Don't let the numbers game weight you down. Get clinical experience that is interesting, be personal and personable in your essays and interviews (I was brutally honest and quite candid about my past, both good and bad), and you'll make it

And also- apply smart. Some schools value ethics and personality, others value scientific drones with no social aptitude. Go and apply where you will fit in

 

[eddiesolebury23]

Thx for the insight. It is really helpful

 

[bluv1212]

Hi I am a nontraditional premed student and I want to seek for some helps because I am so desperate right now. Let me start with my college journey first so you get a better picture of me.

I am a Canadian citizen currently taking my pre-req for med school at small private accredited university in riverside, I have been here year and half and this is a quarter based school so far I have completed
full sequence of g chem, g physics , o chem and bio, currently taking genetics, college writing and biochem
and will complete all of them by the end of spring quarter. Currently CGPA 3.88 science GPA 3.84, attending kaplan MCAT at the same time will take my first MCAT on late June this year.
However when I graduated from my undergrad 4 years ago, Electrical engineering of UofT, I ended up with an overall gpa 2.34 though non of the courses except calculus would match up with A&S program, according to my research. All the GPA will be accounted to my AAMC gpa calculation and since most of the courses are science related, based on this situation I will not be able to have a second chance because my overall science GPA will get me eliminated from the first screening.
I have two plausible options now, first do very well on the MCAT and take less classes ( minimum full time since I am seen as an international student in the states ) and see the outcome ( BTW what would be considered a good MCAT score ? ).
second option, take massive science classes to salvage my poor GPA but then I need to postpone the MCAT which will be very disadvantageous for me because if I delay my test I will probably miss the 2014 cycle )

Also I am doing volunteer, research ( small one ) and shadowing, if I only do the minimum ( say couple hours ) and then maximize them during the summer after the test would that be bad on my record or they just care about my total hours?

last question but not least, when I reviewed my Canadian transcript, each of my course were weighted ( for example calculus was 0.5 and overall points for that semester were 2.5 ), it really troubled me when I tried use the GPA calculator to access my GPA. Does anyone know how the Canadian grade is converted to the US system ? It doesn't show the hours or points like my US transcript.

I thank you for reading my tread, and hopefully someone can answer some of my questions....being a non trad I feel like every step I am taking is like gambling and I always treat with caution but I don't know if my hard working would be offset by my past. 🙁

take the test & do well - 30 to 32 is about the mean right now. Apply as early as possible (june) & Apply broadly - inquire about schools that take chances on non-trads. How much older are you? if you are a bit older, it may work in your favor. You may want to consider applying to an SMP in April as a fallback plan because you will not know how you'll fare in the cycle. Good luck!

 

[eddiesolebury23]

What is sMP?

 

[SixStringPsych]

What is sMP?

An SMP is a Special Masters Program. Normally students in these programs take classes along with first year medical students to prove that they can handle the rigor of a medical school curriculum to bolster their application.

 

[Juststarting]

These stories are really inspiring but I am in my mid 50's and wonder is there are any of you who have - or know of anyone who has - applied and received acceptance at such a late age? If so which school and what were the requirements if different from the traditional?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

These stories are really inspiring but I am in my mid 50's and wonder is there are any of you who have - or know of anyone who has - applied and received acceptance at such a late age? If so which school and what were the requirements if different from the traditional?

The law protects everyone equally, so no special requirements for age. I know a year or to ago a guy that was in his late fifties graduated from UNECOM.

 

[Juststarting]

Thanks, that's encouraging. I have a PhD in the Life Sciences - would that be helpful and would I still need to take the MCAT? and what do you think of the off-shore schools?

 

[NuttyEngDude]

@Juststarting

There's two guys you want to read the posts of, one is gonnif and the other is goro.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/is-30-too-old-to-start-medical-school.1054827/#post-14895356

Age discrimination is illegal.

Some of my all-time best students have been in their 30s and 40s; our oldest student ever matriculated was 53.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...student-i-know-is.482527/page-2#post-14166012

to add some overall context to this thread on age

The AAMC 2010 data indicates about 180 newly matriculated medical students are 35 year of age or older (oldest 1% of matriculants). The AACOM data for DO is a similar ratio with about 40-50 new first year medical student at 35 or older. Both AAMC and AACOM have the the oldest new student at about 55 each year. A rather dated (2003 or 2004 if I recall) news article about an older medical school graduate noted that AAMC reports about a dozen medical school graduates each year are over 50 years of age.

The oldest 5% would be about 30 or older and would number about 1,000 students a year to AAMC.

BTW, SUNY Upstate Medical School still notes on their website of an acceptance of a 63 year old.

Gonnif runs a website called oldpremeds.org and they have a yearly conference:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...al-conference-washington-dc-june-5-8.1055548/


Keep in mind that if you don't have your pre-reqs done yet you are at least 2 years out from before you can apply.

 

[Juststarting]

Thanks - this will go a long way to encourage action!