Non-trad 3 years out from BS

[aristrutz523]

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Hi all! Initially, my plan was to do a service gap year and start medical school in Fall 2018 (I was a May 2017 graduate). However, as life would have it, I ended up quitting my service year and becoming politically active. 3 years and a handful of campaigns and political jobs later, I want to jump back in. I'm currently finishing up an MPH with a concentration in Health Policy. I'm turning 25 in May.
My undergraduate GPA was 3.54, 3.2 sGPA.
My graduate GPA will probably be ~3.7
My original MCAT that I did not study enough for was a 502. I definitely need to re-take because it's expired.
Since 2017, I haven't done any more research or shadowing or medical volunteering. However, in undergraduate I amassed over 600 hours in my Psych research lab (3.5 years), 1 year in an immunology lab and a national presentation, over 300 hours at a free clinic, 100 hours at a hospital and ~100 hours shadowing. I also had extracurriculars up the wazoo.
I have all of my undergraduate letters of recommendation and I know I could get some more from my graduate professors/employer.


I did a ton of volunteering the year after I graduated - with UNICEF, the UN Foundation and a homeless shelter. However, nothing huge since May 2018 (I moved around a ton and began working a real full-time job + grad school so it became more difficult)

I currently am involved in a few professional organizations and do some volunteering with UNICEF.

A few things I'm worried about -
a) starting so late in life
b) racking up more debt- I have debt from undergrad and graduate school
c) not having done anything medical since 2017 + it's going to be hard to get re-involved due to COVID19
d) which letters of rec to use since I know my undergraduate ones are strong and more medically reflective, but my graduate and professional ones would be more recent


Thank you for the help in advance! It's so weird returning to SDN after a 3 year hiatus but it still feels like home.

 

[GreenDuck12]

a) starting so late in life
I think the average age of a medical school matriculant is about 25 or 26 so you would not be considered to be starting late and many of your classmates would be in a similar age range. Many folks on the nontrad forum are older. I started my postbac at 25 and will be matriculating this summer at 30.

b) racking up more debt- I have debt from undergrad and graduate school

This is a perfectly rational concern.

c) not having done anything medical since 2017 + it's going to be hard to get re-involved due to COVID19

I would anticipate that clinical volunteering will be limited in the near term but still possible. You could also volunteer in other settings working with vulnerable communities. Given your prior volunteer work, I don’t think folks will get too hung up on shadowing being a bit dated. That being said, when are you looking to apply?

d) which letters of rec to use since I know my undergraduate ones are strong and more medically reflective, but my graduate and professional ones would be more recent

A combination would be fine. You should have two science letters, and then after that a professional letter and a grad school letter would be fine. Four or five letters should be more than sufficient.