MD Non-traditional (Registered Nurse) 3.85 GPA, 515 MCAT

[Chardeemacdennis60]

Hey all, looking for any help you can offer for this cycle - I am a 26 year old registered nurse. I did a self-design post-bacc at the large state school I received my undergrad degree from. Outside of my state schools (Ohio) I am having a difficult time forming a school list. My WARS and LizzyM score indicate I should apply to many top schools but I do not know if this is inflated or not. Thanks!

Resident: Ohio
cGPA: 3.85 (sGPA 3.85) (Post-Bacc 3.8)
MCAT: 515
Ethnicity: White
Undergrad: Large State University

Clinical Experience:
-ICU registered nurse since 2016 (9999 hours), Nurse Assistant in nursing school (2500 hours)

Clinical Volunteer Experience:
-Free Clinic- 300+ hours; large role in 3 different free clinics on a continuous basis for the past 3+ years

Shadowing:
-Internal Medicine/primary care- 80 hours
-pediatrician- 8 hours

Non Clinical Experience:
-Election official for local precinct- 40 hours
-Dog foster parent- 60 hours
-multiple leadership roles on nursing unit and conferences attended (preceptor, journal club, committees, etc.)

Research:
-0.5 years; free elective genomics research course taken with post-baccs. This is my weak point but I did receive a strong LOR from the teacher/research advisor.

Letters of Rec:
-6 letters from professors, physicians, mentors, and supervisor ( I would rate these as very strong and have read most)

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[Faha]

As long as you apply to all your Ohio schools (NEOMED, Toledo, Wright State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Case) you can add some reach schools from OOS.
I suggest these:
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Georgetown
Miami
Tulane
USC Keck
Kaiser

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

As long as you apply to all your Ohio schools (NEOMED, Toledo, Wright State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Case) you can add some reach schools from OOS.
I suggest these:
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Boston University
Tufts
Dartmouth
Brown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Georgetown
Miami
Tulane
USC Keck
Kaiser

Thanks for your response. With a more competitive MCAT score, lets say like 518, would I have more available options and less reaches? I will be honest I misstated in my original post. I will be sitting for the MCAT next Friday (5/29) but I am trying to just gauge where I stand as far as where I should be applying too. I have my application ready to turn in on the 28th but my original MCAT test was cancelled due to covid19 so I will be applying to most schools without knowing my actual score which is difficult. I am practice-testing comfortably in the 515-518 range so I just chose 515 as a possible score but I know this is not a certainty, either worse or better.

 

[Faha]

I do not recommend applying without an actual MCAT score. Post your actual score here when available. Applying in late June when your score is available will not be an issue since the interview season does not begin until September.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

No bets without an official MCAT score. I'd also do some serious networking with admissions recruiters to see if there may be any perceived bias against nurses applying to medical school in the way your application will be screened (like of course you'll have thousands of hours of clinical experience and your undergrad consists of mostly nursing-appropriate coursework that is not as science-rigorous).

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

No bets without an official MCAT score. I'd also do some serious networking with admissions recruiters to see if there may be any perceived bias against nurses applying to medical school in the way your application will be screened (like of course you'll have thousands of hours of clinical experience and your undergrad consists of mostly nursing-appropriate coursework that is not as science-rigorous).

Thanks for the feedback, I have actually been doing that for the past 3 years or so. I had the same thoughts before going back for my post-baccs and sat down with the admissions coordinator to get feedback on the issue- I was assured that there were no biases if not quite the opposite. Since that time I have met with others on the admissions team and have been reassured by the same advice.

To that point though, why wouldn't I be seen in the same light as any non-traditional student that would not have a typical premed undergrad experience, regardless of nursing? I mean by the time I would go back to school I would have been working full-time for 5 years in a profession. Are you saying there could be a deeper bias that could be directed at nurses in particular?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks for the feedback, I have actually been doing that for the past 3 years or so. I had the same thoughts before going back for my post-baccs and sat down with the admissions coordinator to get feedback on the issue- I was assured that there were no biases if not quite the opposite. Since that time I have met with others on the admissions team and have been reassured by the same advice.

To that point though, why wouldn't I be seen in the same light as any non-traditional student that would not have a typical premed undergrad experience, regardless of nursing? I mean by the time I would go back to school I would have been working full-time for 5 years in a profession. Are you saying there could be a deeper bias that could be directed at nurses in particular?

You never know who is serving on an admissions committee. There are many physicians whose opinions will differ. (The roster changes annually, and the admissions staff usually have no say or input on who gets on.)

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

You never know who is serving on an admissions committee. There are many physicians whose opinions will differ. (The roster changes annually, and the admissions staff usually have no say or input on who gets on.)

So are you insinuating there is a likelihood I will be discriminated against because I am a nurse, not for any other reason?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

So are you insinuating there is a likelihood I will be discriminated against because I am a nurse, not for any other reason?

You can't exclude the possibility even after you have been admitted, so networking with students at the schools to see if any nurses have successfully matriculated will be helpful to you. You probably know from your own experience about the hierarchy structure of medicine. Some places may be more friendly but it is important that you know if there is action behind the words of "interprofessionalism". I've definitely had some interesting conversations in interprofessional student sessions about breaking down that historical perception of the differences between physicians and nurses.

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

You can't exclude the possibility even after you have been admitted, so networking with students at the schools to see if any nurses have successfully matriculated will be helpful to you. You probably know from your own experience about the hierarchy structure of medicine. Some places may be more friendly but it is important that you know if there is action behind the words of "interprofessionalism". I've definitely had some interesting conversations in interprofessional student sessions about breaking down that historical perception of the differences between physicians and nurses.

I appreciate your willingness to offer advice. That being said, the suggestion I network at each individual prospective medical school in order to assess if they have a hidden, nursing discrimination agenda seems impractical. From my own research and anecdotal evidence I believe that there are actually far more nurses than you may think that have successfully accomplished the transition into medicine, albeit still not common.

I did not decide to go to medical school to break down the physician-nursing barrier rather I wanted to pursue an entirely different career path for reasons I will not get into for the sake of brevity. I understand the tension, increasingly as of recent, between the two professions and realize that there may indeed be an occasional bias against my previous career in the application process. To that point, I have spoken with a large amount of physicians and medical students in the past 3 years regarding this issue and have not received even the slightest sense of bias. If anything, I have been received with both intrigue and encouragement to pursue the goal I set for myself. I will gladly keep you updated as I enter the application process if I encounter bias or discrimination but I pray my stats and accomplishments override these issues.

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

I do not recommend applying without an actual MCAT score. Post your actual score here when available. Applying in late June when your score is available will not be an issue since the interview season does not begin until September.

I found out today that I received a 515 MCAT. I have applied to: Ohio State, Cincinnati, Toledo, Wright State, NEOMED, Michigan, Wayne State, UPitt, U of Louisville, Miami Miller, Loyola, Rush, University of Colorado, and Medical College of Wisconsin.

I would love some more reach, out of state suggestions if you would be so kind to help. Thanks.

 

[Faha]

You can add any of the schools I listed above.