Nontraditional: 5 years out of undergrad / working in corporate/tech

[womaninhealth]

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Hi everyone! I'm trying to figure out the best next step in my premed journey and would really appreciate some advice, especially from nontraditional applicants who came back to medicine several years after graduating with a poor GPA.

A little about my timeline:

• 2017–2021:Completed my bachelor's in Neuroscience. I was originally on the premed track and completed the typical prerequisite/science coursework.
  • Overall GPA:~3.44, Science GPA: ~3.20
    • first two years show poor grades due to family hardship (parent with addiction, financial stress)
    • C's in a few science core classes and labs from year 1 and 2
    • 1 F in 2nd quarter of OChem
  • I improved dramatically and did better in my upper division Neuro courses during the last two years with mostly As, a couple Bs.
  • Extracurriculars: Volunteering weekly in med surg (probably did this for 2-3 years), emergency medicine scribe for 1 year until covid hit, orthopedic scribe for 1 year (until i finally changed my mind about medicine due to toxic surgeons)
• 2021: After graduating, I retook Organic Chemistry I (one semester at a CC) the following semester and got an A. didnt get around to taking the rest of the series as I quit.
• Late 2021:I ultimately decided not to pursue medicine at the time due to stress over various factors (pressure from significant student loans from undergrad that my parents took out, lack of confidence about GPA and how much repair I could do, and toxic clinical office where I was scribing) and went into tech/corporate instead. Took some CC classes in engineering topics to improve on technical skills and got straight As.
  • career progression: data science/analyst > data management > product management today
• 2024: Started taking graduate-level technology courses part-time because I wanted to learn more about the field. I've been taking classes somewhat unstructured based on what interests me, but I'm not currently an active student.
• 2025: Started seriously thinking about medicine again and regretting never taking the MCAT or giving the path a real shot.
• 2026- Present: Still working full-time in tech, but the interest in medicine hasn't gone away, and I'm now trying to figure out what I'd actually need to do to get in somewhere. FYI, my husband is a PGY-3, so part of the reason I've stayed in this field is to support both of us financially during his early career. Now that he's close to finishing residency, I feel a bit more confident about leaving a stable job if I get an acceptance.

Questions:

• Will my premed prerequisites actually "expire"? It will be past 5 years for the ones I took in my first year of college soon.
  • Do I need a post-bacc? Given my GPA, would there be much benefit to doing a formal post-bacc, or could I instead take a few recent upper-level science courses if I need to demonstrate academic readiness?
• Should my next major step be studying for and taking the MCAT?
• How much recent clinical experience should I build before applying? Since I've been completely outside of medicine and working in tech for several years, I'm assuming I'll need meaningful recent clinical exposure to show that returning to medicine is an informed decision
• What advising resources do you recommend (like talking to a real person over a phone call or zoom) after being out of school for 5+ years?

Basically would a reasonable plan be something like clinical experience + shadowing > high MCAT > apply?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What advice have your husband or his colleagues given you about entering the medical education grind? Have you reached out to admissions teams at nearby medical schools, especially about the prerequisite course grade age (yes, I think coursework taken before the pandemic is considered "too old" now)?

I would take a good look at your (family's) finances. Given the cap on student loans, you should talk with people about the loan caps, private loans, and the impact on your family. Your husband likely has loans to pay off over the next 10+ years, and your geographic preferences may be more settled since he is finishing his training. It would be great if your husband supports you, and I think you would want to stay close to wherever he winds up working.

 

[womaninhealth]

What advice have your husband or his colleagues given you about entering the medical education grind? Have you reached out to admissions teams at nearby medical schools, especially about the prerequisite course grade age (yes, I think coursework taken before the pandemic is considered "too old" now)?

I would take a good look at your (family's) finances. Given the cap on student loans, you should talk with people about the loan caps, private loans, and the impact on your family. Your husband likely has loans to pay off over the next 10+ years, and your geographic preferences may be more settled since he is finishing his training. It would be great if your husband supports you, and I think you would want to stay close to wherever he winds up working.

My husband received a full ride for his medical school education and I supported his living expenses at the time, so luckily any loans from his education are not a concern! But agreed, how we’ll pay for my tuition is something we are discussing.

Aside from the expenses, do you have any advice on my academic history/would a high MCAT be enough (in your opinion) and what amount of clinical work would be sufficient for an application? If my courses are expired - would it be better to do a 1 year formal post bacc or focus on upper division science courses (as suggested in @Goro ’s guide to reinvention)?

I will reach out to admissions teams and inquire, it seems like every school may be different with old courses.

 

[Med Ed]

An interesting case.

First, get your non-clinical volunteering in order. The consensus here is 150 quality hours, meaning homeless shelter, soup kitchen, etc. Some nontrads seem to think they are exempt from the service element of the application, but that is not the case.

Your clinical experience is decent. I would fill it in with more recent shadowing, ideally at least one primary care specialty. If you can sprinkle on some clinical volunteering then go for it.

For academics, I don’t think coursework is truly stale before the 10 year mark. You should absolutely take (and ace) some newer classes. I think half of a normal DIY postbacc would be sufficient, or about 15 credits. Getting back in the learning/testing game will help your MCAT prep.

I hope your husband chose an in-demand specialty with a broad job market, because you will need to cast a wide net when you apply.