Nontraditional applicant — do all my pre-reqs from UG still count towards my application?

[texasblondie]

Hi all,

New to SDN and planning on taking the MCAT this summer. I am 31, have a PhD in health behavior from UT Austin and did a post-doc at ASU. I graduated from Baylor University with a BS in Biology and a minor in chemistry with a 4.0 GPA. I also had a 4.0 in all of grad school.

It is a long story, but some personal issues kept me from going the medical school route back in my 20's. I decided to pursue graduate school and now, at 31 I am thinking about really going after my passion and where I think my true skill sets lie — medicine. I know it's a long and hard road, but I think only now am I capable of the self-sacrifice that it takes to be an outstanding physician.

I plan to take a Princeton Review class starting in May and take the MCAT in July. I have all of the pre-reqs from my undergrad degree (pre-med, graduated 2009). I am wondering, because I cannot find anything online that states otherwise, will all of these be accepted even though I am applying much later?

I am sure someone on this thread knows this, but any information on this would be helpful.

Thank you!

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[goldchallenge]

It will depend on the school, some of them may have a specific "expiration date" on pre-reqs, although they may waive it if you can show that you've been working in a science-related field for most of the time you've been out of school. Even if there isn't an official expiration date, my understanding is that adcoms want to see some recent college-level coursework as evidence that you are still able to do well academically. Doing well on the MCAT will perhaps be more important as well.

I finished all my medicine pre-reqs in 2009 (they overlapped completely with my pharmacy pre-reqs) and graduated from pharmacy school in 2013. I've been working in the pharmacy field since graduating. In recent years I've taken some upper division undergrad courses related to public health (mostly for fun/exploring different career options, not specifically for my med school app). I applied during this current cycle. Both my undergrad and grad GPAs were 3.8. MCAT 509. I applied to four schools (MD programs), received two II, and two acceptance offers.

I am not sure why I didn't get an II from the other two schools (this whole process is very... whimsical), but it could be because of how old my prereq coursework was. Neither had a formal policy about it, though. From my understanding, some schools are just more forgiving of older coursework than others.

You may want to talk to the specific schools you are interested in applying to (either by attending their open house or reaching out to an admissions POC) and ask them if they have a policy about coursework being too old. Even if they don't, it may be a good idea to take a couple of upper division science courses, even at your local CC, if that's something that would be fairly easy for you to do (e.g., if it's affordable and works with your work schedule). I don't think it is a hard requirement to have recent coursework, especially considering that you have a very strong academic record and depending on how well you do on the MCAT, but I think it helps give adcoms another piece of important data about your more recent academic abilities.

 

[texasblondie]

It will depend on the school, some of them may have a specific "expiration date" on pre-reqs, although they may waive it if you can show that you've been working in a science-related field for most of the time you've been out of school. Even if there isn't an official expiration date, my understanding is that adcoms want to see some recent college-level coursework as evidence that you are still able to do well academically. Doing well on the MCAT will perhaps be more important as well.

I finished all my medicine pre-reqs in 2009 (they overlapped completely with my pharmacy pre-reqs) and graduated from pharmacy school in 2013. I've been working in the pharmacy field since graduating. In recent years I've taken some upper division undergrad courses related to public health (mostly for fun/exploring different career options, not specifically for my med school app). I applied during this current cycle. Both my undergrad and grad GPAs were 3.8. MCAT 509. I applied to four schools (MD programs), received two II, and two acceptance offers.

I am not sure why I didn't get an II from the other two schools (this whole process is very... whimsical), but it could be because of how old my prereq coursework was. Neither had a formal policy about it, though. From my understanding, some schools are just more forgiving of older coursework than others.

You may want to talk to the specific schools you are interested in applying to (either by attending their open house or reaching out to an admissions POC) and ask them if they have a policy about coursework being too old. Even if they don't, it may be a good idea to take a couple of upper division science courses, even at your local CC, if that's something that would be fairly easy for you to do (e.g., if it's affordable and works with your work schedule). I don't think it is a hard requirement to have recent coursework, especially considering that you have a very strong academic record and depending on how well you do on the MCAT, but I think it helps give adcoms another piece of important data about your more recent academic abilities.

Thank you! Yes I plan to talk to the specific schools I’m interested in (particularly UT southwestern) - I did take and teach classes all through my masters and PhD so I’m hoping I’ll be good on that front!

Congrats on getting accepted!

 

[LibBum]

TMDSAS does not have any course work expiration dates. I initially went to school 2005-2009, then returned in 2013 for a 60 credit hour post-bac. Received 4 interviews and a pre-match in TX after I finally applied. You should be fine. Good luck.

 

[texasblondie]

TMDSAS does not have any course work expiration dates. I initially went to school 2005-2009, then returned in 2013 for a 60 credit hour post-bac. Received 4 interviews and a pre-match in TX after I finally applied. You should be fine. Good luck.

Thank you! So did you do the post-bac to just refresh on the content? Or for some other reason?

I'm also wondering if people have input on MCAT date/application - my current plan is to take the MCAT in July and have everything else ready to go with my application(s). Do you feel this is "early" enough? Realistically, I feel that this is the amount of time I need to be prepared, given I am working a full-time job while preparing / taking prep course in the upcoming months.

 

[LibBum]

Thank you! So did you do the post-bac to just refresh on the content? Or for some other reason?

I'm also wondering if people have input on MCAT date/application - my current plan is to take the MCAT in July and have everything else ready to go with my application(s). Do you feel this is "early" enough? Realistically, I feel that this is the amount of time I need to be prepared, given I am working a full-time job while preparing / taking prep course in the upcoming months.

I sucked at school as a young student - overconfident and lazy. Got it together after a few years of working as a lab rat and returned to correct those missteps. Was a gamble, but I didn't have much too lose. Fixed every C and D with an A. Retook almost every pre-req except physics I/II.

An early July MCAT date is somewhat borderline. You will need to have all other aspects of your app completed before. Keep in mind that once you're able to submit your app, TMDSAS will have a 2-3 week backlog of apps being processed before they touch yours. Focus on doing well on the MCAT. If you are crushing practice exams then plan your app timeline accordingly and hope for the best.

 

[texasblondie]

I sucked at school as a young student - overconfident and lazy. Got it together after a few years of working as a lab rat and returned to correct those missteps. Was a gamble, but I didn't have much too lose. Fixed every C and D with an A. Retook almost every pre-req except physics I/II.

An early July MCAT date is somewhat borderline. You will need to have all other aspects of your app completed before. Keep in mind that once you're able to submit your app, TMDSAS will have a 2-3 week backlog of apps being processed before they touch yours. Focus on doing well on the MCAT. If you are crushing practice exams then plan your app timeline accordingly and hope for the best.

Got it. Thanks.

Yeah I do plan to have everything ready to go when I take my MCAT so that I can submit ASAP... I am going to take a PR course so after that finishes I'll have about 2 weeks until what I am aiming for currently. I know it's borderline, but getting a high MCAT score is paramount as a non-trad (even with a 4.0)!

 

[texasblondie]

Gave Southwestern Admissions a call today and she confirmed that TMDSAS does not have an expiration for coursework requirements, as a few of you mentioned! Good news for me!

 

[Ad2b]

Hi all,

New to SDN and planning on taking the MCAT this summer. I am 31, have a PhD in health behavior from UT Austin and did a post-doc at ASU. I graduated from Baylor University with a BS in Biology and a minor in chemistry with a 4.0 GPA. I also had a 4.0 in all of grad school.

It is a long story, but some personal issues kept me from going the medical school route back in my 20's. I decided to pursue graduate school and now, at 31 I am thinking about really going after my passion and where I think my true skill sets lie — medicine. I know it's a long and hard road, but I think only now am I capable of the self-sacrifice that it takes to be an outstanding physician.

I plan to take a Princeton Review class starting in May and take the MCAT in July. I have all of the pre-reqs from my undergrad degree (pre-med, graduated 2009). I am wondering, because I cannot find anything online that states otherwise, will all of these be accepted even though I am applying much later?

I am sure someone on this thread knows this, but any information on this would be helpful.

Thank you!

Asked mods to consolidate into one thread - same questions asked in similar fashion on MCAT answered there (don't buy a course)