Older student interested in med school

[Dtechcrunch]

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I am trying to find honest answers that I havnt been able to get from people at the community college I am attending.

I am a 32 year old male. I never attended any college until I was around 27 and I did that half heartily due to never being around people who were educated. When I was 27 after being in the workforce since I was 17 I decided to just go up to the community college and ask some questions. They signed me up and I never really knew what I was doing or what was happening. I took one and half semesters or so at 27 and then had to drop some classes as I wasn't prepared financially at that time. I decided last year to go back (even though family and other obligations didn't allow me to fully embrace college). As of right now I have 27 credits and a low GPA. I will post a vague list of all the classes I have taken so far.

History 1 - B
History 2 - C
English 1 - B
English 2 - C
Dev Writing - B
Govt 1 - B
Govt 2 - B
Art 1 - C
Philosophy 1 - D

So as you can see my GPA is very low. I am currently taking a Developmental Math class preparing for college legal math. My life is now very simple having payed 15k$ in credit card debt and paid off my vehicle. I am single with no kids as well. It has been my dream to peruse college to a higher degree in the medical field. I know it would be hard as I am older but the more I am reading about GPA being such a huge part of medical school acceptance I am starting to think it might not be possible. I have learned a lot about how to be a student and what it takes I just need to know if its even possible now since I already have a low GPA. I have put all my ducks in order so to speak for being able to focus on school and really make this work. Any suggestions? Can add more details if needed. thanks

 

[LizzyM]

Hi, glad you found us.
The silver lining here is that you have not yet taken any science classes. While your GPA is low, your haven't proven yourself yet in chemistry, biology, physics and math and those are the most important classes to do well in. The classes you've taken so far were not so good but you can now work smart and show a strong upward trend!

Not sure what "college legal math" is.

The requirements for medical school include:
1 year of chemistry with lab
1 year of biology with lab
1 year of physics with lab
1 year of organic chemistry with lab
You've got the English requirement covered.
biochemistry and psychology are on the MCAT exam so most people take courses in those subject areas.
You may want to have college algebra before going into physics. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

You are going to have to earn a bachelor's degree in some subject area. The majority of medical school applicants are biology majors but you may choose any major you wish provided you take the pre-requisite courses.

The other thing you may want to thing about is whether you have the stomach for 3-4 years of full-time study to earn a college degree, 3-4 years of medical school (almost always 4 years but there are a few 3 year programs out there now) with tuition running 35-50K+/year, followed by 3 years of residency training during which you'll work 80 hr/wk for about 12.00/hr.

If you want to get into health care, there are other opportunities that require less education including some that require only an associate's degree. Docs do make the big bucks but the opportunity cost of 9 years of little to no income is a big consideration, particularly when you would otherwise be in your prime years for earning and saving for retirement (the money you save in your 30s has the most time to grow).

Make an appointment to talk with a career counselor at your community college and if you don't get enough answers, make an appointment to talk with someone at your local 4-year university (you might have a state college near you??)

 

[mimelim]

#1 As with every student, you have to figure out if medical school is the right path to pursue for YOU. As a 32 year old that will not be starting medical school until you are 37 and finishing residency at the earliest at 44 (I'd say most realistically 46), it is of the utmost importance that you know what you are getting into. This means shadowing attendings and then getting a real world picture of what training is going to be like for the next 11+ years by talking to current medical students/residents. The drive and 'need' to be a physician has to be massive in order to take on this pathway given where you are starting. You are forgoing 12 years of salary. You are embarking on a pathway that will keep you busier, likely than you have ever been. "It is my dream to be in the medical field." Is not nearly a good enough reason to go to medical school. I'm sorry, but the costs are just too damn high (money, time, effort, etc). This is in no way saying that you don't have other reasons that are good. But, it is hard to imagine many people for whom it would be worth it.

#2 Less important than your raw GPA is the kind of student that you are. I'm going to be direct. You are talking about an enormous amount of time being a student, which you are not good at right now. Sub-3.0 GPA at a community college without starting your science classes is not someone that is going to survive the training. You should NOT want to get into medical school with who you are as a student right now.

To be as constructive as possible, people have gotten off to worse starts than you and gotten into medical school. But, I struggle to think of someone who did who started as late as you. You haven't started your science classes, which puts you behind timeline wise, but is probably actually one of the bigger things going for you. You will need to do the following:

a) Figure out how to be a good student, and how to excel in difficult science classes.
b) Take the pre-reqs and get your bachelor's degree, which will mean transferring to a non-community college.
c) Take the MCAT
d) And then apply.

Honestly, the first one is the biggest hump. If you can get that sorted out, everything else is just a matter of time.