Planning Questions

[willi113]

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Hi Everyone,

I would like to apply for medical school, but lack many of the prereqs and need some advice on prepping for medical school.

1) I took a year of general chemistry and calculus in undergrad (about about 11 years ago at this point). By the time I apply these would probably be about 15 years old - has anyone had experience with using classes this old?

2) I travel for work and live in an area that has very limited options for taking classes outside of normal business hours. I basically have three options - take night classes (very slowly) at a 4 year state university that is not a particularly good school, take classes at a community college, or take classes online through the University of New England program. I realize that none of these options are good, but I was wondering if anyone has been successful with any of these routes.

In case this information impacts anyone's response I have included a little bit about my history: Undergrad in communication disorders at Northwestern (GPA ~3.5); doctorate in audiology from Vanderbilt (GPA 3.98). I worked previous worked clinically as an audiologist, but recently started working in industry about a year ago (hence the traveling job).

 

[MedPR]

Hi Everyone,

I would like to apply for medical school, but lack many of the prereqs and need some advice on prepping for medical school.

1) I took a year of general chemistry and calculus in undergrad (about about 11 years ago at this point). By the time I apply these would probably be about 15 years old - has anyone had experience with using classes this old?

2) I travel for work and live in an area that has very limited options for taking classes outside of normal business hours. I basically have three options - take night classes (very slowly) at a 4 year state university that is not a particularly good school, take classes at a community college, or take classes online through the University of New England program. I realize that none of these options are good, but I was wondering if anyone has been successful with any of these routes.

In case this information impacts anyone's response I have included a little bit about my history: Undergrad in communication disorders at Northwestern (GPA ~3.5); doctorate in audiology from Vanderbilt (GPA 3.98). I worked previous worked clinically as an audiologist, but recently started working in industry about a year ago (hence the traveling job).

You'll want to retake general chemistry regardless since it'll help quite a bit with the MCAT. I retook a large chunk of the pre-reqs at a community college and I'm doing well so far this cycle. It's not the best option, but it won't sink you either as long as you do well.

 

[Deekle]

15 years is too old. If all of your prereqs are that old, you'll need to retake them all. I did several of my prereqs at CC and got into an allopathic school. With your stats, you'll probably be ok as long as you get A's in everything at the CC. Make some calls to the medical schools you're interested in applying to. Find out what prereqs they require and how recent they have to be. Ask them how they look at CC courses for non trads with degrees.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app. Blame Siri if the spelling or grammar are bad.

 

[DocVapor]

I would say you certainly need to retake all the basic pre-reqs. Some ADCOMs have told me that once you have your degree from a normal 4-year, retaking courses from a CC this far out isn't as big of a deal. They know you are you are non-traditional and have other responsibilities. Just make sure you get that A in everything you take at CC, then do well on the MCAT.

If you don't get directly in from that point, there are lots of specific post-baccalaureate programs that you could apply to to help boost your app. Look for ones that have courses that are not the standard pre-reqs since you will have just done that. Some even offer guaranteed admission/interviews if you hit certain marks. Those sorts of programs will generally require you to be a full-time student, so make sure you are prepared for that (both time-wise and financially since for some you won't be able to get government loans).

Even then, it seems that DO schools are friendlier to non-trads than MD schools, but you should certainly not limit yourself to the DO route at first.

Either way you are looking at several years and a good amount of $$$ spent before matriculation, but I took this exact course and am now a MSI at a DO school. I was not as far out as you, but my undergrad GPA was worse and I did not have any graduate work at all.

Good luck with your endeavors.