Positioning Myself for Medical School

[Hyacinth2060]

What can a nontraditional student do in order to be competitive in their application? What have you done to position yourself competitively? Any help/advice/comments are immensely appreciated.

Any custom advice applicable specifically to me (please see below) would also be highly valued and appreciated:

I am currently residing in Texas and am twenty-six years old. I have a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, so I would need to go back and take all the pre-requisites (i.e. organic chemistry, biochemistry, biology). What is the best way to do that? Through a Post-Bacc? Or maybe a graduate degree? As an FYI, I graduated with a 3.37 GPA and went to a unimpressive state school (it was free).​

How important is research experience? How important is volunteer experience? I do not have either of these, but I am willing to sign-up for volunteer experiences (even if it is during the evening/night or on a weekend - not an issue). Anything else I can do to help minimize my age, low GPA, and unimpressive undergraduate institution?

I have a well-paying career for my education/background, so I have accumulated a little bit of money (around $100k maximum). It still seems not enough to cover a Post-Bacc and Medical School though...would it make sense to continue to delay starting Post-Bacc/Graduate School in order to accumulate enough cash to pay for this endeavor fully? I hear that twenty-six is already so old, so is it better to just take on loans and start ASAP?​

Thank you for taking the time to read this and provide input. I have no one to ask these questions, so I am grateful for anyone taking their time to help.

P.S. If anyone is wondering why my GPA was so low - really no good excuse. I did work all through college (finished degree in four years, plus graduated with 24 months of engineering full-time internships, plus other work) and was very active on campus. Still, no excuse really...

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[DocJanItor]

Since you already have a real degree from state school, I'd take your prereqs from a community college. If you look on the MSAR, there are was only one school in Texas that I found that didn't accept CC pre-reqs; all of the others did (one didn't state anything). CC will be cheaper than going to an official postbacc or 4 year school, and it will probably be easier to work into your schedule. Rough calculations, if you get a 4.0 over 40 hours and you already had 130 hours at 3.37, your new cGPA would be ~3.51. That's pretty decent.

However, you don't want to put off med school to "save up". Every year that you're not a doctor is lost income opportunity (assuming you make less than a doctor), so it's better to spend your savings and use debt than it is to wait.

Research is almost definitely not going to happen unless you attend an official post-bacc, but it's not a deal breaker if you don't have it. Volunteering should be your priority, both clinical and non-clinical. If you start now you can easily put up some nice numbers by the time you apply. Anything north of 300 hours each and 500 total is good.

After pre-reqs, you'll want to crush your MCAT. As a non-trad, you'll need to show them you have ability to crush those grueling MCQ tests. As a fellow engineer, I have every confidence that you can. You'll want to be 510+ for applying to MD schools, but higher is always better. Anything over 505 will probably be fine for DO schools.

Don't worry about your past so much. My grades were much, MUCH worse than yours, and I did much less than you during my undergrad career.

Most important question though: Why do you want to become a doctor?

 

[Hyacinth2060]

Since you already have a real degree from state school, I'd take your prereqs from a community college. If you look on the MSAR, there are was only one school in Texas that I found that didn't accept CC pre-reqs; all of the others did (one didn't state anything). CC will be cheaper than going to an official postbacc or 4 year school, and it will probably be easier to work into your schedule. Rough calculations, if you get a 4.0 over 40 hours and you already had 130 hours at 3.37, your new cGPA would be ~3.51. That's pretty decent.

However, you don't want to put off med school to "save up". Every year that you're not a doctor is lost income opportunity (assuming you make less than a doctor), so it's better to spend your savings and use debt than it is to wait.

Research is almost definitely not going to happen unless you attend an official post-bacc, but it's not a deal breaker if you don't have it. Volunteering should be your priority, both clinical and non-clinical. If you start now you can easily put up some nice numbers by the time you apply. Anything north of 300 hours each and 500 total is good.

After pre-reqs, you'll want to crush your MCAT. As a non-trad, you'll need to show them you have ability to crush those grueling MCQ tests. As a fellow engineer, I have every confidence that you can. You'll want to be 510+ for applying to MD schools, but higher is always better. Anything over 505 will probably be fine for DO schools.

Don't worry about your past so much. My grades were much, MUCH worse than yours, and I did much less than you during my undergrad career.

Most important question though: Why do you want to become a doctor?

Thank you for your response - I really appreciate it! Would taking the pre-requisites at a community college be looked down upon by the admission board? Especially since my undergraduate degree is already from a non-impressive, commuter university?

With the emphasis on scoring high on the MCAT, would you have any personal best tips/words of wisdom/etc.?

As to your last question - no noble cause/interesting story as to why I would like to become a doctor. Two most important reasons are:

1) I found myself over the years enjoying learning about medicine and it would be nice to get to do that for a living (versus feeling guilty for spending an hour here and an hour there reading or learning about something that has nothing to do with your current career). Plus, looking at medicine from a perspective of an engineer - it is just fascinating.

2) I really enjoy working with people (I work with clients every day and found myself to really enjoy that aspect). I would love to pursue perhaps something like primary care (definitely do not see myself enjoy surgery even half as much). Being able to combine (a) people and (b) medicine is something that I believe would make me relatively happy.
​

I am still not sure if medical school is possible for someone like me (really wish I realized what I enjoy sooner!), but I really appreciate your feedback. I have been thinking about this for the past year and just now getting the courage to join this forum and ask some (probably basic) questions.

 

[ChopinLiszt]

It's definitely possible. Do well in your prereqs and study hard for the MCAT (don't take it until your AAMC practice tests are in range of your target score). I would just get started, but only take one or two classes at a time until you get your stride back. Maybe take classes part time the first year, then go full time after? Volunteer and shadow - start that now. Make SURE this is what you want to do, and then if it is, go all in and work hard. You can do it if you really want to!

 

[DocJanItor]

Thank you for your response - I really appreciate it! Would taking the pre-requisites at a community college be looked down upon by the admission board? Especially since my undergraduate degree is already from a non-impressive, commuter university?

With the emphasis on scoring high on the MCAT, would you have any personal best tips/words of wisdom/etc.?

As to your last question - no noble cause/interesting story as to why I would like to become a doctor. Two most important reasons are:

1) I found myself over the years enjoying learning about medicine and it would be nice to get to do that for a living (versus feeling guilty for spending an hour here and an hour there reading or learning about something that has nothing to do with your current career). Plus, looking at medicine from a perspective of an engineer - it is just fascinating.

2) I really enjoy working with people (I work with clients every day and found myself to really enjoy that aspect). I would love to pursue perhaps something like primary care (definitely do not see myself enjoy surgery even half as much). Being able to combine (a) people and (b) medicine is something that I believe would make me relatively happy.
​

I am still not sure if medical school is possible for someone like me (really wish I realized what I enjoy sooner!), but I really appreciate your feedback. I have been thinking about this for the past year and just now getting the courage to join this forum and ask some (probably basic) questions.

Where you got your degree from isn't generally relevant unless you're going to a top 20 med school, and even then it's only slightly relevant. As long as you went to an accredited university, don't have any institutional actions (cheating, probation, suspension, etc.), and don't have a criminal record, you'll be fine.

Here's my story if you'd like to read it. Guidance on Career Change w/ Poor GPA

Long story short, you're starting your non-trad journey 7 years earlier than I did and with better grades. There's no reason that you couldn't be a viable candidate for med school. All you need to do is do really well on your pre-reqs and your MCAT.

As for the MCAT, there's no magic formula. Study your pre-reqs well, take plenty of practice tests, and, as @ChopinLiszt said, don't take it until your full length practice test scores are in your target score range. You want to get your best score possible the first (and hopefully only) time. Multiple attempts are acceptable but can be somewhat less impressive for certain schools. There are a lot of resources here and on the MCAT subreddit to help you prepare for the test and/or choose a method of preparing.

 

[ChopinLiszt]

As far as taking prereqs at a CC, it depends on what school you're aiming for. A lot of them will say on their admissions website if they want prereqs from a 4 year school. If you want to stay in Texas (hello, amazing tuition!) you have a lot of options and they might not care where prereqs are from as long as you do well and your mcat shows you know your stuff.

 

[Blanky]

I would advise to do the prereqs at a University around your work schedule and then take the MCAT.