Possibility of completing a master's before admission and other questions

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nm8712

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Hi All, just found this forum and am thrilled that it seems active. I wanted to ask your guys' opinion on a couple things I'm considering / worried about.

I, unlike a lot of applicants, didn't decide i wanted to go into science until halfway through my junior year of college. I'm on track to finish on time, but unfortunately my research is very lacking. I have about a year and some change, and it isn't as benchwork related as I would have liked. One thing I'm considering is completing a masters in my field to get some academic and lab experience. Do you guys know if its possible or likely to get a tuition waiver if you're a good student and already have some research experience? I should have around a 3.87 GPA in the sciences and will score well on my admissions test I'm sure. (EDIT: I should add that I wouldn't mind working as a TA or something similar in exchange for this. Not expecting a tuition waiver for nothing in return, haha!)

I'll need a year or two to work on my research, so I figured why not get a master's degree out of it while I'm at it. A master's thesis might make me slightly more competitive I imagine, but I don't know if i can consider it if I'm going to have to take out loans.

Also, what age were you guys when you went into the program. Was everyone 21-22 or were there some slightly older? I won't be THAT much older when I apply (24-25), I just wanted to see what the age spread was like. I know non-traditional students are becoming more common in regular medical school, but I imagine it's a little lower mean age because of how long the education is. Should I be worried that I'm getting in a little later? Are Adcoms gonna look down on me because I took a little longer to get things in order?

Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks in advance for any responses.

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