Schools with older average age

[DrWatt]

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Anybody know which schools in particular tend to have older more non-traditional classes? I have heard that Pitt and UCSF do.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

If my interview group was anything to go by, Western's Lebanon campus is well above the average age. I suppose that schools such as Rosalind Franklin, Mayo and Tulane that place a lot of value on life experience and less on cGPA would tend to have more nontrads and therefore older students. Looking at the nontrad interview and acceptance threads from this year and previous years should be a reasonably good indicator of which schools are nontrad friendly. Not every nontrad is an older student, but just about every older student is a nontrad.

 

[Solus]

Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that MSUCHM (an MD program) is friendly towards non-trads.

 

[ejw5075]

I go to USF (south Florida not San Fran) and our avg is 23 (starting) which I think is normal but I'm in a separate program called SELECT which is much older. Idk the avg per se but for my small group it's 27.

 

[ChE04]

The term "non-trad friendly" irks me. A school is going to have students with average ages similar to that of its applicant pool. Most people applying to medical schools are early 20s, therefore most of the matriculants to schools are going to be in their early 20s. You do not get points off for being older unless you can't convince the school that 1) you are just as good academically and extracurricular-wise as younger applicants, 2) you are properly motivated and will be a good addition to the medical field in general, and 3) you are ok being the low man on the totem pole.

 

[mybubbles627]

I am currently a first year at OHSU. The average age for my incoming class was 26.

 

[dfib slim]

.

 

[shushumiga]

There is a student at LMU-DCOM in his 60s.

No fing way!!!! Maybe he looks 60

 

[dfib slim]

.

 

[Woland]

Ohio state advertise themself as a very non-trad friendly school. And somewhat friendsly for non-Ohioans.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

My understanding is that Mayo is VERY heavy on MCAT/GPA... I have a friend with a 39 and a 3.95 GPA, MN resident, didn't even get an interview... He's 26, had colon cancer, lost his dad and brother to the same....

RVU isn't... there's like 10 people over 30 out of a class of ~165

 

[dsoz]

Any school that I matriculate to will have the average age skewed by me. I will probably be the extreme outlier in any class that I am in.

That being said, look at my MDApps. I have two acceptances so far, and declined multiple interviews. There were plenty of schools that were willing to take a chance with me and my "advanced" age.

@mybubbles. There was even an article in the local paper in the last year about OHSU and a couple of non-traditional students that attended there. It made me more optimistic about applying there, because in the past OHSU has not been known as non-traditional friendly. My mentor physician was rejected from there twenty years ago because he was "old." He went to another medical school, completed a residency, and is a very highly sought after FP physician in a Portland suburb. It goes to show that non-trads can succeed with the process.

dsoz

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

My understanding is that Mayo is VERY heavy on MCAT/GPA... I have a friend with a 39 and a 3.95 GPA, MN resident, didn't even get an interview... He's 26, had colon cancer, lost his dad and brother to the same....

That proves my point that a good cGPA and MCAT aren't what really count at Mayo. Mayo ends up getting a lot of people with good numbers, but they place a lot more emphasis on EC's and life experience than other top-tier schools do. I got a LOR request (last step before interview) from them with nothing better than a 3.1 cGPA and 32 MCAT, probably because of all the volunteer work I've done. Sure, I got rejected after that, but I got much further with them than I would have at any other top school.