Software to med school switch, DIY nontrad

[agonch]

I'm a nontraditional student, ex-software engineer, with a DIY path culminating in completion of prereqs & MCAT Spring 2023. I'm motivated to apply as early as possible, with good grades/scores, but want to excel further in the free time I have (at times). After applying, I intend to return to full time work. In the meantime, I'm giving it all to achieve good grades and scores, volunteering once a week, and starting a part-time scribing job (twice a week).

Since I started taking classes again last Fall, I've ran into really hardworking folks, and the combination of posts like this, makes me deeply regret quitting a job emotionally/naively. Even though then, I felt like I'd be too stressed timing meetings with non-evening lecture/lab content. I question a better path, to both vet myself even further in this career switch motivation, and to have a "better" application for adcoms. I'm fortunate to be where I am, but I question my prior decision of assuming I'd need a ton of time to be able to attend labs in person and doing research for free if I get a chance. How do people time work meetings and labs? And weekday volunteering? While oncall at work?

I dislike throwing around the word "should", but I strongly feel like if I've accepted that I don't have a full-time commitment, then I should tack on other forms of commitments. My best bet in the coming months, is some paid part-time research position. But if not, should I just assume myself lucky I can prepare for MCAT with more free time? Should I be concerned about adcom's view of my work ethic/choices this year? Thank you in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dral]

How many courses per semester are you taking? If you have a fairly full course load, nobody will fault you for not working.

Do you have shadowing under your belt?

I like to think of the general big picture app check boxes:

1. Grades/Scores
2. Shadowing
3. Clinical volunteering
4. Non-clinical volunteering
5. Research

Honestly, as a non-trad, I believe research is less expected of you. However, where are you in regards to the other parts? If you wanted to still work right now, I believe a paid research position would be great. It would mark off a box (one that you may not need honestly), and it would keep you busy.

 

[agonch]

Hi!
Not a full-time student. 2 courses / quarter. Except the quarter I prep and take the MCAT - just one college course.

I have not shadowed; I've read on these forums it can take months to set a shadowing option up but thank you for listing its importance! I was too focused lining up volunteering and scribing. Both have been rewarding so far.

As for research - I have gotten dozens of mixed views on this. It would still be out of personal interest and would leverage my background. But I mentally listed it last like you did. I could find a paid research position after the MCAT and mention during interviews rather than on application.

I am eating up my savings, a naive choice but I've come to terms with it. Hope it's the right choice in order to score well.

 

[deleted966837]

I am a non trad former software engineer as well.

Here is a rough timeline

• I did one semester while working full time
• Then I quit my job, and just focused on classes/volunteering for 2 semesters
• Then I ran out of money, so I took another job for six months
• Then I quit that job and studied for the mcat
• Then I took another job and sent applications / did interviews
• I kept that job until 1 month into med school, and then I quit it
• Then I got rehired again at the same company the summer between M1-M2

That's a very messy timeline. And that's my point. I really think you have a lot of leeway. If need be, you can find a super relaxed contract job as a software engineer very quickly, make around 100k/year and quit whenever you feel like it without any repercussions (see websites like dice.com, etc, but be prepared to get tremendous recruiter spam).