Some advice on career change / reapplicant

[ExcamIncam]

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Hi all,
I'm currently work in finance. I graduated from undergrad back in 2011, with a cell bio major and a 3.85 GPA. At the time I was premed so have completed all of my prereqs. I actually applied to and got accepted into med school, but for various reasons decided not to go. Fast forward 14 years, I regret that decision and have been thinking about reapplying. A few questions:

- Given how long my prereqs were, do I need to do a post-bacc? My day job is biotech VC so I'm pretty familiar with the science still, so I don't feel I need a post-bacc to help with the MCAT or bringing me up-to-speed on science. I feel like it would purely be to check the box for those schools that want their pre-reqs done in the last 5-10 years

- Along the same lines, I'm not sure I can reach back out to my undergrad professors for recommendations. Can I substitute letters from my employers instead?

 

[Dral]

How many hours do you have of the following:
Shadowing?
Clinical work/volunteering?
Non-clinical volunteering?
Research (less important)?

I think you can get one letter from your employer, but not all of them. You'll need to find another source who can speak to your academic ability and clinical propensities.

I do not think you need to do a post-bacc. However, you could consider where your weak points might be in terms of taking the MCAT. Maybe take a course or two to strengthen those areas. That would also be a source for letters of rec.

I applied 8 years after being out of undergrad. I was able to reach out to my undergrad institution, and the pre-med office still wrote me a composite letter of rec. You could try the same.

 

[nobadwaves]

Hi all,
I'm currently work in finance. I graduated from undergrad back in 2011, with a cell bio major and a 3.85 GPA. At the time I was premed so have completed all of my prereqs. I actually applied to and got accepted into med school, but for various reasons decided not to go. Fast forward 14 years, I regret that decision and have been thinking about reapplying. A few questions:

- Given how long my prereqs were, do I need to do a post-bacc? My day job is biotech VC so I'm pretty familiar with the science still, so I don't feel I need a post-bacc to help with the MCAT or bringing me up-to-speed on science. I feel like it would purely be to check the box for those schools that want their pre-reqs done in the last 5-10 years

- Along the same lines, I'm not sure I can reach back out to my undergrad professors for recommendations. Can I substitute letters from my employers instead?

Hey ExcamIncam,

We are definitely in different seats in terms of GPA (yours is much higher), but here are some suggestions.

Call the educational programs that you are interested in and ask them if your prerequisite credits will still be considered as a competitive applicant. I needed to retake mine because they were greater than 10 years old - but I also used it as a GPA boost and MCAT content review.

As you check the boxes of volunteering, clinical work, and potentially taking courses you be able to knock off the letters.