Switching careers at 31 Yrs. old after previous application

[HomoSapien247]

Hi All,

I am new to this thread. I took the MCAT back in 2015 and got just below 500, I think a 496 if my memory is correct. My Science GPA was right around a 3.4 and an overall GPA of 3.7. I am 31 and have been doing software engineering for the last 3.5 yrs and am now reconsidering starting to study for the MCAT and reapply. My question is if I take it again and get a similar score (which is likely given my test taking ability). Is there a decent shot of getting into a school? Do I need to redo all of my shadowing, volunteering and healthcare hours?

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[Faha]

You do not need to redo your healthcare hours but it always helps to have more recent clinical volunteering. You would need a MCAT of 500 to receive interviews at some DO schools and 505 would be competitive for most DO schools. You would need 507+ to have a reasonable chance at MD schools depending partly on your state of residence.

 

[PeteytheFish]

Applying as a non-trad has its drawbacks and benefits. One of the drawbacks is that some schools require more recent coursework, so I would spend some time poking around to find out if your actual pre-requisite coursework is still valid. It looks like you may benefit from some sGPA repair anyway.

You know that you need to pull your MCAT up. If you aren't a good test-taker, maybe see if you can spring for a prep course that can help you dial in your strategy.

The reason shadowing and volunteering is even a thing on med school applications is that they want to see that you are civically-minded and have seen enough medicine outside of TV shows that you know what medicine is like and that it is for you. So yes, get back into the volunteering and shadowing ASAP and stick with it.

The upside to being a non-trad is that you likely have really interesting other stuff on your application, so you can use that to your advantage. I was a low-stat applicant: 3.4 sGPA and 499 MCAT. I'm currently an MS1 at a top-tier MD school and doing really well, so I speak from experience when I say that it can come down to more than your MCAT score of you can put together an otherwise compelling application. That said, you know that you need to rehab your MCAT score as part of your main strategy.

The answer is that if you want to get into medical school, you probably can, but there's some work you need to do first. The good news is that non-trads are pret common and starting in your earlyish thirties is, in my eyes, a great time to start.

 

[Goro]

Hi All,

I am new to this thread. I took the MCAT back in 2015 and got just below 500, I think a 496 if my memory is correct. My Science GPA was right around a 3.4 and an overall GPA of 3.7. I am 31 and have been doing software engineering for the last 3.5 yrs and am now reconsidering starting to study for the MCAT and reapply. My question is if I take it again and get a similar score (which is likely given my test taking ability). Is there a decent shot of getting into a school? Do I need to redo all of my shadowing, volunteering and healthcare hours?

A score of <500 is lethal. You need to shoot for 505+ for DO, 510+ for your state school, and 513+ for MD

You should get in some new patient contact experience, or you'll simply be outclassed by people with more recent experience.