Too many IAs? Does time matter?

[holdthemayo]

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[QofQuimica]

The 20-year-old you was clearly not mature enough for med school; if you had applied right out of college, those IAs would be an issue. Now that you're in your 30s? Well, you're long past being old enough to possess alcohol, and my reaction is to laugh about that prank call rather than to hold it against you.

 

[holdthemayo]

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[QofQuimica]

Thank you for your response. I've worked quite hard to overcome my past. I guess I was just having a moment of panic that it would still pounce back and get me. Thanks.

As I told the other user who was asking if a past record would come back to bite her, time is your friend. A stupid prank like this can elicit a shrug or even seem funny because it's something you did 10+ years ago when you were a dumb college kid. It wouldn't be funny though if you had tried to apply to med school while you were still that same dumb college kid.

 

[Goro]

Time heals all wounds, and ten years is plenty of time to show that the you of then is NOT the you of now. You'll be fine as an applicant.

A little background information. I went to a state university in 2001 and received mostly Ds and Fs. I was placed on academic probation and did not return after that year. Later I transferred to a private school and graduated with a history degree with average marks (3.3ish).
Through the wonders of grade replacement, I expect to be applying with a GPA in the 3.5 range. I have not taken the MCAT yet.

My postbac grades (including all prereqs) are all As.

In addition to my horrible first year academically, I also had several IAs. I was caught with alcohol in my dorm room twice. In my first year at my transfer school I was written up for a prank phone call.

Both alcohol incidents were in my first failed year. Neither involved the police, but I know that I am still required to disclose them.

The prank phone call was during my first semester at the second school. The private school I went to had visiting hours when students of the opposite sex were permitted to visit each others rooms (3 nights a week if I remember correctly). For some reason the guys on my floor, thought it would be funny to take turns calling another floor each time visiting hours ended and say "room checks, hide the ladies." Over the course of about 2 weeks they finally got annoyed enough to report us, so we got "written up" and stopped.

Both of the alcohol incidents and the prank phone call were more than 10 years ago now. They both reflect how immature and unfocused I was then, and I'm very embarrassed about them both. I'm a completely different person now than I was then, but I'm worried that the combination of coming back from such poor grades and having behavioral issues will be too great of a risk for a school to take on.

Is this as big of a deal as I am worried it is, or am I just being a neurotic pre-med? I would hate to have come this far and not get in because of my immaturity at that time. Does it matter that it was more than a decade ago, or will I just be viewed as a poor risk now?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

*Edit* - In case it wasn't clear, I am only looking to apply DO.