Very Non Traditional, Do I have a chance?

[Indianarn]

Hi everyone, all feed back will be appreciated. I am a 40 years old and have been an RN for 3 years now. I graduated in 2002 with a BS in Biology and went to school of Nursing and got my BSN in 2004. Didn't practice for 5 years and then came back to nursing. My BS in Biology GPA is 3.55 but by BSN GPA is 2.75. I am taking MCAT in September. Do I have any chance of getting into a medical school. Beside nursing I have ran my own business for 5 years, have had a journeyman's license for HVAC. I love being a nurse but know I want more. Please give me all the feed back you can.

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[emmef]

Yes you have a chance. Age is not the issue. Your BSN GPA is an issue, schools will need to have an explanation for that. They will also need to see extremely high MCAT scores to offset it. Your RN experience is a plus, but schools will want to know that you're not just another RN who thinks being an MD would be nice -- what is it about your life experience that will make you an outstanding doctor? That's what they need to hear.

 

[CW 2010]

I suppose, you also need to make sure you have all prereqs completed and not expired.

 

[Indianarn]

Thanks for you input first of all, I know my BSN GPA is low than I would need, however, I got married just before I started Nursing School. We got pregnant and had our first child during the school. Secondly, I wasn't working throughout the nursing school. Things were tight and stress was very unusual. That was the reason my GPA was lower than desired.

 

[Indianarn]

Oh, by the way I have all the requirements met for the med school. I was thinking that being a nurse I really don't need to shadow a lot of doc's, but I am going to shadow a few any ways.

 

[Pose]

A good excuse won't offset that 2.75, I'm afraid. If you're around or below the 3.0 line cumulative, you'll need to consider a few things, such as a special masters program or DO grade replacement. Definitely doable, but will take a lot of hard work. And a good MCAT score.

Also, you're doing the right thing by checking some of those typical pre-med boxes (shadowing, volunteering, etc).

You can certainly get into medical school, but it might take a couple of years of hard work to get there. Good luck!

 

[Missorleans]

You've probably considered this, but do you really want to take on the debt for medical school? Is your husband going to pay for it? I've talked to an NP before who was taking an MCAT class and intended on going to medical school just for what he described as a 20k raise. Wouldn't be worth it to me, but that's just my two cents.

 

[DrMidlife]

I'll just add that there's no great reason to take the MCAT in September. That's too late to apply this year.

Best of luck to you.