Medical Will being “too young” negatively impact my application?

[Question]

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I skipped two grades when I was younger, and now I will be applying to med school with a fairly solid application in May. I am still only 18 and will be 19 when I matriculate if I get in this cycle. All else equal, do you think this will negatively impact my chances?

— Experts please respond to this post —

 

[GoSpursGo]

Your age in and if itself will not negatively impact your app. You will be disadvantaged against people who have had more time to build ECs and thus have a more refined real world experience. But as long as your stats and hours are good you should get in

 

[Goro]

Your age can affect you in a negative way if you come across as immature. I've seen it happen.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

As long as your app is competitive you should be good.

 

[esob]

Your age itself, legally, shouldn't impact your application. That said, you may get more scrutiny in certain areas such as EC's, as noted above.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

If you can show that even at a young age you have accomplished what others have, you should be looked at the same as the other applicants.

 

[wook]

Your age should not impact your chances. Your application demonstrating experiences, education, and ability to succeed will likely have greater impact on your candidacy. Your maturity will also potentially impact your likely success. In my mind, your age and maturity are mutually exclusive. I know 50 year olds who are not as mature as some twenty year olds.

Don't let a number (age) deter you from trying.



Wook

 

[Mr.Smile12]

No impact, and agreeing with the consensus.

That said, if we're talking becoming a doctor, how have you demonstrated an understanding and development of the AAMC Core Competencies in your activities and journey to becoming a physician? If you can do well on your GPA/MCAT, that would be great, but I worry what would happen when you hit a SJT like an MMI, Casper, or AAMC PREview.

 

[PerioDont]

I’m going to be a little contrarian to everyone else.

All else being equal personally I think it will negatively impact you. I can say this because I was in the exact same position, I applied in my late teens as well.

I had a pretty good app, ended up only getting 2 interviews. One rejected me and just told me I was too young. But another accepted me and I’m now I’m in residency.

What you can do, is look at the demographics for the classes and see the age range and tailor your app based on that. If they have never accepted anyone less than 23, you can give it a shot if everything else is really favorable otherwise aim elsewhere

 

[MusicDOc124]

I think it will affect you indirectly, but dependent on what you have done to this point as to which direction. This was already alluded to.

If you have done the same amount of things as other applicants at a younger age, I think it would be between no affect or it benefit you.

If you have done more than others by your younger age, I think this may be looked up upon.

If you have done less, I think it will negatively affect you. -- not so much the age itself, but the simply lack of time leading to not having the experience and other aspects to the application that others have when they are older.