will med school think i am to young

[ohiopremed]

hi guys,
I am 17 yrs old and i am sophomer in high school and will become a junior in summer. I will be applying to Medical college of ohio this year through med start. MEd start is a program where undergrads can apply to their med school in their junior year and do not need in Mcat scores.

What i am scared is i am just 17 and will be 18 when i go for an interview. some people are saying that med schools might think 18 is not a correct age to be comitted to med school and they might not accept me because they will have better applicants who r older than me.

Do you guys think being younger is a problem to be accpeted. I am confused and scared too.and even i appy throguh the regular application proceess i will be 19 .

thank you very much for your help.I appreciate it

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[jlee9531]

next time post your edits on the same thread and not start a new one...

 

[Brickhouse]

I would think if the program exists for high school students then everyone you're up against will be your age too. I interviewed for medical school with an 18 year old recently. Is it like a bachelors/MD program or is it just a guarantee that you'll go to that med school when you're done with college?

 

[AverageMan]

I believe that there is (or was) a 12 year old MD/PhD student at University of Chicago. I don't know if it allays your worries or not, but I know it makes me feel like the stupidest peice of crap on the planet. I remember when I was 12; the Power Rangers were the most important thing in my life

 

[BananaSplit]

Theoretically, medical schools do not discriminate based on age. It is explicitly stated in their acceptance policies.

I first applied to med school when I was 18, interviewed at one school and didn't get in (I only applied to two schools). I applied again when I was 19 (to 23 schools), interviewed at 8, and so far, i've been accepted at 1 school, waitlisted at 2, and waiting for the rest.

So to answer your question, no, you are not too young for medical school. Medical schools do not set some sort of cut-off age. The real question is whether med schools think you're mature enough. There will be interviewers who believe that maturity is a function of age, but it's your job to convince them of the fallacy of that assumption as it pertains to you. Basically, prove to them you understand what being a doctor entails (and back it up with clinical experience), clearly explain how you arrived at the decision to become a doctor, and try to highlight your maturity in some way (be sure to mention situations where you have been in a leadership role, where people have depended on you, and you delivered).

Good luck!

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

aren't you a little behind in school? i was 15 when i was a sophomore in hs.

 

[Bobblehead]

Since you're in Ohio I'll put in a plug for the other (and better imo) program at Case Western called the PPS (pre-professional scholar) program. It reserves you a seat at the Case med school as long as you finish an undergrad degree, complete a few pre-req classes, etc. The MCAT is optional. If you don't want to take it you can skip it. If you do, you must score at least a 32. The MCAT is required to apply for one of the Dean's merit scholarships at the school (I think that's $20k a year for 4 years), so well worth taking.

I can't find the actual site for the program but the following link has some info for it.

http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/undergrad/genbulletin/undergrad2.htm

The best part is that you don't have to attend Case med if something better comes along (i.e. you are free to apply to outside schools). Additionally if you choose to finish in 3 years the give you some leeway to doing that as long as you've completed the majority of your degree.

 

[Brickhouse]

Originally posted by AverageMan
I believe that there is (or was) a 12 year old MD/PhD student at University of Chicago. I don't know if it allays your worries or not, but I know it makes me feel like the stupidest peice of crap on the planet. I remember when I was 12; the Power Rangers were the most important thing in my life

I think that means you're normal.

 

[dl2dp2]

Really? When I was 12 i was reading Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. I thought that's what you read in junior high?? My, do I lament the quality of american primary education. It's sad that Sho Yano would never have the chance to read through many of this while he's a young man. He'll be too busy curing cancer.

Originally posted by AverageMan
I believe that there is (or was) a 12 year old MD/PhD student at University of Chicago. I don't know if it allays your worries or not, but I know it makes me feel like the stupidest peice of crap on the planet. I remember when I was 12; the Power Rangers were the most important thing in my life

 

[SaltySqueegee]

Originally posted by ohiopremed
MEd start is a program where undergrads can apply to their med school in their junior year and do not need in Mcat scores.

I think you might have misunderstood the requirements. From what I've heard, at least during my interview at MCO, is that you apply during your JUNIOR year of COLLEGE, not highschool. I do not believe it is a joint bachelors with MD. The program essentially allows you to make a contract with the medical school that states if you complete a certain regiment of courses with certain grades you will be guaranteed an interview (not even an acceptance).

Sorry this is all I heard during the interview day, and the information may be somewhat fragmented (wasn't paying attention because it did not pertain to me), but I'm pretty sure you still need an undergraduate degree, and that it doesn't guarantee an acceptance to the school, just allows you to skip out on the MCAT (however, the still require you to take the MCAT for recording purposes, and the SAT is required).

 

[EMPOWERurSELF!]

Actually, if you're 17 and a junior in HIGH SCHOOL, not college, you will not be applying until you're about 22 years old. But thats not the point of this reply: to answer your question, the MEDstart program which you are referring to is for juniors in COLLEGE, not high school. True, if you were to apply to MCO through this program you wouldn't need MCAT scores, but you'd need the first two years of undergrad in college under your belt, an SAT score of at least 1250, and a GPA of at least 3.7.

So my best advice to you if you do eventually want to become a doc is to definitely keep the program in mind as you complete high school (the school is really awsome, I actually interviewed there for the MEDstart program last week!), go to an undergrad you really like and has a program that is a good fit for you, and get some early clinical experience/research if you can!

Until then, if you have any questions about school or MCO I'll do my best to answer them. I'm more than willing to share my pearls of wisdom about college even though I'm not in med school yet. Good luck and feel completely free to PM me if ya want!! Good luck and feel completely free to PM me if ya want!!

 

[ohiopremed]

No i typed it wrong. I am in college not in high school I saw that after i read my post.stressed out. and the problem too is that I look young. Never thought looking younger than my age will go against me.always thought it was a advantage.every body is telling i am too young for med school.But becoming a doctor is the only thing i have wanted and want in my life.I don't have time for extra circular activites because there are so many courses.aghh never should have graduated early from high school. Thank u for your advice guys and sorry for the misunderstanding

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

no adcom likes someone who holed themself up int the library for four years to get good grades. while you're young why not drop out of school for a while go tour around the country with phish or dmb and live some. christ your only 17. have fun.

 

[care bear]

hi,
i think if you really want to do this then the interview will be key.
practice with older friends or even a professor? or someone like that if you can. really try to get that 'professional' image going.

that being said, even though you are a few years younger than the rest of the med start people, you are still really only competing against them and not against 22-23 year olds. so when you go for your interview you just have to convince them that you are as mature as the average 20 year old who is still in college. i don't think they will expect you to be perfect.

 

[EMPOWERurSELF!]

Don't worry about the typo!

Ohiopremed:

It sounds like you're a really intelligent person for your age. If you really wanted to, you may very well be able to handle med school at a younger age. There are, however, two things that you mentioned which kind of raise a red flag to me.

1-it kinda sounds like you're overdoing it academically to not really have time for EC's, and putting a lot of pressure and stress on yourself, especially being a younger student who is probably expected to succeed in school be everyone around him/her since they always have. I've also found that my maturity and entire attitude has changed by leaps and bounds each year, especially from 17-20, so you may have not reached some developmental milestones that students even a couple of years older than you have.

2-I think you should definitely do some clinical shadowing/work, even if that means over a break or during the summer. You may have a gut feeling that medicine is right for you, but who really knows for sure without personally experiencing it? Maybe research, another allied health career, something not involving projectile vomit, etc. is REALLY the thing for you

Bottom line: if you find that your school work/schedule doesn't give you time for EC's and other things you enjoy, don't feel guilty about giving yourself a break in future semesters! You're not Superman(or woman) and you deserve to give yourself a chance to get some experience in the field you may be a part of for 40+ years! Plus, being so young you could easily become involved in research/travelling or volunteering abroad/doing a program like JVC/etc. and STILL go into med school the same age as you would if you DIDN'T graduate early!

 

[docmemi]

how did you graduate early?

i know a guy who is 19 now, has his BS, and is applying to MS. he never went to HS. took a test and left. 1 acceptance so far. i think he has incredible EC's.

 

[ohiopremed]

how did you graduate early?

I went to high school in florida. Florida high schools have a dual enrollment program where u can take college credits when in high school. My highschool gave me school credits for the credits i took thorugh dual enrollemnt. So i earned 24 college credits and earned h.s credits in the same time.

 

[shanequin]

hey ohiopremed-

Looking at your profile i noticed you go to ut, so do I. I was thinking about doing medstart a little bit ago, bet then decided that I wanted to see how I'd do on the mcat. Doing the medstart seemed really safe to me. But as the time neared to apply I knew that I could do more. Seeing that you are pretty smart because of your success so far I'd aim big. I bet if you took maybe a year off and studied for the MCAT during that time, you could get a really good score and go to a really good school. Now I'm not trying to knock MCO, because it is a good school, but there are better ones that you could probably get into if you rolled the dice a little bit. You do have the time. Just my two cents, if you have any questions just ask.

 

[musiclink213]

Originally posted by trojan2004
how did you graduate early?

i graduated early too. it's pretty easy. at my school it was anyway. as long as you had the right amount of high school credits, you could graduate, so i finished high school in 3 years instead of 4. if i really wanted to, i could have taken College Now courses or more AP's, but i was enjoying my high school years, and so i came in with 12 college credits.