Would appreciate constructive advice

[Action Replay]

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I’m sure some of my questions are repeats so I apologize in advance for boring everyone. I am in the process of reaching out to pre med advisers, however I’ve been warned that pre med advisers don’t always dispense the best advice and that it falls upon me to do my own research. Hence I would really appreciate any constructive input.

I graduated from a mid tier state school in 2000 with a degree in bio with a 3.9 overall GPA and a Science GPA of 3.7. Unfortunately due to life/family/financial circumstances my plans got derailed. For many years I had just given up hope but deep down I really want to resume my plan of attending medical school. I was always a good student, but I had been out of school for a very long time, so I took a few graduate level molecular bio classes alongside incoming PhD students just to see if I could hack it. I did really well. (Granted I have spent the last decade working in clinical research so I’m very comfortable with biological sciences.)

For those of you who have taken grad classes, is it possible to make these classes count as bio pre- requisites? I want to do everything possible to reduce the time it takes to re do all my pre reqs since I’m already 35. Frankly I would be way more comfortable doing a SMP or a MS in phys or pharmacology, but that doesn’t seem to be an option as far as I know.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You don't have to retake perquisites.

 

[DrMidlife]

You presumably already completed the bio prereqs before 2000. Whoever is telling you that you need to redo the prereqs isn't doing a good job. The point is to show you can still handle the classroom, not to redo "expired" prior work. There's usually concern about old bio, more than other prereqs, because bio changes more (PCR, mTOR, etc), but grad work is fine to address this. I don't see a problem with using recent grad work to demonstrate you've kept up your academic chops. Focus on MCAT prep and go nuts. Make sure you get as much clinical exposure as you can, and work hard on recruiting faculty to recommend you. Apply early and broadly after doing obsessive research on schools from the MSAR and admissions webpages.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Action Replay]

You don't have to retake perquisites.

You presumably already completed the bio prereqs before 2000. Whoever is telling you that you need to redo the prereqs isn't doing a good job. The point is to show you can still handle the classroom, not to redo "expired" prior work. There's usually concern about old bio, more than other prereqs, because bio changes more (PCR, mTOR, etc), but grad work is fine to address this. I don't see a problem with using recent grad work to demonstrate you've kept up your academic chops. Focus on MCAT prep and go nuts. Make sure you get as much clinical exposure as you can, and work hard on recruiting faculty to recommend you. Apply early and broadly after doing obsessive research on schools from the MSAR and admissions webpages.

Best of luck to you.

Holy $**t for real!? When I was taking the grad classes I came across people who told me about this 10 year deadline (which I had never heard of before). Then I started doing cursory searches of medical school admission websites and the first one that I came across made mention of this deadline too.

All prerequisite courses must have been completed within 10 years of application, and we prefer that prerequisite courses in biology be taken within 5 years of application. Detailed information on course requirements is available at...

Mind you this was merely the first one that popped up on my search. I don't intend to apply to this particular school because I doubt they'd ever give me the time of day. But if there are other schools who would be fine with a SMP that would seriously take the pressure off.

Admittedly the MCAT will be a challenge, Ive always been a good student but a crappy standardized test taker. But I will try my best nonetheless.

Thank you both for responding. Would appreciate input from others as well.

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

For those of you who have taken grad classes, is it possible to make these classes count as bio pre- requisites? I want to do everything possible to reduce the time it takes to re do all my pre reqs since I’m already 35. Frankly I would be way more comfortable doing a SMP or a MS in phys or pharmacology, but that doesn’t seem to be an option as far as I know.

I'm pretty sure that only pre-reqs count as pre-reqs.
I would call specific medical schools that are you interested in and ask them if they have an expiration date on the pre-reqs that you've already taken.
If they do, you don't have much of a choice, you have to retake them although you might could condense your schedule and knock it out in a year or so. If they don't, Mcat, Mcat, Mcat, SMP would not be necessary in this case unless the school specifically requests it.

 

[DrMidlife]

In the last 8 years, every year, somebody tries to start a "which schools have prereq expiration policies" thread. UMass is one, Miami is another. And then the thread peters out, to be started fresh the next year. Point being, you won't get a definitive answer, which is why you apply broadly.

Think like a med school admissions officer (older, wiser, conservative, overwhelmed with applicants who all believe they are special snowflakes). If you get a nontrad student who did undergrad 5-10 years ago, and then went off and had a job and had some kids and didn't think about biology and didn't follow the news, you have a problem, even if the MCAT score looks okay. There's just way too much to absorb in the preclinical years without a strong bio foundation.

On the other hand if you have a student who did recent grad work in bio, and doesn't have anything in the app screaming YIKES at you, why would you be worried? For what material purpose?

I think you'll find that if you apply early and broadly that you'll be okay, because some schools will be obstinate about policy, some schools will only use policy to winnow out low GPA apps, and some schools will only bother to check your app against policy after they accept you (and then you petition for consideration). With your stats I don't see a reason to be concerned. Really.

 

[Action Replay]

I really wish there was like a single comprehensive resource for this, but I guess there isn't one. I'll have to make a list of schools that I think I may have a shot at and see what their requirements are. Considering I have been out of school for ~15 years I most certainly expect schools to want concrete evidence that I have the ability to handle the coursework. I just hope that a masters or SMP would be fine instead of a post bacc because the latter is a complete waste of time and money (I have little of both). At least a masters is something I can slap on my resume in the event I don't get into medical school and have to go back to being underemployed.

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

I really wish there was like a single comprehensive resource for this, but I guess there isn't one. I'll have to make a list of schools that I think I may have a shot at and see what their requirements are. Considering I have been out of school for ~15 years I most certainly expect schools to want concrete evidence that I have the ability to handle the coursework. I just hope that a masters or SMP would be fine instead of a post bacc because the latter is a complete waste of time and money (I have little of both). At least a masters is something I can slap on my resume in the event I don't get into medical school and have to go back to being underemployed.

I can't really speak for adcoms, but it seems like if you killed the MCAT, there would be little doubt as to whether or not your guns were adequately polished. I'd hate to see you have to waste 10s of thousands of dollars on an SMP for this. Seems so unnecessary.

 

[DrMidlife]

I really wish there was like a single comprehensive resource for this, but I guess there isn't one. I'll have to make a list of schools that I think I may have a shot at and see what their requirements are. Considering I have been out of school for ~15 years I most certainly expect schools to want concrete evidence that I have the ability to handle the coursework. I just hope that a masters or SMP would be fine instead of a post bacc because the latter is a complete waste of time and money (I have little of both). At least a masters is something I can slap on my resume in the event I don't get into medical school and have to go back to being underemployed.

Honestly I don't see the need to do more than a class or two, and that would be more about the humanities on the new MCAT than it would be about science prereqs. Please, seriously, don't go spend $30k to $50k on more schooling on top of that undergrad GPA.

Where am I coming from with this? My physics grades are from 1988 and I started a US MD school in 2012. Not one adcom eye was batted. Am I talking about bio? No. Do you have recent grad-level bio? You're saying you do.

You can keep fighting for your right to overdo it all you like, but the advice coming at you from nontrads who are in med school isn't going to change. Apply broadly and early. You should be more worried about life balance than prereqs.

 

[Action Replay]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the input. You have no idea how relieved I feel. So my plan as of now is to try my best on the MCAT. If I get a stellar score then it's all good. If I get a low 30 then I may have to jump through some hoops but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Money is definitely a problem for me so I definitely don't want to over do anything.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Honestly I don't see the need to do more than a class or two, and that would be more about the humanities on the new MCAT than it would be about science prereqs. Please, seriously, don't go spend $30k to $50k on more schooling on top of that undergrad GPA.

Where am I coming from with this? My physics grades are from 1988 and I started a US MD school in 2012. Not one adcom eye was batted. Am I talking about bio? No. Do you have recent grad-level bio? You're saying you do.

You can keep fighting for your right to overdo it all you like, but the advice coming at you from nontrads who are in med school isn't going to change. Apply broadly and early. You should be more worried about life balance than prereqs.

This really should wrap up this thread. So much distilled goodness in that post.