Advice Needed - Post Bacc, Medical School, and Peace Corps

[PCTanz]

I'm a non-traditional potential medical school student who really needs advice in terms of process in applying and realistic chances at various schools.

Background: I graduated from a top 20 undergrad in 2012 with majors in political science, spanish, and biosciences. Throughout my time as an undergrad, I participated in many service oriented extracurriculars (both medical and non-medical) which initially sparked my interest in the field of health, though i was always planning on applying to law school. I graduated from undergrad with a 3.8 GPA (3.65 science) and joined the peace corps for two years serving as a health education teacher and a high school chemistry / biology teacher in Tanzania (a complicated situation with a fellow volunteer led me to taking on both roles). From here my interest in health grew further and I earned a masters in public health abroad before joining Doctors without Borders for a year as a health promoter (almost like a public health programming lead). Through all of these experiences I have realized that a career in health and medicine is my passion, and that I wish to forgo law school in pursuit of an MD. However, being a non-traditional applicant having been out of undergrad for 5+ years, I am unsure of how to go about applying.

as far as I can tell, my options are either applying straight to or taking a post bacc year. I have yet to take the MCAT as I have yet to decide whether or not post bacc is right for me. Some suggest a post bacc for my relatively weak science GPA (in terms of top 20 schools) and time off of science education and intensive academics, while others have suggested I will find difficulty coming by a post bacc program that works for me science I am technically a career changer but have taken all the medical school pre-requisites through my undergraduate biosciences major (though it was long ago and some of these classes were high school AP).

I'm interested one day in combining an MD with my current degree in public health, returning to international humanitarian work and eventually getting into international health programming - all of which are career paths I have heard are best suited for graduates of top tier research institutions. Am I kidding myself trying to go back into school after all this time? Will my lower sGPA form undergrad haunt me despite my applicable life experiences? Are there any post bacc programs recommended for non-traditional applicants like myself? Any advice is appreciated.

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[Detective SnowBucket]

Wow can't believe no ones commented on this yet. The national average sGPA for matriculants isn't any higher than yours. With your service you've shown commitment to the field, your masters shows you can succeed academically (as a technically non-science degree though, you have little excuse for a lack-luster GPA there) on an advanced level, your age and experience can only be taken as positives to adcoms (you've been around the block more than 99% of people going into med school and you still want to do it).

The only reason you should do a post-bac/SMP would be if you needed to brush up on your basic sciences before the MCAT. In that light, it would be less expensive to pay for a review course than tuition (something like Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc) and probably more directed towards your needs (if that need be MCAT prep). The only other reason people do post-bac/SMP is to make up for really low uGPA, you're pretty average with sGPA but the fact that you went to a top 20 and have a pretty kick-ass non-science uGPA and have an advanced degree, you'll be fine.

Now, a concern for most non-trads is letters of rec. You've been out of school so it may be harder to get the usual 3 science professors + 1 non-science, but a letter from MSF would be awesome. Also, a letter from any kind of adviser/prof from your grad school would be good too (and more recent).

Lastly, most pre-meds have some concerns with volunteer hours. Doing MSF you may literally have years of clinical volunteering. You should make sure you've got some non-clinical in there....somewhere. Another thing that could help is research, no idea how to get started in this not being in school, but this last one isn't a big deal (least important thing I've mentioned).

 

[Walter Raleigh]

No, you don't need a postbacc. If you're shooting for top 20s, a 517+ MCAT should make you very competitive. Your ECs are what would be called "killer": Peace Corps service, and a year volunteering for Doctors Without Borders. The GPAs are on the low side for top 20s, but the ECs make up for it. Your chances are superb everywhere else. I'd say around a 510 MCAT should make you a superb applicant for state schools.