Old man at square one. How?

[rdelange]

Hello,
Wow! What a great website. Thanks very much. I have what I feel is an unusual situation. My undergraduate diploma is from Western Washington University. I averaged only a bit above a 3.0 overall(not sure of my science average, maybe higher). I graduated with a psych major and Spanish minor in 1995.
I am now 27. Since university I have lived my life and made my money in several interesting but nontraditional and nonacademic ways; mostly as an Alaska fisherman and as a singer. I have travelled all over the world learning languages and gaining experience I never got in school. Now I teach GRE at Princeton Review in Taiwan. These experiences have been rewarding and enriching but perhaps not very convincing to an admissions board.
For the last six months I have researched the path to medical school. Most resources seem to be geared for students that want to get into the top medical schools. I have learned that if I don't have a 3.6 GPA and recommendation from a congressman I won't get into Stanford. This is interesting but of no use to me. The bottom line is I want to be a doctor. I don't care where I study or what I have to do to get there.
It is two years of hard work from now to possible acceptance or rejection, considering make up classes and the application process. Is it futile for me? If I take the prerequisites and my performance is stellar, if I get some kind of experience in the medical field, is there some hope for me to get into some school in this country (not Harvard)? If so, how much hope. What are some good states to get residency in for me? Your answer is appreciated more than I could possibly say.

Sincerely
Ryan

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[Jim Henderson]

Doesn't sound "futile".

If you get a whopper of an MCAT, that will make up for a lot.

I think takings some courses and pounding out some As to get that gpa out will help a lot.

As far a states to get residency: Texas has a lot of medical schools and some are reasonable to get into. California, on the other hand, also has quite a few but they are very difficult to get into.

One advantage to having residency in Texas is those schools participate in their own application process, and not AMCAS, so people just can't apply there at random, making for fewer applicants.

You should definitely consider osteopathic school. Check out osteopathic.com to learn more about that.

Good luck!

 

[Hanly Burton]

Welcome to the club Ryan.

I encourage you to check-out a list-serve for youth-challenged pre-meds. OldManDave from this board set it up and I have enjoyed it immensely. Here's how he described it in another post... it is an on-line e-mail based support group principally for the non-traditional applicant, although all are welcome. If you want to subscribe, just send and e-mail to
"[email protected]" [no quotes] and type "subscribe" [no quotes]in both the subject and body of the e-mail. To unsubscribe, simply send an e-mail to the same address and useunsubscribe instead.

I was in the same boat as you a couple of years ago. I decided to return to school to satisfy prereqs and to pick up a second degree (biology this time). I'm not in med school yet, so I can't say that my path is the one to mimic, but at least there are other people out there with the same concerns as you. Good luck.

Hanly

 

[OldManDave]

RDeLange;

I sent you an invite from OldPreMeds...just follow the direction on the posting.

RHanley,

Thanks for the compliment! I just aims to please...it really has been a valuable venue.



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'Old Man Dave'
KCOM, Class of '03

 

[JenM]

Just my 2 cents - but I wanted to tell you that you can do it. I was interested in your post because I lived in Taiwan (Taipei) for 2 years while my husband was working there. Taught a little English, studied Mandarin, and mostly just hung out. It was a great experience and I used it in my personal essay. I wanted to show that my life experiences were diverse and that I had not been just wasting time before applying to med school (I was 26 when I applied). How many "white chicks" from Oklahoma can say they speak Chinese?? It must have worked because I'm an MS3 now.

Good luck and hang in there!

Jen

 

[rdelange]

Okay, you have all been so very helpful. I've never pictured myself living in Texas and I don't know the first thing about it. No offense to any Texans out there. I guess maybe I'll learn soon enough. It sounds like a pretty exciting place. Any input on what school would be good for making up prerequisites would be greatly appreciated. What I really need though, is at least one inspirational story; a story about someone who had about a 3.0 Gpa, made up pre-requisites, and was admitted to medical school. Please fuel my fire. By the way, I did check out OldPreMeds and it is wonderful, thanks. So, to the nice lady who lived in Taiwan, Dzai jien. To everyone else, adios y gracias pardners.

Ryan

 

[daveyboy]

Hey, here is your inspiration. I have a good friend, in med school, in Texas. He had about a 3.0-3.1, a 27 on his MCAT. He is in Dallas. He actually failed a coulpe upper division bio course, retook them and got A's. I guess he interviews REALLY well. Whatever, it got me re-motivated after a very dismal year.
Now you have hope. Go be a doctor, dude!

 

[OMD 2]

Hell, I am 33...got a 29Q on the MCAT and cumGPA of 2.8, sciGPA 2.9 with in excess of 280 Ugrad hours...and I got in! There is much hope! But, your age and history mean you're gonna have to work harder and exploit your assets. Afterall, you are marketing a commodity---->YOU!

When you go back to complete your BA/BS or do post-Bacc work, you will have to EXCEL to prove that your bad grades are not exemplerary of what you are capable. I graduated magna cum laude with a BS in neuroscience...and the GPA still did not crest 3.0 cumulative.

More questions? Catch me here, on OldPreMeds or e-mail me: [email protected]

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Old Man Dave
KCOM, Class of 2003

 

[Tony Montoya]

Hey (not so) old man,
I'm a 35 y/o first-year medical student. Your experiences sound fascinating...and I'm sure you'll find that when you start interviewing you're interviewers will agree with me. While I was applying to medical school, I found that every school is looking for different types of people. Many want the "cookie-cutter" candidates (ie: 4.0 Biology major with research experience and 30+ MCAT scores) But you'll be surprised to find out that there are quite a few (Ivy League included) that are looking for people exactly like you. The trick is to find out which is which. As for myself, I never attended college full-time. After a stint in the Marines I worked as a firefighter (and went to school part-time) for over ten years before I started my premed requirements (that turned out to be an asset). Keep your nose to the grindstone and I'm pretty sure that in a couple of years you'll be sitting in a gross anatomy lab somewhere thinking - what did I get myself into. Good luck.