How to Get Into Medical School for Older Students

Instructions

Step 1: The first thing to do on your journey towards getting into medical school is to complete the prerequisite premedical courses at your local college or university or at a post-baccalaureate premed program. Most medical schools require one year of each of the following: biology with lab, general chemistry with lab, organic chemistry with lab, physics with lab, and English. (One year is equivalent to two semesters or three quarters.) Many schools also require one semester of college math or statistics as well as one semester of biochemistry. Some may also require one semester of molecular biology. You can find the specific academic requirements on each school's website.
Step 2: If you completed some premedical courses during undergraduate college, you may have to retake those courses. Some medical schools will honor coursework from a decade ago while others will request that you retake classes. Contact the medical schools to find out their stance on your particular situation.
Step 3: Do all that you can to ensure A's in all classes. Both your overall GPA and your science GPA are extremely important for getting into medical school. Your overall GPA includes every college-level course you have ever taken in your life. Your science GPA only includes the college-level courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and math. If your GPA is in the low 3's or below, consider taking more science and/or math courses to boost it.
Step 4: No matter what kind of job or family life you have, you can study well. The key is time management. If you have children, work out a study schedule with your spouse or babysitter. If you are working, study during your lunch hour. If you commute by bus or subway, study on the way to work. Organize your evening and weekend events around your exam schedules.
Step 5: As an older student, you may not be used to using the computer to study, but it is an invaluable tool. When you can't find the answers you need by reading your textbooks, use the Internet. Also, bring your laptop to class if you can type faster than you can write.
Step 6: Every medical school requires letters of recommendation. The number and type of letters vary from school to school, but most applicants obtain six letters--three from science professors, one from a non-science professor, and two from supervisors or community leaders. As a nontraditional student, you can usually ignore the non-science requirement and substitute one professor's letter with an employer's letter. During your classes, make certain the professors know you. Participate in class and attend office hours. This will give you a better chance at receiving a good letter of rec.
Step 7: Make sure to get clinical experience. While taking your premed classes, apply for volunteer and shadowing positions at nearby hospitals or clinics. Health clinics for low-income and uninsured people tend to have more hands-on positions than other health care facilities. The more patient contact you have, the better. Most positions require a four hour per week commitment. Try to volunteer and shadow a physician for at least one semester.
Step 8: When applying to med school, you should have at least one research experience under your belt. Ask professors, doctors, classmates, and science departments about any research projects they know of that might need help. Many universities have ongoing projects that hire part-time or student volunteer lab assistants. If you can get published in a science journal, do it.
Step 9: Make sure to continue cultivating the broad range of interests you have. Admissions committees want to see well-rounded applicants. Athletics, the arts, teaching/tutoring, military service, community service/volunteer work, your current job, honors/awards, clinical experience, research, and leadership positions are specifically asked about on the primary medical school application.
Step 10: When you have completed most or all of the premed courses, you can take an MCAT Prep course like Berkeley, Princeton Review, or Kaplan, or you can purchase their books and study on your own. There are sample tests that can be purchased and taken online through AAMC, the organization that administers the MCAT. Your score on the MCAT can make or break you as a med school applicant. Do not take it until you are ready. It is difficult to get into medical school with a score of 27 or below.
Step 11: When applying to medical school, you will be asked to write a personal statement of roughly 900 words. Its purpose is to reveal who you are as a person and why you are a good candidate for medical school. For nontraditional students, you may want to write about how your personal life experiences and current career led you to medicine.
Step 12: Applying to medical school takes one full year. Generally, nontrads apply after taking the majority of the prerequisite courses. The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is the processing service for your online primary application to medical school. Submit your application as early as possible. Soon after your AMCAS application is verified, you will start receiving secondary applications from individual schools. Fill them out and return them within one week. Some will be online; others will be by snail mail.
Step 13: When you are invited to interview at a medical school, be prepared to tell or re-tell your story of why you are switching careers to medicine. This will probably be their first question. Also be prepared to explain briefly and humbly any academic failures that are on your school transcripts. For dress, wear a suit that you feel comfortable in. The interviews usually go from 8am to 2pm and they include a sandwich lunch and campus tour. The website StudentDoctor.net has an excellent Interview Evaluations page. The reviews found there of each med school's interview process are written by fellow applicants and they list the questions asked during the interviews. Read them and prepare an answer for each. It is highly likely you will be asked the same questions.
Step 14: Remember, YOU CAN DO IT. Support from family and friends always helps, but if that can't be found, you will find support from your fellow nontrads. Meet the other students in your classes. You will certainly find others that are starting down this new path just like you.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are starting from scratch, be prepared to spend at least two years taking classes.
• If your undergraduate GPA was in the low 3's or below and you graduated over five years ago, you may want to retake the science/math classes you took during college to boost your GPA. Also consider retaking any science/math courses in which you scored a C- or below during undergrad.
• Contact the medical schools you are interested in to find out their position on community college courses.
• Find out about any Extension programs available at your local universities, e.g. UCLA Extension, Harvard Extension, Berkeley Extension, etc. Extension courses tend to be offered in the evenings and on weekends, and most medical schools consider them to be on par with their home schools.
• Some medical schools will accept one semester of biochemistry as a substitute for one semester of general or organic chemistry. Contact the schools directly to find out specifics.
• Astronomy courses are generally included in your science GPA.
• Try listening to lectures at 1.5 speed on the way to work and back.
• Start quizzing yourself with MCAT-like questions while you are taking the premed courses.
• Start saving money now for classes, textbooks, MCAT prep, application costs, and interviews.
• Craigslist and Half.com are great places to buy and sell used textbooks and MCAT Prep materials.
• Some secondaries show up in your email's inbox before your primary AMCAS application has been verified. No need to wait--fill that secondary app out and return in right away.

Resources

• http://www.nontradpremeds.blogspot.com
• http://www.oldpremeds.org
• http://www.aamc.org
• http://www.studentdoctor.net