Non-traditional applicant

[Marginwalker]

Another guy here who realized too late what he wanted to become. I'm 22 years old and have a BA in Spanish with a minor in German, I've been living in Germany for a couple years now as well. I never knew what I wanted to study in College so I stuck with what I already knew so I could glide by. Now that I do know I am woefully unprepared.

Here's the situation, I got a 3.4 GPA in high school where I took the minimum math and science to graduate college track, and again in college where I got 2 C's in Biology and I think a C in my liberal arts math class required to graduate. Not because I'm dumb, I just didn't have any idea what I was working towards so I saw no reason to apply myself. I graduated from there with a 3.33 (a pretty good state school actually, 25% acceptance rate) I honestly think I could start college over now and come out with a 3.6 ** of Biology conc pre-med. I spent my Senior year on Study Abroad in Germany and I'm still here so I pretty much did nothing for a year after college depending on how you look at it. Now I've figured out what I want to do and I'm wondering which path I should take to get to Marginwalker M.D.

Either I can take the Science and Math pre-req's at a community college back home, working on the side, or I can go to a 4 year and graduate from the pre-med programs there in ~3 years with a new degree and then apply to a med school. I live in North Carolina by-the-way so if I achieve what I set out to do, then I may have a shot at Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill, I don't know you guys tell me.

Some questions, if I kick *** at Science and Math in this new academic career will it make my previous lackluster performance irrelevant?

Is it possible for me to TA in Spanish or German without doing graduate work in that department? How about if I go to my old school (they have a very specific pre-med program that I remember lots of people taking) where I am on very good terms with the Language chair and some professors? I have a friend that took some grad classes during undergrad and TA'ed, I don't know if he was some exception though.

I have no parents and if I file for federal aid I will have to claim myself as independent, I made no money last year, will student loans be available to me? to what extent?

I'll be adding questions as I think of them, thanks for reading and I look forward to some tips/advice.

[swimchick]

First thing to note: you will be eligible for financial aid, but keep in mind there is a lifetime limit on how much you can borrow from the federal government. You don't want to max out your limit on the good loans before you make it to med school!

For someone in your situation I would recommend you look into post-baccalaureate options and special master programs (SMPs). Many of these programs will be much less expensive than going back for a 2nd bachelor's degree and some of them even have admission linkage to their affiliated medical schools (some others only guarantee an interview).

Excellent performance in a post-bacc program/SMP will not erase your undergraduate academic performance, but it will certainly show any med school admission committee that you have the dedication and capability to do well in medical school.

[Marginwalker]

Thanks for the reply swimchick, a couple more questions here...

I'm getting the impression it doesn't make a big difference whether you go to a 4 year with a "good" premed program vs any schools that offer the prerequisites as long as they are considered good schools. Is that right?

Is there any reason not to get a tattoo(s)? What about politically charged ones? Ones that can be easily hidden with normal attire?

[swimchick]

Thanks for the reply swimchick, a couple more questions here...

I'm getting the impression it doesn't make a big difference whether you go to a 4 year with a "good" premed program vs any schools that offer the prerequisites as long as they are considered good schools. Is that right?

Is there any reason not to get a tattoo(s)? What about politically charged ones? Ones that can be easily hidden with normal attire?

I think the most important thing when it comes to choosing a school if you're pre-med is to choose one that has a strong track record of getting its students into U.S. medical schools. The reason I left my first college was because even though the science department was good, only about 8 of every 20 applicants were accepted to a U.S. med school.

Tattoos...hmmmm. I'm not a fan of tattoos, but I don't see anything wrong with something small and tasteful. Medicine is a conservative profession...always keep that in mind ;)

[Chopdoc]

Is there any reason not to get a tattoo(s)? What about politically charged ones? Ones that can be easily hidden with normal attire?

Realized too late?

I don't think so.

Many go to med school with such backgrounds. I even think it would be a stretch to call you "non-traditional". Your actually pretty young.

As for the ink: If one must hide what one is doing, one might consider why that might be. As was said, medicine is a conservative profession.

I don't know what exactly you mean by "politically charged", but if you are considering a sawastika or something you might consider the nature of the medical profession and how such things fit into (or don't fit into) it.

[Marginwalker]

No tattoos yet, though there are a few I've wanted for some time. Not swastikas.

Where can I see the percentage of students who make it into med school? I tried already to find out but it wasn't anywhere obvious. I can still check the fact-book for each school I'm looking at, though if you have a site handy that would be helpful.

[devildoc8404]

If I had known that I wanted to study medicine when I lived in Germany (many, MANY moons ago, at your age) I would have absolutely applied to study there. It's incredibly cheap, the education is terrific, and you can write the US boards.

You might consider it, if your German skills are up to snuff. One of the doctors I did rotations with in the States completed an undergraduate degree in the US and then went to med school in Germany.

Viel Glueck im Voraus!

(Oh, and the numbers for getting into US med school can be skewed. You have people who say they are pre-med in college until their first semester of chemistry - or because they want to impress somebody, you have people who take the classes but never write the MCAT, you have people who write the MCAT and get crappy scores, you have people who are marginally/quite competitive applicants who get wait-listed and not admitted... it's impossible to get an accurate number without quantifying what pre-med group you're talking about!)

[swimchick]

No tattoos yet, though there are a few I've wanted for some time. Not swastikas.

Where can I see the percentage of students who make it into med school? I tried already to find out but it wasn't anywhere obvious. I can still check the fact-book for each school I'm looking at, though if you have a site handy that would be helpful.

I got the percentages from the pre-med advisor at the schools I looked at.