Schools for older students

[footdoc]

Which schools are best for the non-traditional older student? I have read posts from students over 50 at different medical schools. But are there some schools that may welcome older students and other schools where the student body is young (20s) and the school seems to prefer this.

[DrFluffy]

You appear to know of a number of exceptions but unless there's been a very recent change in policy, most (possibly all) schools reserve the right to consider age during the selection process.

As you have pointed out - it's ilegal in the UK to discriminate on the grounds of age. SGUL are in some 'trouble' with their under 45 policy for their graduate entry course as it does not conform to the EU directive (although there is no age limit for their 5 year course).

I certainly do not know of the exceptions. It's the rule.

Visit admissionsforum or medschoolguide and see how many over 35 year olds there are in UK med schools, and indeed how many are applying.

Schools that routinely take people over the age of 35 (that I definitely can confirm due to actually knowing people above this age of said courses) are - and in alphabetical order:

Aberdeen
Barts and The London - very mature friendly.
Birmingham has a reputation for being agest but I have 3 friends older
than 35 in year 2 (well to be honets one is 34, but lets not split hairs!)
Brighton-Sussex
Bristol - I have a non-graduate friend there who tells me there are plenty
of oldies in his year (3rd)
Cambridge
Cardiff
East Anglia - very mature friendly - prefer matures to school leavers.
GKT - very mature friendly. I also had an offer to study here, as did a lot
of the oldies in my year at Barts.
Hull-York - I was talking to a HYMS 2nd year student, who was a 40 year
old mum of three at the BMA MSC conference in April.
Keele - again, I have some good friends - some in their 40's here.
Leeds - I have friends here in thie 30's and 40's.
Leicester - very mature friendly, indeed the chair of the BMA MSC is a
mature student at here.


Actually I think you get the point!

About 6 years ago it was very difficult to get into medical school over the age of 21 - I know because I made enquiries before deciding to do a doctorate instead. That is simply not the case any more!

I recommend getting a copy of 'The Insiders Guide to Medical School' as each UK medical school gives the typical number of mature offers they make per year. Most are around 20% and above.

I would say about 15% of my year are above the age of 30 - and around 7% are over 35. When n=277, that's actually quite a few!

So, actually - please provide a list of those who categorically do not accept over 35s...

[blueeyes]

As you have pointed out - it's ilegal in the UK to discriminate on the grounds of age. SGUL are in some 'trouble' with their under 45 policy for their graduate entry course as it does not conform to the EU directive (although there is no age limit for their 5 year course).

I did not claim that it was illegal in the UK to discriminate on the basis of age. There is an EU directive but I have no idea how fully it has been implemented in the UK at this time. I'll defer to you completely on this point.

However, some UK med schools do still print on their web sites that they consider age during selection. King's college, for instance, points out that "Due to the length of professional training in medicine, it is unlikely for an applicant over 40 years of age to be considered and exceptional for an applicant over 45."

I certainly do not know of the exceptions. It's the rule.

It's clear that you know of exceptions and, for all I know, this could very well be the rule. But the fact that you know of exceptions, in itself, does not mean that (older) mature students are not being discriminated against. To show otherwise, you would need to show, not that older students are being accepted, but that the rate of acceptance for older applicants is the same for similarly qualified younger applicants. These older students may very well have been stronger applicants.

Schools that routinely take people over the age of 35 (that I definitely can confirm due to actually knowing people above this age of said courses) are - and in alphabetical order:

Aberdeen
Barts and The London - very mature friendly.
Birmingham has a reputation for being agest but I have 3 friends older
than 35 in year 2 (well to be honets one is 34, but lets not split hairs!)
Brighton-Sussex
Bristol - I have a non-graduate friend there who tells me there are plenty
of oldies in his year (3rd)
Cambridge
Cardiff
East Anglia - very mature friendly - prefer matures to school leavers.
GKT - very mature friendly. I also had an offer to study here, as did a lot
of the oldies in my year at Barts.
Hull-York - I was talking to a HYMS 2nd year student, who was a 40 year
old mum of three at the BMA MSC conference in April.
Keele - again, I have some good friends - some in their 40's here.
Leeds - I have friends here in thie 30's and 40's.
Leicester - very mature friendly, indeed the chair of the BMA MSC is a
mature student at here.


Actually I think you get the point!

I get the point and you're probably right. But I can't help but notice that a couple of the schools you mentioned have come up on threads on MedSchoolGuide where students have complained about age discrimination. They may just be disgruntled applicants but it does show that not everyone considers this issue as settled as you seem to.

I recommend getting a copy of 'The Insiders Guide to Medical School' as each UK medical school gives the typical number of mature offers they make per year. Most are around 20% and above.

I would say about 15% of my year are above the age of 30 - and around 7% are over 35. When n=277, that's actually quite a few!

Again, this is all well and good, but what's needed is not the percentage of a student body that are older but a comparison of acceptance rates for comparably qualified groups: one older; one younger.

So, actually - please provide a list of those who categorically do not accept over 35s...

Actually, I didn't think any schools categorically refused to accept students over 35. Even the fact that SGUL imposes a hard upper age limit for its graduate entry med course was a surprise to me. The impression I got on med student chats was that there were no firm upper limits, just an increasing need to be an exceptional candidate for students over 35.


Another thing to consider is the following exchange (July 2005) that took place on one of several threads on MedSchoolGuide regarding age discrimination in UK med schools:

...Personally, I think perhaps the most open way to proceed at this point with regards to this issue is for CHMS to set a maximum percentage of students over the age of 35-40 allowed to be admitted to each medical school (say 5% of each yearly intake)...

At the last CHMS meeting I attended, this issue was discussed. The general consenus seemed to be an upper age limit should be (and is) in place, but this is not fixed and candidates can be admited to medical school (over a certain age) at the university's discretion. I believe this was the general gist, Will Watson may be able to add further to this.

Clearly, TC's figure doesn't reflect current practice but Jake seems to know what he's talking about and doesn't seem to have an axe to grind.

[DrFluffy]

I know TC and Jake personally (IRL)

TC is now a qualified doc (F1. Bless him ) Jake is a current GEP student (3rd year at Warwick).

Both are top blokes.

[Zenguin]

Speaking as an older med student (over 50), I've found that I didn't have any issues in getting into SGU (having met the GPA, MCAT, pre-req. course, and other entrance requirements).

I can also say that I am enjoying the academics, I'm active in campus organizations, and seem to have been fully accepted as just another student by my fellow twenty-something colleagues.

[Trillium]

Pick a school first by its ability to get you licensure in all 50 states, and secondly by how they welcome older students. AUC, Ross, and St. George will get you licensed in all 50 states. Ross and St. George seem to be more geared to those right out of college (SGU makes you live in dorms)

I've looked into this; first term students with families and those with pets have no problem getting an exemption and live off campus.