To give up or not not give up

[dumbebell]

Hi,

I am (soon to be) 27 year old female, IP in Saskatchewan. I have done finished my undergrad with double Bachelor degree in 2015 with gpa of 88%. I wrote MCAT in 2015 and 2016 and got 497 and 500 (its low!!!), and applied to sk med school this year and last year. However, I have failed to get acceptance, with mere decile of 8. My interview skills are awful. My talk to Dr. ziola was not very impressive. he stated my communication skills are horrible. 

I am thinking of reapplying one last time. However, my boyfriend think that I am getting too old and I don't think he is the type of guy who would have me married and do med school at the same time. Well I guess its the culture! When I do look back at my past, I see all of my first year classmates who have finished their med school. After all, uofs used to accept with only two year of undergrad. 

I have been working as RA for the last three years and now, unfortunately, have been laid off recently. I might be applying to uofs again. 

I am really not sure if I should just give up on becoming family physician because at most, I will be done my med degree in the next 5 years. 

 

How do most of you non-trad able to handle the society who labelled you as old? 

 

EDIT:

Thanks everyone! I just had my interview today and hoping that I get in this year. 

 

 

[mollypercocet]

10 hours ago, dumbebell said:

I am soon to be 27 year old female, IP in Saskatchewan. I have done finished my undergrad with double Bachelor degree in 2014 with gpa of 84%. I wrote MCAT in 2015 and 2016 and got 497 and 500 (its low!!!), and applied to sk med school this year and last year. However, I have failed to get acceptance, with mere decile of 8. My interview skills are awful. My talk to Dr. ziola was not very impressive. he stated my communication skills are horrible.

You're not that old! Many women of your age have been matriculated into med around that age. One of the most impactful woman in my community did 2 degrees and was accepted when she was 28.   I'm assuming your gpa is a 3.7ish/4 which isn't bad for UofS. If you don't mind me asking what the breakdown of your MCAT score. If your goal is medicine and that's what you want to do I'd say work on your communication/interview skills. I'm not entirely sure how the MCAT is evaluated at UofS as I don't really have a chance there, but from what I read they look at your MCAT score and compare it to your academic average and if the MCAT is lower by their criteria they can throw out your application. You still have a chance to improve your MCAT score if it matters at UofS. 

10 hours ago, dumbebell said:

I am thinking of reapplying one last time. However, my boyfriend think that I am getting too old and I don't think he is the type of guy who would have me married and do med school at the same time. Well I guess its the culture! When I do look back at my past, I see all of my first year classmates who have finished their med school. After all, uofs used to accept with only two year of undergrad. 

I think if your bf might be an issue, you would have to see if your career is more important or your bf. Its a tough issue and I can't really say anything. You  need someone who is supportive. 

 

10 hours ago, dumbebell said:

I am really not sure if I should just give up on becoming family physician because at most, I will be done my med degree in the next 5 years. 

 

How do most of you non-trad able to handle the society who labelled you as old?

Again is this really what you want to do for the rest of your life. If so I'd say don't give up!!

I myself am a non-trad although I'm the same age as most people who would have completed a 4th/5th year. I've been in school for longer as I had started uni earlier. Many people think I'm much older than them as they have seen me around for sooo long and I myself feel that I'm far more mature than those who just did a 4th/5th year. I use to feel like I was a failure, but after being around some med students and knowing their backgrounds as well as seeing how much  time and money people. It has motivated me to continue to pursue a career in medicine.  

I've considered many alternative career options and thought about going back to school this fall for maybe a pharmacy degree, masters, or nursing, but I came to the conclusion that in my case for me to be a competitive candidate and be able to apply to med I need to work on my weaknesses. Going back to school will not give me time to work on those weaknesses and after completing that degree I most likely will be still at square 1. In my case the CARS section of my MCAT was below the cut-off and I have had difficulty improving this section, so I plan on working on this section and re-writing when I feel that my score is well above the cut off. 

EDIT:  I looked at the admission stats and I think your GPA is fairly competitive for IP.  

2016 – SK requirements changed to a minimum University Academic Average (UAA) of 75% (reduced from 78%), with MCAT required of all applicants (prerequisite courses not required). Weight given to academic:non-academic is 30% UAA: 20% MCAT: 50% MMI = Admission rank number (ARN) determines rank for offer of admission.

I think rewriting MCAT and working on MMI will help you a lot! 

[t0ny]

Don't feel old. I'm starting medical school in the fall and I'm around the same age as you. I followed the 2nd UG path and it worked out for me. There are a few things you have to establish yourself before you move on:

1. Is being with someone who doesn't support your career worth it? The last thing you want is to look back in 5-10 years and regret missing your opportunity to chase you dream career.
2.  Similar to what mollypercocet said, you have to work on your weaknesses. If your MCAT is your weakness, then buckle down and write it again with a different strategy, Get a tutor, study for 5 months instead of 2-3 months, etc.. If interview skills is your weakness, then practice scenarios EVERY DAY for 30 minutes. Make sure to practice with people you are not comfortable with such as other classmates who are applying that you are only "acquaintances". This will help you work on performing in uncomfortable situations.

 

As a fellow Non-trad who made it, I've been through the ups and downs of wondering if it's the right decision. It's normal to worry sometimes, but keep working at it and make sure you're never running in place. Always make sure every day you are doing something to BETTER your application. It's not an easy path to take, but it'll be worth it in the end

[gogoup]

Hey dumbebell! Sounds like you're going through a rough patch. I'm sorry about your recent layoff  But you know what - it's uphill from here, whatever path you decide to take! 

1. 27 is NOT old. I doubt you'll look back in the 40 something years of your career and see a difference between your colleagues who got in at 22 vs 27.

2. You've addressed a lot of your weak points in this post, which shows you're fairly introspective.

What is it about the MCAT that you have the most difficulty with? I think since your two scores were very similar, it seems like you need to change up your study strategy and hone in on your weak spots. Learning these skills to improve your MCAT score will also translate into helping you study better in medical school, as there is a lot of material to learn in a short amount of time.

If you know that your communication skills are weak, you can join toastmasters, go to networking events, or sign up for events on meetup.com and just go meet new people. Talk to all different kinds of people and break out of that shell. You can find online MMI practice buddies on this forum come Fall, a lot of people practice over Skype and it's actually quite fun meeting fellow premeds from all over Canada.

3.  Is your boyfriend telling you that you're too old because he's worried after seeing you hurt and sad after 2 admission cycles, or is it because he doesn't think you have what it takes? Also, do you have a back-up plan if medicine doesn't work out, assuming you do the masters? What kind of careers will that possibly lead to?

 

Hope this helps a bit. Keep your chin up!

[northo60]

I am 32 and starting med school in Sept. I'm not bothered by my age at all- I know I likely won't be the oldest person there. Average age usually goes from mid 20s to mid 30s.

[dumbebell]

Thanks everyone for great support! I was not expecting that at all. Really appreciate that.

 

For from what I can see, I have two weakness: very low communication skills and low MCAT.

Honestly, I wrote MCAT with poor preparation along with my uncontrolled ADHD, which was under controlled in my undergrad. Yes, I have a lot of issues to deal with for the journey I have chosen. One of the biggest challenges for me was not able to get access to AAMC due to cost issue. I mostly studies using the free resources. My scores are well balanced 125, 125, 124, 126 for the most recent one I took. The percentile is about 39%. This year, uofs required minimum of 14% percentile and I was able to get an interview. I am planning on rewriting the MCAT this January and have started studying now as well retaking the meds.

 

For me, its not the lack of knowledge, I find myself hard to communicate my message across the board. One thing I did notice during my MMI was my persistent repetition and lack of confidence. One interviewer told me at the end of my MMI station, he did not hear anything I said. Am I allow to disclose that here?  

The issue with my boyfriend is not so understable. Perhaps, it is his lack of ability to understand why I did not apply to med school early on. 

 

I will take a note of different resources available for preparing the MMI. 

 

My 3.7 GPA will not get my anywhere else in Canada, even if I were to do really well in MCAT. Most of my volunteer experience is old as I have been working 50+hours with uofs as RA. Hence, I decided to do one-year Master (30 credit per year) in the States and perhaps apply to Osteopathic med school next year. 

 

My extracurricular actives were mostly done before 2015 and include:

1. working as RA for 3 years: published couple of articles

2. foreshadow physician specialist for 170 hours

3. USSU peer support for 4 years

plus random volunteering 

 

I do realize that I have poor communication skills so I am not surprised that I got rejected. After all, no medical school would accept a candidate who cannot communicate properly. With 50% weight given to MMI, its difficult not to get accepted even with high GPA and MCAT. Are there any other resources I can use while doing Master degree to enhance my skills?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

[LostLamb]

I will echo others: you are NOT old. Sometimes, age is all in your head.

Also, if you believe your communication skills are your greatest barrier, then you need to practise. Can you think of some volunteering activity, part time work, or hobby that could strengthen this? I won't tell you what to do...but you ought to explore opportunities yourself. A Master's, depending on the nature of it, may demand more of you in terms of oral communication as you may need to do lots of presentations, etc. A very very large part of medicine (and the area where errors and often malpractise complaints arise) is communication. It is fundamental that you can be understood and can understand others.

I strongly support your decision to treat your ADHD. It will likely help immensely in your future pursuits.

Best of luck on your journey.

LL

[dumbebell]

On 2017-07-08 at 1:56 AM, LostLamb said:

I will echo others: you are NOT old. Sometimes, age is all in your head.

Also, if you believe your communication skills are your greatest barrier, then you need to practise. Can you think of some volunteering activity, part time work, or hobby that could strengthen this? I won't tell you what to do...but you ought to explore opportunities yourself. A Master's, depending on the nature of it, may demand more of you in terms of oral communication as you may need to do lots of presentations, etc. A very very large part of medicine (and the area where errors and often malpractise complaints arise) is communication. It is fundamental that you can be understood and can understand others.

I strongly support your decision to treat your ADHD. It will likely help immensely in your future pursuits.

Best of luck on your journey.

LL

Thank you! I had my ADHD somewhat under control. 

Currently, I am reading tons and tons right now but taking passive approach instead of anxiety inducing hard-core approach. 

Regardless of my age, I do want to be a physician AND a better one with effective communication but I have taken 2016 and 2017 rejections too seriously that I need to let it go and just work on the best I can.   

[HoopDreams]

I will tell you this based on what I read, not on what I know about your life, so take it with a grain of salt.

But, a true partner would encourage you to pursue your dreams, not give you a deadline to accomplish them for cultural reasons.

My two cents, don't give up

[Intermediate]

I'm actually in the same situation too, almost 27 female going into 3rd yr of my 2nd UG. I've been having doubts about my choice every 2nd day for the past two years, but I'm slowly getting there and hoping for the best. 

I just took my 1st MCAT, and might be taking it a second time. If you're interested, we can discuss about MCAT together~ PM me~~

[Celeste.kae]

I'm 30, married, 2 kids! I want to take the MCAT in June. You saying that you're old just makes me feel REALLY old! I "finished" uni in 2011, and I thought I would never return. Ha!

[dumbledore]

On 7/6/2017 at 3:27 PM, northo60 said:

I am 32 and starting med school in Sept. I'm not bothered by my age at all- I know I likely won't be the oldest person there. Average age usually goes from mid 20s to mid 30s.

Fam, you give me hope <3

[Slashsev]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/COMSA/