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Success Stories- Non Trad Style!


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Hi All,

Well we are getting close to that time of year again so I thought as the offers of admission roll in we should start a thread about successful non trads. So share please stories of success and the ability to overcome monumental odds in order to achieve the goal of getting in to med, which I hope will serve to inspire us all!

Good luck to all!

Finks

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  • 2 weeks later...

Non-trad here, just got accepted to Mac!

 

I'm 31, with a family and a mortgage. I did a PhD and a postdoc with the initial goal of becoming a prof in an academic setting. No real thoughts of medicine until near the end of my PhD. Thought it was just thesis fatigue. It wasn't.

 

I am lucky to have a very supportive spouse and family. I wouldn't be doing this without them.

 

Good luck to all you other non-trads.

 

For those of you who have taken an indirect path to medicine, and are are unsure if you can do it - if you don't apply, the answer is a definite no.

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Fellow non-trad who got into Mac!!

Took a year off after high school. Then moved all the way across the country for UG. Wrote and bombed my MCAT in 2007 which made me swear off med school. Did my Masters with the full intention of doing a Ph.D and continuing research/academia. I'll be defending that masters in about a month...wooop!

 

I re-wrote my MCAT in summer 2009 and did okay except for Bio. I applied to Mac to get some experience with the application process before I went full throttle the next year, with a VR=10. Wound up getting an interview and then accepted! Bonus!

 

I only applied to one school. It just goes to show that you only need one.

I also don't have the highest GPA. I went to the maritimes for my UG...they drink lots of beer there...my marks suffered but it was so worth it! You don't need a 4.0! In fact, I wouldnt want one unless I knew that my social life wouldnt suffer.

 

Congrats other non-trads!!! Well deserved!!

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Another success story here :)

 

I got pregnant in high school and had my daughter in the middle of my last year of high school. I was determined that being a single mom wasn't going to stop me from pursuing med school and went right into university when she was 8 months old. I spread myself too thin in my first degree and only had a 3.55 gpa, so after applying twice I took a year off to improve my application, work, get married etc. I applied a third time, but my MCAT scores didn't get released and my application was rejected without even being reviewed. At that point I couldn't handle another rejection, so I took a few years off to have my two younger girls and let my husband focus on his career.

 

This year was my first time applying in 4 years and things had changed a lot since the last time I applied, but I put everything I had into my application, prepared for the interview and went in knowing that I had done everything I could. I just got my acceptance to UBC today and it feels incredible.

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Hi all, after 5 applications to UBC, countless rejections across the ocean, states and canada, and three interveiws at UBC I am in!!!! 42 years old, 21 yrs as paramedic. Still in disbelief, have printed off acceptance letter so it is in black and white......Rachel

 

lol - I did the same! It's hanging above my desk at work.

 

It's so great to see all of these non-trad success stories.

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Non trads unite! I got accepted to U of T after spending 6 years doing a PhD. I love research, but I've always known I wanted to be a doctor. 4th time applying after no interviews and this year I got 3! In retrospect, I think part of the success was the huge development of maturity throughout grad school.

It was a rough ride, but it paid off!

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Non trads unite! I got accepted to U of T after spending 6 years doing a PhD. I love research, but I've always known I wanted to be a doctor. 4th time applying after no interviews and this year I got 3! In retrospect, I think part of the success was the huge development of maturity throughout grad school.

It was a rough ride, but it paid off!

 

 

Out of curiosity, where did you interview?

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I graduated from the Industrial Design program at the University of Alberta. My undergrad consisted of product design, furniture design, visual design, painting, drawing, sculpture and art history. For my electives, I was the odd one out in my program because I took science courses. I loved biology, biochemistry and organic chemistry. I even took science and engineering courses extra in my degree because I found it so fascinating.

 

Near the end of my undergrad, I was diagnosed with a very aggressive type of tumour. Going through surgery and later radiation therapy was my source of inspiration to become a doctor. While all the other students designed cars and new types of MP3 players, I designed cutlery for individual's with Parkinson's Disease, toilet-aid devices for bariatric patients, toys that doctors could use to communicate with children, etc. For every design project, I tried to incorporate my interest in medicine.

 

Unfortunately, my GPA was not that competitive and meeting the requirements for medical school was a uphill battle. I was constantly questioned about the jump from design to medicine. But, I kept at it and I was accepted into UBC this year.

 

One of my goals is to contribute to the field of medicine by integrating my unique background in industrial design with my career as a physician. With my industrial design skills and knowledge as a physician, I will be able to improve existing medical equipment/tools and invent new ones. It isn't so much of a jump from design to medicine - think about prosthetic design and surgery. Medicine is becoming such an interdisciplinary field and I want to make the bridge between multiple disciplines.

 

Go non-traditionals! :)

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Hi folks! Another non-traditional student posting who took the long route around. :D Back in the day, I got my Bachelors of Arts in Religious Studies (scholastics, not ministry or pastoral). After I finished my degree, I was accepted to grad studies, but I really became interested in medicine and palliative care. I thought I'd give it a shot and hope for the best! I went back to do Bachelors of Science, and slogged through those pre-requisites (which were really tough! :) ). Anyway, after wrapping that up, I couldn't quite shake my enjoyment of research so I'm currently working on my Master's degree.

 

Long story short I applied this year:

OMSAS cGPA: 3.78

UofA cGPA: 3.91

MCAT: 11/11/11/S

 

Applied: UofA, UofC, McMaster, UWO, Queen's, Dalhousie

Interviewed: The above

Accepted: UofA, UofC, McMaster, UWO, Dalhousie

Waitlisted: Queen's

 

I'm planning on going to the UofC, and I'm really tickled that I managed to convince somewhere to take me. lol. :D So good luck everyone! Anything's possible!

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Hi folks! Another non-traditional student posting who took the long route around. :D Back in the day, I got my Bachelors of Arts in Religious Studies (scholastics, not ministry or pastoral). After I finished my degree, I was accepted to grad studies, but I really became interested in medicine and palliative care. I thought I'd give it a shot and hope for the best! I went back to do Bachelors of Science, and slogged through those pre-requisites (which were really tough! :) ). Anyway, after wrapping that up, I couldn't quite shake my enjoyment of research so I'm currently working on my Master's degree.

 

Long story short I applied this year:

OMSAS cGPA: 3.78

UofA cGPA: 3.91

MCAT: 11/11/11/S

 

Applied: UofA, UofC, McMaster, UWO, Queen's, Dalhousie

Interviewed: The above

Accepted: UofA, UofC, McMaster, UWO, Dalhousie

Waitlisted: Queen's

 

I'm planning on going to the UofC, and I'm really tickled that I managed to convince somewhere to take me. lol. :D So good luck everyone! Anything's possible!

 

Wow thats amazing! Congratulations! Did you have to do 4 full years for your second undergrad (the science one) or did you only do two?

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