daft_davy Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you are (or know) people who applied to McGill med school after working for a few years in a field different from medicine. I'm currently 26 years old, graduated a couple years ago from the University of Waterloo from an engineering program. I'm currently working full time in an engineering job, but am *seriously* contemplating med school. I'm wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and has any advice or insights they can give me. I don't have most of the science pre-requisites so I'm looking to start on those soon. Will the fact that I've been working for a few years, in a non-medical field, hurt my future application? Thanks a lot for any insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman101 Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 There are plenty of older med students at mcgill. 26 is really not that old. I think our oldest is 31 in my year. And having experience in non-healthcare settings will probably help your application seeing as McGill is trying to diversify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daft_davy Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 There are plenty of older med students at mcgill. 26 is really not that old. I think our oldest is 31 in my year. And having experience in non-healthcare settings will probably help your application seeing as McGill is trying to diversify. I'm 26 right now, but will probably not be eligible for med school until I'm 28 (doing the prerequisites while I'm working full time is tough..). I know, still not very old, but I guess I am just interested in people who worked for a while in a non-medical field, then applied. I called the McGill admissions office and they said they'd take my undergrad program into consideration, but from what I'm reading on this forum, it looks like that really isn't true. I graduated from Waterloo, which I thought might help me since my GPA isn't very competitive - only 3.6 - but I guess that isn't the case? Would working for a world renowned tech company help my case? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daft_davy Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 If the McGill admissions office told you that they take the undergrad program into consideration, then why in the world would you believe a bunch of premeds and med students who have no first-hand knowledge on the admissions process? I was actually mistaken - I asked that particular question by email. The exact response was: "When evaluating your file all is taken into consideration including the program.". Maybe I'm paranoid, but to me that isn't a resounding "Yes, the difficulty of your program matters." I read a lot of posts on this forum that seemed to contradict what she told me by email so I thought I'd ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Would working for a world renowned tech company help my case? I would not think that has any relevance or bearing upon acceptance whatsoever. McGill will make its own independent evaluation of your suitability as a competititve candidate to determine if you merit an interview. Certainly, outstanding work in your field as confirmed by a credible referee will have an impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ1985 Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 I was actually mistaken - I asked that particular question by email. The exact response was: "When evaluating your file all is taken into consideration including the program.". Maybe I'm paranoid, but to me that isn't a resounding "Yes, the difficulty of your program matters." I read a lot of posts on this forum that seemed to contradict what she told me by email so I thought I'd ask. I don't know about your program level of difficulty being taken into consideration. But I believe they have opened up some new spots 2-3 for non-traditional applicants who have taken an alternate route to medicine. This is new starting in this application cycle. So you should definitely give it a shot because you never know what might happen! Im my year we had someone start med school at 40 and another at 32. It is a definite possibility and you should not discount your competitiveness just because you decided to work. However, comparing yourself to people from cegep or university who are currently graduating (aka most people on this forum) will prove difficult. Best of luck to you and enjoy all the pre-reqs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor_Strangelove Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 I know several people that are 30 or above in my class. I wouldn't worry about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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