I’m 33 y/o. I took all my pre-med basics Biol, Chem, Engl, Span, Psy, etc. 2.55 gpa. In 1998 joined the Army, where I studied Respiratory Therapy. Been practicing for 10 yrs. The idea of going to Med school is in my head 24/7. I know i have the potential, the passion, and the heart. What would be the best way to do it? I’ve been thinking about starting from Zero. I’m married and have a 6y/o girl and another due on July 8th this year, but my wife is extremely supportive of me going to Med school. What would be the best route?
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If you find this thread moved, don’t panic - it “feels” like it belongs in pre-med forum 
BTW, I am only a pre-med myself so take what I say with a very large grain of salt and recognize it’s only MY perspective (I would echo that for most of us on here who have never been directors of admissions or adcom members).
Anyway, from my POV, you need to retrake gen chem, bio, math, physics as the coursework too old and your GPA lower than competitive. The others are probably okay as they won’t be tested on the MCAT. In addition, you should get A’s and A’-s to be competitive and then a solid MCAT score (above 30). In addition, those A’s and A-'s also help differentiate the lower GPA from back then, and what focus you have now as a student. There are a few of us on here (including me) fighting that “I was stupid when 20” diseased GPA.
I’d also encourage you to do a ton of research on here and other forums to help assist you in planning. Seems there’s always somebody around to answer a question or lend a helping “ear” …
Last, take your time taking classes, focus on grades, and then focus on grades some more. You have the patient care component of an app already nailed with your current position, just nail the rest now.
G’luck!!
Hi,
I am 30 y/o who have completed all the pre-med reqs undergrad. I graduated '01. I don’t really know my science GPA. but with overall GPA of 2.8
Since graduation, i have been overseas doing a little bit of missionary work and upon returning i’ve done some Medical Assistant work and now am doing Mental Health.
I have taken A/P and Micro in prep for Nursing.
But within last year, i have decided to go all the way and apply for medical school.
I have enrolled myself in MCAT class.
upon reading some of the entries here, esp. this one, i am left with a question… is there a time period where if your grades exceed it, are deemed too old and invalid?
what to do???
I am scheduled to take the exam 3/28.
but am getting cold feet if the admissions dont accept the grades then there’s no point in me taking the exam at this point in time.
any words of wisdom??
It’s school dependent. Most schools “recommend” that your pre-reqs not be more than 7 - 10 years old but there doesn’t seem to be any strict enforcement. With your overall GPA being kind of low and your science GPA assumably around the same mark, you may want to give serious consideration to either retaking the prereqs (especially any that you got a C or lower in) and/or taking some upper level coursework.
To be brutally honest, you may want to reconsider taking the MCAT in March. I think you first need to sit down with your original undergrad grades, figure out your science GPA, and figure out what kind of damage control you need to do in that arena before worrying about the MCAT.
Welcome and good luck!
I agree. You have a lot of investigating to do in order to determine the right way to approach this. Jumping in to the MCAT is the wrong way to go about it. You do not want to take the MCAT until you KNOW you are ready and it does not sound like you have done the kind of self-evaluation that will show you that you’re ready.
Mary