Hello! I don’t even know where to begin. I know that this forum is the place to be for the “unique” applicant, but on the risk of sounding arrogant, I find myself in an even more unique situation. I feel lost and feel like I’ve aimlessly wandered and am now reaching out for some guidance.
I studied Economics in undergrad and in my senior year, I felt the desire to pursue medicine. Right after college, I started a post-bacc program but was forced to finance this on my own. This led me to juggling a full-time job while taking two classes/semester and studying for the MCATs. I’ve tried and have failed to achieve a desirable score, THREE TIMES! This was nearly 3-4 years ago. I’m now in my early 30’s, married to a stud of a husband, a first-time mom to a beautiful 11 month old boy, and enjoying my role as an investment data analyst in a reputable firm. We also just bought a house, and other than a mortgage, we are free of any other debt. There is so much to celebrate and be thankful for, which I am. However, I have literal, recurring dreams at night of either a). passing the MCATs, b). being a medical student or being accepted to a medical school, or c). a physician at a hospital doing rounds. My desire to pursue medicine is still so strong and I can’t shake the feeling. The cherry on top of all of this: I was recently diagnosed with ADHD. This diagnosis, to me, was a breath of fresh air. It was more palpable in my role as an analyst because I couldn’t complete a single reading and it was affecting my job/work. I never knew that I suffered from it because it isn’t “a thing” in my culture. I was always told I either lacked self-control or discipline. In retrospect, I was convinced that medicine was not my passion because I simply could not get over the hurtle of the MCATs. I beat myself up and thought, “If this is really what I wanted, I would work harder and stay focused.” It would take days to finish one chapter of the MCATs and I never was able to finish the content before the exams. I chalked it up to my laziness. I did decently in undergrad but I initially enrolled into Psychology my freshman year, got a 2.6 GPA because I couldn’t keep up with the volume of reading, and switched to Econ. I did well in my post-bacc but I was only taking 1 or 2 classes over 4 months. So, I never knew. I never knew that it wasn’t ME; it was ADHD. With the recent diagnosis came a peace of mind. But with that peace of mind came overwhelming thoughts of trying again.
So…
What do I do now? I took a few post-bacc courses at a 4-year accredited university, but was also forced to take a few classes at a community college due to finances. I reserved the more difficult courses for the university (e.g. orgo). Overall GPA is a 3.2 at a top 30 undergrad university, a 3.7 science GPA in post-bacc. I graduated in 2010 so some non-science pre-req courses could be outdated (e.g. calc, english).
Thanks for sticking with me through the post! Would also love to hear some inputs from working moms who changed careers!