Hello everyone!
I just wanted to comment on what seems to be a common theme in the posts. That is people wondering whether or not they will be able to get into med school because of their past failures or their age etc… I firmly believe without a doubt that if you have a burning desire,absolute focus on the goal,determination,persis tence and a willingness to learn and improve yourself you can do anything you set out to do. I have done it in other pursuits in my life and I have seen others do it. What I think truely makes people not get to their goals is lack of desire and persistence. I have seen truely gifted people quit after they run into 1 or 2 roadblocks instead of shrugging it off and keep going. And I have seen average people accomplish these same things because they worked hard and didn’t quit!
Moral: If you want something bad enough you will find a way.
Here are some exerpts from the book the Power of Positive Thinking:
" Trying can be very hard, so hard in fact, that few people will actually attempt it. Or they may attempt it, but do not have what it takes to keep on trying. Most failure is simply due to the fact that we take the path of least persistnce."
“William James speaks of the first layer of fatigue. This is the tiredness that comes after a little bit of unusual effort. You try for a short while, become fatigued, then simply quit. We seldom give ourselves the extra push that penetrates below the first layer of fatigue to where vast untapped power lies. But when you do, you get amazing results.”
“The secret is putting your whole mind into it. Keep at it, try, keep at it; that constant attack will ultimately overcome any failure.”
So start by believing that anything is possible. Don’t count yourself out before you even get started.
Good luck everyone!!!
This just made my night 
thank you for your thought…!!!
Great advice!
I couldn’t agree more.
For one reason or another people convince themselves to quit.
When desire and determination do not dwindle, the goal WILL eventually be reached!
Just what I needed. Thank you.
As nice as your thought is…is just that.a thought. It is a FACT that older people are not viewed as positively as younger ones when it comes to medical school aps. “Life is short, the art is long” - and that is a maxim that all the pondints that will more or less “determine” our future go by.
- In reply to:
Sorry...the above is just not true. If it motivates you to believe that you are at an overwhelming disadvantage because of your age, by all means.....believe the hype.
Numbers..numbers..numbers!!!
Performance...performance...performance!!!
For the most part, your MCAT scores and GPA are the great equalizer.
A couple of years ago, my university admitted a 55 year old to their medical school.
One of the biggest problems with our society is that we tend to think of age as a disadvantage.
Why is experience in life viewed as a negative thing?
Hollywood perpetuates the "Youth is superior" mindset, and we buy it.
Not me friend.
I relish the experience I have had. My experience has made me the person that I am.
My experience in life gives me an advantage over the 23 year olds competing for my slot.
I feel bad for THEM.
- radardenny Said:
- In reply to:
I think RMiranda was referring to the same tendency that you just mentioned. None of us would be on this forum if we did not believe we could beat the odds. The denial of the existence of these age barriers, however, is one's own choice. Age discrimination, beyond physical requirements such as for the military, do in fact exist, although many times under the radar. Ask any investment banking company HR rep if age discrumination exists, and he/she will deny it 24-7. Ask the same HR rep after they leave the company, or in hiring forums where the over 40 bunch want to get into such careers, and the outlook is a bit more bleak. Investment Banking is just one example (and maybe an extreme one compared to med school adcoms), and I only use this scenario to point out that this type of discrimination does indeed exist in our society.
We are here, of course, to beat the odds together. In my opinion, the recognition of the barrier only motivates me more.
Just my opinion.
Layne
And some day I shall learn how to quote and comment on a specific post.
Best regards to all.
Layne
Well, I do understand that age descrimination does exist. But I think in our case it is not so much about age but about why we intend to make the choice to be doctors this late in the game. It is a really rigorous process and it is understandable that the schools would question whether we would be able to handle it at our age.
I talked with my state medical school advisor and she said that they welcome older students but that they have significantly less older applicants than younger. Maybe that is part of the misconception. There isn’t a huge pool of adult applicants so of course there is not going to be alot of older students admitted compared to the younger ones. It would be interesting to know how many over 30 applicants medical schools receive each year.
I’m just going to throw something in the mix to see what others think. In my experience in talking with other non-trads both on and off our forum, perhaps when looking at raw #'s (GPA’s and MCAT scores) non-trads are given a break that traditional students aren’t when applying to medical schools (in other words, non-trads can get accepted with lower numbers than can trads). This brings up the importance of the “non-number” factors (i.e. volunteering, life experience, etc.) As I posted in another thread earlier, I believe most medical schools (at least now) are looking to have a diverse population amongst their students.
And I will add another point while I’m here. I do not subscribe to the belief that anyone can become a physician if they want it badly enough and are persistent enough. The fact of the matter is that one must jump through several hoops before one earns the degree of M.D. or D.O. and the reality is that you must be successful at each of these steps in order to continue. There are some steps which are simply not able to be overcome by certain individuals for whatever reasons. This is NOT to say that these people are in any way inferior as people, it simply means that they do not have the specific set of “skills” required for this one career. They undoubtedly have a set which will allow them to be successful in ways I would not be because I don’t have their skill set.
Just my two cents! Happy New Year to all!
Dear ananymous,
Your observations are absolutely correct. But some of us talk about our age and potential possibilities of success/failure b/c hearing encouragement from people on this site makes us inspired, and people commenting on their own age and their success, despite of their age or circumstances, makes us feel that we are not alone pondering over the same questions.
Cheers and please keep posting.
-tiha