Can we get a blog going here that lists which US medical schools encourage nontraditional, older premed students?
So far I have heard of Duke and Drexel. Does anyone else know of any more schools that support older students?
thanks everyone!
aza
What do mean by “support” exactly? Extra financial aid? Special consideration with regard to admissions? Child care &/or spousal support? Tutoring or extended study options for students with some difficulties getting up to full speed on initial course work? I’ve seen all of these things offered at various schools, and mentioned by medical & osteopathic students in various posts.
I am starting by sorting school choices by geographic desirability (in-state tuition & in-state selection preference are big factors for me). The manner in which the schools deal with stuents in my age demographic is on my list, but not a very weighty factor just yet. A lot will depend on how well I do in my classes and on the MCAT. If I walk away from pre-med looking like a genius, I’ll start being a little more choosey. I suspect I might be feeling more like a beggar than a chooser, though.
Clarify what you mean by “support” and I suspect you’ll receive lots of input.
Good luck!
Tim
Oh sorry about that. By support I mean what schools accept older premed students or encourage us to apply, so I am specifically refering to the application demographic.
aza
Case Western in Cleveland, Ohio is considered “nontrad friendly”, but I’ve never figured out quite what that means. In the same list with Case was East Virginia State U., Albany Medical College (NY), and several osteopathic schools. Osteopathic school is actually my first choice, so it’s a good fit for me. The average age of the osteopathic students tends to be higher than the average age in the allopathic programs. Concentrate primarily on the schools in the state in which you are a resident. Very small states often have partnership agreements with neighboring states that allow residents of the former to be considered for admission as state residents in the latter. Hope this helps. Good luck to you.
Hi there,
There are NO medical schools in the United States that will discriminate against an applicant because of age. There are also no medical schools in the United States that are looking for applicants regardless of age.
That being said, lists of schools are pretty useless unless you are looking for a list of schools that have a certain type of curriculum, or location etc.
If you are a well-qualified applicant, you should apply to any medical school that you are interested in attending. Why limit yourself to schools on a meaningless “list” ?
As for scholarships, nothing limits your application for money. The financial aid office at every medical school will assist with finding financial resources for any of their students regardless of age.
Natalie 
I agree with Nat. Don’t limit yourself to schools that are arbitrarily listed as “non-trad friendly”. I think that most schools are open to strong candidates, no matter what your background.
As for scholarships, myself and several other 30+ students have some very nice scholarships at my school.
I agree with the others posting here in that medical schools look for strong applicants regardless of traditional vs. nontraditional status.
That being said, once you’ve been accepted to multiple schools, you may want to consider how each individual school values its nontraditional students. While you want to be treated the same as any other student, with all the same expectations, it might also be important to you to know that they value the perspective you bring as a nontraditional student to your fellow students. My feeling is you will get a sense of this in your interviews. You may want to request from the adcoms at each school your interviewing to meet with (or be put in contact with) nontraditional students in its program.
I just want to say thanks for all the feedback. I am applying to a lot of schools so i’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed.
aza
I’m crossing mine for you too! Just let me know when I can stop 'cuz they’re starting to feel a little tingly.
Good Luck!
Tim
As others have pointed out, it’s hard to make generalizations about specific schools. Contrary to some rumors (and some statements on non-school websites), changing careers is not discouraged. It is important, however, to articulate your answer to the question “Why change into medicine?”.
The only bias that I’ve seen truly advertised is on Baylor’s website, which specifically states that the study of engineering, business, and other profession degress is discouraged. Given that a decent percentage of non-trads probably have degrees and experience in one of these areas, they may very well be considered less non-trad friendly than others. OTOH, I could be misinterpreting their statements, and, if I, an engineer by trade, was truly interested in applying their, I would not let that stop me.
UC Irvine in California offers free afterschool childcare to its staff and students. This is a huge plus for those of us with kids. Not to mention some of their family housing for students allows pets !