Hey everybody! I came across this website doing a Google search for “how old is too old to start pre-med.” Go figure it’d draw me towards one of the best resources and potential confidence boosters I could have acquired!
So since I’m here, first things first. I do have a couple of questions that I’m hoping can get answered in regards to MY situation. I’ve read a lot of stories here regarding people starting med school around the age of 35-40, but some of the stories are from 2003 I believe and I was hoping to get a more UP TO DATE version of the answers, if it’s changed at all.
So here it goes. I’m 25 years old (some would say that’s very young, I’d argue that I should have started school years ago), and have ALWAYS had a dream to become a doctor. The money isn’t what draws me. It’s the ability to help people in potentially critical situations that inspires me to become a doctor. I’ve felt this way since I was about 15, but I never followed through with the schooling for it. I fought depression throughout my high school days and was forced to drop out and acquire my GED. I decided not to start college because of this and to make a long story short, I’m ready get back out there at the age of 25 and BEGIN the route of becoming a doctor, first with acquiring my Bachelors.
I plan on attending a local community college to get my Associates AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. I understand good grades are a must, and I will focus on my studies 100% during this time, especially since I’ll be taking on an overhaul of classes to finish ASAP. From there, I plan on attending a University here in Illinois to receive my Bachelors.
Is this a good path to take? Or should I go to the University from Day 1 and skip the Associates through the community college? My local college has an Associates in Science degree I can acquire, which has the classes picked solely on the fact that you will be transferring to a University. Is this a good idea?
Also, my main goal out of all of this is to become a Sports Doctor. I want to work with Sports teams, whether that’s on the professional level, college level, or having my own practice eventually and seeing all types of athletes. Do Sports Doctors usually take the MD path or the DO path?
I guess my main reasoning for coming here is to get some sort of confidence boost in knowing that 25 is NOT too old to start beginning my bachelors towards medical school. I figure by the time I’m done attaining my Associates degree through my local college, I’ll be 26, closing in on 27. By the time I finish my Bachelors I’d be 28, closing in on 29. That means I’d be starting medical school around the age of 29 or 30.
I’m aware of the stories here regarding people starting medical school around the age of 40, but it’s different hearing people saying “DO IT!” in regards to THEIR story. They had previous Bachelors degrees and were working career jobs. I’m currently unemployed due to lay offs, and figured NOW is the best time to go back and focus on school, but I just wanted to get other peoples opinions.
Thanks so much in advance, and I hope to be very active and helpful on these forums for the next 8 years 
Sorry I missed your post. WELCOME!!
I’ll give some feedback later today. The short answer is do not be in a rush.
I have some time now. Listen if there is one recurrent theme here is that “it’s a marathon not a race.” I definitely applaud your enthusiasm just be cautious not to put yourself into a situation that it extends your time. “Slow is smooth, Smooth is fast.” Say it takes you 5 years to complete your undergrad, no one is going to see a problem if you also complete it with a 4.0. If you do it in 4 and finish with a 3.0 that would be a problem. So take your time and focus on learning the material and doing exceptionally well.
Community vs university doesn’t matter. I would start out at the community college for tuition and smaller class size and then transfer. If you are a bio/chem major then you will take upper level science classes at the university which is what adcoms like to see.
So take a breath and get started. Slow and steady. A couple of years longer is not going to make much of a difference. You’re already a nontrad so what’s another year or two as a buffer? Take your time, do exceptionally well (4.0), and then bust out the MCAT. A year buffer can make a huge difference and might help with any possible depression. In those not predisposed to depression this whole process gets depressive so I would caution setting yourself up. So GO FOR IT! Just ease back to 75mph instead of 100…you’ll still get there and with a perfect GPA have many more options.
Welcome aboard the crazy train and many blessings on your plans!
Welcome, kc!
I agree with what crooz said. Also, let me talk about the sport medicine thing. You can absolutely do it from either the MD or DO route. I know more about the DO side since that’s what I’m doing, and that is a career goal of a lot of DO’s (maybe second only to primary care) because we get a bit of extra training in musculoskeletal assessment and some interventions. VCOM (Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine) provides sports medicine coverage for all the Virginia Tech teams, and students can join the sports medicine club and work with all the atheletes thruout their medical school.
Kate
Having gone to not one but two Open Houses at VCOM…and staying at a Holiday Inn Express I am an expert on their school. 
VCOM has a HUGE Sports Medicine program in no small part due to their affiliation with VA Tech and SM fellowship, which gives the med students tons of OJT. Their med students are able to get tons of SM experience. So much so that even if they didn’t get anymore SM time during residency they have enough hours to apply to fellowships. Two of the 4th year med students told me about this. Not everyone gets that many hours but those who want it can.
Heck even I was re-enamored with SM after their Open House. There is tons of work in SM with as a Family Medicine specialist. I’m actually seriously considering FM with a fellowship in EM to work Locum Tenens instead but I’m leaving things open. I never thought in a million years I’d even consider any primary care specialty and now… 
Just curious where in Illinois you are at…