Hello all!
I’m new here and fairly new to the idea of going to med school and was wanting some feedback. I am 26, married with a 2 year old daughter. I am a sophomore majoring in biology although am just now in my first science class. I was a terrible high school student and only recently became excited about school when I realized I wanted to pursue medicine. I basically want to know if I am crazy for even thinking I could do this. My history as a student is not very good although I was just diagnosed as having ADD and am hoping that getting on meds will help. I know I have the intelligence but I am struggling to find resources and information to help. There seems to be so much more assistance for those traditional, 18 year old, just out of high school students. so frustrating!!! any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated! thanks!
Hey Wanta,
If you are willing to put in the time and dedicate yourself, then you can do it. I had to clear up a lot of things in my life before I could really get a move on, I wanted to make sure that my head was on straight before I even got on the bus.
You are not crazy what-so-ever, if this is your passion, then there is nothing crazy about wanting to do this at all.
About your past: You can’t let your past haunt you. Yes, it is important to know where you came from and the adversity that you might of had, but you can’t sit around and fear something that isn’t what is happening now. Prepare yourself and realize that there might be some bumps in the road, but what matters is fortitude and persistence in this case.
If you are doing a postbacc, your history as a student is basically erased in many cases. Many adcoms understand that many nontraditional didn’t know what in the heck they were doing or what they wanted, and if you have the grades, mcat score and volunteering needed, they will see the dedication and the drive that is necessary to get into med schools.
Hoped that helped a little
Nope. Not crazy. That’s something we all go through. We’ve all asked ourselves that same question a time or 2 before deciding to jump on this train. Don’t let ADD be the excuse why you don’t do this. If you can manage it properly, it shouldn’t even be an issue.
Rule #1 - Keep that GPA high. Both science and cumulative. They are looked at separately.
Good luck!
Ha… I promise you–if you go back and look at everyone’s first post on this board? 8 out of 10 of them will be asking “guys, am I crazy for thinking this is possible?”
It’s the fundamental linkage that makes us a community. 
One of my favorite quotes from CS Lewis is about friendship. In paraphrase, he basically wrote, “Friendship is what happens when one person can look at another and say, ‘What? You too?!?’”
This journey is hard. It isn’t meant to be walked out alone. And finding a group of people who are just as crazy as you…walking towards the same goal…just feels so encouraging!
So I will tell you what all these wonderful people told me when I asked the same question. NO…you’re not crazy. Or if you are, you’re in excellent company.
Good luck!