Want to go to med school after 10+ years

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
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Desperate for some sound advice for someone making a big career change!

I’ve decided to go back to school to be a doctor and after considering different routes (PA, NP, Pharm, MD), I think med school is most fitting.

My situation: I started off my undergrad as a Chem major at UCLA and did HORRIBLE, ended up withdrawing for a quarter and came back as a Sociology major and ended my cGPA at 3.32. I only took 4 science classes but they were OChem, Bio, Biochem and Inorganic Chem and failed one and the rest C’s. (I had taken the GE classes at SMC before transferring) I also graduated in 2009 so not even sure they would count for anything since it’s been over 10 years.

Then I went back to school for MBA and graduated with a 4.0.

My question is: What is the best way for me to take my prerequisite science classes to be competitive to apply? Should I take them at a community college? Is it better to take the post bacc pre-med certificate program at UCLA? I read that it could help raise your science grades… If I were to somehow ACE all my prerequisites now, will those course grades be averaged out with my undergrad classes? or does it matter because it’s been over 10 years?

I fully understand this is going to be a long journey but I’m hoping if I just work hard and stick it out, it’ll be all worth it. I would like to be as competitive as I can possibly be now, especially given my failure to stick with my science major in the past :frowning: , but feeling overwhelmed with which route to take.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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My first step was to listen to ALL the OldPreMeds podcasts during my commute. It become a bit of an obsession in itself but I learned tons.

I think any step 1 should be to fix your life to clear the path of any distractions. Nothing kills a premed journey like drama (name your flavor: baby mamma, IRS, work, family, subscriptions, medical bills, outstanding todos, etc …)

Your step 2 is to find a school where you can actually learn. Avoid massive auditorium style lecture halls where 300 chem students go in and 50 come out. Find something intimate and someone passionate about teaching.

If you can avoid community college - its better. Nobody will say it flat out, but MD’s are somewhat bigoted in their views about “lesser”.

That said, once your past undergrad - postbac flavors don’t really matter as much so long as the school has a “brand name”, ask yourself, “will the reviewer know this school?” - JUST make sure you don’t burden yourself with more debt (see step 1)

Past is prologue, use it to your advantage - shape your story with it.

Best of luck. I am 2 A’s into my postbac after 20 years in technology. Happy to help.

AJ

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